4

I guess I could make some XSL stylesheet, then use it as a template with parameter option to evaluate XPath expression with Saxon XSLT processor on command line, like:

<xsl:template match="/">
  <xsl:copy-of select="saxon:evaluate($xpath-param)"/>
</xsl:template>

Also other possibility is to use their Java API: http://www.saxonica.com/documentation/xpath-api/intro.xml but I don't know Java

Is there any way to make Saxon evaluate XPath expression from command line?
Shell script would be sufficient, too, if possible

Update:
Browsing Saxon documentation, I found out about XPathExample sample. Unfortunately I can't make use of it

Improve this question

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
9

You can run Saxon (XQuery) from the command line. You can do this by pointing to a file that has the XPath/XQuery using -q or you can pass the query string directly using -qs.

Here's an example of using -qs to process a simple XPath:

input.xml

<a>
  <b id="x"/>
  <b id="z"/>
  <b id="x"/>
</a>

Saxon command line (I used Saxon9-HE to test with)

java -cp "saxon9he.jar" net.sf.saxon.Query -s:"input.xml" -qs:"/a/b[@id='x']" -o:"results.xml"

results.xml

<b id="x"/><b id="x"/>

Note: I could've made my output well-formed by changing the -qs to something like this: -qs:"<results>{/a/b[@id='x']}</results>".

For more command line options, look here: http://www.saxonica.com/html/documentation/using-xquery/commandline.html

Improve this answer
Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

OK, thanks. I just started to learn XML and needed easy XPath 2.0 processor. I didn't know I could use XQuery like that. saxon-xquery in /usr/bin/ which is shortcut of java -classpath /usr/share/java/saxonb.jar net.sf.saxon.Query "$@" can't execute above snippet parameters, but evoking literally (saxon9he.jar) like in your sample works fine.
1

Another option is to use XPath within a tool, such as oXygen. Its XPath Builder View is a very handy interface for building and testing XPath expressions. There is a Linux version of the tool, and it has built-in support for Saxon and other processors (Xerces, LIBXML, XSV, MSXML4.0, MSXML .NET and SQC.).

enter image description here

Improve this answer

4 Comments

Sure, but that's commercial java software, which also needs high end machine to be useful at all. For XPATH evaluation, locally or over HTTP, saxon or xmllint are more then enough, and can be integrated in any tool/editor user is comfortable with.
It is commercial s/w; so is Saxon. :-) Like Saxon, oXygen is very good commercial software, well worth every penny, esp if you do a variety of work with XML. No, you don't need a high end machine; my 2 year old laptop runs it just fine. It's a viable option given the OPs requirements; more choices is more better.
I don't think so. There are also various commercial and non commercial products that can do XPATH, or use already available processors to do the job. Oxygen is far from good suggestion: 1. It's designed to do more than just XPATH, and may confuse user that wants to do just that; 2. It requires at least good multicore CPU with lot of RAM to be usable; 3. you can buy yourself new PC for the money you pay to use XPATH processor from Java GUI, which you can do for free from terminal
I agree with James, Oxygen is a good option. It's not the best option for everyone, but it is a very good one for some people. Oxygen is quite cheap if you get the academic version and/or qualify for their outreach program (formerly "Support Life"). If it's not the best option for you, that's fine, but that doesn't diminish the value of James' answer.
1

As @DanielHaley says, using XQuery from the command line is a better bet. Providing XPath from the command line wouldn't be very useful because XPath offers no way to control the formatting of the output. XPath is a subset of XQuery, so you can use the XQuery interface to evaluate XPath expressions if you choose.

Note that the current version of open-source Saxon is Saxon-HE 9.4.0.2. You can find out which version you are using with the -t option on the command line. It sounds as if you might have found an old version (Saxon-B) bundled with your Linux distribution, and @prunge has pointed you to an even older version (Saxon 6.5) which only supports XSLT 1.0 and XPath 1.0.

UPDATE: As of January 2019, the current version of Saxon is 9.9.0.2

Improve this answer

2 Comments

Thanks for your input. Version is 9.0.0.4 - which is default on Ubuntu 11.04. I downloaded latest version from SourceForge after-which I executed XPath pattern successfully. I'll just uninstall Ubuntu version and make new handy shortcuts in /usr/bin/. I can't seem to find option to suppress XML Declaration from output, thou
Found out that output method can be used as parameter like this example: \!"method=text" in bash. In sh there is no need for backslash

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.