(PHP 4)
xpath_eval_expression — Evaluates the XPath Location Path in the given string
Beispiel #1 xpath_eval_expression() Example
<?php
include("example.inc");
if (!$dom = domxml_open_mem($xmlstr)) {
    echo "Error while parsing the document\n";
    exit;
}
$xpath = xpath_new_context($dom);
var_dump(xpath_eval_expression($xpath, '/chapter/@language'));
?>
Das oben gezeigte Beispiel erzeugt folgende Ausgabe:
object(XPathObject)(2) {
   ["type"]=>
   int(1)
   ["nodeset"]=>
   array(1) {
     [0]=>
     object(domattribute)(5) {
       ["type"]=>
       int(2)
       ["name"]=>
       string(8) "language"
       ["value"]=>
       string(2) "en"
       [0]=>
       int(7)
       [1]=>
       int(138004256)
     }
  }
}
See also xpath_eval().
For those who use PHP5 and the domxml module of PECL : this function doesn't return the same thing if the result is "empty".
Look at this example using the code and the XML file  : 
<?php
/* ...
... code to get a xpath ...
... */
$ret = xpath_eval_expression($xPath, "/some/thing | /other/thing");
var_dump($ret); 
?>
If the xpath doesn't match anything :
- In PHP4, this code displays
bool(false)
- In PHP5 (with PECL domxml module) , this code displays
object(XPathObject)#25 (2) {
  ["type"]=>
  int(1)
  ["nodeset"]=>
  array(0) {
  }
which is NOT false !!!