XSL Concepts and Practical Use: Transformations

Pattern Syntax

The XPath pattern syntax is described formally in the XPath specification. Here we're going to look at the syntax in abstract, but less formal terms:

An XPath pattern is a 'location path', a location path is absolute if it begins with a slash ("/") and relative otherwise
A relative location path consists of a series of steps, separated by slashes
A step is an axis specifier, a node test, and a predicate

The formal syntax is made more complicated by the fact that it must describe both the abbreviated and unabbreviated syntaxes