Re: Count all instances of a named element in a tree

Does anyone know an elegant solution to counting all elements in an XML
fragment where the elements to be counted are nested in a tree? An example
of the XML is below:

   <xmltree>
      <countmein>Node1</countmein>
      <nodes>
         <node>
            <countmein>Node2</countmein>
            <level>1</level>
            <nodes>
               <node>
                  <countmein>Node3</countmein>
                  <level>2</level>
                  <nodes>
                     <node>
                        <countmein>Node4</countmein>
                        <level>3</level>
                        <nodes/>
                    </node>
                 </nodes>
              </node>
              <node>
                 <countmein>Node5</countmein>
                 <level>2</level>
                 <nodes/>
              </node>
              <node>
                 <countmein>Node6</countmein>
                 <level>2</level>
                 <nodes/>
              </node>
           </nodes>
        </node>
        <node>
           <countmein>Node7</countmein>
           <level>1</level>
           <nodes>
              <node>
                 <countmein>Node8</countmein>
                 <level>2</level>
                 <nodes/>
              </node>
           </nodes>
        </node>
     </nodes>
   </xmltree>

The count in this case would be 8.

  count(/descendant::countmein)
--

	Martin Honnen
	http://msmvps.com/blogs/martin_honnen/