XML/PHP: XML doesnt get written properly by my script - php

Question

I seem to have a small problem, whenever i insert information via a form into my XML file, it adds the information directly IN the previous's entry's child, instead of creating a new child, for the entry, i get something like THIS:
<people>
<person>
<name>Lighty</name>
<age>17</age>
<sex>M</sex>
<comment>iets</comment>
<name>Darky</name><age>22</age><sex>F</sex><comment>things</comment></person>
While i need to have something, that would look like THIS:
<people>
<person>
<name>Lighty</name>
<age>17</age>
<sex>M</sex>
<comment>iets</comment>
</person>
<person>
<name>Darky</name>
<age>22</age>
<sex>F</sex>
<comment>iets</comment>
</people>
i tried using the "$xml->formatOutput = true;" line, but it would just add the child formatOutput with 1 filled in, a complete fail.
Any idea what im doing wrong? here is m PHP Code:
<?php
echo ('Script started');
//making sure the script only runs when you use a post
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
echo ('-Post accepted');
//Load XML File into variable
$xml = simplexml_load_file("phptest3.xml");
echo ('-XML Loaded');
//Connect form to Variables
$name = $_POST['name'];
$age = $_POST['age'];
$sex = $_POST['sex'];
$comment = $_POST['comment'];
echo ('-Vars connected');
//Function to strip items that are not needed to prevend XSS/Injections
function test_input($data) {
$data = trim($data);
$data = stripslashes($data);
$data = htmlspecialchars($data);
return $data;
}
echo ('-Injections stripped');
//Create new children in XML file and Connect the from data to the corresponding XML entries
$xml->formatOutput = true;
$xml->people[0];
$xml->people->addChild('person');
$xml->person->addChild('name', $name);
$xml->person->addChild('age', $age);
$xml->person->addChild('sex', $sex);
$xml->person->addChild('comment', $comment);
echo ('-Data inserted');
//Save current data to XML file...
$xml->savexml('phptest3.xml');
echo ('-saved');
}
echo ('-Script ended.');
?>

Answer 1

You can do this with a combination of SimpleXMLElement and DOMDocument.
This is how I did it:
<pre>
<?php
// Orignal XML - Starting Empty
$xmlStr = "<?xml version='1.0' standalone='yes'?>
<people></people>";
// Load XML
$people = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlStr);
// Debug (Before Add)
echo "<b>Before</b> Add\r\n";
print_r($people);
echo "<hr>\r\n\r\n";
// Add First Person
$newPerson = $people->addChild('person');
$newPerson->addChild('name', 'Lighty');
$newPerson->addChild('age', 17);
$newPerson->addChild('sex', 'M');
$newPerson->addChild('comment', 'iets');
// Debug (After Add)
echo "<b>After</b> Add\r\n";
print_r($people);
echo "<hr>\r\n\r\n";
// Output Modified XML With Formatting
$dom = new DOMDocument;
$dom->preserveWhiteSpace = false;
$dom->loadXML($people->asXML());
$dom->formatOutput = true;
echo $dom->saveXml();
?>
Browser Outout:
Formatted XML Output:
<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<people>
<person>
<name>Lighty</name>
<age>17</age>
<sex>M</sex>
<comment>iets</comment>
</person>
</people>
Hope this helps.