Edit XML file with PHP form

Question

I have an XML file that I want to be able to edit using a form.

student.xml

<students>
  <student>
    <name>Jane Doe</name>
    <email>[email protected]</email>
    <school>School Name</school>
    <coach>Coach Name</coach>
  </student>
</students>

Basically my form is set up like this:

<form method="post">
  <input name="name" id="name" type="text">
  <input name="school" id="school" type="text">
  <input name="coach" id="coach" type="text">
  <br>
  <input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit">
</form>

PHP code:

<?php
if(isset($_POST['submit'])) {
$data=simplexml_load_file('student.xml');

$data->student->name=$_POST['name'];
$data->student->school=$_POST['school'];
$data->student->coach=$_POST['coach'];

$handle=fopen("student.xml","wb");
fwrite($handle,$data->asXML());
fclose($handle);
}

$data=simplexml_load_file('student.xml');

?>

How can I use a form to edit multiple nodes in one form? Right now it changes all the nodes to the same as the first one.

Edit: Code is updated. It all seems to be working now. Thanks for the help.

Sidenote: This <form action= method="post"> should read as <form action="" method="post"> if running from inside the same file. If not, do <form action="yourfile.php" method="post"> — Funk Forty Niner
– Funk Forty Niner, Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 3:17
Sidenote #2: You also have a missing semi-colon in $xmlDoc = simplexml_load_file('student.xml') - Plus, your submit button doesn't hold the same name as your conditional statement. — Funk Forty Niner
– Funk Forty Niner, Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 3:22
deleted my answer, not useful anyway, for editing, what i would do is convert the xml into an array, present a CRUD like table, the usual stuff, (the unique identifier is the array key of student node) in the table there is a link called edit, and from there edit that particular key/node on the array, then write it on a file, of course its not good when you have like 10,000 entries. — Kevin
– Kevin, Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 4:07
@Fred-ii- That did it! I matched my file structure and was able to edit the file. Thanks. I saw that question but when I first looked it didn't appear to be what I was looking for. — N13Design
– N13Design, Commented Aug 3, 2014 at 4:13

Funk Forty Niner · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-03 23:48:56Z

The following worked for me.

Sidenotes: However, am unsure why you're using $data->student->coach=$_POST['coach']; instead of $data->item->coach=$_POST['coach'];

(Also consult footnotes) - Important.

<?php

if(isset($_POST['submit'])) {

 $data=simplexml_load_file('student.xml');

 $data->item->name=$_POST['name'];

 $data->item->school=$_POST['school'];

 $data->item->coach=$_POST['coach'];


$handle=fopen("student.xml","wb");
fwrite($handle,$data->asXML());
fclose($handle);
}

$data=simplexml_load_file('student.xml');
$welcome=$data->item->name;
$school=$data->item->school;
$coach=$data->item->coach;

?>

<?php

echo $welcome . " ";
echo $school . " ";
echo $coach . " ";

?>

<form method="post">

Coach name: <br>
<input type = "text" name = "coach"> Present value in file: <?php echo $coach; ?>
<br><br>

School name: <br>
<input type = "text" name = "school"> Present value in file: <?php echo $school; ?>
<br><br>
Name: 
<br>
    <textarea name = "name"><?php echo $welcome; ?></textarea>
    <br>
    <input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit">
</form>

Which produced (after editing it also using different values):

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<welcome>
    <item>
        <name>name 1</name>
    <school>St-Peter</school>
<coach>Robert</coach>
</item>
</welcome>

Editing using different values produced:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<welcome>
    <item>
        <name>name 2</name>
    <school>St-Andrews</school>
<coach>George</coach>
</item>
</welcome>

Footnotes:

In order for it to work properly is, that an existing file with the following structure must already exist.

<welcome>
    <item>
        <name>A name</name>
    <school>A school name</school>
<coach>A coach's name</coach>
</item>
</welcome>

The God Damn Geek 'ANIMESH' · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-03 04:44:31Z

0

I have noticed that you are using <form action= method="post">. It must be changed to:

<form action="" method="post">

Also, if you want to link to a file, it must be like <form action="afile.html" method="post">.

edited Aug 3, 2014 at 4:44

The God Damn Geek 'ANIMESH'

1032 bronze badges

answered Aug 3, 2014 at 4:23

Avinash Babu

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