Converting php array to xml cannot be converted back

PHP is a very powerful programming language used in web development to obtain and process data. XML is a markup language used to store and transmit data on the Web. In PHP, we can use arrays as data structures to store data and then convert it into XML format. However, sometimes you may encounter problems when converting XML back to a PHP array. Next, we will explore this problem and provide solutions.

1. Array to XML
Converting an array to XML format is very simple in PHP. We just need to loop through the array and convert it to XML using PHP built-in functions. Here is a sample code:

 'John',
    'age' => 30,
    'gender' => 'male'
);
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('');
array_walk_recursive($data, array($xml, 'addChild'));
echo $xml->asXML();
?>

Output:

  John
  30
  male

We can use the SimpleXMLElement class to create a new XML document. Then add the array data to the XML tag.

2. Convert XML to array
Converting XML back to PHP array is relatively troublesome. PHP built-in functions do not support this functionality. However, the SimpleXML extension provides a way to parse XML and convert it into objects. In this object we can use the property name to get its value. For example, here is a sample XML document:

  John
  30
  male

We can convert it to a PHP array:

  John
  30
  male

XML;

$xmlObject = simplexml_load_string($xmlString);
$json = json_encode($xmlObject);
$array = json_decode($json,TRUE);

var_dump($array);
?>

Output:

array(3) {
  ["name"]=>
  string(4) "John"
  ["age"]=>
  string(2) "30"
  ["gender"]=>
  string(4) "male"
}

We use the simplexml_load_string function to convert the XML string to a SimpleXML object and then use PHP's built-in json_encode function to convert it to a JSON string. Finally use the json_decode function to convert the JSON string into an array.

3. Problems when converting XML back to an array
If we encounter problems when converting XML to a PHP array, it may be because the SimpleXML object's attribute names contain special characters. For example, the following is a sample XML document:

  ABC Inc.
  
    John
    Mike
  

The following is sample code that attempts to convert this XML to a PHP array:

  ABC Inc.
  
    John
    Mike
  

XML;

$xmlObject = simplexml_load_string($xmlString);
$json = json_encode($xmlObject);
$array = json_decode($json,TRUE);

var_dump($array);
?>

Output:

array(2) {
  ["company-name"]=>
  string(8) "ABC Inc."
  ["employees"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["employee"]=>
    array(2) {
      [0]=>
      string(4) "John"
      [1]=>
      string(4) "Mike"
    }
  }
}

In the output, "employee" is returned as an array rather than an associative array containing employee names and attributes. This is because a minus sign "-" in a property name causes the key name of the associative array to be incorrect. For example, we can change "company-name" to "company_name" and then run the same code. The following is an example:

  ABC Inc.
  
    John
    Mike
  

The following is the output:

array(2) {
  ["company_name"]=>
  string(8) "ABC Inc."
  ["employees"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["employee"]=>
    array(2) {
      [0]=>
      string(4) "John"
      [1]=>
      string(4) "Mike"
    }
  }
}

In this output, "employee" is returned as an associative array and includes the employee name and attributes.

The solution to this problem is to use the property names in the SimpleXML object instead of as key names. Here is a sample XML document with special characters and PHP code:

  ABC Inc.
  
    John
    Mike
  

  ABC Inc.
  
    John
    Mike
  

XML;

$xmlObject = simplexml_load_string($xmlString);

$result = array();

foreach ($xmlObject as $key => $value) {
    if ($value->count() > 0) {
        foreach ($value as $childKey => $childValue) {
            $data = array();

            foreach ($childValue->attributes() as $attributeName => $attributeValue) {
                $data["@" . $attributeName] = (string) $attributeValue;
            }

            $data["name"] = $childValue->__toString();

            if (!isset($result[$key]) || !is_array($result[$key])) {
                $result[$key] = array();
            }

            array_push($result[$key], $data);
        }
    }
    else {
        $data = (string) $value;

        if (isset($result[$key])) {
            if (!is_array($result[$key])) {
                $result[$key] = array($result[$key]);
            }

            array_push($result[$key], $data);
        }
        else {
            $result[$key] = $data;
        }
    }
}

var_dump($result);
?>

The code implements a method to convert XML to a PHP array using property names in a SimpleXML object. In this example, the XML tag containing the attributes is converted to an associative array. For example, here is the output from our sample XML document:

array(2) {
  ["company-name"]=>
  string(8) "ABC Inc."
  ["employees"]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    array(2) {
      ["@id"]=>
      string(1) "1"
      ["name"]=>
      string(4) "John"
    }
    [1]=>
    array(2) {
      ["@id"]=>
      string(1) "2"
      ["name"]=>
      string(4) "Mike"
    }
  }
}

As you can see from the output, the method correctly parses the attribute name into an associative array and includes it in the same array along with the other tags .

Conclusion:

In PHP, converting an array to XML and converting it back to an array is relatively simple. However, you may encounter problems when converting XML back to a PHP array, especially if the property names contain special characters. Using property names from a SimpleXML object solves this problem because the XML is converted to an associative array when it is parsed. By knowing these tips, you should be able to successfully convert between XML and array formats in PHP.

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