Free Online XPath Evaluator

What is an XPath Evaluator?

An XPath Evaluator is a tool that allows you to query and extract specific data from XML documents using XPath (XML Path Language). XPath is a powerful query language designed to navigate XML documents and select nodes or node sets based on a variety of criteria. The evaluator executes these queries and returns matching elements, attributes, or values from the XML.

How XPath Evaluation Works

XPath evaluation operates by parsing both the XML document and the XPath expression, then retrieving matching nodes. The process involves:

1. Parsing the XML document to create a Document Object Model (DOM)
2. Compiling the XPath expression into an executable form
3. Evaluating the expression against the document tree
4. Collecting matching nodes from the document
5. Returning results in the requested format (node-set, text, boolean, or number)

This allows precise extraction of data from complex XML structures without having to manually traverse the document. XPath can select nodes based on element names, attribute values, position, and complex conditions.

Key Features of Our XPath Evaluator

• Support for XPath 1.0 and 2.0 expressions
• Real-time evaluation and results display
• Highlighting of matching nodes in the document
• Multiple result formats (nodes, values, count)
• Detailed error reporting for invalid expressions
• Client-side processing (your data never leaves your browser)
• Support for namespaces in XML documents
• Works with large XML documents

Common Use Cases

• Extracting specific data points from XML APIs
• Navigating complex XML configuration files
• Testing XPath expressions for XSLT transformations
• Data extraction for reporting from XML data sources
• Debugging XML processing pipelines
• Selective data retrieval from large XML documents
• Automated testing of XML outputs
• Learning XPath syntax interactively

Essential XPath Syntax

XPath uses path expressions to select nodes or node-sets in an XML document. Here are some fundamental XPath expressions:

• /root/element - Selects "element" children of the root node
• //element - Selects all "element" nodes regardless of position
• element[@attribute='value'] - Selects elements with specific attribute values
• parent/child[1] - Selects the first child of parent
• * - Selects all element children of current node
• @* - Selects all attributes of current node
• element[contains(text(),'value')] - Selects elements containing specific text

<library>
  <book category="fiction">
    <title>The Great Gatsby</title>
    <author>F. Scott Fitzgerald</author>
    <year>1925</year>
  </book>
  <book category="non-fiction">
    <title>A Brief History of Time</title>
    <author>Stephen Hawking</author>
    <year>1988</year>
  </book>
</library>

//book[@category='fiction']/title/text()

The Great Gatsby