SimpleXMLElement::addChild

(PHP 5 >= 5.1.3, PHP 7, PHP 8)

SimpleXMLElement::addChild — Adds a child element to the XML node

Description

public SimpleXMLElement::addChild(string $qualifiedName, ?string $value = null, ?string $namespace = null): ?SimpleXMLElement

Adds a child element to the node and returns a SimpleXMLElement of the child.

Parameters

qualifiedName: The name of the child element to add.
value: If specified, the value of the child element.
namespace: If specified, the namespace to which the child element belongs.

Return Values

The addChild method returns a SimpleXMLElement object representing the child added to the XML node on success; null on failure.

Examples

Note:
Listed examples may include example.php, which refers to the XML string found in the first example of the basic usage guide.

Example #1 Add attributes and children to a SimpleXML element

<?php

include 'example.php';

$sxe = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlstr);
$sxe->addAttribute('type', 'documentary');

$movie = $sxe->addChild('movie');
$movie->addChild('title', 'PHP2: More Parser Stories');
$movie->addChild('plot', 'This is all about the people who make it work.');

$characters = $movie->addChild('characters');
$character  = $characters->addChild('character');
$character->addChild('name', 'Mr. Parser');
$character->addChild('actor', 'John Doe');

$rating = $movie->addChild('rating', '5');
$rating->addAttribute('type', 'stars');
 
echo $sxe->asXML();

?>

The above example will output something similar to:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<movies type="documentary">
 <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 Act&#xD3;r</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>
 <movie>
  <title>PHP2: More Parser Stories</title>
  <plot>This is all about the people who make it work.</plot>
  <characters>
   <character>
    <name>Mr. Parser</name>
    <actor>John Doe</actor>
   </character>
  </characters>
  <rating type="stars">5</rating>
 </movie>
</movies>

User Contributed Notes 13 notes

down

frosty dot z at freesbee dot fr ¶

11 years ago


To complete Volker Grabsch's comment, stating :
"Note that although addChild() escapes "<" and ">", it does not escape the ampersand "&"."

To work around that problem, you can use direct property assignment such as :

<?php
$xmlelement->value = 'my value < > &';
// results in <value>my value &lt; &gt; &amp;</value>
?>

instead of doing :

<?php
$xmlelement->addChild('value', 'my value < > &');
// results in <value>my value &lt; &gt; &</value> (invalid XML)
?>

See also: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/552957 (Rationale behind SimpleXMLElement's handling of text values in addChild and addAttribute)

HTH

down

alex dot feraud at gmail dot com ¶

13 years ago


Here is a class with more functions for SimpleXMLElement :



<?php

/**

 *

 * Extension for SimpleXMLElement

 * @author Alexandre FERAUD

 *

 */

class ExSimpleXMLElement extends SimpleXMLElement

{

    /**

     * Add CDATA text in a node

     * @param string $cdata_text The CDATA value  to add

     */

  private function addCData($cdata_text)

  {

   $node= dom_import_simplexml($this);

   $no = $node->ownerDocument;

   $node->appendChild($no->createCDATASection($cdata_text));

  }



  /**

   * Create a child with CDATA value

   * @param string $name The name of the child element to add.

   * @param string $cdata_text The CDATA value of the child element.

   */

    public function addChildCData($name,$cdata_text)

    {

        $child = $this->addChild($name);

        $child->addCData($cdata_text);

    }



    /**

     * Add SimpleXMLElement code into a SimpleXMLElement

     * @param SimpleXMLElement $append

     */

    public function appendXML($append)

    {

        if ($append) {

            if (strlen(trim((string) $append))==0) {

                $xml = $this->addChild($append->getName());

                foreach($append->children() as $child) {

                    $xml->appendXML($child);

                }

            } else {

                $xml = $this->addChild($append->getName(), (string) $append);

            }

            foreach($append->attributes() as $n => $v) {

                $xml->addAttribute($n, $v);

            }

        }

    }

}

?>

down

johninen at gmail dot com ¶

9 years ago


In the docs for google sitemaps it is required an element for mobile sitemaps that looks like this: <mobile:mobile/>

I used some time to figure out how to make it, but it is quite simple when understood.

$mobile_schema = 'http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-mobile/1.0';

//Create root element
$xml_mobile = new SimpleXMLElement('
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9" xmlns:mobile="'.$mobile_schema.'"></urlset>
');

//Add required children
$url_mobile = $xml_b_list_mobile->addChild('url');
$url_mobile->addChild('loc', 'your-mobile-site-url');
$url_mobile->addChild('mobile:mobile', null, $mobile_schema);

For this to work properly the attribute xmlns:mobile must be set in the root node, and then used as namespace(third argument) when creating the mobile:mobile child with null as value.

down

nwarap ¶

7 years ago


Want to continue the ampersand (&) chain problem.

Sometimes, you would want to assign  (=) addChild.
This trick will helps you to do this.

<?php
$webOrders = new SimpleXMLElement('<?xml version="1.0"?><WebOrders></WebOrders>');
$webOrder = $webOrders->addChild('WebOrder');
$product = $webOrder->addChild('Product');
$product[0] = 'T&M';
$product->addAttribute('price', 19.99);
$product->addAttribute('qty', 2);
var_dump($webOrders->asXML());
?>

OUTPUT would be:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<WebOrders>
    <WebOrder>
        <Product price="19.99" qty="2">T&amp;M</Product>
    </WebOrder>
</WebOrders>

down

Volker Grabsch ¶

13 years ago


Note that although addChild() escapes "<" and ">", it does not escape the ampersand "&".

So addChild() is unsuited to handle user-defined input!

Instead, you will have to replace all "&" with "&amp;" before calling addChild().

Or, use htmlspecialchars() which also replaces other characters, but won't do any harm as addChild() won't replace those again.

down

ivan dot kakurov at gmail dot com ¶

11 years ago


Here's my solution for creating XML from Multidimensional Array. 
<?php
//DATA 
        $xmlDAta = array(
            array(
                "name"  => "nameVal",
                "value" => "valVal",
                "css"   => "cssVal"
            ),
            array(
                "name"  => "name1Val",
                "value" => "val1Val",
                "css"   => "css1Val"
            ),
            "tname" => array(
                array(
                    "iTname"   => "iTname",
                    "iTname2"  => "iTname1",
                    "iTname2"  => "iTname2",
                    "iTbname3" => array(
                        "iiTbname"  => "tbName",
                        "iiTbname1" => "tbName1",
                    ),
                ),
            ),
            "tdata" => "otheerDAta"
        );

   /**
     * Create XML using string or array
     *
     * @param mixed $data input data
     * @param SimpleXMLElement $xml
     * @param string $child name of first level child
     *
     * @return adding Xml formated data into SimpleXmlElement
     */

function data2XML(array $data, SimpleXMLElement $xml, $child = "items")
    {

        foreach($data as $key => $val) {
            if(is_array($val)) {

                if(is_numeric($key)) {
                    $node  = $xml->addChild($child);
                    $nodes = $node->getName($child);
                } else {

                    $node  = $xml->addChild($key);
                    $nodes = $node->getName($key);
                }

                $node->addChild($nodes, self::data2Xml($val, $node));
            } else {
                $xml->addChild($key, $val);
            }
        }

    }

//Use 

        $xml    = new SimpleXMLElement("<root/>");
        Util::data2XML($xmlDAta, $xml, "Items");

?>

down

caffeinatedbits ¶

1 year ago


Just in case anyone else, like me, was trying to figure out a way to remove child elements...

<?php

$xml = <<<EOF
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Animals>
    <Dog breed="chihuahua"/>
    <Dog breed="poodle"/>
    <Dog breed="invalid"/>
</Animals>
EOF;

$animals = new SimpleXMLElement($xml);

unset($animals->Dog[2]);

echo $animals->asXML();

// <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
// <Animals>
//         <Dog breed="chihuahua"/>
//         <Dog breed="poodle"/>
//         
// </Animals>

?>

Note: you cannot remove elements while iterating children, otherwise it will break the Iterator. Example:

<?php

$xml = <<<EOF
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Animals>
    <Dog breed="chihuahua"/>
    <Dog breed="poodle"/>
    <Dog breed="invalid"/>
</Animals>
EOF;

$animals = new SimpleXMLElement($xml);

$allowed_breeds = [
    'chihuahua',
    'poodle'
];

try {
    $index = 0;
    foreach ($animals->Dog as $dog) {
        if (!in_array($dog['breed'], $allowed_breeds)) {
            unset($animals->Dog[$index]);
        }
        $index++;
    }
} catch (Throwable $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage();
    // SimpleXMLElement is not properly initialized
}

?>

down

fluxlicious at gmail dot com ¶

1 year ago


The class below allows you to write CDATA and to add additional attributes.

<?php
class SimpleXMLElementExtended extends \SimpleXMLElement
{
    public function addChildWithCData($name, $value)
    {
        $child = parent::addChild($name);
        $element = dom_import_simplexml($child);
        $docOwner = $element->ownerDocument;
        $element->appendChild($docOwner->createCDATASection($value));
        return $child;
    }
}
?>

Example:
<?php
        $xml = new SimpleXMLElementExtended('<xml></xml>');
        $content = $xml->addChildWithCData('content', 'Title of the page');
        $content->addAttribute('id', 1);
        $content->addAttribute('enabled', 'true');

        // Output:
        // <xml>
        //   <content id="1" enabled="true"><![CDATA[Title of the page]]></content>
        // </xml>
?>

down

carlos dot eduardo dot debiasi at gmail dot com ¶

3 years ago


I create this function so you can through and array build the XML, this allows multiple keys with the same value.
The structure must follow 

[
    'key' => 'nameOfTheKey',
    'attributes' => ['id' => '1'], 
    'fields' => [
        ['key' => 'fieldSamName', 'value' => '1'],
        ['key' => 'fieldSamName', 'value' => '1'],
        ['key' => 'fieldSamName', 'value' => '2'],
        ['key' => 'fieldWithChild', 'fields' => [ 
            ['key' => 'car', 'value' => '2'],
            ['key' => 'human', 'value' => '3'],
        ]],
    ]
];

Function:
 function toXml(\SimpleXMLElement $node, array $data)
    {
        foreach ($data as $key => $value) {
            $key = $value['key'];
            if (isset($value['value'])) {
                    $newNode = $node->addChild($key, $value['value']);
                if (isset($value['attributes'])) {
                    foreach ($value['attributes'] as $keyAttr => $valueAttr) {
                        $newNode->addAttribute($keyAttr, $valueAttr);
                    }
                }
            } else {
                $newNode = $node->addChild($key);
                if (isset($value['attributes'])) {
                    foreach ($value['attributes'] as $keyAttr => $valueAttr) {
                        $newNode->addAttribute($keyAttr, $valueAttr);
                    }
                }
            }
            if (isset($value['fields'])) {
                foreach ($value['fields'] as $keyField => $valueField) {
                    $this->toXml($newNode, [$keyField => $valueField]);
                }
            }
        }
    }

down

passerbyxp at gmail dot com ¶

11 years ago


Be aware that simply because you can <?php $dom->addChild();?> doesn't mean your XML is valid under simple XML itself:

<?php
$dom=simplexml_load_string("<test></test>");
$dom->addChild("3D","1,2,3");
$xml=$dom->asXML();
echo $xml;
/* echos:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<test><3D>1,2,3</3D></test>
*/

$dom=simplexml_load_string($xml);
/*
generates a whole lots of warnings,
and refuses to create an object.
*/
?>

Same in PHP 5.3 and 5.4

down

felipenmoura at gmail dot com ¶

13 years ago


This method returns a reference to the specific SimpleXMLElement.
If you use:
<?php
    $xml= new SimpleXMLElement('<root></root>');
    $xml->father['name']= 'Fathers name'; // creates automatically a father tag with attribute name
    $son= $xml->father->addChild('son'); // uses the first father tag
    $son['name']= 'first son';
    $otherSon= $xml->father->addChild('son'); // uses the first father tag but now, in a second son tag
    $otherSon['name']= 'second son';
    
    echo htmlentities($xml->asXML());
?>

The result will be
<root>
    <father>
        <son name='first son' />
        <son name='second son' />
    </father>
</root>

So, once you change something to the just added child, you are actually accessing the element inside the SimpleXMLElement as a reference.

down

-3

jerikojerk ¶

13 years ago


If you're looking for a way to append children you may be interested in this:



<?php

$x = new SimpleXMLElement('<root name="toplevel"></root>');

$f1 = new SimpleXMLElement('<child pos="1">alpha</child>');

$f2 = new SimpleXMLElement('<child pos="2">beta</child>');

$f3 = new SimpleXMLElement('<child pos="3">gamma</child>');



$x->{$f1->getName()} = $f1;

$x->{$f2->getName()}[] = $f2;

$x->{$f3->getName()}[] = $f3;



echo 'count child=',$x->count(),"\n";

echo $x->asXML();



foreach ( $x->children() as $foo )

{

    var_dump($foo);

}



?>

down

-11

thallisphp at gmail dot com ¶

10 years ago


<?php
class MySimpleXMLElement extends SimpleXMLElement
{
    /**
     * Add SimpleXMLElement code into a SimpleXMLElement
     *
     * @param SimpleXMLElement $append
     */
    public function appendXML($append)
    {
        if ($append) {
            if (strlen(trim((string)$append)) == 0) {
                $xml = $this->addChild($append->getName());
            } else {
                $xml = $this->addChild($append->getName(), (string)$append);
            }

            foreach ($append->children() as $child) {
                $xml->appendXML($child);
            }

            foreach ($append->attributes() as $n => $v) {
                $xml->addAttribute($n, $v);
            }
        }
    }
}
?>

add a note

SimpleXMLElement::addChild

Description

Parameters

Return Values

Examples

See Also

User Contributed Notes 13 notes