javax.xml.xpath
Class XPathFactory

java.lang.Object
  javax.xml.xpath.XPathFactory

public abstract class XPathFactory
extends Object

An XPathFactory instance can be used to create XPath objects. XPathFactory provides instances of XPaths.

See newInstance(String uri) for lookup mechanism.

Since:

1.5

Field Summary
static  String	DEFAULT_OBJECT_MODEL_URI           Default Object Model URI.
static  String	DEFAULT_PROPERTY_NAME           The default property name according to the JAXP spec.

Method Summary
abstract  boolean	getFeature ( String           Get the state of the named feature.
static  XPathFactory	newInstance ()           Get a new XPathFactory instance using the default object model.
abstract  boolean	isObjectModelSupported ( String           Is specified object model supported by this XPathFactory?
static  XPathFactory	newInstance ()           Get a new XPathFactory instance using the default object model, DEFAULT_OBJECT_MODEL_URI
static  XPathFactory	newInstance ( String  uri)           Get a new XPathFactory instance using the specified object model.
abstract   XPath	newXPath ()           Return a new XPath using the underlying object model determined when the XPathFactory was instantiated.
abstract  void	setFeature ( String           Set a feature for this XPathFactory and XPaths created by this factory.
abstract  void	setXPathFunctionResolver ( XPathFunctionResolver           Establish a default function resolver.
abstract  void	setXPathVariableResolver ( XPathVariableResolver           Establish a default variable resolver.

Field Detail

DEFAULT_PROPERTY_NAME

public static final StringDEFAULT_PROPERTY_NAME 

The default property name according to the JAXP spec.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

DEFAULT_OBJECT_MODEL_URI

public static final StringDEFAULT_OBJECT_MODEL_URI 

Default Object Model URI.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

XPathFactory

protected XPathFactory()

Protected constructor as newInstance() or newInstance(String uri) should be used to create a new instance of an XPathFactory.

newInstance

public static final XPathFactory newInstance() ()
 throws XPathFactoryConfigurationException

Get a new XPathFactory instance using the default object model, DEFAULT_OBJECT_MODEL_URI , the W3C DOM. model.

This method is functionally equivalent to:

 newInstance(DEFAULT_OBJECT_MODEL_URI)
 

Since the implementation for the W3C DOM is always available, this method will never fail.

Returns:

Instance of an XPathFactory. New instance of an XPathFactory.

Throws:

XPathFactoryConfigurationException - If the default object model is unavailable.

newInstance

public static final XPathFactory newInstance(String uri)
                                      throws XPathFactoryConfigurationException

Get a new XPathFactory instance using the specified object model.

To find a XPathFactory object, this method looks the following places in the following order where "the class loader" refers to the context class loader: A NullPointerException is thrown if uri is null.

1. If the system property DEFAULT_PROPERTY_NAME
2. ${java.home}/lib/jaxp.properties is read and the value associated with the key being the system property above is looked for. If present, the value is processed just like above.
3. The class loader is asked for service provider provider-configuration files matching javax.xml.xpath.XPathFactory in the resource directory META-INF/services. See the JAR File Specification for file format and parsing rules. Each potential service provider is required to implement the method:

   isObjectModelSupported(String objectModel)

   The first service provider found in class loader order that supports the specified object model is returned.
4. Platform default XPathFactory is located in a platform specific way. There must be a platform default XPathFactory for the W3C DOM, i.e. DEFAULT_OBJECT_MODEL_URI

If everything fails, an XPathFactoryConfigurationException will be thrown.

Tip for Trouble-shooting:

See Properties.load(java.io.InputStream) for exactly how a property file is parsed. In particular, colons ':' need to be escaped in a property file, so make sure the URIs are properly escaped in it. For example:

 http\://java.sun.com/jaxp/xpath/dom=org.acme.DomXPathFactory
 

Parameters:

uri - Identifies the underlying object model. The specification only defines the URI DEFAULT_OBJECT_MODEL_URI , http://java.sun.com/jaxp/xpath/dom for the W3C DOM, the org.w3c.dom package, and implementations are free to introduce other URIs for other object models.

Returns:

Instance New instance of an XPathFactory.

Throws:

XPathFactoryConfigurationException - If the specified object model is unavailable.

NullPointerException - If uri is null.

IllegalArgumentException - If uri.length() == 0.

isObjectModelSupported

public abstract boolean isObjectModelSupported ( String objectModel) 

Is specified object model supported by this XPathFactory?

Parameters:

objectModel - Specifies the object model which the returned XPathFactory will understand.

Returns:

true if XPathFactory supports objectModel, else false.

Throws:

NullPointerException - If objectModel is null.

IllegalArgumentException - If objectModel.length() == 0.

setFeature

public abstract void setFeature ( String name,
 boolean value)
 throws XPathFactoryConfigurationException

Set a feature for this XPathFactory and XPaths created by this factory.

Feature names are fully qualified URI s. Implementations may define their own features. An XPathFactoryConfigurationException is thrown if this XPathFactory or the XPaths it creates cannot support the feature. It is possible for an XPathFactory to expose a feature value but be unable to change its state.

All implementations are required to support the XMLConstants.FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING feature. When the feature is true, any reference to an external function is an error. Under these conditions, the implementation must not call the XPathFunctionResolver and must throw an XPathFunctionException .

Parameters:

name - Feature name.

value - Is feature state true or false.

Throws:

XPathFactoryConfigurationException - if this XPathFactory or the XPaths it creates cannot support this feature.

NullPointerException - if name is null.

getFeature

public abstract boolean getFeature ( String name)
 throws XPathFactoryConfigurationException

Get the state of the named feature.

Feature names are fully qualified URI s. Implementations may define their own features. An XPathFactoryConfigurationException is thrown if this XPathFactory or the XPaths it creates cannot support the feature. It is possible for an XPathFactory to expose a feature value but be unable to change its state.

Parameters:

name - Feature name.

Returns:

State of the named feature.

Throws:

XPathFactoryConfigurationException - if this XPathFactory or the XPaths it creates cannot support this feature.

NullPointerException - if name is null.

setXPathVariableResolver

public abstract void setXPathVariableResolver ( XPathVariableResolver resolver) 

Establish a default variable resolver.

Any XPath objects constructed from this factory will use the specified resolver by default.

A NullPointerException is thrown if resolver is null.

Parameters:

resolver - Variable resolver.

Throws:

NullPointerException - If resolver is null.

setXPathFunctionResolver

public abstract void setXPathFunctionResolver ( XPathFunctionResolver resolver) 

Establish a default function resolver.

Any XPath objects constructed from this factory will use the specified resolver by default.

A NullPointerException is thrown if resolver is null.

Parameters:

resolver - XPath function resolver.

Throws:

NullPointerException - If resolver is null.

newXPath

public abstract XPath newXPath()

Return a new XPath using the underlying object model determined when the XPathFactory was instantiated.

Returns:

New instance of an XPath.