Question

85

How to use document.evaluate() and XPath to get a list of elements?

rated 0 times [ 86] [ 1] / answers: 1 / hits: 48913 / 8 Years ago, wed, march 30, 2016, 12:00:00

I'm using the document.evaluate() JavaScript method to get an element pointed to by an XPath expression:

var element = document.evaluate(

  path,

  document,

  null,

  XPathResult.FIRST_ORDERED_NODE_TYPE,

  null

).singleNodeValue;

But how do I get a list of elements in case the XPath expression points to more than one element on the page?

I tried the following code, but it is not working:

var element = document.evaluate(

  path,

  document,

  null,

  XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_ITERATOR_TYPE,

  null

);

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cody

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2 Years ago

answered 8 Years ago deonkalvinw · Accepted Answer

I found the following solution in the book I am currently reading. It says that the code is from the Prototype library.

function getElementsByXPath(xpath, parent)

{

    let results = [];

    let query = document.evaluate(xpath, parent || document,

        null, XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE, null);

    for (let i = 0, length = query.snapshotLength; i < length; ++i) {

        results.push(query.snapshotItem(i));

    }

    return results;

}

Use it like this:

let items = getElementsByXPath(//*); // return all elements on the page