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Clarify behavior of math operators in XPath #9505

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May 28, 2025
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Clarify behavior of math operators in XPath #9505

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5db2442
Clarify behavior of math operators in XPath
dahfjkg May 8, 2025
3acc85f
proofread
MarkvanMents May 14, 2025
6382fac
Clarify where math operators can be used in Studio Pro
dahfjkg May 16, 2025
8ed64ee
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MarkvanMents May 26, 2025
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18 changes: 15 additions & 3 deletions content/en/docs/refguide/modeling/xpath/xpath-constraints/xpath-operators.md
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Expand Up @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ url: /refguide/xpath-operators/

## For XPath Query Constraints

The following operators can be used in XPath query constraints, both in Studio Pro and in Java code:
The following operators can be used in XPath query constraints, both in Mendix Studio Pro and in Java code:

| Operator | Description | Example | Return value |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
Expand All @@ -18,9 +18,13 @@ The following operators can be used in XPath query constraints, both in Studio P
| `or` | Or | `price = 9.80 or price = 9.70` | true if price is 9.80, false if price is 9.60 |
| `and` | And | `price = 9.80 and amount = 1` | true if price is 9.80 and amount is 1, false if price is 9.70 and amount is 1, false if price is 9.80 and amount is 2, false if price is 9.70 and amount is 2 |

## For Java Code
## Mathematical operators

Additionally, the following operators are supported in Java code only:
In Studio Pro, mathematical operators can be used in XPath constraints that are defined in the model such as the [Retrieve](/refguide/retrieve/) microflow activity or access rule [constraints](/refguide/access-rules/#xpath-constraints).

Mathematical operators are not allowed in queries that come from the client. For example, they cannot be used in [widgets](/appstore/widgets/).

The following mathematical operators are supported:

| Operator | Description | Example | Return value |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
Expand All @@ -29,6 +33,14 @@ Additionally, the following operators are supported in Java code only:
| `*` | Multiplication | `6 * 4` | 24 |
| `div` | Division | `8 div 4` | 2 |

In Java code, mathematical operators are disabled by default for the `XPathQuery` API, but can be enabled using the `allowMathOperators` method. For example:

```java
Core.createXPathQuery("//Module.Entity[attr1 + attr2 = 42]")
.allowMathOperators(true)
.execute(context);
```

## Operator Behavior

The behavior of operators may differ based on the database type used for your Mendix application. The Mendix runtime generates a SQL query for the XPath you have configured. This query can be interpreted differently by different database types. For example, HSQLDB will ignore trailing spaces when using the = operator, whereas PostgreSQL will take those into consideration.