The answer to all your questions is yes.

http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath#node-tests


Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> 
>   a while back, i read somewhere (can't remember where, darn it)
> an explanation of node tests that cleared up a minor confusion
> i've had for a while.  to recap first...
> 
>   the "node()" test selects all nodes on the relevant axis,
> the default being the child axis.  therefore, the kinds of 
> nodes that will be selected based on the axis will be:
> 
> child::node() -- element, text, comment, processing-instruction
> attribute::node() -- attribute nodes only
> namespace::node() -- namespace nodes only
> 
> so far, so good.
> 
>   but, WRT abbreviations, it's always explained that "*"
> (again short for child::*, right?) will select elements.
> unless it's used in conjunction with the attribute axis,
> at which point either attribute::* or @* will select just
> attribute nodes.  same for the namespace axis.
> 
>   so what exactly does "*" mean?  a while back, i read
> that "*" doesn't mean "element" so much as it does "the
> primary node type along that axis", which for the child
> axis is an element node, for the attribute axis is the
> attribute node, etc.
> 
>   once i read this, it made perfect sense.  did i read
> that correctly?  is that how one should interpret the
> "*" node test?
> 
> rday
> 
> 
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