Combining XPath text() Results for JavaScript Manipulation

Описание: Learn how to merge multiple `text()` values from XPath queries in JavaScript to produce cleaner outputs and manage content more effectively.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/68562699/ asked by the user '0brine' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/10637110/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/68563193/ provided by the user 'Martin Honnen' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/252228/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Combining XPath text() Results in JavaScript

When working with XPath in JavaScript, you might encounter situations where you want to combine multiple text() nodes from an element to form a single string. For instance, consider the following HTML structure:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Here, the text content is split into two parts due to the <br> tag. If you try to retrieve them using XPath like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

You’ll receive two separate values that don’t join together neatly. Instead, what you need is a way to merge these results into a single, readable format. Let's explore how to do this effectively.

Solution: Merging XPath Results

To achieve our goal of combining these text nodes into one coherent string, there are a couple of methods we can use in JavaScript.

Method 1: Using textContent

The simplest way to get the combined text from an element is to select the h2 element itself and then read out its textContent property.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Explanation:

textContent: This property returns all the text content of the node and its descendants, effectively merging them into a single string.

In the above example, it would output:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Method 2: Using XPath Expression with string()

Another approach is to utilize an XPath expression that directly retrieves the string representation of the node. This can be done using the following code:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Explanation:

XPath string(): This function converts the node and its text content into a single string value.

By changing the XPath expression, we further simplify how we gather the desired content.

Conclusion

In conclusion, successfully merging multiple text nodes retrieved through XPath in JavaScript can be efficiently done either by using the textContent property of an HTML element or by employing the string() function in an XPath expression. Both methods will yield the desired result, allowing you to handle and manipulate text content much more effectively in your web applications.

Feel free to apply these techniques in your next JavaScript project, and let us know how they work for you!