Using Simple XML Parser in PHP
How to use Simple XML Parser in PHP
Simple XML is an extension that allows us to easily manipulate and get XML data using PHP. From PHP 5, It is a part of the PHP core. Before going to learn about Simple XML Parser in PHP. Let's have some brief introduction of XML.
What is XML?
The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a simple text-based format for porting structured information like documents, data, books, transactions, invoices, configuration and much more from one end to another both locally and across networks. It was derived from an older standard format called SGML, in order to be more suitable for modern days Web use. XML is similar to HTML. It uses opening and closing tags. Unlike HTML, XML allows users to define their own tags.
What is XML Used For?
XML is one of the most widely-used formats for sharing structured information between programs, between people.
Types of XML
- Tree based
- Event based
XML Parse Extensions:
The following XML parsers are available in the PHP core.
- Simple XML parser
- DOM XML parser
- XML parser
- XML Reader
1. Simple XML parser
It is tree based XML parser and is used to parse Name, attributes and textual content. The simple XML functions are shown below…
- simplexml_load_file(): This function accepts file path as a first parameter.
- simplexml_load_string(): This function accepts the string instead of file reference.
- simplexml_import_dom(): Accepts DOM formatted XML content, and it converts into simple XML.
The following code to get the node values from XML file.
sample.xml
readxml-file.php
Result:
Parses XML data string
The following code parses XML data string
readxml-string.php
Result:
TOP MenuP
Parses XML data file
sample2.xml
index.php
Error Handling
<?php
libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
$myXMLData =
"<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<document>
<user>John Doe</wronguser>
<email>john@example.com</wrongemail>
</document>";
$xml = simplexml_load_string($myXMLData);
if ($xml === false) {
echo "Failed loading XML: ";
foreach(libxml_get_errors() as $error) {
echo "<br>", $error->message;
}
} else {
print_r($xml);
}
?>
How to Convert XML to an Array With PHP
This example performing 3 steps. To convert XML to PHP array.
Step1 - loading XML
Loading XML file using simplexml_load_string()
Step2 - XML to JSON conversion
Converting XML to JSON object using : json_encode()
Step3 - JSON to array conversion
Converting JSON object to PHP array using: json_decode()
The json_decode() function returns an object by default. The json_decode() function has a second parameter, and when set to true, JSON objects are decoded into associative arrays.
xml2array.php
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<?php
$myXMLData =
"<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' ?>
<xml>
<products>
<product>
<title>product1</title>
<description>Product one desc </description>
</product>
<product>
<title>product2</title>
<description>Product two desc </description>
</product>
</products>
</xml>";
echo '<h2>How to Convert XML to an Array With PHP</h2>';
$xml=simplexml_load_string($myXMLData) or die("Error: Cannot create object");
if ($xml === FALSE) {
echo "There were errors parsing the XML file.\n";
foreach(libxml_get_errors() as $error) {
echo $error->message;
}
exit;
}
$jsonobj = json_encode($xml);
$array = json_decode($jsonobj,TRUE);
foreach($array['products'] as $key => $value) {
foreach($value as $k => $val){
foreach($val as $i => $j){
print $i. " = ".$j."<br />";
}
echo "<hr />";
}
}
?>
</body>
</html> 
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