User Contributed Notes

Juan Herrera 19-Dec-2009 09:49
When using simplexml to access a element the returned object may be a SimpleXMLElement instead of a string.

Example:

<?php
$string = <<<XML
<?xml version='1.0'?>
<document>
    <cmd>login</cmd>
    <login>Richard</login>
</document>
XML;
                                                                       
                                          
$xml = simplexml_load_string($string);
print_r($xml);
$login = $xml->login;
print_r($login);
$login = (string) $xml->login;
print_r($login);
?>

Expected result:
----------------
SimpleXMLElement Object
(
    [cmd] => login
    [login] => Richard
)
Richard
Richard

Actual result:
--------------
SimpleXMLElement Object
(
    [cmd] => login
    [login] => Richard
)
SimpleXMLElement Object
(
    [0] => Richard
)
Richard

But this is an intended behavior. See http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=29500
info at accountr dot eu 05-May-2009 05:35
Instead of using  <?php eval($code) ?>

you can use this method,

<?php

$node = "node";

$XML = simplexml_load_file($file);

$text = (string)$XML->nodes->{$node}; // works
// or
$text2 = (string)$XML->{$node}->child; // also works fine

?>

I think it is much more easier instead of eval().
Kari P. 15-Aug-2008 11:17
To take care of proper error checking, one must use try-catch blocks:

<?php
try {
  $sxe = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlstring);
} catch (Exception $e) {
  echo "bad xml";
}
?>

To get rid of warnings, use @ in front of new:

<?php
try {
  $sxe = @new SimpleXMLElement($xmlstring);
} catch (Exception $e) {
  echo "bad xml";
}
?>
mike at mike-griffiths dot co dot uk 18-Apr-2008 06:11
It is important that you select the correct method of loading the XML in depending on the format of your XML file.

If you use the wrong function to load it in you will get some strange errors.