As advised by Peter, Below is an example (including the ddl and dml statements), it _drops_ and creates a table called "simple_table" and a sequence called "simple_table_seq" both in the "public" schema. DROP SEQUENCE IF EXISTS simple_table_seq CASCADE; CREATE SEQUENCE simple_table_seq; DROP TABLE IF EXISTS simple_table CASCADE; CREATE TABLE simple_table (id INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT NEXTVAL('simple_table_seq') ,xml_payload TEXT ,PRIMARY KEY(id) ) ; INSERT INTO simple_table ( id ,xml_payload ) SELECT nextval('simple_table_seq')AS id ,'<doc><name first="David" last="Marston"/>some text</doc>' AS xml_payload ; SELECT a.id,a.xml_payload FROM simple_table a LIMIT 1; SELECT xpath('/doc/name/@first',SELECT a.xml_payload FROM simple_table a LIMIT 1); SELECT a.id,xpath('/doc/name/@first',a.xml_payload) FROM simple_table a LIMIT 1; SELECT xpath('/doc/name/@first','<doc><name first="David" last="Marston"/>some text</doc>'); DROP SEQUENCE IF EXISTS simple_table_seq CASCADE; DROP TABLE IF EXISTS simple_table CASCADE; Allan. On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 11:34 AM, Otandeka Simon Peter <sotandeka@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Allan, > > Postgres is very strict on variable types and char conversion. I have a > feeling you are trying to access data from a varchar feild using an > integer... > > Can you paste here your schema for that table? > > P. > > On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 11:06 AM, Allan Kamau <kamauallan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> >> Hi, >> I am running postgreSQL-8.4.2. I have a table that stores a single xml >> document per row in one of it's fields. I would like to use xpath to >> retrieve portions of these xml documents. >> Is there a way to do so. (I am running postgreSQL 8.4.2 configured >> (built) with --with-libxml and --with-libxslt options) >> >> I have looked at 'xpath' but I am unable to get it work for table fields. >> >> The command below works. >> SELECT xpath('/doc/name/@first','<doc><name first="David" >> last="Marston"/>...</doc>'); >> >> The command below seems not to execute successfully >> SELECT a.id,xpath('/doc/name/@first',a.xml_payload) FROM >> staging.simple_table a WHERE a.id=1; >> >> HINT: No function matches the given name and argument types. You >> might need to add explicit type casts. >> >> >> Allan. >> >> -- >> Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) >> To make changes to your subscription: >> http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general > > -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general