This AS2.0 XPath Library allows ActionScript developers to use XPath within their Flash projects. You can easily retrieve XML nodes, Strings or Number with the simple XPath syntax.

• The original version from XFactor Studio is available here XPath4AS2.zip
• An updated version of the library that compiles with the -strict switch of mtasc is available here xpath4as2-strict.zip
• An updated version of the mtasc-strict-compliant library, including a fix for the translate command, is available here xpath4as2-strict-translate.zip

Here is a usage example with the following XML, Products.xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<products>
	<product SKU="7123734">
		<name>Big Metal Pot</name>
		<price>19.95</price>
	</product>
	<product SKU="752585">
		<name>Plate</name>
		<price>12.95</price>
	</product>
	<product SKU="4182476">
		<name>Spoon</name>
		<price>4.95</price>
	</product>
	<product SKU="9909813">
		<name>Coffee Machine</name>
		<price>234.20</price>
		<garantie>3 ans</garantie>
	</product>
	<produit SKU="1309384">
		<nom>Céréales</nom>
		<prix>3.95</prix>
		<validité>12.10.05</validité>
	</produit>
</products>

The following AS2 class easily retrieves all the data and puts it in Arrays:

import com.dynamicflash.utils.Delegate;
import com.xfactorstudio.xml.xpath.XPath;
 
/**
 * An example of loading and parsing data from an XML file using XPath
 * 
 * @description	The goal of this example is to show how to use a couple
 * <br />of the methods of the XPath4AS2 library.
 * <br /><br />
 * You need to create the com.dynamicflash.utils.Delegate class file 
 * <br />available here: http://dynamicflash.com/classes/Delegate.as
 * 
 * @version 1.1 (Last modified: 2005/08/30)
 */
class ch.interfasys.test.XPath4AS2Tester {
 
	private static var xmlLoader:XPath4AS2Tester;
	
	private var _stage:MovieClip;	/* The stage. Will be _root in this example */
	private var _products:Array;	/* The names holder */
	private var _prices:Array;	/* The prices holder */
	private var _sku:Array;		/* The SKU holder */
	private var _xmlURL:String;	/* The source of the XML feed */
	private var _myXML:XML;		/* The loader */
 
	/**
	 * Constructor
	 */
	private function XPath4AS2Tester(theStage:MovieClip) {
		this._stage = theStage;
		this._products = new Array();
		this._prices = new Array();
		this._sku = new Array();
		this._myXML = new XML();
		this._xmlURL = "Products.xml";
 
		// Assigns this load method to the XML.onLoad method
		this._myXML.onLoad = Delegate.create(this, this.load);
		
		this.createDisplay();
			
		this._myXML.load(this._xmlURL);
	}
 
 	/**
	 * Creates the textfield that will display the results
	 */
	private function createDisplay():Void {
		this._stage.createTextField("_info_tf", 1, 0, 0, 600, 600);
		this._stage._info_tf.selectable = false;
		this._stage._info_tf.text = "Loading XML";
	}
	
 	/**
	 * Deals with the answer from the XML Loader
	 *
	 * @param	success	result of our attempt to load an XML
	 */
	private function load(success:Boolean):Void {
		// Checks if we received something and if it's a valid XML file
		if (success && this._myXML.xmlDecl != undefined) {
			this._stage._info_tf.text = "XML OK";
			this.parser();
		} else {
			this._stage._info_tf.text = "XML Problem "+success+", "+this._myXML.xmlDecl;
		}
	}
	
	/**
	 * Parses the data loaded from the XML
	 */
	private function parser():Void {
		// All products
		this._products = XPath.selectNodesAsString(this._myXML, "//name/text() | //nom/text()");
		// All the SKUs
		this._sku = XPath.selectNodes(this._myXML, "//product/@SKU | //produit/@SKU");
		// All the prices
		this._prices = XPath.selectNodesAsNumber(this._myXML, "//price/ | //prix/");
		
		this.display();
	}
	
	/**
	 * Displays the loaded data on Stage
	 */
	private function display():Void {
		this._stage._info_tf.text += "\nResults\n------";
		for (var i:Number = 0; i < this._products.length; i++) {
			this._stage._info_tf.text += "\nName: "+this._products[i]+"  (SKU:"+this._sku[i]+"), Price: "+this._prices[i];
		}
		/**
		//Alternatives loop if you want to get one type of element
		for (var i:Number = 0; i < this._prices.length; i++) {
			this._stage._info_tf.text += "\n"+this._prices[i];
		}
		for (var i:Number = 0; i < this._sku.length; i++) {
			this._stage._info_tf.text += "\n"+this._sku[i].nodeValue;
			
		}
		*/
		this._stage._info_tf.text += "\n------\nEOF";
	}
		
	/**
	 * Main function that initializes the stage for the application and
	 * <br />loads an instance of the Xpath Testing application.
	 *
	 * @param	stage	the main stage of the application
	 */
	public static function main():Void {
		// Loads the application
		xmlLoader = new XPath4AS2Tester(_root);
	}
}

It’s advised to type the full XPath when dealing with large data or the parsing may be very slow.

Those paths can replace the existing ones in the parser() method.

// All english products
this._products = XPath.selectNodesAsString(this._myXML, "//name/text()");
// All the SKUs for english products
this._sku = XPath.selectNodes(this._myXML, "//product/@SKU");
// All the prices for english products
this._prices = XPath.selectNodesAsNumber(this._myXML, "//price/number()");
		
// All english products which have a price higher than 5
this._products = XPath.selectNodesAsString(this._myXML, "//product[./price > 5]/name/text()");
// All english products starting from No3
this._products = XPath.selectNodes(this._myXML, "//product[position()>=3]");
// The last product
this._products = XPath.selectNodesAsString(this._myXML, "//product[last()]/name/text()");
// Select the nodes that have three children
this._products = XPath.selectNodesAsString(this._myXML, "//*[count(*)=3]");
// Some test showing the children
this._products = XPath.selectNodes(this._myXML, "//product/descendant::*");
// Shows all the french products that have a warranty
this._products = XPath.selectNodes(this._myXML, "//garantie/parent::*");
// Select the Nodes named prix
this._products = XPath.selectNodesAsString(this._myXML, "//*[name() = \"prix\"]");
// Select the Nodes that start with a p
this._products = XPath.selectNodesAsString(this._myXML, "//*[starts-with(name(), \"p\")]");
// Select the Nodes that contain the letters pro
this._products = XPath.selectNodesAsString(this._myXML, "//*[contains(name(), \"pro\")]");
// Select the Nodes that contain the letters pro and is case-insensitive
this._prices = XPath.selectNodes(this._myXML, "//*[contains(translate(name(),'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ','abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'),'pro')]");
		
//Creates an XMLNode with the ceiling of the prices
this._prices = XPath.selectNodes(this._myXML, "ceiling(//price)");