Question

Here is what I would like to do:

<x:forEach var="node" select="$doc//*[name()='item']">
    <x:out select="*[name()='${nodeName}']" />
</x:forEach>

I want to select an XML node based on the variable nodeName.

The above code does not work. The only solution I can come up with goes like this:

<x:forEach var="node" select="$doc//*[name()='item']/*">
    <c:set var="nameTest"><x:out select="name($node)" /></c:set>
    <c:if test="${nameTest == nodeName}>
        <x:out select="$node" />
    </c:if>
</x:forEach>

Which is not an elegant solution and actually makes me kind of angry to look at.

Anyone have any better ideas please?

And for extra fun times I am stuck using JSTL 1.0

Answer 1

Found the answer:

Using JSTL Data as XPath Variables

Scoped variables can be used in XPath expressions ($implicitObject:variableName) similar to how they are used in EL (${implicitObject.variableName}). If the implicit object is omitted, scopes will be searched in standard order. Note that the “.” and “[]” notations cannot be used for accessing bean properties.

from the JSTL Quick Reference Sheet (pdf)

So my code becomes:

<x:set var="theNode" select="*[name()=$pageScope:nodeName]" />
<x:out select="$theNode" />