XPathExpression.ReturnType Property

public:
 abstract property System::Xml::XPath::XPathResultType ReturnType { System::Xml::XPath::XPathResultType get(); };

public abstract System.Xml.XPath.XPathResultType ReturnType { get; }

member this.ReturnType : System.Xml.XPath.XPathResultType

Public MustOverride ReadOnly Property ReturnType As XPathResultType

Property Value

An XPathResultType value representing the result type of the XPath expression.

Examples

The following example shows how to use the XPath return type to determine how to process the XPath expression.

public ref class Sample
{
public:
   static void Evaluate( XPathExpression^ expr, XPathNavigator^ nav )
   {
      XPathNodeIterator^ i = nav->Select(expr);
      switch ( expr->ReturnType )
      {
         case XPathResultType::Number:
            Console::WriteLine( nav->Evaluate( expr ) );
            break;

         case XPathResultType::NodeSet:
            while ( i->MoveNext() )
                        Console::WriteLine( i->Current );
            break;

         case XPathResultType::Boolean:
            if ( *safe_cast<bool^>(nav->Evaluate( expr )) )
                        Console::WriteLine( "True!" );
            break;

         case XPathResultType::String:
            Console::WriteLine( nav->Evaluate( expr ) );
            break;
      }
   }

};

int main()
{
   XPathDocument^ doc = gcnew XPathDocument( "contosoBooks.xml" );
   XPathNavigator^ nav = doc->CreateNavigator();
   XPathExpression^ expr1 = nav->Compile( ".//price/text()*10" ); // Returns a number.

   XPathExpression^ expr2 = nav->Compile( "bookstore/book/price" ); // Returns a nodeset.

   Sample^ MySample = gcnew Sample;
   MySample->Evaluate( expr1, nav );
   MySample->Evaluate( expr2, nav );
}

using System;
using System.Xml;
using System.Xml.XPath;

public class XPathExpressionExample
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        XPathDocument document = new XPathDocument("contosoBooks.xml");
        XPathNavigator navigator = document.CreateNavigator();

        XPathExpression expression1 = XPathExpression.Compile(".//bk:price/text()*10"); // Returns a number.
        XPathExpression expression2 = XPathExpression.Compile("bk:bookstore/bk:book/bk:price"); // Returns a nodeset.

        XmlNamespaceManager manager = new XmlNamespaceManager(navigator.NameTable);
        manager.AddNamespace("bk", "http://www.contoso.com/books");

        expression1.SetContext(manager);
        expression2.SetContext(manager);

        Evaluate(expression1, navigator);
        Evaluate(expression2, navigator);
    }

    public static void Evaluate(XPathExpression expression, XPathNavigator navigator)
    {
        switch (expression.ReturnType)
        {
            case XPathResultType.Number:
                Console.WriteLine(navigator.Evaluate(expression));
                break;

            case XPathResultType.NodeSet:
                XPathNodeIterator nodes = navigator.Select(expression);
                while (nodes.MoveNext())
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(nodes.Current.ToString());
                }
                break;

            case XPathResultType.Boolean:
                if ((bool)navigator.Evaluate(expression))
                    Console.WriteLine("True!");
                break;

            case XPathResultType.String:
                Console.WriteLine(navigator.Evaluate(expression));
                break;
        }
    }
}

Imports System.Xml
Imports System.Xml.XPath

Public Class XPathExpressionExample

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim document As XPathDocument = New XPathDocument("contosoBooks.xml")
        Dim navigator As XPathNavigator = document.CreateNavigator()

        Dim expression1 As XPathExpression = XPathExpression.Compile(".//bk:price/text()*10")  ' Returns a number.
        Dim expression2 As XPathExpression = XPathExpression.Compile("bk:bookstore/bk:book/bk:price")  ' Returns a nodeset.

        Dim manager As XmlNamespaceManager = New XmlNamespaceManager(navigator.NameTable)
        manager.AddNamespace("bk", "http://www.contoso.com/books")

        expression1.SetContext(manager)
        expression2.SetContext(manager)

        Evaluate(expression1, navigator)
        Evaluate(expression2, navigator)

    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub Evaluate(ByVal expression As XPathExpression, ByVal navigator As XPathNavigator)

        Select Case expression.ReturnType
            Case XPathResultType.Number
                Console.WriteLine(navigator.Evaluate(expression))
                Exit Sub

            Case XPathResultType.NodeSet
                Dim nodes As XPathNodeIterator = navigator.Select(expression)
                While nodes.MoveNext()
                    Console.WriteLine(nodes.Current.ToString())
                End While

            Case XPathResultType.Boolean
                If CType(navigator.Evaluate(expression), Boolean) Then
                    Console.WriteLine("True!")
                End If

            Case XPathResultType.String
                Console.WriteLine(navigator.Evaluate(expression))
        End Select

    End Sub
End Class

The example takes the contosoBooks.xml file as input.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>  
<bookstore xmlns="http://www.contoso.com/books">  
    <book genre="autobiography" publicationdate="1981-03-22" ISBN="1-861003-11-0">  
        <title>The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin</title>  
        <author>  
            <first-name>Benjamin</first-name>  
            <last-name>Franklin</last-name>  
        </author>  
        <price>8.99</price>  
    </book>  
    <book genre="novel" publicationdate="1967-11-17" ISBN="0-201-63361-2">  
        <title>The Confidence Man</title>  
        <author>  
            <first-name>Herman</first-name>  
            <last-name>Melville</last-name>  
        </author>  
        <price>11.99</price>  
    </book>  
    <book genre="philosophy" publicationdate="1991-02-15" ISBN="1-861001-57-6">  
        <title>The Gorgias</title>  
        <author>  
            <name>Plato</name>  
        </author>  
        <price>9.99</price>  
    </book>  
</bookstore>  

Applies to

See also

• XPathResultType