PHP and SimpleXML

When you want to process an XML file in PHP, there are two possibilities: either we use SimpleXML or we go through DOMDocument. In this article I will deal more specifically with SimpleXML.

To load a file, just use the simplexml_load_file method

$xml = simplexml_load_file($file);

By doing so, you get a SimpleXMLElement.

If the XML has a namespace, it is imperative to add it to the element, otherwise you won’t be able to browse it.

 $xml->registerXPathNamespace('n', 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/'); 

<movies xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/">
 <movie>
  <title>PHP: Behind the Parser</title>
  <characters>
   <character>
    <name>Ms. Coder</name>
    <actor>Onlivia Actora</actor>
   </character>
   <character>
    <name>Mr. Coder</name>
    <actor>El ActÓr</actor>
   </character>
  </characters>
  <plot>
   So, this language. It's like, a programming language. Or is it a
   scripting language? All is revealed in this thrilling horror spoof
   of a documentary.
  </plot>
  <great-lines>
   <line>PHP solves all my web problems</line>
  </great-lines>
  <rating type="thumbs">7</rating>
  <rating type="stars">5</rating>
 </movie>
</movies>

Then it is possible to retrieve the desired data

echo $movies->movie[0]->plot;

we can also, if desired, use xpath. It is very important that each node has the namespace, in our example “n”

echo $xml->xpath('//n:movie/n:plot')

A very good article can be found on php.net.