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xmlxpath

What is the difference between name() and local-name()?


I don't really understand the difference between the XPath functions name and local-name.

Could you give an example of a situation where they would differ?

Edit

Given this example:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
  <head></head>
</html>

I get the same result with these two queries: //*[local-name()="head"] and //*[name()="head"]. Why is that?


Solution

  • With the XML being

    <x:html xmlns:x="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"/>
    

    the stylesheet

    <xsl:stylesheet
      xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
      version="1.0">
      
      <xsl:output indent="yes"/>
      
      <xsl:template match="*">
        <local-name><xsl:value-of select="local-name()"/></local-name>
        <name><xsl:value-of select="name()"/></name>
      </xsl:template>
    
    </xsl:stylesheet>
    

    outputs

    <local-name>html</local-name>
    <name>x:html</name>
    

    So the local-name() result is without any prefix, the name() result might include a prefix.

    In your sample with a default namespace declaration no prefix is present, therefore name() and local-name() give the same result.