# Working with namespaces in Velocity

> Three ways to reach a namespaced XML element: addNamespace, an XPath prefix, or XPath local-name() for hidden namespaces.

URL: https://www.hannonhill.com/cascadecms/latest/articles/developing-in-cascade/script-formats/working-with-namespaces-in-velocity.html
category: Developing in Cascade
article-type: how-to
content-kind: faq
release-availability: all
tags: velocity
updated: 2026-10-06

Consider this sample XML:

```xml
<info xmlns:d="https://www.hannonhill.com">
   <d:Title>Hannon Hill - Cascade CMS</d:Title>
</info>
```

There are three ways to access the `<d:Title>` element from a Velocity Format.

## Using addNamespace

```velocity
#set ($dNs = $contentRoot.addNamespace("d", "https://www.hannonhill.com"))
#set ($title = $contentRoot.getChild("Title", $dNs).value)
<h2>$title</h2>
```

The `addNamespace` method on `$contentRoot` saves a reference to a namespace object, which you then pass as a second parameter to `getChild`.

## Using the XPath Tool with a prefix

```velocity
#set ($title = $_XPathTool.selectSingleNode($contentRoot, "d:Title").value)
<h2>$title</h2>
```

This uses the [XPath Tool](https://www.hannonhill.com/cascadecms/latest/articles/developing-in-cascade/script-formats/velocity-tools.html#XPathTool) to select the node directly.

## Using local-name()

```velocity
#set ($title = $_XPathTool.selectSingleNode($contentRoot, "//node()[local-name() = 'Title']").value)
<h2>$title</h2>
```

Similar to the previous method, but especially useful for XML documents or RSS feeds containing hidden namespaces. XPath's `local-name()` function ignores namespaces entirely and treats elements as if they're in the default namespace.