Evaluate an 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 {@link XPathConstants} ({@link XPathConstants#NUMBER NUMBER}, {@link XPathConstants#STRING STRING}, {@link XPathConstants#BOOLEAN BOOLEAN}, {@link XPathConstants#NODE NODE} or{@link XPathConstants#NODESET NODESET}) then an IllegalArgumentException is thrown.
If a null value is provided for item, an empty document will be used for the context. If expression or returnType is null, then a NullPointerException is thrown.
@param expression The XPath expression.
@param item The starting context (node or node list, for example).
@param returnType The desired return type.
@return Result of evaluating an XPath expression as an
Object of
returnType.
@throws XPathExpressionException If
expression cannot be evaluated.
@throws IllegalArgumentException If
returnType is not one of the types defined in {@link XPathConstants}.
@throws NullPointerException If
expression or
returnType is
null.