protected NodePointer(NodePointer parent) 
{
        this.parent = parent;
}

 protected NodePointer(NodePointer parent,
    Locale locale) 
{
        this.parent = parent;
        this.locale = locale;
}

 public String asPath() 
{
        // If the parent of this node is a container, it is responsible
        // for appended this node's part of the path.
        if (parent != null && parent.isContainer()) {
            return parent.asPath();
        }
        StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
        if (parent != null) {
            buffer.append(parent.asPath());
        }
        if (buffer.length() == 0
            || buffer.charAt(buffer.length() - 1) != '/') {
            buffer.append('/');
        }
        if (attribute) {
            buffer.append('@');
        }
        buffer.append(getName());
        if (index != WHOLE_COLLECTION && isCollection()) {
            buffer.append('[').append(index + 1).append(']');
        }
        return buffer.toString();
}

Returns an XPath that maps to this Pointer.

 public NodeIterator attributeIterator(QName qname) 
{
        NodePointer valuePointer = getValuePointer();
        if (valuePointer != null && valuePointer != this) {
            return valuePointer.attributeIterator(qname);
        }
        return null;
}

Returns a NodeIterator that iterates over all attributes of the current node matching the supplied node name (could have a wildcard). May return null if the object does not support the attributes.

 public NodeIterator childIterator(NodeTest test,
    boolean reverse,
    NodePointer startWith) 
{
        NodePointer valuePointer = getValuePointer();
        if (valuePointer != null && valuePointer != this) {
            return valuePointer.childIterator(test, reverse, startWith);
        }
        return null;
}

Returns a NodeIterator that iterates over all children or all children that match the given NodeTest, starting with the specified one.

 public Object clone() 
{
        try {
            NodePointer ptr = (NodePointer) super.clone();
            if (parent != null) {
                ptr.parent = (NodePointer) parent.clone();
            }
            return ptr;
        }
        catch (CloneNotSupportedException ex) {
            // Of course it is supported
            ex.printStackTrace();
        }
        return null;
}

 abstract public int compareChildNodePointers(NodePointer pointer1,
    NodePointer pointer2)
Compares two child NodePointers and returns a positive number,
zero or a positive number according to the order of the pointers.

 public int compareTo(Object object) 
{
        // Let it throw a ClassCastException
        NodePointer pointer = (NodePointer) object;
        if (parent == pointer.parent) {
            if (parent == null) {
                return 0;
            }
            return parent.compareChildNodePointers(this, pointer);
        }
        // Task 1: find the common parent
        int depth1 = 0;
        NodePointer p1 = this;
        while (p1 != null) {
            depth1++;
            p1 = p1.parent;
        }
        int depth2 = 0;
        NodePointer p2 = pointer;
        while (p2 != null) {
            depth2++;
            p2 = p2.parent;
        }
        return compareNodePointers(this, depth1, pointer, depth2);
}

 public NodePointer createAttribute(JXPathContext context,
    QName name) 
{
        throw new JXPathException(
            "Cannot create an attribute for path "
                + asPath() + "/@" + name
                + ", operation is not allowed for this type of node");
}

Called to create a non-existing attribute

 public NodePointer createChild(JXPathContext context,
    QName name,
    int index) 
{
        throw new JXPathException(
            "Cannot create an object for path "
                + asPath()
                + "/"
                + name
                + "["
                + (index + 1)
                + "]"
                + ", operation is not allowed for this type of node");
}

Called by a child pointer when it needs to create a parent object for a non-existent collection element. It may have to expand the collection, then create an element object and return a new pointer describing the newly created element.

 public NodePointer createChild(JXPathContext context,
    QName name,
    int index,
    Object value) 
{
        throw new JXPathException(
            "Cannot create an object for path "
                + asPath()
                + "/"
                + name
                + "["
                + (index + 1)
                + "]"
                + ", operation is not allowed for this type of node");
}

Called by a child pointer if that child needs to assign the value supplied in the createPath(context, value) call to a non-existent node. This method may have to expand the collection in order to assign the element.

 public NodePointer createPath(JXPathContext context) 
{
        return this;
}

Called by a child pointer when it needs to create a parent object. Must create an object described by this pointer and return a new pointer that properly describes the new object.

 public NodePointer createPath(JXPathContext context,
    Object value) 
{
        setValue(value);
        return this;
}

Called directly by JXPathContext. Must create path and set value.

 abstract public Object getBaseValue()
Returns the value represented by the pointer before indexing.
So, if the node represents an element of a collection, this
method returns the collection itself.

 protected String getDefaultNamespaceURI() 
{
        return null;
}

 abstract public Object getImmediateNode()
Returns the object the pointer points to; does not convert it
to a "canonical" type.

 public NodePointer getImmediateParentPointer() 
{
        return parent;
}

 public NodePointer getImmediateValuePointer() 
{
        return this;
}

 public int getIndex() 
{
        return index;
}

If the pointer represents a collection, the index identifies an element of that collection. The default value of index is WHOLE_COLLECTION, which just means that the pointer is not indexed at all. Note: the index on NodePointer starts with 0, not 1.

 abstract public int getLength()
If the pointer represents a collection (or collection element),
returns the length of the collection.
Otherwise returns 1 (even if the value is null).

 public Locale getLocale() 
{
        if (locale == null) {
            if (parent != null) {
                locale = parent.getLocale();
            }
        }
        return locale;
}

If the Pointer has a parent, returns the parent's locale; otherwise returns the locale specified when this Pointer was created.

 abstract public QName getName()
Returns the name of this node. Can be null.

 public NamespaceResolver getNamespaceResolver() 
{
        if (namespaceResolver == null && parent != null) {
            namespaceResolver = parent.getNamespaceResolver();
        }
        return namespaceResolver;
}

 public String getNamespaceURI() 
{
        return null;
}

Returns the namespace URI associated with this Pointer.

 public String getNamespaceURI(String prefix) 
{
        return null;
}

Decodes a namespace prefix to the corresponding URI.

 public Object getNode() 
{
        return getValuePointer().getImmediateNode();
}

Returns the object the pointer points to; does not convert it to a "canonical" type. Opens containers, properties etc and returns the ultimate contents.

 public Object getNodeValue() 
{
        return getNode();
}

Returns the object the pointer points to; does not convert it to a "canonical" type.

 public NodePointer getParent() 
{
        NodePointer pointer = parent;
        while (pointer != null && pointer.isContainer()) {
            pointer = pointer.getImmediateParentPointer();
        }
        return pointer;
}

 public Pointer getPointerByID(JXPathContext context,
    String id) 
{
        return context.getPointerByID(id);
}

Locates a node by ID.

 public Pointer getPointerByKey(JXPathContext context,
    String key,
    String value) 
{
        return context.getPointerByKey(key, value);
}

Locates a node by key and value.

 public Object getRootNode() 
{
        if (rootNode == null) {
            if (parent != null) {
                rootNode = parent.getRootNode();
            }
            else {
                rootNode = getImmediateNode();
            }
        }
        return rootNode;
}

 public Object getValue() 
{
        NodePointer valuePointer = getValuePointer();
        if (valuePointer != this) {
            return valuePointer.getValue();
        }
        // Default behavior is to return the same as getNode() 
        return getNode();
}

By default, returns getNode(), can be overridden to return a "canonical" value, like for instance a DOM element should return its string value.

 public NodePointer getValuePointer() 
{
        NodePointer ivp = getImmediateValuePointer();
        if (ivp != this) {
            return ivp.getValuePointer();
        }
        return this;
}

If this pointer manages a transparent container, like a variable, this method returns the pointer to the contents. Only an auxiliary (non-node) pointer can (and should) return a value pointer other than itself. Note that you probably don't want to override getValuePointer() directly. Override the getImmediateValuePointer() method instead. The getValuePointer() method is calls getImmediateValuePointer() and, if the result is not this, invokes getValuePointer() recursively. The idea here is to open all nested containers. Let's say we have a container within a container within a container. The getValuePointer() method should then open all those containers and return the pointer to the ultimate contents. It does so with the above recursion.

 public boolean isActual() 
{
        if (index == WHOLE_COLLECTION) {
            return true;
        }
        else {
            return index  >= 0 && index <  getLength();
        }
}

An actual pointer points to an existing part of an object graph, even if it is null. A non-actual pointer represents a part that does not exist at all. For instance consider the pointer "/address/street". If both address and street are not null, the pointer is actual. If address is not null, but street is null, the pointer is still actual. If address is null, the pointer is not actual. (In JavaBeans) if address is not a property of the root bean, a Pointer for this path cannot be obtained at all - actual or otherwise.

 public boolean isAttribute() 
{
        return attribute;
}

Returns true if the pointer represents the "attribute::" axis.

 abstract public boolean isCollection()
Returns true if the value of the pointer is an array or
a Collection.

 public boolean isContainer() 
{
        return false;
}

If true, this node is axiliary and can only be used as an intermediate in the chain of pointers.

 protected boolean isDefaultNamespace(String prefix) 
{
        if (prefix == null) {
            return true;
        }
        String namespace = getNamespaceURI(prefix);
        if (namespace == null) {
            return false; // undefined namespace
        }
        return namespace.equals(getDefaultNamespaceURI());
}

Returns true if the supplied prefix represents the default namespace in the context of the current node.

 public boolean isLanguage(String lang) 
{
        Locale loc = getLocale();
        String name = loc.toString().replace('_', '-');
        return name.toUpperCase().startsWith(lang.toUpperCase());
}

Returns true if the selected locale name starts with the specified prefix lang, case-insensitive.

 abstract public boolean isLeaf()
If true, this node does not have children

 public boolean isNode() 
{
        return !isContainer();
}

 public boolean isRoot() 
{
        return parent == null;
}

Returns true if this Pointer has no parent.

 public NodeIterator namespaceIterator() 
{
        return null;
}

Returns a NodeIterator that iterates over all namespaces of the value currently pointed at. May return null if the object does not support the namespaces.

 public NodePointer namespacePointer(String namespace) 
{
        return null;
}

Returns a NodePointer for the specified namespace. Will return null if namespaces are not supported. Will return UNKNOWN_NAMESPACE if there is no such namespace.

 public static NodePointer newChildNodePointer(NodePointer parent,
    QName name,
    Object bean) 
{
        NodePointerFactory[] factories =
            JXPathContextReferenceImpl.getNodePointerFactories();
        for (int i = 0; i <  factories.length; i++) {
            NodePointer pointer =
                factories[i].createNodePointer(parent, name, bean);
            if (pointer != null) {
                return pointer;
            }
        }
        throw new JXPathException(
            "Could not allocate a NodePointer for object of "
                + bean.getClass());
}

Allocates an new child NodePointer by iterating through all installed NodePointerFactories until it finds one that can create a pointer.

 public static NodePointer newNodePointer(QName name,
    Object bean,
    Locale locale) 
{
        NodePointer pointer = null;
        if (bean == null) {
            pointer = new NullPointer(name, locale);
            return pointer;
        }
        NodePointerFactory[] factories =
            JXPathContextReferenceImpl.getNodePointerFactories();
        for (int i = 0; i <  factories.length; i++) {
            pointer = factories[i].createNodePointer(name, bean, locale);
            if (pointer != null) {
                return pointer;
            }
        }
        throw new JXPathException(
            "Could not allocate a NodePointer for object of "
                + bean.getClass());
}

Allocates an entirely new NodePointer by iterating through all installed NodePointerFactories until it finds one that can create a pointer.

 public  void printPointerChain() 
{
        printDeep(this, "");
}

Print internal structure of a pointer for debugging

 public  void remove() 
{
        // It is a no-op
//        System.err.println("REMOVING: " + asPath() + " " + getClass());
//        printPointerChain();
}

Remove the node of the object graph this pointer points to.

 public  void setAttribute(boolean attribute) 
{
        this.attribute = attribute;
}

Set to true if the pointer represents the "attribute::" axis.

 public  void setIndex(int index) 
{
        this.index = index;
}

 public  void setNamespaceResolver(NamespaceResolver namespaceResolver) 
{
        this.namespaceResolver = namespaceResolver;
}

 abstract public  void setValue(Object value)
Converts the value to the required type and changes the corresponding
object to that value.

 public boolean testNode(NodeTest test) 
{
        if (test == null) {
            return true;
        }
        else if (test instanceof NodeNameTest) {
            if (isContainer()) {
                return false;
            }
            NodeNameTest nodeNameTest = (NodeNameTest) test;
            QName testName = nodeNameTest.getNodeName();
            QName nodeName = getName();
            if (nodeName == null) {
                return false;
            }
            String testPrefix = testName.getPrefix();
            String nodePrefix = nodeName.getPrefix();
            if (!equalStrings(testPrefix, nodePrefix)) {
                String testNS = getNamespaceURI(testPrefix);
                String nodeNS = getNamespaceURI(nodePrefix);
                if (!equalStrings(testNS, nodeNS)) {
                    return false;
                }
            }
            if (nodeNameTest.isWildcard()) {
                return true;
            }
            return testName.getName().equals(nodeName.getName());
        }
        else if (test instanceof NodeTypeTest) {
            if (((NodeTypeTest) test).getNodeType()
                == Compiler.NODE_TYPE_NODE) {
                return isNode();
            }
        }
        return false;
}

Checks if this Pointer matches the supplied NodeTest.

 public String toString() 
{
        return asPath();
}