XmlNode.SelectNodes Method

Definition

Selects a list of nodes matching the XPath expression.

Overloads

SelectNodes(String)

Selects a list of nodes matching the XPath expression.

SelectNodes(String, XmlNamespaceManager)

Selects a list of nodes matching the XPath expression. Any prefixes found in the XPath expression are resolved using the supplied XmlNamespaceManager.

Remarks

XPath expressions can include namespaces. Namespace resolution is supported using the XmlNamespaceManager. If the XPath expression includes a prefix, the prefix and namespace URI pair must be added to the XmlNamespaceManager.

Note

If the XPath expression does not include a prefix, it is assumed that the namespace URI is the empty namespace. If your XML includes a default namespace, you must still add a prefix and namespace URI to the XmlNamespaceManager; otherwise, you will not get any nodes selected.

For more information, see Select Nodes Using XPath Navigation. For code examples, choose an overload from the overload list in the previous section.

SelectNodes(String)

Selects a list of nodes matching the XPath expression.

public:
 System::Xml::XmlNodeList ^ SelectNodes(System::String ^ xpath);
public System.Xml.XmlNodeList? SelectNodes (string xpath);
public System.Xml.XmlNodeList SelectNodes (string xpath);
member this.SelectNodes : string -> System.Xml.XmlNodeList
Public Function SelectNodes (xpath As String) As XmlNodeList

Parameters

xpath
String

The XPath expression.

Returns

An XmlNodeList containing a collection of nodes matching the XPath query.

Exceptions

The XPath expression contains a prefix. See XPath Examples.

Examples

The following example selects all books where the author's last name is Austen, and then changes the price of those books.

#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
int main()
{
   XmlDocument^ doc = gcnew XmlDocument;
   doc->Load( "booksort.xml" );
   XmlNodeList^ nodeList;
   XmlNode^ root = doc->DocumentElement;
   nodeList = root->SelectNodes( "descendant::book[author/last-name='Austen']" );
   
   //Change the price on the books.
   System::Collections::IEnumerator^ myEnum = nodeList->GetEnumerator();
   while ( myEnum->MoveNext() )
   {
      XmlNode^ book = safe_cast<XmlNode^>(myEnum->Current);
      book->LastChild->InnerText = "15.95";
   }

   Console::WriteLine( "Display the modified XML document...." );
   doc->Save( Console::Out );
}
using System;
using System.Xml;

public class Sample6
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
        doc.Load("booksort.xml");

        XmlNodeList nodeList;
        XmlNode root = doc.DocumentElement;

        nodeList = root.SelectNodes("descendant::book[author/last-name='Austen']");

        //Change the price on the books.
        foreach (XmlNode book in nodeList)
        {
            book.LastChild.InnerText = "15.95";
        }

        Console.WriteLine("Display the modified XML document....");
        doc.Save(Console.Out);
    }
}
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

public class Sample

  public shared sub Main()

    'Create the XmlDocument.
    Dim doc as XmlDocument = new XmlDocument()
    doc.Load("booksort.xml")
           
    Dim book as XmlNode
    Dim nodeList as XmlNodeList 
    Dim root as XmlNode = doc.DocumentElement

    nodeList=root.SelectNodes("descendant::book[author/last-name='Austen']")
 
    'Change the price on the books.
    for each book in nodeList      
      book.LastChild.InnerText="15.95"
    next 

    Console.WriteLine("Display the modified XML document....")
    doc.Save(Console.Out)
    
  end sub
end class

This example uses the following XML:


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- A fragment of a book store inventory database -->
<bookstore xmlns:bk="urn:samples">
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1997" bk:ISBN="1-861001-57-8">
    <title>Pride And Prejudice</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Jane</first-name>
      <last-name>Austen</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>24.95</price>
  </book>
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1992" bk:ISBN="1-861002-30-1">
    <title>The Handmaid's Tale</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Margaret</first-name>
      <last-name>Atwood</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>29.95</price>
  </book>
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1991" bk:ISBN="1-861001-57-6">
    <title>Emma</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Jane</first-name>
      <last-name>Austen</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>19.95</price>
  </book>
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1982" bk:ISBN="1-861001-45-3">
    <title>Sense and Sensibility</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Jane</first-name>
      <last-name>Austen</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>19.95</price>
  </book>
</bookstore>

Remarks

If the XPath expression requires namespace resolution, you must use the SelectNodes overload which takes an XmlNamespaceManager as its argument. The XmlNamespaceManager is used to resolve namespaces.

Note

If the XPath expression does not include a prefix, it is assumed that the namespace URI is the empty namespace. If your XML includes a default namespace, you must still use the XmlNamespaceManager and add a prefix and namespace URI to it; otherwise, you will not get any nodes selected. For more information, see Select Nodes Using XPath Navigation.

Note

A common issue when formulating XPath expressions is how to include a single quote (') or double quote (") in the expression. If you have to search for a value that includes a single quote, you must enclose the string in double quotes. If you need to search for a value that includes a double quote, you must enclose the string in single quotes.

For example, suppose you have the following XML:

<bookstore>  
  <book>  
    <title>&apos;Emma&apos;</title>  
  </book>  
</bookstore>  

The following Visual Basic code selects an element that contains single quotes:

nodeList = root.SelectNodes("//book[contains(title,""'Emma'"")]")  

This method is a Microsoft extension to the Document Object Model (DOM).

The XmlNodeList object returned by this method will be valid while the underlying document remains unchanged. If the underlying document changes, unexpected results may be returned (no exception will be thrown).

See also

Applies to

SelectNodes(String, XmlNamespaceManager)

Selects a list of nodes matching the XPath expression. Any prefixes found in the XPath expression are resolved using the supplied XmlNamespaceManager.

public:
 System::Xml::XmlNodeList ^ SelectNodes(System::String ^ xpath, System::Xml::XmlNamespaceManager ^ nsmgr);
public System.Xml.XmlNodeList? SelectNodes (string xpath, System.Xml.XmlNamespaceManager nsmgr);
public System.Xml.XmlNodeList SelectNodes (string xpath, System.Xml.XmlNamespaceManager nsmgr);
member this.SelectNodes : string * System.Xml.XmlNamespaceManager -> System.Xml.XmlNodeList
Public Function SelectNodes (xpath As String, nsmgr As XmlNamespaceManager) As XmlNodeList

Parameters

xpath
String

The XPath expression. See XPath Examples.

nsmgr
XmlNamespaceManager

An XmlNamespaceManager to use for resolving namespaces for prefixes in the XPath expression.

Returns

An XmlNodeList containing a collection of nodes matching the XPath query.

Exceptions

The XPath expression contains a prefix which is not defined in the XmlNamespaceManager.

Examples

The following example displays the values of each of the ISBN attributes. This example uses an XmlElement object, which inherits from the XmlNode class.

#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
using namespace System::Collections;
int main()
{
   XmlDocument^ doc = gcnew XmlDocument;
   doc->Load( "booksort.xml" );
   
   // Create an XmlNamespaceManager for resolving namespaces.
   XmlNamespaceManager^ nsmgr = gcnew XmlNamespaceManager( doc->NameTable );
   nsmgr->AddNamespace( "bk", "urn:samples" );
   
   // Select and display the value of all the ISBN attributes.
   XmlNodeList^ nodeList;
   XmlElement^ root = doc->DocumentElement;
   nodeList = root->SelectNodes( "/bookstore/book/@bk:ISBN", nsmgr );
   IEnumerator^ myEnum = nodeList->GetEnumerator();
   while ( myEnum->MoveNext() )
   {
      XmlNode^ isbn = safe_cast<XmlNode^>(myEnum->Current);
      Console::WriteLine( isbn->Value );
   }
}
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml;

public class Sample
{
  public static void Main()
  {

      XmlDocument doc = new XmlDocument();
      doc.Load("booksort.xml");

      //Create an XmlNamespaceManager for resolving namespaces.
      XmlNamespaceManager nsmgr = new XmlNamespaceManager(doc.NameTable);
      nsmgr.AddNamespace("bk", "urn:samples");

      //Select and display the value of all the ISBN attributes.
      XmlNodeList nodeList;
      XmlElement root = doc.DocumentElement;
      nodeList = root.SelectNodes("/bookstore/book/@bk:ISBN", nsmgr);
      foreach (XmlNode isbn in nodeList){
        Console.WriteLine(isbn.Value);
      }
   }
}
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Xml

public class Sample

  public shared sub Main()

      Dim doc as XmlDocument = new XmlDocument()
      doc.Load("booksort.xml")

      'Create an XmlNamespaceManager for resolving namespaces.
      Dim nsmgr as XmlNamespaceManager = new XmlNamespaceManager(doc.NameTable)
      nsmgr.AddNamespace("bk", "urn:samples")

      'Select and display the value of all the ISBN attributes.
      Dim nodeList as XmlNodeList 
      Dim root as XmlElement = doc.DocumentElement
      nodeList = root.SelectNodes("/bookstore/book/@bk:ISBN", nsmgr)
      Dim isbn as XmlNode
      for each isbn in nodeList
        Console.WriteLine(isbn.Value)
      next

  end sub
end class

The example uses the file, booksort.xml, as input.


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- A fragment of a book store inventory database -->
<bookstore xmlns:bk="urn:samples">
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1997" bk:ISBN="1-861001-57-8">
    <title>Pride And Prejudice</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Jane</first-name>
      <last-name>Austen</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>24.95</price>
  </book>
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1992" bk:ISBN="1-861002-30-1">
    <title>The Handmaid's Tale</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Margaret</first-name>
      <last-name>Atwood</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>29.95</price>
  </book>
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1991" bk:ISBN="1-861001-57-6">
    <title>Emma</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Jane</first-name>
      <last-name>Austen</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>19.95</price>
  </book>
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1982" bk:ISBN="1-861001-45-3">
    <title>Sense and Sensibility</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Jane</first-name>
      <last-name>Austen</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>19.95</price>
  </book>
</bookstore>

Remarks

XPath expressions can include namespaces. Namespace resolution is supported using the XmlNamespaceManager. If the XPath expression includes a prefix, the prefix and namespace URI pair must be added to the XmlNamespaceManager.

Note

If the XPath expression does not include a prefix, it is assumed that the namespace URI is the empty namespace. If your XML includes a default namespace, you must still add a prefix and namespace URI to the XmlNamespaceManager; otherwise, you will not get any nodes selected. For more information, see Select Nodes Using XPath Navigation.

For example, if you had the following XML:

<bookstore xmlns="http://www.lucernepublishing.com">  
 <book>  
   <title>Pride And Prejudice</title>  
 </book>  
</bookstore>  

The following C# code selects all book nodes:

XmlNamespaceManager nsmgr = new XmlNamespaceManager(doc.NameTable);  
nsmgr.AddNamespace("ab", "http://www.lucernepublishing.com");  
XmlNodeList nodelist = doc.SelectNodes("//ab:book", nsmgr);  

Note

A common issue when formulating XPath expressions is how to include a single quote (') or double quote (") in the expression. If you have to search for a value that includes a single quote, you must enclose the string in double quotes. If you need to search for a value that includes a double quote, you must enclose the string in single quotes.

For example, suppose you have the following XML:

<bookstore xmlns="http://www.lucernepublishing.com">  
  <book>  
    <title>&apos;Emma&apos;</title>  
  </book>  
</bookstore>  

The following Visual Basic code selects an element that contains single quotes:

Dim nsmgr As XmlNamespaceManager = New XmlNamespaceManager(doc.NameTable)  
nsmgr.AddNamespace("ab", "http://www.lucernepublishing.com")  
nodeList = root.SelectNodes("//ab:book[contains(ab:title,""'Emma'"")]", nsmgr)  

This method is a Microsoft extension to the Document Object Model (DOM).

The XmlNodeList object returned by this method will be valid while the underlying document remains unchanged. If the underlying document changes, unexpected results may be returned (no exception will be thrown).

See also

Applies to