> I think I want something like this (in English)...
>
> Select the first <default> node that is either a...
>    previous sibling of the current box,
>    or a child of an ancestor (that is not my direct parent) of the
> current box
>    as long as the matching node comes before the current box.
>


(preceding-sibling::default[1]    | 
..\preceding-sibling::default[1])[last()]


Cheers,
Dimitre Novatchev


"KW" <kevinw@a...> wrote in message 
news:1167777226.929900.7370@n......
> Let's say I have some XML like this...
>
> <section>
>  <default>
>    <width>100</width>
>    <height>200</height>
>  <default>
>  <group>
>    <box>Box1</box>
>    <box>Box2</box>
>  </group>
>  <group>
>    <default>
>      <width>500</width>
>      <height>300</height>
>    <default>
>    <box>Box3</box>
>    <box>Box4</box>
>  </group>
>  <default>
>    <width>800</width>
>    <height>700</height>
>  <default>
> </section>
>
> And, let's say when processing each box element, I want to use the most
> "relevant" default width and height when rendering the box in html. So,
> for Box1 and Box2, the most relevant would be the default settings just
> beneath the section element, but for Box3 and Box4, the most relevant
> would be  the default settings just prior to the box elements. The
> 800/700 values would actually not be used for any of the boxes in this
> example.
>
> I need an XPath expression to select the most relevant "default"
> element based on the context of the box currently being processed.
>
> I think I want something like this (in English)...
>
> Select the first <default> node that is either a...
>    previous sibling of the current box,
>    or a child of an ancestor (that is not my direct parent) of the
> current box
>    as long as the matching node comes before the current box.
>
> Basically, I want to let my developers specify default settings at any
> level, and then override default settings at lower levels, if
> necessary.
>
> I appreciate any help on this!
>
> Kevin
>