Explanation for traversing object variables of simplexml node list

Question

I have this

$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($output);
$names = $xml->param->value->array->data;

Here is the output

SimpleXMLElement Object
(
[value] => Array
    (
        [0] => SimpleXMLElement Object
            (
                [struct] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                    (
                        [member] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                            (
                                [name] => school
                                [value] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                                    (
                                        [struct] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                                            (
                                                [member] => Array
                                                    (
                                                        [0] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                                                            (
                                                                [name] => schoolid
                                                                [value] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                                                                    (
                                                                        [string] => 49961
                                                                    )

                                                            )

                                                        [1] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                                                            (
                                                                [name] => schoolname
                                                                [value] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                                                                    (
                                                                        [string] => Millersville Elementary School
                                                                    )

                                                            )

I am trying to get to the "schoolname" value

using

for($i=0;$i<count($names);$i++) {
    echo $names[0][$i]->struct->member->value->struct->member[0]->value.'<br>';
}

I've also tried as string($names[0]etc.) with no success. I think I am messing up the order in the beginning with $names[0][$i]??

Any help is much appreciated!

CodeAngry · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-23 18:47:48Z

6

Consider learning XPath if you feel lazy. It's the easy way to address your issue if you don't want to loose it with a never ending streak of ->'s :)

Learning XPath is also an investment. When you deal with XML you need to know it. It's the SQL of XML or DOM (see DOMXPath).

I know this is not really an answer but spending some time and what I pointed out here is worth it and will also solve you problem.

answered Oct 23, 2012 at 18:47

CodeAngry

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3 Comments

Xeoncross Over a year ago

XPath is the regex of DOM. I have replaced hundreds of lines of code with XPath queries. Just don't abuse it.

xjx424 Over a year ago

I did make an attempt using xpath, let me revisit and try again. I'll let you know!

CodeAngry Over a year ago

@MikeTaylor I'm happy to solve problems but I'm 10 times happier when I get someone to learn something new and solve their own current and future problems :) Like the fish thing...

xjx424 · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-23 20:10:11Z

1

Here is the solution using xpath to get fieldname and values

$cols = $xml->xpath('//member/value/struct/member/name');
$names = $xml->xpath('//member/value/struct/member/value/*');
for($i=0;$i<count($cols);$i++) {
echo $cols[$i].' = '.$names[$i].'<br>';
}

xpath is a must for anyone dealing with xml!

answered Oct 23, 2012 at 20:10

xjx424

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Comments

Haver · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-23 18:53:46Z

0

The result $name is a mix of valuse (object and array).

Try to convert $name to an object only or an array only.

The example you posted is not complete, could not try to chaqge it.

answered Oct 23, 2012 at 18:53

Haver

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Comments

Martin Lyne · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-23 19:02:34Z

0

I recently had a similar issue, I ended up writing something that flattened the whole structure to be arrays within arrays, much more travesrsable, but to the matter at hand, I often find it helpful to var_dump/print_r each stage and build it up level by level.

$names is an object so it would seem to me the reference you want is:

$names->value[0]->struct->member->value->struct->member['value'][1]->value;

Edit: I've ignored the looping part for now as I think you'll need to re-evaluate your count(), it seems it needs to be count($names->value), which is the array of schools if I'm correct, in which case the $i would go in the first [0].

edited Oct 23, 2012 at 19:02

answered Oct 23, 2012 at 18:56

Martin Lyne

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