Supported XPath expressions

The following Backus Naur Form (BNF) diagram describes the subset of XPath expressions that you can use in XML Output.

path                ::= ['/'] (element_spec '/')* end_segment
end_segment         ::= element_spec['/text()'] | '@' attribute
element_spec        ::= element '[ 'attr_value ( 'and' attr_value )*' ]'
attr_value          ::= '@' attribute '=' '"'value'"'

You have the following options for creating XPath expressions and table definitions:

• Using the XML Meta Data Importer, generate the XPath expressions from an XML schema that you want the XML output to comply with.
• Modify the generated XPath expressions to handle specific operating scenarios.
• Hand-code XPath expressions. This option is suited for advanced users.

For more information about using the XML Meta Data Importer, see Using the XML meta data importer.