RE: [xml-dev] "self" axis for an attribute context node

> I thought that the following XPath steps are equivanent:
> 
> something[name()='lalala']
> something[self::lalala]
> 
> However, it isn't so.
  <snip/>
> Why does it so?

A NameTest used in a step of a path expression selects nodes of the
principal node kind for the axis used in that step. The principal node kind
for the self axis is "element". A well-known gotcha (well-known to those who
know it, anyway). In 2.0 you can write self::attribute(lalala).

Michael Kay
http://www.saxonica.com/