namespace prefixes and Xpath/XSLT

>From: "Watson, John" <JWatson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: "'XSL-List@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <XSL-List@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: namespace prefixes and Xpath/XSLT
>Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2003 09:23:00 +0100



>Can anyone help me with this?  I am investigating the experimental DOM3
>XPath interface as implemented in Xalan-J 2.4.1, and how this plays with
>namespaces.
>
>If I have this document:
> 
><?xml version = "1.0"?>
><foo:a xmlns:foo = "urn:foo" xmlns = "urn:foo">
>   <b><c/></b>
></foo:a>
> 
>And I initialise the XPath Namespace (using XPathNSResolver) from the root
>element, so it is aware of foo and the default namespace,  the following
>XPath pattern finds a match:
> 
>/a/b/c
> 
>whereas any patterns containing namespace prefixes such as
> 
>/foo:a/foo:b/foo:c
> 
>or
> 
>/foo:a/b/c
> 
>do not find a match. This is the reverse of what I would have expected.
>Does this surprise anyone, or have I misunderstood namespaces anf how they
>are intended to work with XPath?  Or is it a Xalan bug? (incidentally, I
>seem to get the same behaviour using the proprietary XPathAPI interface.)
> 
>If, on the other hand, I use XPath expressions within match expressions in
>XSLT template rules, behaviour is that I always need to use the namespace
>prefix in the expression (even though I may have defined a default namespace
>in the sheet).  i.e. the reverse of the raw DOM XPath behaviour.  My
>understanding is that this is correct XSLT 1.0 behaviour, but may change in
>XSLT 2.0.  Is this correct?
> 
>Thanks in advance for any help!
> 
>John Watson
>
>
>**************************************************************************
>Satellite Information Services Limited Registered Office:
>17 Corsham Street London N1 6DR, Company No. 4243307
>
>The information in this e-mail (which includes any files
>transmitted with it) is confidential and may also be legally
>privileged.  It is intended for the addressee only.  Access to
>this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorised.  It is not to be
>relied upon by any person other than the addressee except
>with prior written approval of an authorised representative of
>SIS.  If no such approval is given, SIS will not accept any
>liability (in negligence or otherwise) arising from any third
>party acting, or refraining from acting, on such information. 
>
>Unauthorised recipients are required to maintain confidentiality.
>If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the
>sender immediately, destroy any copies and delete it from your
>computer system.
>**************************************************************************


-- 
======================================================================
B. Tommie Usdin                        mailto:btusdin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com   
17 West Jefferson Street                           Phone: 301/315-9631
Suite 207                                    Direct Line: 301/315-9634
Rockville, MD  20850                                 Fax: 301/315-8285
----------------------------------------------------------------------
  Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in SGML and XML              
======================================================================

 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list