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phpnulldomxpath

DOMXPath $html->query('//p[@class="myclass"]/a')->item(0); not working

DOMXPath $html->query('//p[@class="myclass"]/a')->item(0); is not working.

Here is the HTML:

<p class="username">
<img src="http://static1.tryal.com/img/b.gif" onclick="lalalaa()" class="a12s_iYblt4hN_DkIt_GoiyOtu8 opsi" />
<b>
<a href="/about"><b>Lalala.</b></a>
</b>
</p>


$name = $html->query('//p[@class="username"]/a')->item(0)->nodeValue; 
//This doesn't return the name "Lalala.";

$name = $html->query('//p[@class="username"]')->item(0)->nodeValue; 
//This works just fine.

Why isn't this tree working? Am I typing it wrong?

Thank you very much in advance.

Solution

  • The xpath you have specified didn't provide any result (or an result with no elements to be precise). You can fix that by not letting the b element slip through:

    $name = $html->query('//p[@class="username"]/b/a')->item(0)->nodeValue; 
                                            ^^^

    or by not making a a direct/immediate child from p but somewhere deeper as well (descendant of, double slash // in xpath):

    $name = $html->query('//p[@class="username"]//a')->item(0)->nodeValue; 
                                            ^^