Practical PostgreSQL

LXP Variables and Objects

A variable is a modifiable value in memory that is accessed through an associated name. This name is used to identify, and subsequently utilize in some fashion, the value that it represents. The specific use varies based on the LXP tag employed.

LXP also implements a special type of data structure called an object. An LXP object is typically used to identify several associated variable values through a common name. The particular value you wish to address in an LXP object is identified either by a trailing subscript (a numeric or text value, in square brackets, such as example[0]) or a dot-notated trailing identifier (such as for.count).

The concept of an LXP object is similar to the programmatic concept of arrays and objects in traditional programming languages, though LXP objects are generally much simpler in their nature. In practice, the only difference between variables and objects is syntactic, having to do with how values are identified. Variables are identified with a plain name (e.g., my_value), while objects are identified by a name and a secondary identifier (e.g., my_value[0], my_value[1], my_value.size).

From a programmer’s perspective, variables and objects are considered global, meaning that once set, they are available anywhere in a document. Included documents will also have access to the variables which are set in memory.

Naming Conventions

The valid characters with which you may define an LXP variable’s name are:

• Any letter (a–z, A–Z)

• Any digit ...