NAME

XML::XPath::Simple - Very simple interface for XPaths

SYNOPSIS

  use XML::XPath::Simple;
  
  $xp = new XML::XPath::Simple(
                                                                xml => $xml,
                                                                context => '/'
                                                                );
  $content = $xp->valueof('/doc/c[2]/d[1]@id');

DESCRIPTION

XML::XPath::Simple is designed to allow for the use of simple Abbreviated XPath syntax to access values from a small XML document. This module is not meant as a drop-in replacement for XML::XPath, and doesn't support the entire W3C XPath Recommendation. This module is meant as an easy and simple way to access XML data from small, non-complex structures.

XML::XPath::Simple doesn't support documents that have elements containing mixed content (text and tags), nor does it allow for the walking of the tree structure, or the counting of elements. While this module allows access to specific nodes using the position() function, internally the module doesn't necessarially parse the XML structure in any specific order, so position() calls may not return the value expected.

METHODS

Creation

  $xp = new XML::XPath::Simple(
                                                                xml => $xml,
                                                                context => '/'
                                                                );

new Creates a new XML::XPath::Simple object. The constructor requires an XML document be passed to it as text using the xml option. An optional default context may be set using context but if no context is specified it is set to '/'(root).

context()

  $xp->context('/doc/a');
  $mycont = $xp->context();

context allows for the retrieval of the currently set context as an XPath expression, or for setting a new default context.

find()

  $xp->find('/doc/a');

find looks for the node specified by the XPath expression provided. This method returns true if the node exists, and false otherwise.

valueof()

  $myval = $xp->valueof('/doc/a');

valueof returns the value stored in the node specified by the XPath expression provided.

DIAGNOSTICS

XML::XPath::Simple -- No XML to parse: This module requires an XML string.

(F) The module was not provided an XML document to parse.

AUTHOR

S.D. Campbell, whytwolf@spots.ab.ca

SEE ALSO

perl(1), XML::XPath, XML::Simple.

LICENSE

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.