Parsing XML using PHP

Author: Bård Farstad

Publishing date: 11.01.2002 09:24

include_once( "ezxml/classes/ezxml.php" );

$xmlDocument =
"<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>
<document version=\"42\">
  <person>
    <firstname value=\"Bård\" />
    <lastname value=\"Farstad\" />
    <description>
    Coder.
    </description>
  </person>
  <person>
    <firstname value=\"Christoffer A.\" />
    <lastname value=\"Elo\" />
    <description>
    Coder.
    </description>
  </person>
</document>";

$tree =& eZXML::domTree( $xmlDocument, array( "TrimWhiteSpace" => true  ) );

foreach ( $tree->children as $document )
{
    // parse the document
    if ( $document->name == "document" )
    {
        // get the document version attribute
        foreach ( $document->attributes as $documentAttr )
        {
            if ( $documentAttr->name == "version" )
            {
                print( "Found document with version: " . $documentAttr->content . "<br>" );
            }
        }

        // parse all persons
        foreach ( $document->children as $person )
        {
            if ( $person->name == "person" )
            {
                print( "Found a new person <br>" );

                $firstName = "";
                $lastName = "";
                $descriptionName = "";
                
                // get the name and description
                foreach ( $person->children as $personAttribute )
                {
                    switch ( $personAttribute->name )
                    {
                        case "firstname" :
                        {
                            $firstName = getAttrValue( $personAttribute, "value" );
                        }break;

                        case "lastname" :
                        {
                            $lastName = getAttrValue( $personAttribute, "value" );
                        }break;

                        case "description" :
                        {
                            // get the description text
                            foreach ( $personAttribute->children as $description )
                            {
                                if ( $description->type == 3 )
                                {
                                    $description = $description->content;
                                }
                            }
                        }break;
                    }                    
                }

                print( "The persons firstname is: $firstName <br>" );
                print( "The persons lastname is: $lastName <br>" );
                print( "The persons description is: $description <br>" );                
            }            
        }
    }
}

/*!
  Function to fetch an attribute value.
  Will return the value of the attribute if found. False if not found.
*/
function getAttrValue( $node, $attrName )
{
    $ret = false;
     
    foreach ( $node->attributes as $nodeAttr )
    {
        if ( $nodeAttr->name == $attrName )
        {
            $ret = $nodeAttr->content;
        }
    }
    return $ret;
}

Found document with version: 42
Found a new person 
The persons firstname is: Bård 
The persons lastname is: Farstad 
The persons description is: Coder. 
Found a new person 
The persons firstname is: Christoffer A. 
The persons lastname is: Elo 
The persons description is: Coder2.