"J" <jason.jones@s...> wrote in message
news:1157068267.861452.252640@m......
> Has anyone seen something like this before?
>
> I am using MSXML 4 with VB6.  I have XML similar in structure to:
>
> <xml>
> <a>
>   ...
>   <b>
>     ...
>     <c>
>       ...
>       <d>1234</d>
>     </c>
>   </b>
> </a>
> <a>
>   ...
> </a>
> ...
> </xml>
>
> And attempt to select a node with an XPath query of the form (I'll call
> it 'form 1'):
> "a/b[c/d='1234']"
>
> When the xml has been freshly loaded into the DOMDocument40 (from disk)
> this query executes fine. However, when certain processes, which remove
> nodes and replace them with exactly the same structure, but slightly
> different values (ie, "...<d>5678</d>..."), are performed first, the
> query (form 1, with updated values) returns without finding a node.
>
> A reasonable workaround has been found, by simply changing the XPath
> query to what I will call 'form 2':
> "a/b[c/d[text()='5678']]"
>
> I am aware of the semantic differences of the two forms- that is, I
> presume that I know all of them: I know that the text() function will
> refer to the textnode(s?) that is an immediate child of the current
> context (in this case, the 'd' element), while the other (form1) will
> be a combination of the textnodes of the current context, and
> (recursively) all its child elements.
> These differences should not be an issue with the XML in question,
> because the 'd' node will never have anything more than a single
> textnode (no elements) child.
>
> So I am looking for the reason that these two XPath forms are behaving
> differently.  Because this behavior has been found in one situation in
> a large enterprise application, I need to know if there is going to be
> risk of failure in the large number of other 'Form 1' XPath queries.
>
> Unfortunately, I have been unable to reproduce the behavior on a
> smaller scale (the a/b/c/d example, for instance), and there is an
> overwhelming amount of code (the 'certain processes' mentioned above)
> that could be creating the MSXML state that causes Form1 to fail.
>
> So I am looking for brainstorms.  Perhaps this will ring a bell with
> someone with more experience with MSXML than I have.
>
> Has anyone seen anything similar before?
>
> Thanks,
>

Can you post some VB6 code for a repro?

> J
>