Using XPath Notebooks quick start guide

XPath Notebooks are used for a wide range of purposes, including:

• Quick analysis of XML or JSON

• Learning and experimenting with XPath

• Tutorials on XPath

• Tutorials on a specific XML or JSON format

Quick Start

For this guide, we're assuming you've already installed the XPath Notebook extension for VS Code.

1. Install Node.js

This tool uses a builtin SaxonJS XSLT processor from Saxonica. This processor requires a recent installation of Node.js.

2. Select an XML 'source' file

Open any XML (or JSON) source file in VS Code to set this as the context item for XPath expressions in an XPath Notebook. The most recent XML/JSON file opened is used.

3. Create and save a new XPath Notebook

From Visual Studio Code, open the Command Palette (⇧⌘P) and execute the New XPath Notebook command.

An untitled notebook with a Markdown cell and a Code cell will be shown, initially the file is untitled with a .xbook file extension. Save this notebook in the usual way (⌘S), keeping the .xbook extension.

In the 1.65 VS Code release, an empty XPath notebook is created in addition to a XPath notebook with a pre-populated Mardown cell (the API for creating new notebooks is not fully resolved yet).

4. Edit and execute a new code cell

To add a new XPath code cell, press the + Code button at the top of the notebook. In the new code cell, enter the /* XPath expression, then press (Enter) to execute the cell.

The result cell is shown immediately below the Code cell.