Generate XML out of Textfile using json_decode - php

Question

I have this Textfile (namelist.txt):
{"0":"Mr Tony Test","1":"Ms Tina Testy"}
And I try to convert it into XML:
<?php
$xml = new DOMDocument();
$names = json_decode(file_get_contents('namelist.txt'));
foreach ($names as $name)
{
$xml_name = $xml->createElement($name);
}
$xml->save("rss.xml");
?>
I get the following Error:
Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'DOMException' with message 'Invalid
Character Error' in C:\xampp\htdocs\xibo\rss.php:6 Stack trace: #0
C:\xampp\htdocs\xibo\rss.php(6): DOMDocument->createElement('Mr Tony
Te...') #1 {main} thrown in C:\xampp\htdocs\xibo\rss.php on line 6
Is is even possible like this?
Edit 1:
Tried a solution by #spiky but I get a blank page as result:
<?php
$obj=('namelist.txt');
function json_to_xml($obj){
$str = "";
if(is_null($obj))
return "<null/>";
elseif(is_array($obj)) {
//a list is a hash with 'simple' incremental keys
$is_list = array_keys($obj) == array_keys(array_values($obj));
if(!$is_list) {
$str.= "<hash>";
foreach($obj as $k=>$v)
$str.="<item key=\"$k\">".json_to_xml($v)."</item>".CRLF;
$str .= "</hash>";
} else {
$str.= "<list>";
foreach($obj as $v)
$str.="<item>".json_to_xml($v)."</item>".CRLF;
$str .= "</list>";
}
return $str;
} elseif(is_string($obj)) {
return htmlspecialchars($obj) != $obj ? "<![CDATA[$obj]]>" : $obj;
} elseif(is_scalar($obj))
return $obj;
else
throw new Exception("Unsupported type $obj");
}
?>

Answer 1

If you decode the JSON is an object with two properties (0 and 1).
var_dump(json_decode('{"0":"Mr Tony Test","1":"Ms Tina Testy"}'));
Output:
object(stdClass)#1 (2) {
["0"]=>
string(12) "Mr Tony Test"
["1"]=>
string(13) "Ms Tina Testy"
}
You iterate the properties and use the values as element names. But they aren't valid names. Here is a static example producing the error:
$document = new DOMDocument();
$document->createElement('name with spaces');
Output:
Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'DOMException' with message
'Invalid Character Error' in /tmp/...
So you to make sure that you generate a valid XML. Likes this:
$json = json_decode('{"0":"Mr Tony Test","1":"Ms Tina Testy"}');
$document = new DOMDocument();
$names = $document->appendChild(
$document->createElement('names')
);
foreach ($json as $value) {
$names
->appendChild($document->createElement('name'))
->appendChild($document->createTextNode($value));
}
$document->formatOutput = TRUE;
echo $document->saveXml();
Output:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<names>
<name>Mr Tony Test</name>
<name>Ms Tina Testy</name>
</names>
It is a better idea to use a definable node structure for the XML, not one that is defined by the data.
You named the result xml file 'rss.xml'. RSS is a defined format. So if you like to generate RSS you have to generate specific nodes.
$json = json_decode('{"0":"Mr Tony Test","1":"Ms Tina Testy"}');
$document = new DOMDocument();
$rss = $document->appendChild($document->createElement('rss'));
$rss->setAttribute('version', '2.0');
$channel = $rss->appendChild($document->createElement('channel'));
foreach ($json as $value) {
$item = $channel->appendChild($document->createElement('item'));
$item
->appendChild($document->createElement('title'))
->appendChild($document->createTextNode($value));
}
$document->formatOutput = TRUE;
echo $document->saveXml();
Output:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<item>
<title>Mr Tony Test</title>
</item>
<item>
<title>Ms Tina Testy</title>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>