Convert XML to Multidimensional Array

Question

I have xml file like this:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<table>
<form>
    <input name="id">1</input>
    <input name="name">Steven Law</input>
    <input name="position">Sales Manager</input>
</form>
<form>
    <input name="id">2</input>
    <input name="name">Martin Wow</input>
    <input name="position">Production</input>
</form>
<form>
    <input name="id">3</input>
    <input name="name">Mike Pan</input>
    <input name="position">Office boy</input>
</form>
</table>

I tried to get element value.I don't know how to get element value for each field. So far I'm try like this, it is just get an attribute value:

<?php
$dom = new DOMDocument();
$dom->load("data.xml");

$input = $dom->getElementsByTagName('input');
foreach($input as $inputs){
  $name= $inputs->getAttribute('name');
  //$value = $field->name('id');
  echo "$name =<br>";
}

OUTPUT

id =
name =
position =
id =
name =
position =
id =
name =
position =

What I want is will be output id=1 name=Steven Law ... id=3 name=mike pan position=office boy. After that, from output I can make to an array.

Oh one more, please tell me about different XMLDOM and SimpleXML. I don't know must choose what. Please help me

Answer 1

Reading the value can be done with DOMElement::nodeValue:

<?php
$dom = new DOMDocument();
$dom->load("data.xml");

$input = $dom->getElementsByTagName('input');
foreach($input as $inputs){
  $name= $inputs->getAttribute('name');

  $value = $inputs->nodeValue; //reading the value
  echo "$name = $value<br>"; 
}

Notice

To test this, the XML example has to be corrected: In the first block the <input> elements are closed with </field>. This has to be changed to </input>.

You asked for an array. It depends on how you need the data in your application. Here are two possibilities, which should give you an idea to go on:

a) Creating an array (the easy way)

<?php
$dom = new DOMDocument();
$dom->load("data.xml");

$array=array(); //init

$input = $dom->getElementsByTagName('input');
foreach($input as $inputs){
  $name= $inputs->getAttribute('name');
  $value = $inputs->nodeValue;

  //adding a value
  $array[]=array(
    'name' => $name,
    'value' => $value,
    );
}
// as an example, just print it
print_r($array);

You'll get something like this:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [name] => id
            [value] => 1
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [name] => name
            [value] => Steven Law
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [name] => position
            [value] => Sales Manager
        )

    [3] => Array
        (
            [name] => id
            [value] => 2
        )

    [4] => Array
        (
            [name] => name
            [value] => Martin Wow
        )

    [5] => Array
        (
            [name] => position
            [value] => Production
        )

    [6] => Array
        (
            [name] => id
            [value] => 3
        )

    [7] => Array
        (
            [name] => name
            [value] => Mike Pan
        )

    [8] => Array
        (
            [name] => position
            [value] => Office boy
        )
)

b) Creating an array (more convenient to use later on)

<?php
$dom = new DOMDocument();
$dom->load("data.xml");

//init
$array=array();
//get all form tags
$forms=$dom->getElementsByTagName('form');
foreach($forms as $form) {
    //get all input-Tags from this form
    $input = $form->getElementsByTagName('input');

    //create an empty element
    $element=array();
    //walk through the input elements of the current form element
    foreach($input as $inputs){
      $name= $inputs->getAttribute('name');
      $value = $inputs->nodeValue;
      //add the data to the element
      $element[$name]=$value;
    }
    //add the element to your array
    $array[]=$element;
}
// as an example, just print it
print_r($array);

Here you'll walk through your <form> elements first. Then, in every form you read the <input> elements. So, you'll get an entry for every form block containing the inputs:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [id] => 1
            [name] => Steven Law
            [position] => Sales Manager
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [id] => 2
            [name] => Martin Wow
            [position] => Production
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [id] => 3
            [name] => Mike Pan
            [position] => Office boy
        )

)