Document: createExpression() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

This method compiles an XPathExpression which can then be used for (repeated) evaluations.

You must call this method on the same document that you run the expression against.

Syntax

js
createExpression(xpathText, namespaceURLMapper)

Parameters

xpathText

A string which is the XPath expression to be compiled.

namespaceURLMapper

A function which maps a namespace prefix to a namespace URL (or null if none needed).

Return value

XPathExpression

Examples

js
const xpathExpr = document.createExpression("//div");
const xpathResult = xpathExpr.evaluate(document); // returns an XPathResult object
const nodeContext = document.querySelector("nav");
// Re-using the XPathExpression "xpathExpr"
const otherResult = xpathExpr.evaluate(nodeContext); // returns an XPathResult object

Specifications

Specification
DOM
# dom-xpathevaluatorbase-createexpression

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
createExpression
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 1 (Release date: 2008-12-11)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 12 (Release date: 2015-07-29)
footnote Full support
Firefox – Full support
Firefox 1 (Release date: 2004-11-09)
footnote Full support
Opera – Full support
Opera 12.1 (Release date: 2012-11-20)
footnote Full support
Safari – Full support
Safari 3 (Release date: 2007-10-26)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 18 (Release date: 2012-06-27)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – Full support
Firefox for Android 4 (Release date: 2011-03-29)
footnote Full support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 12.1 (Release date: 2012-10-09)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 1 (Release date: 2013-04-27)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 3 (Release date: 2011-02-22)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 1 (Release date: 2007-06-29)
footnote Full support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support

See also