How to convert array to SimpleXML

Question

How can I convert an array to a SimpleXML object in PHP?

Answer 1

Here is php 5.2 code which will convert array of any depth to xml document:

Array
(
    ['total_stud']=> 500
    [0] => Array
        (
            [student] => Array
                (
                    [id] => 1
                    [name] => abc
                    [address] => Array
                        (
                            [city]=>Pune
                            [zip]=>411006
                        )                       
                )
        )
    [1] => Array
        (
            [student] => Array
                (
                    [id] => 2
                    [name] => xyz
                    [address] => Array
                        (
                            [city]=>Mumbai
                            [zip]=>400906
                        )   
                )

        )
)

generated XML would be as:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<student_info>
    <total_stud>500</total_stud>
    <student>
        <id>1</id>
        <name>abc</name>
        <address>
            <city>Pune</city>
            <zip>411006</zip>
        </address>
    </student>
    <student>
        <id>1</id>
        <name>abc</name>
        <address>
            <city>Mumbai</city>
            <zip>400906</zip>
        </address>
    </student>
</student_info>

PHP snippet

<?php
// function defination to convert array to xml
function array_to_xml( $data, &$xml_data ) {
    foreach( $data as $key => $value ) {
        if( is_array($value) ) {
            if( is_numeric($key) ){
                $key = 'item'.$key; //dealing with <0/>..<n/> issues
            }
            $subnode = $xml_data->addChild($key);
            array_to_xml($value, $subnode);
        } else {
            $xml_data->addChild("$key",htmlspecialchars("$value"));
        }
     }
}

// initializing or creating array
$data = array('total_stud' => 500);

// creating object of SimpleXMLElement
$xml_data = new SimpleXMLElement('<?xml version="1.0"?><data></data>');

// function call to convert array to xml
array_to_xml($data,$xml_data);

//saving generated xml file; 
$result = $xml_data->asXML('/file/path/name.xml');

?>

Documentation on SimpleXMLElement::asXML used in this snippet