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<h1>Selecting the XPath implementation</h1>
<p>An application using the JAXP 1.3 XPath API starts by instantiating a factory class. This is done by
calling:</p>
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style="border: solid thin; background-color: #B1CCC7; padding: 2px">
<pre>
<code>
XPathFactory xpathFactory = XPathFactory.newInstance(objectModel);
XPath xpath = xpathFactory.newXPath();
</code>
</pre>
</div>
<p>Here <code>objectModel</code> is a URI that identifies the object model you are using. Saxon recognizes
the following values for the object model:</p>
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<thead>
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<p>
<b>Symbolic name</b>
</p>
</td>
<td content="para">
<p>
<b>Meaning</b>
</p>
</td>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td content="para">
<p>XPathConstants.DOM_OBJECT_MODEL</p>
</td>
<td content="para">
<p>The DOM object model</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td content="para">
<p>NamespaceConstant.OBJECT_MODEL_SAXON</p>
</td>
<td content="para">
<p>Saxon's native object model.
This means anything that implements the <a class="bodylink" href="../../javadoc/net/sf/saxon/om/NodeInfo.html"><code>NodeInfo</code></a> interface, including
the standard tree, the tiny tree, and third-party implementations of <code>NodeInfo</code>.</p>
</td>
</tr>
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<td content="para">
<p>NamespaceConstant.OBJECT_MODEL_JDOM</p>
</td>
<td content="para">
<p>The JDOM object model</p>
</td>
</tr>
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<td content="para">
<p>NamespaceConstant.OBJECT_MODEL_XOM</p>
</td>
<td content="para">
<p>The XOM object model</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td content="para">
<p>NamespaceConstant.OBJECT_MODEL_DOM4J</p>
</td>
<td content="para">
<p>The DOM4J object model</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>To ensure that Saxon is selected as your XPath implementation, you must specify one of these
constants as your chosen object model, and it is a good idea to ensure that the Java system property
<code>javax.xml.xpath.XPathFactory</code> is set to the value <code>net.sf.saxon.xpath.XPathFactoryImpl</code>.
Normally, if Saxon is on your classpath then the Saxon XPath implementation will be picked up automatically, but
if there are other implementations on the classpath as well then it is best to set the system property
explicitly to be sure.</p>
<p>Alternatively, if you know that you want to use the Saxon implementation, you can simply instantiate
the class <a class="bodylink" href="../../javadoc/net/sf/saxon/xpath/XPathFactoryImpl.html"><code>net.sf.saxon.xpath.XPathFactoryImpl</code></a> directly.
If you want to take advantage of features
in Saxon-PE (Professional Edition), use <a class="bodylink"
href="../../javadoc/com/saxonica/config/ProfessionalXPathFactory.html"><code>com.saxonica.config.ProfessionalXPathFactory</code></a>, or for Saxon-EE
(Enterprise Edition) use <a class="bodylink"
href="../../javadoc/com/saxonica/config/EnterpriseXPathFactory.html"><code>com.saxonica.config.EnterpriseXPathFactory</code></a>.</p>
<p>It is important to note that a compiled XPath expression can only be used with a source document that was
built using the same Saxon <a class="bodylink" href="../../javadoc/net/sf/saxon/Configuration.html"><code>Configuration</code></a>. When you create an
<code>XPathFactory</code>, a Saxon <code>Configuration</code>
is created automatically. You can extract this configuration and use it to build source documents. Alternatively,
there is a constructor that allows you to create an <code>XPathFactory</code> that uses a preexisting <code>Configuration</code>.</p>
<p>Saxon's implementation of <code>java.xml.xpath.XPath</code> is the class
<a class="bodylink" href="../../javadoc/net/sf/saxon/xpath/XPathEvaluator.html"><code>net.sf.saxon.xpath.XPathEvaluator</code></a>. This class provides a few
simple configuration interfaces to set the source document, the static context, and the context node,
plus a number of methods for evaluating XPath expressions.</p>
<p>The <code>XPath</code> object allows you to set the static context for
evaluating XPath expressions (you can pre-declare namespaces, variables, and functions), and to compile
XPath expressions in this context. A compiled XPath expression (an object of class <code>XPathExpression</code>)
can then be evaluated, with a supplied node (represented by a class in the selected object model) supplied
as the context node. For further details, see the Javadoc specifications and the supplied example applications.</p>
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