| Those //@.}* Abbreviations XPath allows you to use abbreviations to write the axis part of a location step. These shortcuts enable you to write XPath expressions more quickly, but they can also be confusing until you learn the clipped syntax. The ones to memorize appear in Table 18-1. Table 18-1: XPath Abbreviations | Axis | Abbreviation | | child:: | Doesnt need to be explicitly defined, so you can leave it off. | | attribute:: | @ | | self::node() | . (single period) | | parent::node() | .. (double period) | | /descendant-or-self::node()/ | // | For more information on axes, see Chapter 5. |