Re: [xsl] To self or not to self

[Martin Honnen <Martin.Honnen@xxxxxx>]

ihe onwuka wrote:
> I wanted to isolate the figure element that has a figure as an
> immediate preceding sibling.
>
>         <section role="All_models">
>              <title>All models</title>
>              <figure role="Harness_multi-plug">
>                  <title>ECU harness multi-plug</title>
>                  <mediaobject>
>                      <imageobject>
>                          <imagedata fileref="78650"/>
>                      </imageobject>
>                  </mediaobject>
>              </figure>
>              <figure role="Circuit_diagram">
>                  <title>System circuit diagram</title>
>                  <mediaobject>
>                      <imageobject>
>                          <imagedata fileref="31544"/>
>                      </imageobject>
>                  </mediaobject>
>              </figure>
>          </section>
>
> I settled on //figure/preceding-sibling::*[1][figure] but it gave back
> nothing and would only work when I used the explicit form of the self
> axis.

Well [figure] checks wether there is a child element named figure, not 
whether the element itself is a figure element.

> I settled on //figure/preceding-sibling::*[1][self::figure]
>
> However if I want the title element immediately preceding figure I
> don't need to use the explicit form. This works
>
> //figure/preceding-sibling::*[1][title]
>
> So what is going on in this particular case (because I don't
> understand the difference), and in general when is explicit self
> required.

The same here, [title] checks whether there is a child element named 
"title", only in your XML that is the case.


--

	Martin Honnen --- MVP Data Platform Development
	http://msmvps.com/blogs/martin_honnen/