CODEWITHSUNDEEP
xpathxquery
pajevic
pajevic

Reputation: 4657

Query multiple elements without specifying the element name

This may be a silly question, but is it possible to make a query using XPath without specifying the element name? Normally I would write something like

//ElementName[@id = "some_id"]

But the thing is I have many (about 40) different element types with an id attribute and I want to be able to return any of them if the id fits. But I don't want to make this call for each type individually. Is it possible to search all of them at once, regardless of the name?

I am using this in an XQuery script, if that offers any help.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 164

Answers (2)

Tom Hillman
Tom Hillman

Reputation: 327

It might be more efficient to look directly at the @id elements - //* will work, but will initially return every node in the document and then filter!

That may not matter in a small document, of course. but here's an alternative:

//@id[.="some_id"]/..

Upvotes: 1

SergeS
SergeS

Reputation: 11779

use * instead of name //*[@id = "some_id"]

Upvotes: 5

Related Questions