PHP xml_parse_into_struct() Function

The PHP xml_parse_into_struct() function parses an XML data into an array structure. It parses an XML string into 2 parallel array structures:

Value array - containing the data from the parsed XML
Index array - containing pointers to the location of the values in the Value array

The last two parameters of this function must be passed by reference.

Syntax

xml_parse_into_struct(parser, data, values, index)

Parameters

`parser`	`Required.` Specify a reference to the XML parser to use.
`data`	`Required.` Specify a string containing the XML data to parse.
`values`	`Required.` Specify an array containing the values of the XML data.
`index`	`Optional.` Specify an array containing pointers to the location of the appropriate values in the values.

Return Value

Returns 1 on success or 0 on failure. This is not the same as false and true.

Example: xml_parse_into_struct() example

The example shows the usage of xml_parse_into_struct function.

<?php
//create an XML parser
$parser = xml_parser_create();

//a simple XML data to parse
$xmldata = "<p><note>Hello World!</note></p>";

//parsing XML data into an array
xml_parse_into_struct($parser, $xmldata, $vals, $index);

//free XML parser
xml_parser_free($parser);

echo "Index array\n";
print_r($index);
echo "\nVals array\n";
print_r($vals);
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Index array
Array
(
    [P] => Array
        (
            [0] => 0
            [1] => 2
        )

    [NOTE] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

)

Vals array
Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [tag] => P
            [type] => open
            [level] => 1
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [tag] => NOTE
            [type] => complete
            [level] => 2
            [value] => Hello World!
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [tag] => P
            [type] => close
            [level] => 1
        )

)

Example: parsing a XML file

Lets assume that we have a file called test.xml. This file contains following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<userlist>
  <user>
    <username>John123</username>
    <name>John Smith</name>
    <phone>+1-8054098000</phone>
    <address>Brooklyn, New York, USA</address>
  </user>
</userlist>

In the example below, an XML parser is created. Then the data of this XML file is parsed using xml_parse_into_struct() function.

<?php
//create an XML parser
$parser=xml_parser_create();

//opening the xml file
$fp = fopen("test.xml", "r");

//the XML data to parse
$xmldata = fread($fp,4096);

//parsing XML data into an array
xml_parse_into_struct($parser, $xmldata, $vals, $index);

//free XML parser
xml_parser_free($parser);

fclose($fp);

echo "Vals array\n";
print_r($vals);
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Vals array
Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [tag] => USERLIST
            [type] => open
            [level] => 1
            [value] => 
  
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [tag] => USER
            [type] => open
            [level] => 2
            [value] => 
    
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [tag] => USERNAME
            [type] => complete
            [level] => 3
            [value] => John123
        )

    [3] => Array
        (
            [tag] => USER
            [value] => 
    
            [type] => cdata
            [level] => 2
        )

    [4] => Array
        (
            [tag] => NAME
            [type] => complete
            [level] => 3
            [value] => John Smith
        )

    [5] => Array
        (
            [tag] => USER
            [value] => 
    
            [type] => cdata
            [level] => 2
        )

    [6] => Array
        (
            [tag] => PHONE
            [type] => complete
            [level] => 3
            [value] => +1-8054098000
        )

    [7] => Array
        (
            [tag] => USER
            [value] => 
    
            [type] => cdata
            [level] => 2
        )

    [8] => Array
        (
            [tag] => ADDRESS
            [type] => complete
            [level] => 3
            [value] => Brooklyn, New York, USA
        )

    [9] => Array
        (
            [tag] => USER
            [value] => 
  
            [type] => cdata
            [level] => 2
        )

    [10] => Array
        (
            [tag] => USER
            [type] => close
            [level] => 2
        )

    [11] => Array
        (
            [tag] => USERLIST
            [value] => 

            [type] => cdata
            [level] => 1
        )

    [12] => Array
        (
            [tag] => USERLIST
            [type] => close
            [level] => 1
        )

)

❮ PHP XML Parser Reference