xml - XPath: Get parent node from child node

Question

I need get the parent node for child node title 50

At the moment I am using only

//*[title="50"]

How could I get its parent? Result should be the store node.

---

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<d:data xmlns:d="defiant-namespace" d:mi="23">
    <store d:mi="22">
        <book price="12.99" d:price="Number" d:mi="4">
            <title d:constr="String" d:mi="1">Sword of Honour</title>
            <category d:constr="String" d:mi="2">fiction</category>
            <author d:constr="String" d:mi="3">Evelyn Waugh</author>
        </book>
        <book price="8.99" d:price="Number" d:mi="9">
            <title d:constr="String" d:mi="5">Moby Dick</title>
            <category d:constr="String" d:mi="6">fiction</category>
            <author d:constr="String" d:mi="7">Herman Melville</author>
            <isbn d:constr="String" d:mi="8">0-553-21311-3</isbn>
        </book>
        <book price="8.95" d:price="Number" d:mi="13">
            <title d:constr="String" d:mi="10">50</title>
            <category d:constr="String" d:mi="11">reference</category>
            <author d:constr="String" d:mi="12">Nigel Rees</author>
        </book>
        <book price="22.99" d:price="Number" d:mi="18">
            <title d:constr="String" d:mi="14">The Lord of the Rings</title>
            <category d:constr="String" d:mi="15">fiction</category>
            <author d:constr="String" d:mi="16">J. R. R. Tolkien</author>
            <isbn d:constr="String" d:mi="17">0-395-19395-8</isbn>
        </book>
        <bicycle price="19.95" d:price="Number" d:mi="21">
            <brand d:constr="String" d:mi="19">Cannondale</brand>
            <color d:constr="String" d:mi="20">red</color>
        </bicycle>
    </store>
</d:data>

Answer 1

Use the parent axes with the parent node's name.

//*[title="50"]/parent::store

This XPath will only select the parent node if it is a store.

But you can also use one of these

//*[title="50"]/parent::*
//*[title="50"]/..

These xpaths will select any parent node. So if the document changes you will always select a node, even if it is not the node you expect.

EDIT

What happens in the given example where the parent is a bicycle but the parent of the parent is a store?

Does it ascent?

No, it only selects the store if it is a parent of the node that matches //*[title="50"].

If not, is there a method to ascent in such cases and return None if there is no such parent?

Yes, you can use ancestor axes

//*[title="50"]/ancestor::store

This will select all ancestors of the node matching //*[title="50"] that are ` stores. E.g.

<data xmlns:d="defiant-namespace" d:mi="23">
    <store mi="1">
        <store mi="22">
            <book price="8.95" d:price="Number" d:mi="13">
                <title d:constr="String" d:mi="10">50</title>
                <category d:constr="String" d:mi="11">reference</category>
                <author d:constr="String" d:mi="12">Nigel Rees</author>
            </book>
        </store>
    </store>
</data>