• Chapter 1: Getting Started with Stylus Studio
• Chapter 2: Editing and Querying XML
• Chapter 3: Converting Non-XML Files to XML
• Chapter 4: Working with XSLT
• Chapter 5: Creating XSLT Using the XSLT Mapper
• Chapter 6: Debugging Stylesheets
• Chapter 7: Defining XML Schemas
• Chapter 8: Defining Document Type Definitions
• Chapter 9: Writing XPath Expressions
  • About the XPath Processor
  • Sample Data for Examples and Testing
  • Getting Started with Queries
  • Specifying the Nodes to Evaluate
  • Handling Strings and Text
  • Specifying Boolean Expressions and Functions
  • Specifying Number Operations and Functions
  • Comparing Values
  • Finding a Particular Node
  • Obtaining a Union
  • Obtaining Information About a Node or a Node Set
  • Using XPath Expressions in Stylesheets
  • Accessing Other Documents During Query Execution
  • XPath Quick Reference
• Chapter 10: Working with XQuery in Stylus Studio
• Chapter 11: Composing Web Service Calls
• Chapter 12: Accessing Relational Data as XML
• Chapter 13: Extending Stylus Studio
• Chapter 14: Stylus Studio Reference

Home > Online Product Documentation > Table of Contents > Determining the Position Number of a Node

Determining the Position Number of a Node

The position() function returns an integer that indicates the position of the node within the parent. Positions start with 1; a node with a position of 1 is always the first node in the collection.

For example, the following query returns the first three degree elements in the document:

(//degree)[position() < 4] 
               

            

The next query finds the first two book children in the current context:

book[position() <= 2] 
               

            

The XPath processor executes the position() function with respect to the parent node. Consider the following data:

<x>
               

              

                
<y/>
                   
<y/>
                   

                
              
</x>
               
<x>
               

              

                
<y/>
                   
<y/>
                   

                
              
</x> 
               

            

The following expression returns the first y element contained in each x element:

x/y[position() = 1] 
               

            

For more information, see also Finding an Element with a Particular ID.