XPath starts-with

Last modified: March 9, 2026

Overview

The starts-with() function tests whether a string attribute starts with a specific string as a sub-string.

String comparisons in XPath constraints are generally case-insensitive, but this can depend on the collation setting for some databases. See Case-Sensitive Database Behavior for more information.

Syntax

The syntax is as follows:

starts-with ( attribute, string_expression )

attribute

attribute specifies the attribute to test. It must be of the String type.

expression

string_expression specifies the value to test for being at the start of the attribute. It should be a string literal or a string parameter.

If the attribute is an empty value or NULL, the function will always return false, independent of the value of string_expression.

If the string_expression is empty, it is treated as an empty string. The function is then equivalent to attribute != empty.

Example

This query returns all the customers from which the name starts with the string "Jans":

        [starts-with(Name, 'Jans')]

        //Sales.Customer[starts-with(Name, 'Jans')]

Customers with the name "Jansen" will be returned, for example, because the name starts with "Jans."