XSLT and XPATH: A Guide to XML Transformations

4.2. Abbreviations

Throughout the preceding sections, we have touched upon various abbreviations used for XPath axes, names, and functions. The most common is the abbreviation, by way of omission, for the child:: axis. That abbreviation, of course, is simply an absence. The presence of a node name, such as an element-type name, indicates the child axis by default.

Another fairly “minimalist” abbreviation is that for the self:: axis. This derives directly from UNIX directory syntax and is simply “.” a period by itself.

Not surprisingly, then, the common referent for the parent directory in UNIX is also seen as the abbreviation for the parent:: axis in XPath location expressions: “..” two periods.

The descendant:: axis can be abbreviated with //. ...