net.sf.saxon.xpath

Class XPathEvaluator

public class XPathEvaluator extends Object implements XPath

XPathEvaluator provides a simple API for standalone XPath processing (that is, executing XPath expressions in the absence of an XSLT stylesheet). It is an implementation of the JAXP 1.3 XPath interface, with additional methods provided (a) for backwards compatibility (b) to give extra control over the XPath evaluation, and (c) to support XPath 2.0.

Author: Michael H. Kay

Constructor Summary
XPathEvaluator()
Default constructor.
XPathEvaluator(Configuration config)
Construct an XPathEvaluator with a specified configuration.
XPathEvaluator(Source source)
Construct an XPathEvaluator to process a particular source document.
Method Summary
XPathExpressioncompile(String expr)
Compile an XPath 2.0 expression
XPathExpressionImplcreateExpression(String expression)
Prepare an XPath expression for subsequent evaluation.
Listevaluate(String expression)
Prepare and execute an XPath expression, supplied as a string, and returning the results as a List.
Objectevaluate(String expr, Object node, QName qName)
Single-shot method to compile and execute an XPath 2.0 expression.
Stringevaluate(String expr, Object node)
Single-shot method to compile an execute an XPath 2.0 expression, returning the result as a string.
Objectevaluate(String expr, InputSource inputSource, QName qName)
Single-shot method to parse and build a source document, and compile an execute an XPath 2.0 expression, against that document
Stringevaluate(String expr, InputSource inputSource)
Single-shot method to parse and build a source document, and compile an execute an XPath 2.0 expression, against that document, returning the result as a string
ObjectevaluateSingle(String expression)
Prepare and execute an XPath expression, supplied as a string, and returning the first item in the result.
NamespaceContextgetNamespaceContext()
Get the namespace context, if one has been set using
StandaloneContextgetStaticContext()
Get the current static context
XPathFunctionResolvergetXPathFunctionResolver()
Get the resolver for XPath functions
XPathVariableResolvergetXPathVariableResolver()
Get the resolver for XPath variables
voidimportSchema(Source source)
Import a schema.
booleanisBackwardsCompatible()
Get the value of XPath 1.0 compatibility mode
static voidmain(String[] args)
A simple command-line interface for the XPathEvaluator (not documented).
voidreset()
voidsetBackwardsCompatible(boolean compatible)
Set XPath 1.0 compatibility mode on or off (by default, it is false)
voidsetContextNode(NodeInfo node)
Set the context node.
voidsetNamespaceContext(NamespaceContext namespaceContext)
Set the namespace context to be used.
NodeInfosetSource(Source source)
Supply the document against which XPath expressions are to be executed.
voidsetStaticContext(StandaloneContext context)
Set the static context for compiling XPath expressions.
voidsetStripSpace(boolean strip)
Indicate whether all whitespace text nodes in the source document are to be removed.
voidsetXPathFunctionResolver(XPathFunctionResolver xPathFunctionResolver)
Set the resolver for XPath functions
voidsetXPathVariableResolver(XPathVariableResolver xPathVariableResolver)
Set the resolver for XPath variables

Constructor Detail

XPathEvaluator

public XPathEvaluator()
Default constructor. Creates an XPathEvaluator with a default configuration and name pool. The default Configuration is not schema-aware.

XPathEvaluator

public XPathEvaluator(Configuration config)
Construct an XPathEvaluator with a specified configuration.

Parameters: config the configuration to be used. If schema-aware XPath expressions are to be used, this must be a SchemaAwareConfiguration.

XPathEvaluator

public XPathEvaluator(Source source)
Construct an XPathEvaluator to process a particular source document. This is equivalent to using the default constructor and immediately calling setSource().

Parameters: source The source document (or a specific node within it).

Method Detail

compile

public XPathExpression compile(String expr)
Compile an XPath 2.0 expression

Parameters: expr the XPath 2.0 expression to be compiled, as a string

Returns: the compiled form of the expression

Throws: XPathExpressionException if there are any static errors in the expression. Note that references to undeclared variables are not treated as static errors, because variables are not pre-declared using this API.

createExpression

public XPathExpressionImpl createExpression(String expression)
Prepare an XPath expression for subsequent evaluation.

Parameters: expression The XPath expression to be evaluated, supplied as a string.

Returns: an XPathExpression object representing the prepared expression

Throws: net.sf.saxon.trans.XPathException if the syntax of the expression is wrong, or if it references namespaces, variables, or functions that have not been declared.

evaluate

public List evaluate(String expression)
Prepare and execute an XPath expression, supplied as a string, and returning the results as a List.

Parameters: expression The XPath expression to be evaluated, supplied as a string.

Returns: The results of the expression, as a List. The List represents the sequence of items returned by the expression. Each item in the list will either be an object representing a node, or a Java object representing an atomic value. The types of Java object that may be included in the list, and the XML Schema data types that they correspond to, are as follows:

evaluate

public Object evaluate(String expr, Object node, QName qName)
Single-shot method to compile and execute an XPath 2.0 expression.

Parameters: expr The XPath 2.0 expression to be compiled and executed node The context node for evaluation of the expression qName The type of result required. For details, see XPathExpressionImpl

Returns: the result of evaluating the expression, returned as described in XPathExpressionImpl

Throws: XPathExpressionException if any static or dynamic error occurs in evaluating the expression.

evaluate

public String evaluate(String expr, Object node)
Single-shot method to compile an execute an XPath 2.0 expression, returning the result as a string.

Parameters: expr The XPath 2.0 expression to be compiled and executed node The context node for evaluation of the expression

Returns: the result of evaluating the expression, converted to a string as if by calling the XPath string() function

Throws: XPathExpressionException if any static or dynamic error occurs in evaluating the expression.

evaluate

public Object evaluate(String expr, InputSource inputSource, QName qName)
Single-shot method to parse and build a source document, and compile an execute an XPath 2.0 expression, against that document

Parameters: expr The XPath 2.0 expression to be compiled and executed inputSource The source document: this will be parsed and built into a tree, and the XPath expression will be executed with the root node of the tree as the context node qName The type of result required. For details, see XPathExpressionImpl

Returns: the result of evaluating the expression, returned as described in XPathExpressionImpl

Throws: XPathExpressionException if any static or dynamic error occurs in evaluating the expression.

evaluate

public String evaluate(String expr, InputSource inputSource)
Single-shot method to parse and build a source document, and compile an execute an XPath 2.0 expression, against that document, returning the result as a string

Parameters: expr The XPath 2.0 expression to be compiled and executed inputSource The source document: this will be parsed and built into a tree, and the XPath expression will be executed with the root node of the tree as the context node

Returns: the result of evaluating the expression, converted to a string as if by calling the XPath string() function

Throws: XPathExpressionException if any static or dynamic error occurs in evaluating the expression.

evaluateSingle

public Object evaluateSingle(String expression)
Prepare and execute an XPath expression, supplied as a string, and returning the first item in the result. This is useful where it is known that the expression will only return a singleton value (for example, a single node, or a boolean).

Parameters: expression The XPath expression to be evaluated, supplied as a string.

Returns: The first item in the sequence returned by the expression. If the expression returns an empty sequence, this method returns null. Otherwise, it returns the first item in the result sequence, represented as a Java object using the same mapping as for the evaluate() method

getNamespaceContext

public NamespaceContext getNamespaceContext()
Get the namespace context, if one has been set using XPathEvaluator

Returns: the namespace context if set, or null otherwise

getStaticContext

public StandaloneContext getStaticContext()
Get the current static context

getXPathFunctionResolver

public XPathFunctionResolver getXPathFunctionResolver()
Get the resolver for XPath functions

Returns: the resolver, if one has been set

getXPathVariableResolver

public XPathVariableResolver getXPathVariableResolver()
Get the resolver for XPath variables

Returns: the resolver, if one has been set

importSchema

public void importSchema(Source source)
Import a schema. This is possible only if the schema-aware version of Saxon is being used, and if the Configuration is a SchemaAwareConfiguration. Having imported a schema, the types defined in that schema become part of the static context.

Parameters: source A Source object identifying the schema document to be loaded

Throws: net.sf.saxon.type.SchemaException if the schema contained in this document is invalid UnsupportedOperationException if the configuration is not schema-aware

isBackwardsCompatible

public boolean isBackwardsCompatible()
Get the value of XPath 1.0 compatibility mode

Returns: true if XPath 1.0 compatibility mode is set

main

public static void main(String[] args)
A simple command-line interface for the XPathEvaluator (not documented). First parameter is the filename containing the source document, second parameter is the XPath expression.

reset

public void reset()

setBackwardsCompatible

public void setBackwardsCompatible(boolean compatible)
Set XPath 1.0 compatibility mode on or off (by default, it is false)

Parameters: compatible true if XPath 1.0 compatibility mode is to be set to true, false if it is to be set to false.

setContextNode

public void setContextNode(NodeInfo node)
Set the context node. This provides the context node for any expressions executed after this method is called, including expressions that were prepared before it was called.

Parameters: node The node to be used as the context node. This must be a node within the context document (the document supplied using the setSource() method).

Throws: NullPointerException if the argument is null IllegalArgumentException if the supplied node is not a node in the context document

setNamespaceContext

public void setNamespaceContext(NamespaceContext namespaceContext)
Set the namespace context to be used. This supplements any namespaces declared directly using declareNamespace on the staticContext object

Parameters: namespaceContext The namespace context

setSource

public NodeInfo setSource(Source source)
Supply the document against which XPath expressions are to be executed. This method must be called before preparing or executing an XPath expression. Setting a new source document clears all the namespaces that have been declared.

Parameters: source Any javax.xml.transform.Source object representing the document against which XPath expressions will be executed. Note that a Saxon DocumentInfo (indeed any NodeInfo) can be used as a Source. To use a third-party DOM Document as a source, create an instance of javax.xml.transform.dom.DOMSource DOMSource to wrap it.

The Source object supplied also determines the initial setting of the context item. In most cases the context node will be the root of the supplied document; however, if a NodeInfo or DOMSource is supplied it can be any node in the document.

Returns: the NodeInfo of the start node in the resulting document object.

setStaticContext

public void setStaticContext(StandaloneContext context)
Set the static context for compiling XPath expressions. This provides control over the environment in which the expression is compiled, for example it allows namespace prefixes to be declared, variables to be bound and functions to be defined. For most purposes, the static context can be defined by providing and tailoring an instance of the StandaloneContext class. Until this method is called, a default static context is used, in which no namespaces are defined other than the standard ones (xml, xslt, and saxon), and no variables or functions (other than the core XPath functions) are available.

setStripSpace

public void setStripSpace(boolean strip)
Indicate whether all whitespace text nodes in the source document are to be removed. This option has no effect unless it is called before the call on setSource(), and unless the Source supplied to setSource() is a SAXSource or StreamSource.

Parameters: strip True if all whitespace text nodes are to be stripped from the source document, false otherwise. The default if the method is not called is false.

setXPathFunctionResolver

public void setXPathFunctionResolver(XPathFunctionResolver xPathFunctionResolver)
Set the resolver for XPath functions

Parameters: xPathFunctionResolver

setXPathVariableResolver

public void setXPathVariableResolver(XPathVariableResolver xPathVariableResolver)
Set the resolver for XPath variables

Parameters: xPathVariableResolver