__toString() is not intended to be called directly.
Instead, it defines what is returned when the object is cast to string, either explicitly with:
(string)$element
Or implicitly, when used in certain contexts which would cause a conversion to string.
SimpleXMLElement::__toString
(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7, PHP 8)
SimpleXMLElement::__toString — Returns the string content
Description
Returns text content that is directly in this element. Does not return text content that is inside this element's children.
Parameters
This function has no parameters.
Return Values
Returns the string content on success or an empty string on failure.
Examples
Example #1 Get string content
<?php
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('<a>1 <b>2 </b>3</a>');
echo $xml;
?>The above example will output:
1 3
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User Contributed Notes 3 notes
mmj at example dot net ¶
7 years ago
Patanjali ¶
8 years ago
[Someone remove that other Patanjali's note, because it has errors! :-(]
For those for whom it may not be immediately obvious from the example, the echo is what is forcing __toString() to be used.
However, to assign the text of a node (but not its children) to a variable:
$XML = new SimpleXMLElement('<p>Hello<span> world</span>.<span> Good day!</span></p>');
$Text = $XML->__toString();
is effectively:
$Text = 'Hello.'; // The <span>s are ignored.
Either of:
$Text = $XML->span->__toString();
$Text = $XML->span[0]->__toString();
is effectively:
$Text = ' world'; // Only the first <span> is used.
$Text = $XML->span[1]->__toString();
is effectively:
$Text = ' Good day!'; // Only the second <span> is used.
Patanjali ¶
8 years ago
For those for whom it may not be immediately obvious from the example, to assign the text of a node (but not its children) to a variable:
$XML = new SimpleXMLElement('<p>Hello<span> world</span>.<span> Good day!</span></p>');
Either:
$Text = $XML;
$Text = $XML->__String();
is effectively:
$Text = 'Hello.'; // The <span>s are ignored.
Either of:
$Text = $XML->span;
$Text = $XML->span[0];
is effectively:
$Text = ' world'; // Only the first <span> is used.
$Text = $XML->span[1];
is effectively:
$Text = ' Good day!'; // Only the second <span> is used.
