[XML-SIG] default namespace prefixes in xpath's processorNss

[Uche Ogbuji]

> 
> I did a little more poking about with respect to my question of how to pass a 
> defalut namespace value to the XPath evaluation via processorNss [1]. I 
> didn't find any documentation or code that indicated there was a way 
> (maybe I'm still missing it.) I also wondered whether such a think is 
> even supposed to be possible;

It is not.  Unlike some other specs, XPath forbids the application of default 
namespace to unqualified names in expressions.


> XPath says the context includes, "The 
> namespace declarations consist of a mapping from prefixes to 
> namespace URIs." [2] I presume a legitimate mapping includes the 
> null prefix for the default namespace?

No.  I'll look up the precise passage when I have a moment, but in 
implementing XPath, I and the other XPath developers made ourselves very clear 
aboout the prescriptions of XPath 1.0 in this regard.

Why do you think you need to apply the default namespace within XPath 
expressions?


-- 
Uche Ogbuji                               Principal Consultant
uche.ogbuji@fourthought.com               +1 720 320 2046
Fourthought, Inc.                         http://Fourthought.com 
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