| javax.xml.xpath.XPathExpression | 
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. AnXPathExpressionExceptionis raised if the variable resolver is undefined or the resolver returnsnullfor 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. AnXPathExpressionExceptionis raised if the function resolver is undefined or the function resolver returnsnullfor 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. | 
| Public Methods | |||||||||||
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|  | Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the specified context and return the result as the specified type. | ||||||||||
|  | Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the context of the specified  | ||||||||||
|  | Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the context of the specified  | ||||||||||
|  | Evaluate the compiled XPath expression in the specified context and return the result as a  | ||||||||||
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 (node or node list, for example). | 
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| 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. | 
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| IllegalArgumentException | If returnTypeis not one of the types defined inXPathConstants. | 
| NullPointerException | If returnTypeisnull. | 
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 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 InputSourceof the document to evaluate over. | 
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String that is the result of evaluating the expression and converting the result to a String.| XPathExpressionException | If the expression cannot be evaluated. | 
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| NullPointerException | If sourceisnull. | 
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.
| source | The InputSourceof the document to evaluate over. | 
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| 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. | 
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| IllegalArgumentException | If returnTypeis not one of the types defined inXPathConstants. | 
| NullPointerException | If sourceorreturnTypeisnull. | 
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 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 (node or node list, for example). | 
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String that is the result of evaluating the expression and converting the result to a String.| XPathExpressionException | If the expression cannot be evaluated. | 
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