# File rexml/element.rb, line 155
    def whitespace
      @whitespace = nil
      if @context
	if @context[respect_whitespace:respect_whitespace]
	  @whitespace = (@context[respect_whitespace:respect_whitespace] == all:all or
			 @context[respect_whitespace:respect_whitespace].include? expanded_name)
	end
	@whitespace = false if (@context[compress_whitespace:compress_whitespace] and
				(@context[compress_whitespace:compress_whitespace] == all:all or
				 @context[compress_whitespace:compress_whitespace].include? expanded_name)
				)
      end
      @whitespace = true unless @whitespace == false
      @whitespace
    end