## net.sf.saxon.value
Class Value

    java.lang.Object
      net.sf.saxon.value.Value

All Implemented Interfaces:
  Expression, java.io.Serializable, ValueRepresentation

Direct Known Subclasses:
  AtomicValue, Closure, EmptySequence, IntegerRange, SequenceExtent, ShareableSequence, SingletonNode

public abstract class Value
extends java.lang.Object
implements Expression, java.io.Serializable, ValueRepresentation

A value is the result of an expression but it is also an expression in its own right. Note that every value can be regarded as a sequence - in many cases, a sequence of length one.

See Also:
  Serialized Form

Field Summary
`static java.lang.Class[]` `EMPTY_CLASS_ARRAY`

Fields inherited from interface net.sf.saxon.expr.Expression
`EVALUATE_METHOD, ITERATE_METHOD, PROCESS_METHOD`

Fields inherited from interface net.sf.saxon.om.ValueRepresentation
`EMPTY_VALUE_ARRAY`

Constructor Summary
`Value()`

Method Summary
`static Item` `asItem(ValueRepresentation value, XPathContext context)` Static method to make an Item from a Value
`static SequenceIterator` `asIterator(ValueRepresentation val, XPathContext context)` Static method to get an Iterator over any ValueRepresentation (which may be either a Value or a NodeInfo
`static Value` `asValue(ValueRepresentation val)` Static method to make a Value from a given Item (which may be either an AtomicValue or a NodeInfo
`void` `checkPermittedContents(SchemaType parentType, StaticContext env, boolean whole)` Check statically that the results of the expression are capable of constructing the content of a given schema type.
`static java.lang.CharSequence` `collapseWhitespace(java.lang.CharSequence in)` Collapse whitespace as defined in XML Schema
`static java.lang.Object` `convert(Item item)` Internal method to convert an XPath value to a Java object.
`static Value` `convertJavaObjectToXPath(java.lang.Object object, SequenceType requiredType, Configuration config)` Convert a Java object to an XPath value.
`java.lang.Object` `convertToJava(java.lang.Class target, XPathContext context)` Convert to Java object (for passing to external functions)
`void` `display(int level, NamePool pool, java.io.PrintStream out)` Diagnostic display of the expression
`boolean` `effectiveBooleanValue(XPathContext context)` Get the effective boolean value of the expression.
`boolean` `equals(java.lang.Object obj)` Compare two (sequence) values for equality.
`java.lang.String` `evaluateAsString(XPathContext context)` Evaluate an expression as a String.
`Item` `evaluateItem(XPathContext context)` Evaluate as a singleton item (or empty sequence).
`int` `getCardinality()` Determine the cardinality
`int` `getDependencies()` Determine which aspects of the context the expression depends on.
`ItemType` `getItemType(TypeHierarchy th)` Determine the data type of the items in the expression, if possible
`static SequenceIterator` `getIterator(ValueRepresentation val)` Get a SequenceIterator over a ValueRepresentation
`int` `getLength()` Get the length of the sequence
`Container` `getParentExpression()` Get the expression that immediately contains this expression.
`int` `getSpecialProperties()` Get the static properties of this expression (other than its type).
`java.lang.String` `getStringValue()` Convert the value to a string, using the serialization rules.
`int` `hashCode()` Return a hash code to support the equals() function
`Item` `itemAt(int n)` Get the n'th item in the sequence (starting from 0).
`java.util.Iterator` `iterateSubExpressions()` Get the sub-expressions of this expression.
`static QNameValue` `makeQNameValue(java.lang.Object object, Configuration config)` Temporary method to make a QNameValue from a JAXP 1.3 QName, without creating a compile-time link to the JDK 1.5 QName class
`static java.lang.CharSequence` `normalizeWhitespace(java.lang.CharSequence in)` Normalize whitespace as defined in XML Schema
`Expression` `optimize(Optimizer opt, StaticContext env, ItemType contextItemType)` Optimize an expression
`void` `process(XPathContext context)` Process the value as an instruction, without returning any tail calls
`Expression` `promote(PromotionOffer offer)` Offer promotion for this subexpression.
`Value` `reduce()` Reduce a value to its simplest form.
`boolean` `schemaEquals(Value obj)` Compare two (sequence) values for equality.
`Expression` `simplify(StaticContext env)` Simplify an expression
`static double` `stringToNumber(java.lang.CharSequence s)` Static method to convert strings to numbers.
`java.lang.String` `toString()` Convert to a string for diagnostic output
`static java.lang.CharSequence` `trimWhitespace(java.lang.CharSequence in)` Remove leading and trailing whitespace.
`Expression` `typeCheck(StaticContext env, ItemType contextItemType)` TypeCheck an expression

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
`clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait`

Methods inherited from interface net.sf.saxon.expr.Expression
`getImplementationMethod, iterate`

Field Detail

### EMPTY_CLASS_ARRAY

    public static final java.lang.Class[] EMPTY_CLASS_ARRAY

Constructor Detail

### Value

    public Value()

Method Detail

### asValue

    public static Value asValue(ValueRepresentation val)

  Static method to make a Value from a given Item (which may be either an AtomicValue or a NodeInfo

  Parameters:
    `val` - The supplied value, or null, indicating the empty sequence.
  Returns:
    The supplied value, if it is a value, or a SingletonNode that wraps the item, if it is a node. If the supplied value was null, return an EmptySequence

### asItem

    public static Item asItem(ValueRepresentation value,
                              XPathContext context)
                       throws XPathException

  Static method to make an Item from a Value

  Parameters:
    `value` - the value to be converted
    `context` - the context. It is probably safe to set this to null.
  Returns:
    null if the value is an empty sequence; or the only item in the value if it is a singleton sequence
  Throws:
    `XPathException` - if the Value contains multiple items

### asIterator

    public static SequenceIterator asIterator(ValueRepresentation val,
                                              XPathContext context)
                                       throws XPathException

  Static method to get an Iterator over any ValueRepresentation (which may be either a Value or a NodeInfo

  Parameters:
    `val` - The supplied value, or null, indicating the empty sequence.
    `context` - The evaluation context. This may be null. It should always be possible to iterate over a value without supplying a context, but sometimes the context can provide access to better error information
  Returns:
    The supplied value, if it is a value, or a SingletonNode that wraps the item, if it is a node. If the supplied value was null, return an EmptySequence
  Throws:
    `XPathException`

### stringToNumber

    public static double stringToNumber(java.lang.CharSequence s)
                                 throws java.lang.NumberFormatException

  Static method to convert strings to numbers. Might as well go here as anywhere else.

  Parameters:
    `s` - the String to be converted
  Returns:
    a double representing the value of the String
  Throws:
    `java.lang.NumberFormatException` - if the value cannot be converted

### normalizeWhitespace

    public static java.lang.CharSequence normalizeWhitespace(java.lang.CharSequence in)

  Normalize whitespace as defined in XML Schema

### collapseWhitespace

    public static java.lang.CharSequence collapseWhitespace(java.lang.CharSequence in)

  Collapse whitespace as defined in XML Schema

### trimWhitespace

    public static java.lang.CharSequence trimWhitespace(java.lang.CharSequence in)

  Remove leading and trailing whitespace. This has the same effect as collapseWhitespace, but is cheaper, for use by data types that do not allow internal whitespace.

  Parameters:
    `in` - the input string whose whitespace is to be removed
  Returns:
    the result of removing excess whitespace

### getIterator

    public static SequenceIterator getIterator(ValueRepresentation val)
                                        throws XPathException

  Get a SequenceIterator over a ValueRepresentation

  Throws:
    `XPathException`

### simplify

    public final Expression simplify(StaticContext env)

  Simplify an expression

  Specified by:
    `simplify` in interface `Expression`
  Returns:
    for a Value, this always returns the value unchanged

### typeCheck

    public final Expression typeCheck(StaticContext env,
                                      ItemType contextItemType)

  TypeCheck an expression

  Specified by:
    `typeCheck` in interface `Expression`
  Parameters:
    `env` - the static context of the expression
    `contextItemType` - the static type of "." at the point where this expression is invoked. The parameter is set to null if it is known statically that the context item will be undefined. If the type of the context item is not known statically, the argument is set to `Type.ITEM_TYPE`
  Returns:
    for a Value, this always returns the value unchanged

### optimize

    public final Expression optimize(Optimizer opt,
                                     StaticContext env,
                                     ItemType contextItemType)

  Optimize an expression

  Specified by:
    `optimize` in interface `Expression`
  Parameters:
    `opt` - the optimizer in use. This provides access to supporting functions; it also allows different optimization strategies to be used in different circumstances.
    `env` - the static context of the expression
    `contextItemType` - the static type of "." at the point where this expression is invoked. The parameter is set to null if it is known statically that the context item will be undefined. If the type of the context item is not known statically, the argument is set to `Type.ITEM_TYPE`
  Returns:
    for a Value, this always returns the value unchanged

### getItemType

    public ItemType getItemType(TypeHierarchy th)

  Determine the data type of the items in the expression, if possible

  Specified by:
    `getItemType` in interface `Expression`
  Parameters:
    `th` - The TypeHierarchy. Can be null if the target is an AtomicValue.
  Returns:
    for the default implementation: AnyItemType (not known)

### getCardinality

    public int getCardinality()

  Determine the cardinality

  Specified by:
    `getCardinality` in interface `Expression`
  Returns:
    one of the values `StaticProperty.ALLOWS_ONE`, `StaticProperty.ALLOWS_ZERO_OR_MORE`, `StaticProperty.ALLOWS_ZERO_OR_ONE`, `StaticProperty.ALLOWS_ONE_OR_MORE`, `StaticProperty.EMPTY`. This default implementation returns ZERO_OR_MORE (which effectively gives no information).

### iterateSubExpressions

    public final java.util.Iterator iterateSubExpressions()

  Get the sub-expressions of this expression.

  Specified by:
    `iterateSubExpressions` in interface `Expression`
  Returns:
    for a Value, this always returns an empty array

### getParentExpression

    public final Container getParentExpression()

  Get the expression that immediately contains this expression. This method returns null for an outermost expression; it also return null in the case of literal values. For an XPath expression occurring within an XSLT stylesheet, this method returns the XSLT instruction containing the XPath expression.

  Specified by:
    `getParentExpression` in interface `Expression`
  Returns:
    the expression that contains this expression, if known; return null if there is no containing expression or if the containing expression is unknown.

### getSpecialProperties

    public int getSpecialProperties()

  Get the static properties of this expression (other than its type). For a Value, the only special property is `StaticProperty.NON_CREATIVE`.

  Specified by:
    `getSpecialProperties` in interface `Expression`
  Returns:
    `StaticProperty.NON_CREATIVE`

### promote

    public final Expression promote(PromotionOffer offer)

  Offer promotion for this subexpression. Values (constant expressions) are never promoted

  Specified by:
    `promote` in interface `Expression`
  Parameters:
    `offer` - details of the offer, for example the offer to move expressions that don't depend on the context to an outer level in the containing expression
  Returns:
    For a Value, this always returns the value unchanged

### getDependencies

    public final int getDependencies()

  Determine which aspects of the context the expression depends on. The result is a bitwise-or'ed value composed from constants such as StaticProperty.VARIABLES and StaticProperty.CURRENT_NODE

  Specified by:
    `getDependencies` in interface `Expression`
  Returns:
    for a Value, this always returns zero.

### itemAt

    public Item itemAt(int n)
                throws XPathException

  Get the n'th item in the sequence (starting from 0). This is defined for all Values, but its real benefits come for a sequence Value stored extensionally (or for a MemoClosure, once all the values have been read)

  Throws:
    `XPathException`

### getLength

    public int getLength()
                  throws XPathException

  Get the length of the sequence

  Throws:
    `XPathException`

### evaluateItem

    public Item evaluateItem(XPathContext context)
                      throws XPathException

  Evaluate as a singleton item (or empty sequence). Note: this implementation returns the first item in the sequence. The method should not be used unless appropriate type-checking has been done to ensure that the value will be a singleton.

  Specified by:
    `evaluateItem` in interface `Expression`
  Parameters:
    `context` - The context in which the expression is to be evaluated
  Returns:
    the node or atomic value that results from evaluating the expression; or null to indicate that the result is an empty sequence
  Throws:
    `XPathException` - if any dynamic error occurs evaluating the expression

### process

    public void process(XPathContext context)
                 throws XPathException

  Process the value as an instruction, without returning any tail calls

  Specified by:
    `process` in interface `Expression`
  Parameters:
    `context` - The dynamic context, giving access to the current node, the current variables, etc.
  Throws:
    `XPathException`

### getStringValue

    public java.lang.String getStringValue()
                                    throws XPathException

  Convert the value to a string, using the serialization rules. For atomic values this is the same as a cast; for sequence values it gives a space-separated list.

  Throws:
    `XPathException` - The method can fail if evaluation of the value has been deferred, and if a failure occurs during the deferred evaluation. No failure is possible in the case of an AtomicValue.

### evaluateAsString

    public java.lang.String evaluateAsString(XPathContext context)
                                      throws XPathException

  Evaluate an expression as a String. This function must only be called in contexts where it is known that the expression will return a single string (or where an empty sequence is to be treated as a zero-length string). Implementations should not attempt to convert the result to a string, other than converting () to "". This method is used mainly to evaluate expressions produced by compiling an attribute value template.

  Specified by:
    `evaluateAsString` in interface `Expression`
  Parameters:
    `context` - The context in which the expression is to be evaluated
  Returns:
    the value of the expression, evaluated in the current context. The expression must return a string or (); if the value of the expression is (), this method returns "".
  Throws:
    `XPathException` - if any dynamic error occurs evaluating the expression
    `java.lang.ClassCastException` - if the result type of the expression is not xs:string?

### effectiveBooleanValue

    public boolean effectiveBooleanValue(XPathContext context)
                                  throws XPathException

  Get the effective boolean value of the expression. This returns false if the value is the empty sequence, a zero-length string, a number equal to zero, or the boolean false. Otherwise it returns true.

  Specified by:
    `effectiveBooleanValue` in interface `Expression`
  Parameters:
    `context` - The context in which the expression is to be evaluated
  Returns:
    the effective boolean value
  Throws:
    `XPathException` - if any dynamic error occurs evaluating the expression

### equals

    public boolean equals(java.lang.Object obj)

  Compare two (sequence) values for equality. This supports identity constraints in XML Schema, which allow list-valued elements and attributes to participate in key and uniqueness constraints. This method returns false if any error occurs during the comparison, or if any of the items in either sequence is a node rather than an atomic value.

### schemaEquals

    public boolean schemaEquals(Value obj)

  Compare two (sequence) values for equality. This supports identity constraints in XML Schema, which allow list-valued elements and attributes to participate in key and uniqueness constraints. This method returns false if any error occurs during the comparison, or if any of the items in either sequence is a node rather than an atomic value.

### hashCode

    public int hashCode()

  Return a hash code to support the equals() function

### checkPermittedContents

    public void checkPermittedContents(SchemaType parentType,
                                       StaticContext env,
                                       boolean whole)
                                throws XPathException

  Check statically that the results of the expression are capable of constructing the content of a given schema type.

  Specified by:
    `checkPermittedContents` in interface `Expression`
  Parameters:
    `parentType` - The schema type
    `env` - the static context
    `whole` -
  Throws:
    `XPathException` - if the expression doesn't match the required content type

### reduce

    public Value reduce()
                 throws XPathException

  Reduce a value to its simplest form. If the value is a closure or some other form of deferred value such as a FunctionCallPackage, then it is reduced to a SequenceExtent. If it is a SequenceExtent containing a single item, then it is reduced to that item. One consequence that is exploited by class FilterExpression is that if the value is a singleton numeric value, then the result will be an instance of NumericValue

  Throws:
    `XPathException`

### convertToJava

    public java.lang.Object convertToJava(java.lang.Class target,
                                          XPathContext context)
                                   throws XPathException

  Convert to Java object (for passing to external functions)

  Throws:
    `XPathException`

### display

    public void display(int level,
                        NamePool pool,
                        java.io.PrintStream out)

  Diagnostic display of the expression

  Specified by:
    `display` in interface `Expression`
  Parameters:
    `level` - indentation level for this expression
    `pool` - NamePool used to expand any names appearing in the expression
    `out` - Output destination

### convertJavaObjectToXPath

    public static Value convertJavaObjectToXPath(java.lang.Object object,
                                                 SequenceType requiredType,
                                                 Configuration config)
                                          throws XPathException

  Convert a Java object to an XPath value. This method is called to handle the result of an external function call (but only if the required type is not known), and also to process global parameters passed to the stylesheet or query.

  Parameters:
    `object` - The Java object to be converted
    `requiredType` - The required type of the result (if known)
    `config` - The Configuration: may be null, in which case certain kinds of object (eg. DOM nodes) cannot be handled
  Returns:
    the result of converting the value. If the value is null, returns null.
  Throws:
    `XPathException`

### makeQNameValue

    public static QNameValue makeQNameValue(java.lang.Object object,
                                            Configuration config)

  Temporary method to make a QNameValue from a JAXP 1.3 QName, without creating a compile-time link to the JDK 1.5 QName class

  Parameters:
    `object` - an instance of javax.xml.namespace.QName
  Returns:
    a corresponding Saxon QNameValue, or null if any error occurs performing the conversion

### toString

    public java.lang.String toString()

  Convert to a string for diagnostic output

### convert

    public static java.lang.Object convert(Item item)
                                    throws XPathException

  Internal method to convert an XPath value to a Java object. An atomic value is returned as an instance of the best available Java class. If the item is a node, the node is "unwrapped", to return the underlying node in the original model (which might be, for example, a DOM or JDOM node).

  Throws:
    `XPathException`