using selectNodes, How can i ... 1

[trentj]

Hi
example
<root>
<node id=&quot;1&quot; action='delete'/>
<node id=&quot;2&quot; action='update'/>
<node id=&quot;3&quot; />
<node id=&quot;4&quot; />
</root>
How can I select the nodes that don't have action='delete' attribute.

I can use
.selectNodes(&quot;/root/node[@action!value() != 'delete']&quot;

or even

.selectNodes(&quot;/root/node[@action != 'delete']&quot;

But these two only return nodes that actually have the action attribute, even if it's action=&quot;&quot;

So basically I need to select nodes that &quot;don't have an attribute of action&quot;. then I can add an 'or action != delete'.

I don't know if it can be done at all
Any suggestions or workarounds would be appriciated please
Thanks

Trentj

 

[chmohan]

why dont u use childnodes and loop through them and select only those who dont have attribute action=delete

 

[trentj]

because i still don't know how to test if an attribute exists on the node + there are other children that I am not concerned about eg
<root>
<node id=&quot;1&quot; action='delete'/>
<node id=&quot;2&quot; action='update'/>
<node id=&quot;3&quot; />
<node id=&quot;4&quot; />
<diff_node id=&quot;1&quot;/>
<diff_node id=&quot;2&quot;/>
</root>

you may suspect I ma newish to xml

Thanks

 

[trentj]

because i still don't know how to test if an attribute exists on the node + there are other children that I am not concerned about eg
<root>
<node id=&quot;1&quot; action='delete'/>
<node id=&quot;2&quot; action='update'/>
<node id=&quot;3&quot; />
<node id=&quot;4&quot; />
<diff_node id=&quot;1&quot;/>
<diff_node id=&quot;2&quot;/>
</root>

you may suspect I am newish to xml

Thanks

 

[palbano]

//node[not(@action) or @action=&quot;delete&quot;]

-pete

 

[trentj]

Thanks very much palbano, this works perfect for what i need, using node[not(@action) or not(@action='delete')]

You da Man

Trent