code: def command(jaide, commands, format="text", xpath=False):
      
      output = ""
      for cmd in clean_lines(commands):
          expression = ""
          output += color('> ' + cmd + '\n', 'yel')
          # Get xpath expression from the command, if it is there.
          # If there is an xpath expr, the output will be xml,
          # overriding the req_format parameter
          #
          # Example command forcing xpath: show route % //rt-entry
          if len(cmd.split('%')) == 2:
              expression = cmd.split('%')[1].strip()
              cmd = cmd.split('%')[0] + '\n'
          elif xpath is not False:
              expression = xpath
          if expression:
              try:
                  output += jaide.op_cmd(command=cmd, req_format='xml',
                                         xpath_expr=expression) + '\n'
              except lxml.etree.XMLSyntaxError:
                  output += color('Xpath expression resulted in no response.\n',
                                  'red')
          else:
              output += jaide.op_cmd(cmd, req_format=format) + '\n'
      return output
docs: Run an operational command.
  
      @param jaide: The jaide connection to the device.
      @type jaide: jaide.Jaide object
      @param commands: the operational commands to send to the device.
      @type commands: str or list
      @param format: The desired output format from the device, either 'text'
                   | or 'xml' is supported.
      @type format: str
      @param xpath: The xpath expression to filter the results from the device.
                  | If set, this forces the output to be requested in xml format.
      @type xpath: str
  
      @returns: The output from the device, and xpath filtered if desired.
      @rtype: str