SimpleXMLElement::addChild
Getting the subtree without the start and end tags:
<?php
$string = <<<XML
<a>
<b>
<c>text <b>hello</b><i>hello</i></c>
<c>stuff</c>
</b>
<d>
<c>hella</c>
</d>
</a>
XML;
//=================================
function subTree( $s , $tag ){
if(substr($s,0,1+strlen($tag))!='<'.$tag) return false;
$news='';
for($i=1+strlen($tag);$i<strlen($s);$i++){
if(substr($s,$i,1) == '>') break;
}
$news=substr($s,$i+1);
if( substr($news,strlen($news)-strlen($tag)-3) !='</'.$tag.'>') return false;
return(substr($news,0,strlen($news)-strlen($tag)-3));
}
//=================================
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($string);
echo '<textarea rows="10" cols="40">' . $xml->asXML() . '</textarea><br />';
echo '<textarea rows="6" cols="40">' . $xml->b->asXML() . '</textarea><br />' ;
echo '<textarea rows="6" cols="40">' . subTree( $xml->b->asXML() , 'b' ) . '</textarea><br />' ;
?>
SimpleXMLElement::asXML
(PHP 5 >= 5.0.1)
SimpleXMLElement::asXML — Return a well-formed XML string based on SimpleXML element
Description
mixed asXML
([ string $filename
] )
The asXML method formats the parent object's data in XML version 1.0.
Parameters
- filename
-
If specified, the function writes the data to the file rather than returning it.
Return Values
If the filename isn't specified, this function returns a string on success and FALSE on error. If the parameter is specified, it returns TRUE if the file was written successfully and FALSE otherwise.
Examples
Example #1 Get XML
<?php
$string = <<<XML
<a>
<b>
<c>text</c>
<c>stuff</c>
</b>
<d>
<c>code</c>
</d>
</a>
XML;
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($string);
echo $xml->asXML(); // <?xml ... <a><b><c>text</c><c>stuff</c> ...
?>
asXML also works on Xpath results:
Example #2 Using asXML() on SimpleXMLElement::xpath results
<?php
// Continued from example XML above.
/* Search for <a><b><c> */
$result = $xml->xpath('/a/b/c');
while(list( , $node) = each($result)) {
echo $node->asXML(); // <c>text</c> and <c>stuff</c>
}
?>
add a note
User Contributed NotesSimpleXMLElement::asXML
Anonymous
28-Jun-2009 08:23
28-Jun-2009 08:23
Anonymous
27-Aug-2008 03:50
27-Aug-2008 03:50
DomDocument can do indentation on saveXML, so another way would be:
<?php
$simpleXml = new SimpleXmlElement('...');
// ... do your simple xml construction
$dom = dom_import_simplexml($simpleXml)->ownerDocument;
$dom->formatOutput = true;
echo $dom->saveXML();
?>
not especially better, and probably not faster, but an alternative.
Chris
27-Nov-2007 10:35
27-Nov-2007 10:35
You habe to use utf8_encode() to insert your data into the XML-Object
<?php
$objXMLFile = simplexml_load_string('<users></users>');
$objUser = $objXMLFile->addChild('user');
$objUser->addAttribute('name', utf8_encode('Günther'));
echo $objXMLFile->asXML();
?>
gary dot malcolm at gmail dot com
14-Sep-2007 07:15
14-Sep-2007 07:15
I extended SimpleXml and added this code to give me pleasant source code XML.
<?php
public function asPrettyXML()
{
$string = $this->asXML();
/**
* put each element on it's own line
*/
$string =preg_replace("/>\s*</",">\n<",$string);
/**
* each element to own array
*/
$xmlArray = explode("\n",$string);
/**
* holds indentation
*/
$currIndent = 0;
/**
* set xml element first by shifting of initial element
*/
$string = array_shift($xmlArray) . "\n";
foreach($xmlArray as $element) {
/** find open only tags... add name to stack, and print to string
* increment currIndent
*/
if (preg_match('/^<([\w])+[^>\/]*>$/U',$element)) {
$string .= str_repeat(' ', $currIndent) . $element . "\n";
$currIndent += self::indent;
}
/**
* find standalone closures, decrement currindent, print to string
*/
elseif ( preg_match('/^<\/.+>$/',$element)) {
$currIndent -= self::indent;
$string .= str_repeat(' ', $currIndent) . $element . "\n";
}
/**
* find open/closed tags on the same line print to string
*/
else {
$string .= str_repeat(' ', $currIndent) . $element . "\n";
}
}
return $string;
}
?>
Regards,
Gary Malcolm
Fred Trotter
23-Jun-2007 07:27
23-Jun-2007 07:27
When trying to use the DOMDocument method for pretty printing the output of asXML be careful how you format the starting XML string. It cannot have spaces or other hidden chars "\n". I also had trouble with using different types of quotes for the starting XML, but I am unable to replicate that. So if you cannot get this to work then you might try swapping the single and double quotes.
<?php
$no_spaces = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><Example></Example>';
$one_space = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><Example> </Example>';
echo printy($no_spaces);
/* Outputs
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Example>
<poop from="Myself">
<smell>stinky</smell>
</poop>
</Example>
*/
echo printy($one_space);
/* Outputs... note the space...
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Example> <poop from="Myself"><smell>stinky</smell></poop></Example>
*/
function printy($xmlstr){// a combination from the comments below...
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlstr);
$poop = $xml->addChild("poop");
$poop->addAttribute("from", "Myself");
$poop->addChild("smell", "stinky");
$doc = new DOMDocument('1.0');
$doc->formatOutput = true;
$domnode = dom_import_simplexml($xml);
$domnode = $doc->importNode($domnode, true);
$domnode = $doc->appendChild($domnode);
return $doc->saveXML();
}
?>
Blake W
12-May-2007 12:21
12-May-2007 12:21
If your xml has already got a "\n" (new line) straight after the opening root tag, then the layout of the rest of the saveXML() will all be on one line, regardless of if you've set formatOutput to true. it's taken me about an hour to figure this out, and i hope this helps someone.
eggbird at bigfoot dot com
09-Apr-2007 05:39
09-Apr-2007 05:39
One simple way to write out nicely indented XML data is by converting the whole batch to a DOM document, and using its formatOutput option:
<?php
$doc = new DOMDocument('1.0');
$doc->formatOutput = true;
$domnode = dom_import_simplexml($some_simplexml_node);
$domnode = $doc->importNode($domnode, true);
$domnode = $doc->appendChild($domnode);
echo $doc->saveXML();
?>
ShinnyLeather
06-Mar-2007 02:39
06-Mar-2007 02:39
Awww snap. If you are to do something like this:
<?php
// ... You have already read an xml file into a SimpleXMLElement stored in variable $poop
$poop = $simpEle->addChild("poop");
$poop->addAttribute("from", "Myself");
$poop->addChild("smell", "stinky");
file_put_contents("xml.xml", $poop->asXML());
?>
It will add all of the new xml on one line
<poop from="Myself"><smell>stinky</smell></poop>
So when you look at what was originally a nicely tabbed out xml file, it looks like doof. I understand why this happens, so let me just say that it would be awesome if someone wrote and shared function that takes the asXML() string, parses it, and returns a nicely tabbed out version. As a lot of the XML files I work with are smaller than large, the benefit of having a file readable to the human eye far outweights the benefit of having a smaller filesize.