How to get xpath from an XmlNode instance

Question

Could someone supply some code that would get the xpath of a System.Xml.XmlNode instance?

Thanks!

Answer 1

My 10p worth is a hybrid of Robert and Corey's answers. I can only claim credit for the actual typing of the extra lines of code.

    private static string GetXPathToNode(XmlNode node)
    {
        if (node.NodeType == XmlNodeType.Attribute)
        {
            // attributes have an OwnerElement, not a ParentNode; also they have
            // to be matched by name, not found by position
            return String.Format(
                "{0}/@{1}",
                GetXPathToNode(((XmlAttribute)node).OwnerElement),
                node.Name
                );
        }
        if (node.ParentNode == null)
        {
            // the only node with no parent is the root node, which has no path
            return "";
        }
        //get the index
        int iIndex = 1;
        XmlNode xnIndex = node;
        while (xnIndex.PreviousSibling != null) { iIndex++; xnIndex = xnIndex.PreviousSibling; }
        // the path to a node is the path to its parent, plus "/node()[n]", where 
        // n is its position among its siblings.
        return String.Format(
            "{0}/node()[{1}]",
            GetXPathToNode(node.ParentNode),
            iIndex
            );
    }