public interface XPathExpression
XPathExpression provides access to compiled XPath expressions.
| Evaluation of XPath Expressions. | |
|---|---|
| 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.
|
An XPath expression is not thread-safe and not reentrant.
In other words, it is the application's responsibility to make
sure that one XPathExpression object is not used from
more than one thread at any given time, and while the evaluate
method is invoked, applications may not recursively call
the evaluate method.
| Modifier and Type | Method | Description |
|---|---|---|
String |
evaluate (InputSource source) |
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the context of the specified
InputSource and return the result as a
String. |
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. |
String |
evaluate (Object item) |
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the specified context and return the result as a
String. |
Object |
evaluate (Object item,
QName returnType) |
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the specified context and return the result as the specified type.
|
Object evaluate(Object item, QName returnType) throws XPathExpressionException
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.
item - The starting context (a node, for example).returnType - The desired return type.Object that is the result of evaluating the expression and converting the result to
returnType.XPathExpressionException - If the expression cannot be evaluated.IllegalArgumentException - If returnType is not one of the types defined in XPathConstants.NullPointerException - If returnType is null.String evaluate(Object item) throws XPathExpressionException
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the specified context and return the result as a String.
This method calls evaluate(Object item, QName returnType) 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.
item - The starting context (a node, for example).String that is the result of evaluating the expression and converting the result to a
String.XPathExpressionException - If the expression cannot be evaluated.Object evaluate(InputSource source, QName returnType) throws XPathExpressionException
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 item, QName returnType) 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.
source - The InputSource of the document to evaluate over.returnType - The desired return type.Object that is the result of evaluating the expression and converting the result to
returnType.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.String evaluate(InputSource source) throws XPathExpressionException
Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the context of the specified InputSource and return the result as a
String.
This method calls evaluate(InputSource source, QName returnType) 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.
source - The InputSource of the document to evaluate over.String that is the result of evaluating the expression and converting the result to a
String.XPathExpressionException - If the expression cannot be evaluated.NullPointerException - If source is null. Submit a bug or feature
For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java SE Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.
Copyright © 1993, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms. Also see the documentation redistribution policy.
Scripting on this page tracks web page traffic, but does not change the content in any way.