Using [not] in xpath to retrieve content that does not match given values (PLSQL)

Question

I'm trying to use the following code to filter out xml return tags that do not contain a given status code:

l_xml_return := (xmltype(l_xml_response).extract('//return[not(issueStatusId=84388)]|
                                                                      //return[not(issueStatusId=73630)]|
                                                                      //return[not(issueStatusId=67539)]|
                                                                      //return[not(issueStatusId=42527)]|
                                                                      //return[not(issueStatusId=22702)]|
                                                                      //return[not(issueStatusId=20643)]|
                                                                      //return[not(issueStatusId=4368)]|
                                                                      //return[not(issueStatusId=4363)]|
                                                                      //return[not(issueStatusId=4364)]
                                                                     ').getclobval());

My xml is comprised of the following:

<results>
  <return>
    <issueStatusId>84388</issueStatusId>
    <name>Test 1</name>
  </return>
  <return>
    <issueStatusId>4364</issueStatusId>
    <name>Test 2</name>
  </return>
  <return>
    <issueStatusId>999999</issueStatusId>
    <name>Test 3</name>
  </return>
</results>

With this xml code and xpath statement, only the return tag with an issue status of 999999 should be returned however this is not the case.

Does anyone know why this is?

Cheers,

Jezzipin

paul trmbrth · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-28 14:39:07Z

2

From XPath 1.0 specs

The | operator computes the union of its operands, which must be node-sets.

Whereas you need the intersection of these multiple //return[not(...)]

You can use and on multiple not() conditions as a predicate

//return[
    not(issueStatusId=84388) and
    not(issueStatusId=73630) and
    not(issueStatusId=67539) and
    not(issueStatusId=42527) and
    not(issueStatusId=22702) and
    not(issueStatusId=20643) and
    not(issueStatusId=4368) and
    not(issueStatusId=4363) and
    not(issueStatusId=4364)]

Or equivalently:

//return[
    not(
        issueStatusId=84388 or
        issueStatusId=73630 or
        issueStatusId=67539 or
        issueStatusId=42527 or
        issueStatusId=22702 or
        issueStatusId=20643 or
        issueStatusId=4368 or
        issueStatusId=4363 or
        issueStatusId=4364
        )
    ]

edited Aug 28, 2013 at 14:39

answered Aug 28, 2013 at 14:33

paul trmbrth

20.8k4 gold badges56 silver badges67 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Arup Rakshit Over a year ago

+1 for last one.. :)

jezzipin Over a year ago

Great thanks. The last one was what I need. Sadly W3CSCHOOLS information on XPATH is a bit lacking and I don't really use XML all the much so wasn't sure if there was an or operator or not.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Using [not] in xpath to retrieve content that does not match given values (PLSQL)

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related