Last updated: Fri, 14 Nov 2008

SimpleXMLElement->addChild

(No version information available, might be only in CVS)

SimpleXMLElement->addChild — Adds a child element to the XML node

Description

SimpleXMLElement

SimpleXMLElement addChild ( string $name [, string $value [, string $namespace ]] )

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

Parameters

name: 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.

Examples

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();

?>


As noted by zspencer at zacharyspencer dot com, addChild with an empty string causes a redundant node to be added. This was screwing up our web services xml->JSON conversion - the following hack seems to fix it, use at your own risk...





<?php


    if($sv == null)


    {


        $child = $node->addChild($k, '<blank>');


        $child = '';


    }


    else


    {


        $node->addChild($k, $sv);


    }


?>

Donet
02-Oct-2008 07:11


I found this easy way to create a CDATA section as child value:





I extend the class SimpleXMLElement:





<?php


class SimpleXMLExtended extends SimpleXMLElement


{


  public function addCData($cdata_text)


  {


    $node= dom_import_simplexml($this);


    $no = $node->ownerDocument;


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


  }


}


?>





Then in the main code:





<?php


$xml = new SimpleXMLExtended('<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?><root></root>');


$mynode = $xml->addChild("myname");


$mynode->addCData("my name contains everything I want &%<>");


echo $xml->asXml();


?>

zspencer at zacharyspencer dot com
24-Sep-2008 02:14


Interesting to note, when passing an empty value into addChild (For instance from a null result from a database query) it assumes that you want to have an actual node instead of a string value.



Example:

<?php

$empty_node='';

$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('<xml></xml>');

$xml->addChild('empty_node',$empty_node);

print_r($xml);

/*

SimpleXMLElement Object

 {

   [empty_node] => SimpleXMLElement Object

    {

      [0] =>

     }

 }



*/

?>



I haven't figured out a way around this yet, any hints?

jacob at 33i dot com dot au
19-Aug-2008 06:56


@kobrasrealm at gmail dot com



there is no lack of deleteChild function, you should use the php function unset()



<?php

unset($myxml->book[0]->page[22]);

unset($myxml->book[1]->page);

?>

essen at dev-extend dot eu
17-Jul-2008 09:06


Easy and fast deleting of a node:



<?php



$oNode = dom_import_simplexml($oSimpleXMLNodeToDelete);

$oNode->parentNode->removeChild($oNode);



?>



The node can have childs, attributes, and be anywhere in your document, it'll get deleted. The deletion will appear immediately in your SimpleXML object after calling removeChild, there's nothing else to do.

kobrasrealm at gmail dot com
28-Jun-2008 02:22


Here's a handy workaround to accommodate the lack of a $xml->deleteChild() function. It's not perfect, but it's a start (and it works for what I'm using it for):





<?php


// Workaround by Kobra.


function simplexml_deleteChild($parent, $childname, $parentname)


{


$temp = simplexml_load_string(str_replace("#","?","<#xml version=\"1.0\"#>\n<".$parentname.">\n</".$parentname.">"));


foreach($parent as $t)


{


  if($t->getName() != $childname)


  {


  $name = $t->getName();


  $value = eval("return \$parent->".$name.";");


  $temp->addChild($t->getName(), $value);


  }


}


return $temp;


}





?>





I have not tested this with multi-level XML files; but like I said, it's a start.

danz at gethitz dot info
29-Jan-2008 05:12


Object cloning ...



So using the 'clone' keyword here lets you work on $new separately, and attributes added to $new don't show up in $sxe



without the 'clone' all changes to $new will be reflected in the larger $sxe tree



                $new = clone $sxe->AddChild("comment",$comment);

                $new->AddAttribute("name",$name);

                $new->AddAttribute("url",$url);

                $new->AddAttribute("ip",$ip);

                $new->AddAttribute("time",$time);

chicken dot ofeathers at gmail dot com
18-Jan-2008 11:57


Correct namespace usage:





<?php


$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('<root xmlns:itunes="http://example.com"/>');


$n = $xml->addChild("subtitle", "My Subtitle", " http://example.com");


?>





Incorrect namespace usage:





<?php


$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('<root xmlns:itunes="http://example.com"/>');


$n = $xml->addChild("subtitle", "My Subtitle", " itunes");


?>





The latter incorrect usage results in the following superfluous xmlns attribute:





<itunes:subtitle xmlns:itunes="itunes">My Subtitle</itunes:subtitle>





Whereas all you want is this:





<itunes:subtitle>My Subtitle</itunes:subtitle>

ron @ rotflol dot cx
10-Jul-2007 09:37


Replacing a node is an easy mod of the simplexml_append



function simplexml_replace(SimpleXMLElement $parent, SimpleXMLElement $new_child){

   $node1 = dom_import_simplexml($parent);

   $dom_sxe = dom_import_simplexml($new_child);

   $node2 = $node1->ownerDocument->importNode($dom_sxe, true);

   $node1->parentNode->replaceChild($node2,$node1);

}

r dot versluis at millipede dot nl
22-May-2007 06:23


<?php

// phpversion <= 5.1.2



function simplexml_addChild($parent, $name, $value=''){

    $new_child = new SimpleXMLElement("<$name>$value</$name>");

    $node1 = dom_import_simplexml($parent);

    $dom_sxe = dom_import_simplexml($new_child);

    $node2 = $node1->ownerDocument->importNode($dom_sxe, true);

    $node1->appendChild($node2);

    return simplexml_import_dom($node2);

}



function simplexml_addAttribute($parent, $name, $value=''){

    $node1 = dom_import_simplexml($parent);

    $node1->setAttribute($name,$value);

    return simplexml_import_dom($node1);

}



?>

l dot j dot peters at student dot utwente dot nl
12-Mar-2007 06:49


Rob Richards and I have come up with a very easy way to append one SimpleXML tree to another:

<?php

function simplexml_append(SimpleXMLElement $parent, SimpleXMLElement $new_child){

   $node1 = dom_import_simplexml($parent);

   $dom_sxe = dom_import_simplexml($new_child);

   $node2 = $node1->ownerDocument->importNode($dom_sxe, true);

   $node1->appendChild($node2);

}

?>

And adding a textnode is also easy:

<?php

//$sxe1 (refers to SimpleXMLElement)

$node1 = dom_import_simplexml($sxe1);

$node1->appendChild(new DOMText("my text"));

?>



Ofcourse, you could use this to extend the SimpleXMLElement class and overwrite and improve the existing addChild function.



Have fun, Luuk Peters.

add a note

SimpleXMLElement->asXML

SimpleXMLElement->addAttribute