XPathNavigator.Compile(String) Method

Definition

Compiles a string representing an XPath expression and returns an XPathExpression object.

public:
 virtual System::Xml::XPath::XPathExpression ^ Compile(System::String ^ xpath);
public virtual System.Xml.XPath.XPathExpression Compile (string xpath);
abstract member Compile : string -> System.Xml.XPath.XPathExpression
override this.Compile : string -> System.Xml.XPath.XPathExpression
Public Overridable Function Compile (xpath As String) As XPathExpression

Parameters

xpath
String

A string representing an XPath expression.

Returns

An XPathExpression object representing the XPath expression.

Exceptions

The xpath parameter contains an XPath expression that is not valid.

The XPath expression is not valid.

Remarks

An XPath expression is evaluated to yield one of the following return types:

  • Node Set: an unordered collection of nodes without duplicates

  • Boolean: true or false

  • Number: a floating-point number

  • String: a sequence of UCS characters

Expressions that return a node set can be used in the Select and Evaluate methods. Expressions that return a Boolean, number, or string can be used in the Evaluate method. The rules on valid expressions for the Matches method are specific to that method.

Applies to