# File /home/ser/Work/rexml/rexml/xpath.rb, line 17
  def XPath::match element, path, namespaces=EMPTY_HASH
			raise "nil is not a valid xpath" unless path
			results = nil
			Functions::namespace_context = namespaces
			case path
			when /^\([^\]|$)/u
				# match on root
				path = path[1..-1]
				return [element.root.parent] if path == ''
				results = filter([element.root], path)
			when /^[\-]*::/u
				results = filter([element], path)
			when /^\/u
				results = filter(element.to_a, path)
			when /^[[:!\_]/u
				# match on child
				matches = []
				children = element.to_a
				results = filter(children, path)
			else
				results = filter([element], path)
			end
			return results
		end