Question 1

What is XPath?

Accepted Answer

XPath (XML Path Language) is a query language for selecting nodes from XML documents. It uses path expressions to navigate through elements and attributes in an XML tree structure.

Question 2

What does // mean in XPath?

Accepted Answer

The double slash (//) selects nodes anywhere in the document, regardless of where they are in the hierarchy. For example, //book finds all 'book' elements at any depth.

Question 3

How do I select attributes?

Accepted Answer

Use the @ symbol to select attributes. For example, //book/@id selects all 'id' attributes of 'book' elements. //book[@id='123'] selects books with a specific id value.

Question 4

What are XPath predicates?

Accepted Answer

Predicates are filters in square brackets. Examples: //book[1] (first book), //book[price>10] (books with price over 10), //book[contains(title,'XML')] (titles containing 'XML').

Question 5

Can I use XPath on HTML pages?

Accepted Answer

Yes, browsers support XPath on HTML through document.evaluate(). HTML is treated as an XML document. This is commonly used in web scraping and browser automation tools.

Question 6

What's the difference between / and //?

Accepted Answer

Single slash (/) selects from the root or from the current node's children. Double slash (//) selects descendants at any level. /bookstore/book selects direct children; //book selects books anywhere.

Question 7

How do I select text content?

Accepted Answer

Use the text() function. //book/title/text() selects the text content inside title elements. Without text(), you get the element node including tags.

Question 8

What XPath functions are available?

Accepted Answer

Common functions include: contains(), starts-with(), string-length(), count(), sum(), position(), last(), normalize-space(), concat(), and substring().

Question 9

Why does my XPath return empty results?

Accepted Answer

Common issues: case sensitivity (XML is case-sensitive), namespace problems (use local-name() for namespaced XML), incorrect path (use // for deep search), or whitespace in text matching.

Question 10

Is my data secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes, all processing happens directly in your browser using the built-in DOMParser and XPath evaluator. Your XML data is never sent to any server.

XPath Tester

XPath Examples

XPath Tester Features

Why Use XPath Tester?

Instant Evaluation

Debug Queries

Node Matching

100% Private

Common Use Cases for XPath Testing

Web Scraping Development

XSLT Development

XML Data Extraction

Debugging Automation

How It Works

Paste XML Document

Write XPath Expression

Evaluate Expression

Refine and Copy

Pro Tips for XPath Testing

Frequently Asked Questions

Trusted by Millions

Related Tools