Re: the nearest ancestor with the attribute

ancestor::*[@attr]
  gets you the ancestors with the 'attr' attribute, from nearest to furthest

ancestor::*[@attr][1]
  gets you the first of these

ancestor::*/@attr
  gets you the attribute nodes themselves (from nearest to furthest)
  this is often good enough, because if (for example), you ask for the
  value of this node set, you'll get the value of the first one (the nearest)

ancestor::*/@attr[normalize-space(.)]
  gets you the same set, only excluding all attributes from the list
  that have no value or a whitespace-only value

the trick is, however, that
ancestor::*/@attr[1]
  won't get the nearest attr attribute, but the whole set
  this is because [position()=1] will test true for any attribute
  (won't it?)

if you want to filter the nodes so only the attribute on the nearest ancestor
with the attribute is returned, you have to do

Hope that helps!
Wendell

How could I get the nearest ancestor with a certain attribute, say "attr"?

Thanks,
Guai

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Wendell Piez                            mailto:wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
17 West Jefferson Street                    Direct Phone: 301/315-9635
Suite 207                                          Phone: 301/315-9631
Rockville, MD  20850                                 Fax: 301/315-8285
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