Re: [Tclxml-users] XPath usage in tcldom

[Steve B. <Ste...@zv...>]

Derek Fountain wrote:
> I notice from recent posts to this list that tcldom has some xpath support - 
> selectNode and createNode. I've started to rely on these as they make my 
> scripts much easier to write, and I'm at the point of ripping out all my DOM 
> walking code and replacing it with selectNode calls.
> 
> Before I do this I ought to check: since these calls are non standard, what 
> is the prospect for their future? Will they get replaced with something else, 
> or can I assume they'll be available on all forthcoming tclxml versions for 
> the foreseeable future?

Well, I rely on XPath too so I'm pretty keen on making
sure it continues to be supported.

DOM Level 3 includes interfaces for XPath, so the standard
itself will support XPath.  Of course, bridging the gap
between DOM and XPath's data models is not trivial so it's
not all smooth sailing.

As with all non-standard extensions, the syntax introduced
in DOM Level 3 may not (will not) match the selectNode/createNode
methods (btw, at least L3 has the notion of static node lists
so we don't have to worry about live lists).  The usual
response to that is to keep the original syntax, deprecate it
but maintain the extension syntax for the forseeable future.

HTHs,
Steve Ball

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