java.lang.Object
- org.dom4j.DocumentHelper

```
public final class DocumentHelper
extends Object
```
DocumentHelper is a collection of helper methods for using DOM4J.

Method Summary

All Methods Static Methods Concrete Methods
Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`static Attribute`	`createAttribute(Element owner, String name, String value)`
`static Attribute`	`createAttribute(Element owner, QName qname, String value)`
`static CDATA`	`createCDATA(String text)`
`static Comment`	`createComment(String text)`
`static Document`	`createDocument()`
`static Document`	`createDocument(Element rootElement)`
`static Element`	`createElement(String name)`
`static Element`	`createElement(QName qname)`
`static Entity`	`createEntity(String name, String text)`
`static Namespace`	`createNamespace(String prefix, String uri)`
`static Pattern`	`createPattern(String xpathPattern)`	`createPattern` parses the given XPath expression to create an XSLT style `Pattern`instance which can then be used in an XSLT processing model.
`static ProcessingInstruction`	`createProcessingInstruction(String pi, String d)`
`static ProcessingInstruction`	`createProcessingInstruction(String pi, Map<String,String> data)`
`static QName`	`createQName(String localName)`
`static QName`	`createQName(String localName, Namespace namespace)`
`static Text`	`createText(String text)`
`static XPath`	`createXPath(String xpathExpression)`	`createXPath` parses an XPath expression and creates a new XPath `XPath` instance using the singleton `DocumentFactory`.
`static XPath`	`createXPath(String xpathExpression, org.jaxen.VariableContext context)`	`createXPath` parses an XPath expression and creates a new XPath `XPath` instance using the singleton `DocumentFactory`.
`static NodeFilter`	`createXPathFilter(String xpathFilterExpression)`	`createXPathFilter` parses a NodeFilter from the given XPath filter expression using the singleton `DocumentFactory`.
`static Element`	`makeElement(Branch source, String path)`	makeElement
`static Document`	`parseText(String text)`	`parseText` parses the given text as an XML document and returns the newly created Document.
`static List<Node>`	`selectNodes(String xpathFilterExpression, List<Node> nodes)`	`selectNodes` performs the given XPath expression on the `List`of `Node`instances appending all the results together into a single list.
`static List<Node>`	`selectNodes(String xpathFilterExpression, Node node)`	`selectNodes` performs the given XPath expression on the `List`of `Node`instances appending all the results together into a single list.
`static void`	`sort(List<Node> list, String xpathExpression)`	`sort` sorts the given List of Nodes using an XPath expression as a `Comparator`.
`static void`	`sort(List<Node> list, String expression, boolean distinct)`	`sort` sorts the given List of Nodes using an XPath expression as a `Comparator`and optionally removing duplicates.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

- Method Detail
  - createDocument
```
public static Document createDocument()
```
  - createDocument
```
public static Document createDocument(Element rootElement)
```
  - createElement
```
public static Element createElement(QName qname)
```
  - createElement
```
public static Element createElement(String name)
```
  - createAttribute
```
public static Attribute createAttribute(Element owner,
                                        QName qname,
                                        String value)
```
  - createAttribute
```
public static Attribute createAttribute(Element owner,
                                        String name,
                                        String value)
```
  - createCDATA
```
public static CDATA createCDATA(String text)
```
  - createComment
```
public static Comment createComment(String text)
```
  - createText
```
public static Text createText(String text)
```
  - createEntity
```
public static Entity createEntity(String name,
                                  String text)
```
  - createNamespace
```
public static Namespace createNamespace(String prefix,
                                        String uri)
```
  - createProcessingInstruction
```
public static ProcessingInstruction createProcessingInstruction(String pi,
                                                                String d)
```
  - createProcessingInstruction
```
public static ProcessingInstruction createProcessingInstruction(String pi,
                                                                Map<String,String> data)
```
  - createQName
```
public static QName createQName(String localName,
                                Namespace namespace)
```
  - createQName
```
public static QName createQName(String localName)
```
  - createXPath
```
public static XPath createXPath(String xpathExpression)
                         throws InvalidXPathException
```
    createXPath parses an XPath expression and creates a new XPath XPath instance using the singleton DocumentFactory.
    
    Parameters:
    
    xpathExpression - is the XPath expression to create
    
    Returns:
    
    a new XPath instance
    
    Throws:
    
    InvalidXPathException - if the XPath expression is invalid
  - createXPath
```
public static XPath createXPath(String xpathExpression,
                                org.jaxen.VariableContext context)
                         throws InvalidXPathException
```
    createXPath parses an XPath expression and creates a new XPath XPath instance using the singleton DocumentFactory.
    
    Parameters:
    
    xpathExpression - is the XPath expression to create
    
    context - is the variable context to use when evaluating the XPath
    
    Returns:
    
    a new XPath instance
    
    Throws:
    
    InvalidXPathException - if the XPath expression is invalid
  - createXPathFilter
```
public static NodeFilter createXPathFilter(String xpathFilterExpression)
```
    createXPathFilter parses a NodeFilter from the given XPath filter expression using the singleton DocumentFactory. XPath filter expressions occur within XPath expressions such as self::node()[ filterExpression ]
    
    Parameters:
    
    xpathFilterExpression - is the XPath filter expression to create
    
    Returns:
    
    a new NodeFilter instance
  - createPattern
```
public static Pattern createPattern(String xpathPattern)
```
    createPattern parses the given XPath expression to create an XSLT style Patterninstance which can then be used in an XSLT processing model.
    
    Parameters:
    
    xpathPattern - is the XPath pattern expression to create
    
    Returns:
    
    a new Pattern instance
  - selectNodes
```
public static List<Node> selectNodes(String xpathFilterExpression,
                                     List<Node> nodes)
```
    selectNodes performs the given XPath expression on the Listof Nodeinstances appending all the results together into a single list.
    
    Parameters:
    
    xpathFilterExpression - is the XPath filter expression to evaluate
    
    nodes - is the list of nodes on which to evalute the XPath
    
    Returns:
    
    the results of all the XPath evaluations as a single list
  - selectNodes
```
public static List<Node> selectNodes(String xpathFilterExpression,
                                     Node node)
```
    selectNodes performs the given XPath expression on the Listof Nodeinstances appending all the results together into a single list.
    
    Parameters:
    
    xpathFilterExpression - is the XPath filter expression to evaluate
    
    node - is the Node on which to evalute the XPath
    
    Returns:
    
    the results of all the XPath evaluations as a single list
  - sort
```
public static void sort(List<Node> list,
                        String xpathExpression)
```
    sort sorts the given List of Nodes using an XPath expression as a Comparator.
    
    Parameters:
    
    list - is the list of Nodes to sort
    
    xpathExpression - is the XPath expression used for comparison
  - sort
```
public static void sort(List<Node> list,
                        String expression,
                        boolean distinct)
```
    sort sorts the given List of Nodes using an XPath expression as a Comparatorand optionally removing duplicates.
    
    Parameters:
    
    list - is the list of Nodes to sort
    
    expression - is the XPath expression used for comparison
    
    distinct - if true then duplicate values (using the sortXPath for comparisions) will be removed from the List
  - parseText
```
public static Document parseText(String text)
                          throws DocumentException
```
    parseText parses the given text as an XML document and returns the newly created Document.
    Loading external DTD and entities is disabled (if it is possible) for security reasons.
    
    Parameters:
    
    text - the XML text to be parsed
    
    Returns:
    
    a newly parsed Document
    
    Throws:
    
    DocumentException - if the document could not be parsed
  - makeElement
```
public static Element makeElement(Branch source,
                                  String path)
```
    makeElement
    a helper method which navigates from the given Document or Element node to some Element using the path expression, creating any necessary elements along the way. For example the path a/b/c would get the first child <a> element, which would be created if it did not exist, then the next child <b> and so on until finally a <c> element is returned.
    
    Parameters:
    
    source - is the Element or Document to start navigating from
    
    path - is a simple path expression, seperated by '/' which denotes the path from the source to the resulting element such as a/b/c
    
    Returns:
    
    the first Element on the given path which either already existed on the path or were created by this method.

Class DocumentHelper

Method Summary

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

Method Detail

createDocument

createDocument

createElement

createElement

createAttribute

createAttribute

createCDATA

createComment

createText

createEntity

createNamespace

createProcessingInstruction

createProcessingInstruction

createQName

createQName

createXPath

createXPath

createXPathFilter

createPattern

selectNodes

selectNodes

sort

sort

parseText

makeElement