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Difference between preceding::foo[1] and (preceding::foo)[1]
- To: "'xsl-list at lists dot mulberrytech dot com'" <xsl-list at lists dot mulberrytech dot com>
- Subject: [xsl] Difference between preceding::foo[1] and (preceding::foo)[1]
- From: "Zwetselaar M. van (Marco)" <Marco dot van dot Zwetselaar at nl dot fortis dot com>
- Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 15:12:06 +0200
- Reply-To: xsl-list at lists dot mulberrytech dot com
Could someone shed some light on the following statement from Section
3.3 of the XPath 1.0 specification: "The Predicate [on an expression
that is not a location path] filters the node-set with respect to
the child axis"?
The spec gives the following example (to warn against surprises):
"NOTE: The meaning of a Predicate depends crucially on which axis
applies. For example, preceding::foo[1] returns the first foo element
in reverse document order, because the axis that applies to the [1]
predicate is the preceding axis; by contrast, (preceding::foo)[1]
returns the first foo element in document order, because the axis that
applies to the [1] predicate is the child axis."
Now, I understand the syntactic difference between preceding::foo[1] and
(preceding::foo)[1]. In the first expression, the predicate is part of
a location path, whereas in the second it is applied to an expression.
The fact that these two expressions select different nodes is also clear
to me. What I don't understand is how the predicate could apply to a
CHILD axis. WHOSE child axis?
I mean, the expression preceding::foo will select a node-set. Is this
node-set anyone's child, and if so, whose then?
Regards,
Marco
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