XmlNode::SelectSingleNode Method (String^, XmlNamespaceManager^)

 

Selects the first XmlNode that matches the XPath expression. Any prefixes found in the XPath expression are resolved using the supplied XmlNamespaceManager.

Namespace:   System.Xml
Assembly:  System.Xml (in System.Xml.dll)

public:
XmlNode^ SelectSingleNode(
	String^ xpath,
	XmlNamespaceManager^ nsmgr
)

Parameters

xpath
Type: System::String^

The XPath expression. See XPath Examples.

nsmgr
Type: System.Xml::XmlNamespaceManager^

An XmlNamespaceManager to use for resolving namespaces for prefixes in the XPath expression.

Return Value

Type: System.Xml::XmlNode^

The first XmlNode that matches the XPath query or null if no matching node is found.

Exception Condition
XPathException

The XPath expression contains a prefix which is not defined in the XmlNamespaceManager.

XPath expressions can include namespaces. Namespace resolution is supported using the XmlNamespaceManager. If the XPath expression includes a prefix, the prefix and namespace URI pair must be added to the XmlNamespaceManager.

System_CAPS_noteNote

If the XPath expression does not include a prefix, it is assumed that the namespace URI is the empty namespace. If your XML includes a default namespace, you must still add a prefix and namespace URI to the XmlNamespaceManager; otherwise, you will not get a node selected. For more information, see Select Nodes Using XPath Navigation.

For example, if you had the following XML:

<bookstore xmlns="http://www.lucernepublishing.com">
 <book>
   <title>Pride And Prejudice</title>
 </book>
</bookstore>

The following C# code selects the first book node:

XmlNamespaceManager nsmgr = new XmlNamespaceManager(doc.NameTable);
nsmgr.AddNamespace("ab", "http://www.lucernepublishing.com");
XmlNode book = doc.SelectSingleNode("//ab:book", nsmgr);
System_CAPS_noteNote

A common issue when formulating XPath expressions is how to include a single quote (') or double quote (") in the expression. If you have to search for a value that includes a single quote, you must enclose the string in double quotes. If you need to search for a value that includes a double quote, you must enclose the string in single quotes.

For example, suppose you have the following XML:

<bookstore xmlns="http://www.lucernepublishing.com">
  <book>
    <title>&apos;Emma&apos;</title>
  </book>
</bookstore>

The following Visual Basic code selects an element that contains single quotes:

Dim nsmgr As XmlNamespaceManager = New XmlNamespaceManager(doc.NameTable)
nsmgr.AddNamespace("ab", "http://www.lucernepublishing.com")
book = root.SelectSingleNode("descendant::ab:book[ab:title=""'Emma'""]", nsmgr)

This method is a Microsoft extension to the Document Object Model (DOM).

The following example selects the book with the matching ISBN value.

#using <System.Xml.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
using namespace System::Xml;
int main()
{
   XmlDocument^ doc = gcnew XmlDocument;
   doc->Load( "booksort.xml" );

   //Create an XmlNamespaceManager for resolving namespaces.
   XmlNamespaceManager^ nsmgr = gcnew XmlNamespaceManager( doc->NameTable );
   nsmgr->AddNamespace( "bk", "urn:samples" );

   //Select the book node with the matching attribute value.
   XmlNode^ book;
   XmlElement^ root = doc->DocumentElement;
   book = root->SelectSingleNode( "descendant::book->Item[@bk:ISBN='1-861001-57-6']", nsmgr );
   Console::WriteLine( book->OuterXml );
}

The example uses the file, booksort.xml, as input.


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- A fragment of a book store inventory database -->
<bookstore xmlns:bk="urn:samples">
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1997" bk:ISBN="1-861001-57-8">
    <title>Pride And Prejudice</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Jane</first-name>
      <last-name>Austen</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>24.95</price>
  </book>
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1992" bk:ISBN="1-861002-30-1">
    <title>The Handmaid's Tale</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Margaret</first-name>
      <last-name>Atwood</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>29.95</price>
  </book>
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1991" bk:ISBN="1-861001-57-6">
    <title>Emma</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Jane</first-name>
      <last-name>Austen</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>19.95</price>
  </book>
  <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1982" bk:ISBN="1-861001-45-3">
    <title>Sense and Sensibility</title>
    <author>
      <first-name>Jane</first-name>
      <last-name>Austen</last-name>
    </author>
    <price>19.95</price>
  </book>
</bookstore>

.NET Framework
Available since 1.1
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