PHP How to access SimpleXMLElement object variable outside foreach

Question

If I have a SimpleXMLElement object that is inside a foreach loop, How do I access it outside the loop?

$auth_tokens = array('tok1', 'tok2', 'tok3', 'tok4');

foreach($auth_tokens as $auth_token) { // 4 iterations in loop
    $response = curl_exec($connection); // API xml response
    $xml = simplexml_load_string($response); // loaded xml into object
}

echo header('content-type: text/xml');
echo $xml->asXML();

.= does not work

[] does not work

Update:

below is what's actually being output from the api xml $response. As you can see, because I'm querying 4 auth tokens, on each iteration it's a new xml response. When I try to access it outside the loop, it's not working due to multiple <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> xml headers.

I'm stuck. Not sure how to put all 4 responses into one.

Update 2:

Nick helped me figure out how to put all 4 responses into one xml doc, but I need to edit node names and values and that was easy to do when the xml is in a SimpleXMLElement object. So I thought I could manipulate the data first while it is in the object, then when I'm done, convert the object back to xml and save. But I was running into problems when accessing the object outside the loop. It's because there are 4 objects and not just 1, so .= was not saving the data.

This is what the API outputs when I echo $response; and view source. It's just pure xml.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:04:38.375Z</Timestamp>
  <Ack>Success</Ack>
  <Version>1083</Version>
  <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
  <PaginationResult>
    <TotalNumberOfEntries>1</TotalNumberOfEntries>
  </PaginationResult>
  <OrderArray>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>11306025</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T14:38:44.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
  </OrderArray>
</GetOrdersResponse>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:04:39.049Z</Timestamp>
  <Ack>Success</Ack>
  <Version>1083</Version>
  <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
  <PaginationResult>
    <TotalNumberOfEntries>3</TotalNumberOfEntries>
  </PaginationResult>
  <OrderArray>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>39168452</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T14:38:53.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>37219192</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:36:41.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>37198277</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:35:01.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
  </OrderArray>
</GetOrdersResponse>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:04:39.454Z</Timestamp>
  <Ack>Success</Ack>
  <Version>1083</Version>
  <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
  <PaginationResult>
    <TotalNumberOfEntries>2</TotalNumberOfEntries>
  </PaginationResult>
  <OrderArray>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>16283499</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:13:21.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>16283499</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:36:40.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
  </OrderArray>
</GetOrdersResponse>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:04:39.782Z</Timestamp>
  <Ack>Success</Ack>
  <Version>1083</Version>
  <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
  <PaginationResult>
    <TotalNumberOfEntries>1</TotalNumberOfEntries>
  </PaginationResult>
  <OrderArray>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>26348797</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:40:25.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
  </OrderArray>
</GetOrdersResponse>

This is what I get when I do a var_dump ($response); and view source.

string(504) "
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:10:49.358Z</Timestamp>
  <Ack>Success</Ack>
  <Version>1083</Version>
  <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
  <PaginationResult>
    <TotalNumberOfEntries>1</TotalNumberOfEntries>
  </PaginationResult>
  <OrderArray>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>11306025</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T14:38:44.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
  </OrderArray>
</GetOrdersResponse>
"
string(797) "
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:10:49.439Z</Timestamp>
  <Ack>Success</Ack>
  <Version>1083</Version>
  <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
  <PaginationResult>
    <TotalNumberOfEntries>3</TotalNumberOfEntries>
  </PaginationResult>
  <OrderArray>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>39168452</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T14:38:53.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>37219192</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:36:41.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>37198277</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:35:01.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
  </OrderArray>
</GetOrdersResponse>
"
string(798) "
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:10:50.001Z</Timestamp>
  <Ack>Success</Ack>
  <Version>1083</Version>
  <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
  <PaginationResult>
    <TotalNumberOfEntries>3</TotalNumberOfEntries>
  </PaginationResult>
  <OrderArray>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>16283499</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:13:21.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>16283499</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:36:40.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>16275107</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T16:09:40.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
  </OrderArray>
</GetOrdersResponse>
"
string(504) "
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:10:50.329Z</Timestamp>
  <Ack>Success</Ack>
  <Version>1083</Version>
  <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
  <PaginationResult>
    <TotalNumberOfEntries>1</TotalNumberOfEntries>
  </PaginationResult>
  <OrderArray>
    <Order>
      <OrderID>26348797</OrderID>
      <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
      <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:40:25.000Z</CreatedTime>
    </Order>
  </OrderArray>
</GetOrdersResponse>
"

If i use $xml = simplexml_load_string($response); in the foreach, and var_dump ($xml);, 4 objects gets output.

object(SimpleXMLElement)#1 (6) {
  ["Timestamp"]=>
  string(24) "2018-10-26T16:32:21.048Z"
  ["Ack"]=>
  string(7) "Success"
  ["Version"]=>
  string(4) "1083"
  ["Build"]=>
  string(28) "E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1"
  ["PaginationResult"]=>
  object(SimpleXMLElement)#2 (1) {
    ["TotalNumberOfEntries"]=>
    string(1) "1"
  }
  ["OrderArray"]=>
  object(SimpleXMLElement)#3 (1) {
    ["Order"]=>
    object(SimpleXMLElement)#4 (3) {
      ["OrderID"]=>
      string(26) "11306025"
      ["OrderStatus"]=>
      string(9) "Completed"
      ["CreatedTime"]=>
      string(24) "2018-10-26T14:38:44.000Z"
    }
  }
}
object(SimpleXMLElement)#3 (6) {
  ["Timestamp"]=>
  string(24) "2018-10-26T16:32:21.736Z"
  ["Ack"]=>
  string(7) "Success"
  ["Version"]=>
  string(4) "1083"
  ["Build"]=>
  string(28) "E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1"
  ["PaginationResult"]=>
  object(SimpleXMLElement)#1 (1) {
    ["TotalNumberOfEntries"]=>
    string(1) "4"
  }
  ["OrderArray"]=>
  object(SimpleXMLElement)#2 (1) {
    ["Order"]=>
    array(4) {
      [0]=>
      object(SimpleXMLElement)#4 (3) {
        ["OrderID"]=>
        string(25) "39168452"
        ["OrderStatus"]=>
        string(9) "Completed"
        ["CreatedTime"]=>
        string(24) "2018-10-26T14:38:53.000Z"
      }
      [1]=>
      object(SimpleXMLElement)#5 (3) {
        ["OrderID"]=>
        string(26) "37219192"
        ["OrderStatus"]=>
        string(9) "Completed"
        ["CreatedTime"]=>
        string(24) "2018-10-26T15:36:41.000Z"
      }
      [2]=>
      object(SimpleXMLElement)#6 (3) {
        ["OrderID"]=>
        string(26) "37198277"
        ["OrderStatus"]=>
        string(9) "Completed"
        ["CreatedTime"]=>
        string(24) "2018-10-26T15:35:01.000Z"
      }
      [3]=>
      object(SimpleXMLElement)#7 (3) {
        ["OrderID"]=>
        string(26) "37185515"
        ["OrderStatus"]=>
        string(9) "Completed"
        ["CreatedTime"]=>
        string(24) "2018-10-26T16:24:19.000Z"
      }
    }
  }
}
object(SimpleXMLElement)#2 (6) {
  ["Timestamp"]=>
  string(24) "2018-10-26T16:32:22.529Z"
  ["Ack"]=>
  string(7) "Success"
  ["Version"]=>
  string(4) "1083"
  ["Build"]=>
  string(28) "E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1"
  ["PaginationResult"]=>
  object(SimpleXMLElement)#3 (1) {
    ["TotalNumberOfEntries"]=>
    string(1) "3"
  }
  ["OrderArray"]=>
  object(SimpleXMLElement)#1 (1) {
    ["Order"]=>
    array(3) {
      [0]=>
      object(SimpleXMLElement)#7 (3) {
        ["OrderID"]=>
        string(26) "16283499"
        ["OrderStatus"]=>
        string(9) "Completed"
        ["CreatedTime"]=>
        string(24) "2018-10-26T15:13:21.000Z"
      }
      [1]=>
      object(SimpleXMLElement)#6 (3) {
        ["OrderID"]=>
        string(26) "16283499"
        ["OrderStatus"]=>
        string(9) "Completed"
        ["CreatedTime"]=>
        string(24) "2018-10-26T15:36:40.000Z"
      }
      [2]=>
      object(SimpleXMLElement)#5 (3) {
        ["OrderID"]=>
        string(26) "16275107"
        ["OrderStatus"]=>
        string(9) "Completed"
        ["CreatedTime"]=>
        string(24) "2018-10-26T16:09:40.000Z"
      }
    }
  }
}
object(SimpleXMLElement)#1 (6) {
  ["Timestamp"]=>
  string(24) "2018-10-26T16:32:22.751Z"
  ["Ack"]=>
  string(7) "Success"
  ["Version"]=>
  string(4) "1083"
  ["Build"]=>
  string(28) "E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1"
  ["PaginationResult"]=>
  object(SimpleXMLElement)#2 (1) {
    ["TotalNumberOfEntries"]=>
    string(1) "1"
  }
  ["OrderArray"]=>
  object(SimpleXMLElement)#3 (1) {
    ["Order"]=>
    object(SimpleXMLElement)#5 (3) {
      ["OrderID"]=>
      string(26) "26348797"
      ["OrderStatus"]=>
      string(9) "Completed"
      ["CreatedTime"]=>
      string(24) "2018-10-26T15:40:25.000Z"
    }
  }
}

And this is what gets output when I echo '<pre>' . var_export($xml, true) . '</pre><br>';. I find this one is easier to read and can see clear it's 4 objects.

SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
   'Timestamp' => '2018-10-26T16:36:41.377Z',
   'Ack' => 'Success',
   'Version' => '1083',
   'Build' => 'E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1',
   'PaginationResult' => 
  SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
     'TotalNumberOfEntries' => '1',
  )),
   'OrderArray' => 
  SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
     'Order' => 
    SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
       'OrderID' => '11306025',
       'OrderStatus' => 'Completed',
       'CreatedTime' => '2018-10-26T14:38:44.000Z',
    )),
  )),
))


SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
   'Timestamp' => '2018-10-26T16:36:43.083Z',
   'Ack' => 'Success',
   'Version' => '1083',
   'Build' => 'E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1',
   'PaginationResult' => 
  SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
     'TotalNumberOfEntries' => '4',
  )),
   'OrderArray' => 
  SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
     'Order' => 
    array (
      0 => 
      SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
         'OrderID' => '39168452',
         'OrderStatus' => 'Completed',
         'CreatedTime' => '2018-10-26T14:38:53.000Z',
      )),
      1 => 
      SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
         'OrderID' => '37219192',
         'OrderStatus' => 'Completed',
         'CreatedTime' => '2018-10-26T15:36:41.000Z',
      )),
      2 => 
      SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
         'OrderID' => '37198277',
         'OrderStatus' => 'Completed',
         'CreatedTime' => '2018-10-26T15:35:01.000Z',
      )),
      3 => 
      SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
         'OrderID' => '37185515',
         'OrderStatus' => 'Completed',
         'CreatedTime' => '2018-10-26T16:24:19.000Z',
      )),
    ),
  )),
))


SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
   'Timestamp' => '2018-10-26T16:36:43.783Z',
   'Ack' => 'Success',
   'Version' => '1083',
   'Build' => 'E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1',
   'PaginationResult' => 
  SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
     'TotalNumberOfEntries' => '4',
  )),
   'OrderArray' => 
  SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
     'Order' => 
    array (
      0 => 
      SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
         'OrderID' => '16283499',
         'OrderStatus' => 'Completed',
         'CreatedTime' => '2018-10-26T15:13:21.000Z',
      )),
      1 => 
      SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
         'OrderID' => '16283499',
         'OrderStatus' => 'Completed',
         'CreatedTime' => '2018-10-26T15:36:40.000Z',
      )),
      2 => 
      SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
         'OrderID' => '16275107',
         'OrderStatus' => 'Completed',
         'CreatedTime' => '2018-10-26T16:09:40.000Z',
      )),
      3 => 
      SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
         'OrderID' => '16258277',
         'OrderStatus' => 'Completed',
         'CreatedTime' => '2018-10-26T16:36:19.000Z',
      )),
    ),
  )),
))


SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
   'Timestamp' => '2018-10-26T16:36:44.157Z',
   'Ack' => 'Success',
   'Version' => '1083',
   'Build' => 'E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1',
   'PaginationResult' => 
  SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
     'TotalNumberOfEntries' => '1',
  )),
   'OrderArray' => 
  SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
     'Order' => 
    SimpleXMLElement::__set_state(array(
       'OrderID' => '26348797',
       'OrderStatus' => 'Completed',
       'CreatedTime' => '2018-10-26T15:40:25.000Z',
    )),
  )),
))

And this is what gets output when I use this echo header('content-type: text/xml'); echo $xml->asXML(); inside the loop.

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  <GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
    <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:42:57.532Z</Timestamp>
    <Ack>Success</Ack>
    <Version>1083</Version>
    <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
    <PaginationResult>
      <TotalNumberOfEntries>1</TotalNumberOfEntries>
    </PaginationResult>
    <OrderArray>
      <Order>
        <OrderID>11306025</OrderID>
        <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
        <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T14:38:44.000Z</CreatedTime>
      </Order>
    </OrderArray>
  </GetOrdersResponse>
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  <GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
    <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:42:58.218Z</Timestamp>
    <Ack>Success</Ack>
    <Version>1083</Version>
    <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
    <PaginationResult>
      <TotalNumberOfEntries>4</TotalNumberOfEntries>
    </PaginationResult>
    <OrderArray>
      <Order>
        <OrderID>39168452</OrderID>
        <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
        <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T14:38:53.000Z</CreatedTime>
      </Order>
      <Order>
        <OrderID>37219192</OrderID>
        <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
        <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:36:41.000Z</CreatedTime>
      </Order>
      <Order>
        <OrderID>37198277</OrderID>
        <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
        <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:35:01.000Z</CreatedTime>
      </Order>
      <Order>
        <OrderID>37185515</OrderID>
        <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
        <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T16:24:19.000Z</CreatedTime>
      </Order>
    </OrderArray>
  </GetOrdersResponse>
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  <GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
    <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:42:58.861Z</Timestamp>
    <Ack>Success</Ack>
    <Version>1083</Version>
    <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
    <PaginationResult>
      <TotalNumberOfEntries>4</TotalNumberOfEntries>
    </PaginationResult>
    <OrderArray>
      <Order>
        <OrderID>16283499</OrderID>
        <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
        <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:13:21.000Z</CreatedTime>
      </Order>
      <Order>
        <OrderID>16283499</OrderID>
        <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
        <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:36:40.000Z</CreatedTime>
      </Order>
      <Order>
        <OrderID>16275107</OrderID>
        <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
        <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T16:09:40.000Z</CreatedTime>
      </Order>
      <Order>
        <OrderID>16258277</OrderID>
        <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
        <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T16:36:19.000Z</CreatedTime>
      </Order>
    </OrderArray>
  </GetOrdersResponse>
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
  <GetOrdersResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
    <Timestamp>2018-10-26T16:42:59.253Z</Timestamp>
    <Ack>Success</Ack>
    <Version>1083</Version>
    <Build>E1083_CORE_APIXO_18856776_R1</Build>
    <PaginationResult>
      <TotalNumberOfEntries>1</TotalNumberOfEntries>
    </PaginationResult>
    <OrderArray>
      <Order>
        <OrderID>26348797</OrderID>
        <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
        <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:40:25.000Z</CreatedTime>
      </Order>
    </OrderArray>
  </GetOrdersResponse>

What I need is to change all the <OrderID></OrderID> nodes to display <Test></Test> and append to the value in it, and I did that with this

foreach($auth_tokens as $key => $auth_token) {

    $responses = curl_exec($connection);
    $xml = simplexml_load_string($responses);
    curl_close($connection);

    $entries = $xml->PaginationResult->TotalNumberOfEntries;
    $xml = $xml->OrderArray->Order;

    if($entries == 0) {
        continue;
    } else {

        foreach($xml as $key => $val) {

            $val->Test = substr($val->OrderStatus, 0, 3) . $val->OrderID; // changes the <OrderID> node from <OrderID> to <Test> and appends the first 3 charachters from <OrderStatus> value to the <Test> value
            unset($val->OrderID); // deletes the now empty <OrderID> node

        } // end foreach

    }

echo header('content-type: text/xml');
echo $xml->asXML();

} // end foreach

And this outputs exactly what I need, except it just needs a parent node wrapped around it and it's only outputting 1 order from each response.

<Order>
  <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
  <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:36:41.000Z</CreatedTime>
  <Test>Com372191926</Test>
</Order>
<Order>
  <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
  <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:13:21.000Z</CreatedTime>
  <Test>Com16283499</Test>
</Order>
<Order>
  <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
  <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:40:25.000Z</CreatedTime>
  <Test>Com26348797</Test>
</Order>

But I can't seem to get a parent node around this because I can't successfully save this data and access it outside the foreach loop. I'm so close!

You are overwriting $xml each time round the loop. So outside the loop you will see only the last response in $xml — RiggsFolly
– RiggsFolly, Commented Oct 25, 2018 at 23:10
@RiggsFolly Yes I know that. But .= is not working to access it outside the loop. — Mike
– Mike, Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 0:46
I figured it out. See my answer. stackoverflow.com/a/53016076/3950902 — Mike
– Mike, Commented Oct 26, 2018 at 20:46

Nick · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-26 02:06:57Z

3

You could try something like this, aggregating the responses into an XML string and then wrapping that in a root element before converting:

$auth_tokens = array('tok1', 'tok2', 'tok3', 'tok4');
$xmlstr = '';
foreach($auth_tokens as $auth_token) { // 4 iterations in loop
    $response = curl_exec($connection); // API xml response
    $xmlstr .= $response;               // add response to XML
}
$xml = simplexml_load_string("<Orders>$xmlstr</Orders>");
header('content-type: text/xml');
echo $xml->asXML();

Update

The above code doesn't work if the XML response includes <?xml ... > headers. The quick and dirty fix is to strip them out using preg_replace i.e. change $xmlstr .= $response; to

$xmlstr .= preg_replace('/<\?xml[^>]*>/', '', $response);

Demo

The "correct" fix is to process the XML responses separately and add them as children to a root document. This can be done using DomDocument:

$xml = new DomDocument();
$xml->loadXML('<Orders></Orders>');
$xmlroot = $xml->documentElement;
$respdoc = new DomDocument();
foreach($auth_tokens as $auth_token) {   // 4 iterations in loop
    $response = curl_exec($connection); // API xml response
    $respdoc->loadXML($response);        // create a domDocument
    $resproot = $respdoc->documentElement;   // get the root element
    $resproot = $xml->importNode($resproot, true); // import into XML
    $xmlroot->appendChild($resproot);
}
header('content-type: text/xml');
echo $xml->saveXML();

Demo

edited Oct 26, 2018 at 2:06

answered Oct 25, 2018 at 23:16

Nick

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21 Comments

Mike Over a year ago

.= is not working, have you tested it? Nothing is output. Only when I move those last 3 lines of code inside the loop, then it outputs.

Nick Over a year ago

@Mike I couldn't test it exactly as you are using it I don't have access to the API you are calling but when I simulated the responses with an array this code worked fine: 3v4l.org/r7180.

Nick Over a year ago

@Mike can you do a var_dump of $response inside the loop? That could help debug the problem.

Mike Over a year ago

I updated my question. I added the exact output format I'm getting from the api response. Since it is an xml response, and I'm querying 4 auth tokens in the loop, I get 4 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> in the response. I think this is the problem.

Nick Over a year ago

@Mike you're right, the extra xml header lines are the issue. Give me a minute and I'll work out a fix

|

Mike · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-27 04:27:18Z

I figured out the issue. I needed to concatenate .= inside the child foreach loop, not the parent. Then I was able to access the data outside the loop. And I had to save the data to a variable using $val->asXML(). Notice the comment lines in the code below.

foreach($auth_tokens as $key => $auth_token) { // 4 iterations in loop

    $responses = curl_exec($connection); // API xml response
    $xml = simplexml_load_string($responses); // loaded xml into SimpleXMLElement object
    curl_close($connection);

    $entries = $xml->PaginationResult->TotalNumberOfEntries;
    $xml = $xml->OrderArray->Order; // Just get the Order elements

    if($entries == 0) {
        continue;
    } else {

        foreach($xml as $key => $val) {

            $val->Test = substr($val->OrderStatus, 0, 3) . $val->OrderID; // changes the <OrderID> node from <OrderID> to <Test> and appends the first 3 charachters from <OrderStatus> value to the <Test> value
            unset($val->OrderID); // deletes the <OrderID> node

            $orders .= $val->asXML(); // concatenate here in child loop instead of parent foreach

        } // end child foreach

    }

} // end parent foreach

$xml = new DomDocument('1.0', 'utf-8');
$xml->preserveWhiteSpace = false;
$xml->formatOutput = true;
$xml->loadXML('<Orders>' . $orders . '</Orders>'); // able to add my parent node <orders></Orders>
$xml->save('test.xml', LIBXML_NOEMPTYTAG); // saves xml to file

header('content-type: text/xml');
echo $xml->saveXML(); // saves xml for display

The output is exactly what I need, and without too much overhead and it's formatted nicely too.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Orders>
  <Order>
    <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
    <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:36:41.000Z</CreatedTime>
    <Test>Com10789</Test>
  </Order>
  <Order>
    <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
    <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:13:21.000Z</CreatedTime>
    <Test>Com10790</Test>
  </Order>
  <Order>
    <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
    <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:40:25.000Z</CreatedTime>
    <Test>Com141570</Test>
  </Order>
  <Order>
    <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
    <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:36:41.000Z</CreatedTime>
    <Test>Com141571</Test>
  </Order>
  <Order>
    <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
    <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:13:21.000Z</CreatedTime>
    <Test>Com141572</Test>
  </Order>
  <Order>
    <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
    <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:36:41.000Z</CreatedTime>
    <Test>Com19992</Test>
  </Order>
  <Order>
    <OrderStatus>Completed</OrderStatus>
    <CreatedTime>2018-10-26T15:40:25.000Z</CreatedTime>
    <Test>Com19993</Test>
  </Order>
</Orders>

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