Parsing XML in php, parser errors start tag expected

Question

So trying to take an xml provided with a url and then format the data into a html table with php. Am I meant to apply some kind of formatting to the xml so that it can read it as a simplexmlelement?

$url = 'myxmlurl'
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($url);

and then I get these nice errors:

Warning: simplexml_load_string(): Entity: line 1: parser error : Start tag expected, '<' not found in C:\xampp\htdocs\wordpress\wp-content\plugins\xmldisplay\test.php on line 7

Warning: simplexml_load_string():  in C:\xampp\htdocs\wordpress\wp-content\plugins\xmldisplay\test.php on line 7

Warning: simplexml_load_string(): ^ in C:\xampp\htdocs\wordpress\wp-content\plugins\xmldisplay\test.php on line 7

Edit: file_get_contents fixed the error. Now I'm getting a new on when I try to loop.

$xml = new SimpleXMLElement(file_get_contents($url));
foreach ($xml->assets->asset as $assetElement) {
  $html="
<tr>
  <td class='text-left'><strong>"/*.$assetElement.*/."</strong></td>
  <td class='text-left'><strong>".(string)$assetElement->effectiveDate."</strong></td>
  <td class='text-left'><strong>".(string)$assetElement->buyPrice."</strong></td>
  <td class='text-left'><strong>".(string)$assetElement->sellPrice."</strong></td>
</tr>";

}

It doesn't like my foreach

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in C:\xampp\htdocs\wordpress\wp-content\plugins\xmldisplay\test.php on line 26

I just used the following to check it and it came back true: $xml = XMLReader::open($url); // The validate parser option must be enabled for // this method to work properly $xml->setParserProperty(XMLReader::VALIDATE, true); var_dump($xml->isValid()); — benikens
– benikens, Commented Jun 3, 2017 at 4:19

sensorario · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-03 04:40:54Z

3

Try adding file_get_contents():

$url = 'https://perennialonline.com.au/asset/?req=asset&auth=pere123&do=read_all&fund_id=PVDCIT&start_date=01-01-2013&end_date=01-01-2050'
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement(file_get_contents($url));

If you want to pass directly the url instead, check the signature of the SimpleXMLElement class:

final public SimpleXMLElement::__construct (
    string $data
    [, int $options = 0
    [, bool $data_is_url = false
    [, string $ns = ""
    [, bool $is_prefix = false ]]]]
)

You must code this:

$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($url, null, true);
echo $xml->asXml();

edited Jun 3, 2017 at 4:40

answered Jun 3, 2017 at 4:34

sensorario

21.9k31 gold badges105 silver badges177 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

sensorario Over a year ago

If I solved your problem, please accept my answer as right

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Parsing XML in php, parser errors start tag expected

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related