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phpxmlxml-parsingsimplexml

adding a new node in XML file via PHP


I just wanted to ask how I can insert a new node in an XML using PHP. my XML file (questions.xml) is given below

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Quiz>
   <topic text="Preparation for Exam">
      <subtopic text="Science" />
      <subtopic text="Maths" />
      <subtopic text="english" />
   </topic>
</Quiz>

I want to add a new "subtopic" with the "text" attribute, that is "geography". How can I do this using PHP? Thanks in advance though. well my code is

<?php

$xmldoc = new DOMDocument();
$xmldoc->load('questions.xml');


$root = $xmldoc->firstChild;

$newElement = $xmldoc->createElement('subtopic');
$root->appendChild($newElement);
// $newText = $xmldoc->createTextNode('geology');
// $newElement->appendChild($newText);

$xmldoc->save('questions.xml');
?>

Solution

  • I'd use SimpleXML for this. It would look somehow like this:

    // Open and parse the XML file
    $xml = simplexml_load_file("questions.xml");
    // Create a child in the first topic node
    $child = $xml->topic[0]->addChild("subtopic");
    // Add the text attribute
    $child->addAttribute("text", "geography");
    

    You can either display the new XML code with echo or store it in a file.

    // Display the new XML code
    echo $xml->asXML();
    // Store new XML code in questions.xml
    $xml->asXML("questions.xml");