Hi Wendell,

>> > ancestor::*/@attr
[snip]
>>
>>I don't think so. The first in this case is the first in document order,
>>which isn't the nearest in the ancestor axis.
>
> Hm. About this, see XPath 2.4. ancestor is a reverse axis. I don't see 
> anything here that changes the order to document order.

You're absolutely right that the ancestor axis is a reverse axis.  If
you were using:

  ancestor::*[1]/@attr

you'd be fine (aside from the fact that you'd be stuffed if the node's
parent didn't have a 'attr' attribute). However, the last axis used in
the XPath is the 'attribute' axis, which takes you back to document
order again. To get the last one, use:

  ancestor::*/@attr[last()]

At least I *think* that's right ;)

Jeni

---
Jeni Tennison
http://www.jenitennison.com/



 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list