XQuery issue when counting empty nodes and nodes that don't have a specific text (ne)

Question

I want to count all the r elements that don't have the text "unspecified" within them.

<!-- test.xml -->
<e>
<r/>
<r/>
<r>hi</r>
<r>there</r>
<r>you</r>
<r>all</r>
<r>unspecified</r>
<r>unspecified</r>
</e>

I am employing the following XQuery:

let $r_nodes := count(doc('test.xml')//r[text() ne 'unspecified'])
return
  $r_nodes

The $r_nodes variable gives me 4 not 6 as I was expecting,

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 01 '16 at 21:18

2

You are trying to compare the effective string value of the text nodes (hence text()). Any empty element will not have a text node. So instead your query should look like:

let $r_nodes := count(doc('test.xml')//r[text() ne 'unspecified'])
return
  $r_nodes

In this way you compare the effective string value of the r element and not it's text nodes.

answered Apr 01 '16 at 21:18

adamretter

3,885
2
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Thanks for the editing, so how can I get 6 instead of 4? – richardtk_1 Apr 01 '16 at 21:27
See my answer! That will give you `6`. – adamretter Apr 01 '16 at 21:45
1

I think using string() instead of text() ??? , I tested it and that seems to solve my problem. – richardtk_1 Apr 01 '16 at 22:43

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 02 '16 at 02:33

1

You can use string() or even more compact, . instead of text() to correctly consider element that doesn't contain any text node :

let $r_nodes := count(doc('test.xml')//r[. ne 'unspecified'])
return
  $r_nodes

answered Apr 02 '16 at 02:33

har07

88,338
12
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137

XQuery issue when counting empty nodes and nodes that don't have a specific text (ne)

2 Answers2