Re: [xml-dev] XPath challenge: can you simplify this XPath expression?

[Rick Jelliffe <rjelliffe@allette.com.au>]

Costello, Roger L. wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> I created an XPath expression and I am wondering if it can be simplified.
>   
No problems with the request, but a comment on the possible motivation.

Terseness is curseness for diagnostics: being able to combine 
constraints into a single expression (and then simplifying it) comes 
with a loss of specificity in the messages. It may be tedious to 
separate out constraints, but if you want constraints bundled together 
in way that reduces the chances of effective diagnostics (i.e. you are 
only interested in pass/fail) the grammars are pretty good at that.

Cheers
Rick Jelliffe