xpath problem

avi_2009 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

use strict;
use XML::XPath;
use XML::XPath::XMLParser;

my $xp = XML::XPath->new( xml => 'query.xml' );

print 'There are ', $xp->find('queries/query')->size, " 'query' nodes.
+\n";
foreach my $element (qw/topN layer filter name datatype/) {
    print "$element: ",
        (
        join ', ',
        map { XML::XPath::XMLParser::as_string($_) =~ />([^<]*)</ }
            $xp->find("queries/query/$element")->get_nodelist
        ),
        "\n";
} ## end foreach my $element (qw/topN layer filter name datatype/)

query.xml
<?xml version='1.0'?>
<queries>
    <query>
        <name>topHosts 20</name>
        <layer>LINK 20</layer>
        <topN>20</topN>
        <datatype>topHosts 20</datatype>
        <filter></filter>
    </query>
    <query>
        <name>topHosts 120</name>
        <layer>LINK 120</layer>
        <topN>120</topN>
        <datatype>topHosts 120</datatype>
        <filter></filter>
    </query>
</queries>
[download]

Hi guys: I was trying this example but getting this error. syntax error at line 1.column 0.byte 0: query.xml ^ at C:/perl/lib/XML/Parser.pm line 187 Please help. Thanks.

Comment on xpath problem Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: xpath problem by Fletch (Bishop) on Mar 13, 2009 at 16:20 UTC
As a read of the XML::XPath documentation for the `new` method reveals (documentation explaining how to use things? Balderdash!), the `xml` argument is for passing literal XML which you want parsed. Your string `"query.xml"` is not XML, hence you get an error. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: xpath problem by toolic (Bishop) on Mar 13, 2009 at 16:21 UTC
This works for me: `my $xp = XML::XPath->new( filename => 'query.xml' ); ^^^^^^^^` [download]	[reply] [d/l]
Re: xpath problem by mirod (Canon) on Mar 13, 2009 at 17:35 UTC
As often said on this site, do not use XML::XPath, it is not maintained anymore. XML::LibXML is very similar to XML::XPath, except for the fact that it is faster, more powerful, and actively maintained. And of course, if you can't use XML::LibXML (because libxml2 is not installed/installable on your system(s)), there is always XML::Rules (hi jenda!) and even XML:Twig.	[reply]
Re: xpath problem by ramrod (Priest) on Mar 13, 2009 at 16:21 UTC
Also, it looks like you're using double quotes and need to add a \ in front of every /. For example `$xp->find("queries/query/$element")->get_nodelist` [download] should be more like `$xp->find("queries\/query\/$element")->get_nodelist` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]