Convert a PHP data structure into serialised XML - php

Question

I have the following array. I'm not even sure if that array is properly formatted. I am not even sure if my array is right.
I want to convert the following array to a serialized XML using PHP. I am using attr tag for the attributes.
Here is the array:
$data = Array(
'name' => 'account',
'attr' => Array(
'id' => 123456
),
'children' => Array(
Array(
'name' => 'name',
'attr' => Array(),
'children' => Array(
'BBC'
),
),
Array(
'name' => 'monitors',
'attr' => Array(),
'children' => Array(
Array(
'name' => 'monitor',
'attr' => Array(
'id' => 5235632
),
'children' => Array(
Array(
'name' => 'url',
'attr' => Array(),
'children' => Array(
'http://www.bbc.co.uk/'
)
)
)
),
Array(
'name' => 'monitor',
'attr' => Array(
'id' => 5235633
),
'children' => Array(
Array(
'name' => 'url',
'attr' => Array(),
'children' => Array(
'http://www.bbc.co.uk/news'
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
);

Answer 1

It is quite easy with a recursive function. Your basic array contains 3 elements, the name, the attribute list and the children. So your function has to create and append a node with the name, set all attributes and iterate the child data. If the child is an scalar it is a text node, for an array call the function itself.
function appendTo($parent, $data) {
$document = $parent->ownerDocument ?: $parent;
$node = $parent->appendChild($document->createElement($data['name']));
if (isset($data['attr']) && is_array($data['attr'])) {
foreach ($data['attr'] as $name => $value) {
$node->setAttribute($name, $value);
}
}
if (isset($data['children']) && is_array($data['children'])) {
foreach ($data['children'] as $name => $childData) {
if (is_scalar($childData)) {
$node->appendChild($document->createTextNode($childData));
} elseif (is_array($childData)) {
appendTo($node, $childData);
}
}
}
}
$document = new DOMDocument();
$document->formatOutput = TRUE;
appendTo($document, $data);
echo $document->saveXml();
Output:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<account id="123456">
<name>BBC</name>
<monitors>
<monitor id="5235632">
<url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/</url>
</monitor>
<monitor id="5235633">
<url>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news</url>
</monitor>
</monitors>
</account>

Answer 2

Try the following function
function assocArrayToXML($root_element_name,$ar)
{
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement("<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><{$root_element_name}></{$root_element_name}>");
$f = function($f,$c,$a) {
foreach($a as $k=>$v) {
if(is_array($v)) {
$ch=$c->addChild($k);
$f($f,$ch,$v);
} else {
$c->addChild($k,$v);
}
}
};
$f($f,$xml,$ar);
return $xml->asXML();
}
echo assocArrayToXML("root",$data);
test it here

Answer 3

Hope this will help.
<?php
function array2xml($arr)
{
$dom = new DomDocument('1.0');
/*
*Create Root
*/
$root = $dom->createElement($arr['name']);
if(isset($arr['attr']) && !empty($arr['attr']))
{
foreach($arr['attr'] as $key=>$val)
$root->setAttribute($key, $val);
}
$root = $dom->appendChild($root);
createChilds($arr['children'], $dom, $root);
header('Content-type: text/xml');
echo $dom->saveXML();
}
function createChilds($arr, $dom, $parent)
{
foreach($arr as $child)
{
if(isset($child['name']))
$node = $dom->createElement($child['name']);
/*
*Add Attributes
*/
if(isset($child['attr']) && !empty($child['attr']))
{
foreach($child['attr'] as $key=>$val)
$node->setAttribute($key, $val);
}
/*
*Add Childs Recursively
*/
if(isset($child['children']) && is_array($child['children']))
{
createChilds($child['children'], $dom, $node);
}
else if(isset($child) && is_string($child))
{
$text = $dom->createTextNode($child);
$parent->appendChild($text);
}
if(isset($node))
$parent->appendChild($node);
}
}
$data = Array(
'name' => 'account',
'attr' => Array(
'id' => 123456
),
'children' => Array(
Array(
'name' => 'name',
'attr' => Array(),
'children' => Array(
'BBC'
),
),
Array(
'name' => 'monitors',
'attr' => Array(),
'children' => Array(
Array(
'name' => 'monitor',
'attr' => Array(
'id' => 5235632
),
'children' => Array(
Array(
'name' => 'url',
'attr' => Array(),
'children' => Array(
'http://www.bbc.co.uk/'
)
)
)
),
Array(
'name' => 'monitor',
'attr' => Array(
'id' => 5235633
),
'children' => Array(
Array(
'name' => 'url',
'attr' => Array(),
'children' => Array(
'http://www.bbc.co.uk/news'
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
);
array2xml($data);
?>