How can I properly parse a SimpleXML Object in PHP? - php

Question

I'm using the CloudFusion class to get Amazon.com data and my code is simple:
$items = $pas->item_search( "shoes", array(
"ResponseGroup" => "Small",
"SearchIndex" => "Blended" ));
$items = $items->body->Items;
echo "<pre>";
print_r( $items );
echo "</pre>";
This returns the following:
SimpleXMLElement Object (
[Request] => SimpleXMLElement Object
(
[IsValid] => True
[ItemSearchRequest] => SimpleXMLElement Object
(
[Keywords] => shoes
[ResponseGroup] => Small
[SearchIndex] => Blended
)
)
[TotalResults] => 737435
[TotalPages] => 245816
[SearchResultsMap] => SimpleXMLElement Object
(
[SearchIndex] => Array
(
[0] => SimpleXMLElement Object
(
[IndexName] => Kitchen
....
)
[Item] => Array
(
[0] => SimpleXMLElement Object
(
[ASIN] => B0001Z95QY
[DetailPageURL] => http://www.amazon.com/Household-Essentials-MS6030-Seasonal-Storage/dp/B0001Z95QY%3FSubscriptionId%3D0WASFFPR5B82TH4ZQB82%26tag%3Dws%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB0001Z95QY
[ItemLinks] => SimpleXMLElement Object
(
[ItemLink] => Array
(
[0] => SimpleXMLElement Object
(
[Description] => Technical Details
[URL] => http://www.amazon.com/Household-Essentials-MS6030-Seasonal-Storage/dp/tech-data/B0001Z95QY%3FSubscriptionId%3D0WASFFPR5B82TH4ZQB82%26tag%3Dws%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D386001%26creativeASIN%3DB0001Z95QY
) ....................
)
[1] => SimpleXMLElement Object
(
[ASIN] => B001ACNBZ8
[DetailPageURL] => http://www.amazon.com/Peet-Shoe-Dryer-Boot-Original/dp/B001ACNBZ8%3FSubscriptionId%3D0WASFFPR5B82TH4ZQB82%26tag%3Dws%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001ACNBZ8
[ItemLinks] => SimpleXMLElement Object
(...................
)
)
What I'd like to do is get down to the "Item" level, then run a foreach to get each individual entry. I tried $items = $items->Item, but this returns only the first entry.
Any ideas?

Answer 1

First of all, you should avoid using print_r() on SimpleXMLElement, instead just take a look at the XML using asXML(). That's also what you should post here, instead of print_r()'s output.
I can't decipher the code you have posted so I'll take a wild guess and suggest that you try something like:
foreach ($items->body->Items->Item as $Item)
{
}
At any rate, if you want to iterate over something, foreach is the answer.