XPathExpression
provides access to compiled XPath expressions.
Evaluation of XPath Expressions. | |
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context | If a request is made to evaluate the expression in the absence of a context item, an empty document node will be used for the context. For the purposes of evaluating XPath expressions, a DocumentFragment is treated like a Document node. |
variables |
If the expression contains a variable reference, its value will be found through the XPathVariableResolver .
An XPathExpressionException is raised if the variable resolver is undefined or
the resolver returns null for the variable.
The value of a variable must be immutable through the course of any single evaluation.
|
functions |
If the expression contains a function reference, the function will be found through the XPathFunctionResolver .
An XPathExpressionException is raised if the function resolver is undefined or
the function resolver returns null for the function.
|
QNames | QNames in the expression are resolved against the XPath namespace context. |
result |
This result of evaluating an expression is converted to an instance of the desired return type.
Valid return types are defined in XPathConstants .
Conversion to the return type follows XPath conversion rules.
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Public Method Summary
abstract String | |
abstract String |
evaluate(InputSource source)
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the context of the specified |
abstract Object |
evaluate(InputSource source, QName returnType)
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the context of the specified |
abstract Object |
Public Methods
public abstract String evaluate (Object item)
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the specified context and return the result as a String
.
This method calls evaluate(Object, QName)
with a returnType
of
XPathConstants.STRING
.
See Evaluation of XPath Expressions for context item evaluation, variable, function and QName resolution and return type conversion.
If a null
value is provided for
item
, an empty document will be used for the
context.
Parameters
item | The starting context (node or node list, for example). |
---|
Returns
- The
String
that is the result of evaluating the expression and converting the result to aString
.
Throws
XPathExpressionException | If the expression cannot be evaluated. |
---|
public abstract String evaluate (InputSource source)
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the context of the specified InputSource
and return the result as a
String
.
This method calls evaluate(InputSource, QName)
with a returnType
of
XPathConstants.STRING
.
See Evaluation of XPath Expressions for context item evaluation, variable, function and QName resolution and return type conversion.
If source
is null
, then a NullPointerException
is thrown.
Parameters
source | The InputSource of the document to evaluate over. |
---|
Returns
- The
String
that is the result of evaluating the expression and converting the result to aString
.
Throws
XPathExpressionException | If the expression cannot be evaluated. |
---|---|
NullPointerException | If source is null .
|
public abstract Object evaluate (InputSource source, QName returnType)
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the context of the specified InputSource
and return the result as the
specified type.
This method builds a data model for the InputSource
and calls
evaluate(Object, QName)
on the resulting document object.
See Evaluation of XPath Expressions for context item evaluation, variable, function and QName resolution and return type conversion.
If returnType
is not one of the types defined in XPathConstants
,
then an IllegalArgumentException
is thrown.
If source
or returnType
is null
,
then a NullPointerException
is thrown.
Parameters
source | The InputSource of the document to evaluate over. |
---|---|
returnType | The desired return type. |
Returns
- The
Object
that is the result of evaluating the expression and converting the result toreturnType
.
Throws
XPathExpressionException | If the expression cannot be evaluated. |
---|---|
IllegalArgumentException | If returnType is not one of the types defined in XPathConstants . |
NullPointerException | If source or returnType is null .
|
public abstract Object evaluate (Object item, QName returnType)
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the specified context and return the result as the specified type.
See Evaluation of XPath Expressions for context item evaluation, variable, function and QName resolution and return type conversion.
If returnType
is not one of the types defined in XPathConstants
,
then an IllegalArgumentException
is thrown.
If a null
value is provided for
item
, an empty document will be used for the
context.
If returnType
is null
, then a NullPointerException
is thrown.
Parameters
item | The starting context (node or node list, for example). |
---|---|
returnType | The desired return type. |
Returns
- The
Object
that is the result of evaluating the expression and converting the result toreturnType
.
Throws
XPathExpressionException | If the expression cannot be evaluated. |
---|---|
IllegalArgumentException | If returnType is not one of the types defined in XPathConstants . |
NullPointerException | If returnType is null .
|