SimpleXMLElement::addChild

    (PHP 5 >= 5.1.3, PHP 7, PHP 8)

    SimpleXMLElement::addChild — Adds a child element to the XML node

    Description

    public SimpleXMLElement::addChild(string $qualifiedName, ?string $value = null, ?string $namespace = null): ?SimpleXMLElement

    Adds a child element to the node and returns a SimpleXMLElement of the child.

    Parameters

    qualifiedName

    The name of the child element to add.

    value

    If specified, the value of the child element.

    namespace

    If specified, the namespace to which the child element belongs.

    Return Values

    The addChild method returns a SimpleXMLElement object representing the child added to the XML node on success; null on failure.

    Examples

    Note:

    Listed examples may include example.php, which refers to the XML string found in the first example of the basic usage guide.

    Example #1 Add attributes and children to a SimpleXML element

    <?php

    include 'example.php';

    $sxe = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlstr);
    $sxe->addAttribute('type', 'documentary');

    $movie = $sxe->addChild('movie');
    $movie->addChild('title', 'PHP2: More Parser Stories');
    $movie->addChild('plot', 'This is all about the people who make it work.');

    $characters = $movie->addChild('characters');
    $character = $characters->addChild('character');
    $character->addChild('name', 'Mr. Parser');
    $character->addChild('actor', 'John Doe');

    $rating = $movie->addChild('rating', '5');
    $rating->addAttribute('type', 'stars');

    echo     $sxe->asXML();

    ?>

    The above example will output something similar to:

    <?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<movies type="documentary">
 <movie>
  <title>PHP: Behind the Parser</title>
  <characters>
   <character>
    <name>Ms. Coder</name>
    <actor>Onlivia Actora</actor>
   </character>
   <character>
    <name>Mr. Coder</name>
    <actor>El Act&#xD3;r</actor>
   </character>
  </characters>
  <plot>
   So, this language. It's like, a programming language. Or is it a
   scripting language? All is revealed in this thrilling horror spoof
   of a documentary.
  </plot>
  <great-lines>
   <line>PHP solves all my web problems</line>
  </great-lines>
  <rating type="thumbs">7</rating>
  <rating type="stars">5</rating>
 </movie>
 <movie>
  <title>PHP2: More Parser Stories</title>
  <plot>This is all about the people who make it work.</plot>
  <characters>
   <character>
    <name>Mr. Parser</name>
    <actor>John Doe</actor>
   </character>
  </characters>
  <rating type="stars">5</rating>
 </movie>
</movies>

    See Also

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    User Contributed Notes 6 notes

    up
    41
    frosty dot z at freesbee dot fr
    11 years ago
    To complete Volker Grabsch's comment, stating :
    "Note that although addChild() escapes "<" and ">", it does not escape the ampersand "&"."

    To work around that problem, you can use direct property assignment such as :

    <?php
    $xmlelement    ->value = 'my value < > &';
    // results in <value>my value &lt; &gt; &amp;</value>
    ?>

    instead of doing :

    <?php
    $xmlelement    ->addChild('value', 'my value < > &');
    // results in <value>my value &lt; &gt; &</value> (invalid XML)
    ?>

    See also: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/552957 (Rationale behind SimpleXMLElement's handling of text values in addChild and addAttribute)

    HTH
    up
    27
    alex dot feraud at gmail dot com
    13 years ago
    Here is a class with more functions for SimpleXMLElement :

    <?php
    /**
    *
    * Extension for SimpleXMLElement
    * @author Alexandre FERAUD
    *
    */
    class ExSimpleXMLElement extends SimpleXMLElement
    {
    /**
    * Add CDATA text in a node
    * @param string $cdata_text The CDATA value to add
    */
    private function addCData($cdata_text)
    {
    $node= dom_import_simplexml($this);
    $no = $node->ownerDocument;
    $node->appendChild($no->createCDATASection($cdata_text));
    }

    /**
    * Create a child with CDATA value
    * @param string $name The name of the child element to add.
    * @param string $cdata_text The CDATA value of the child element.
    */
    public function addChildCData($name,$cdata_text)
    {
    $child = $this->addChild($name);
    $child->addCData($cdata_text);
    }

    /**
    * Add SimpleXMLElement code into a SimpleXMLElement
    * @param SimpleXMLElement $append
    */
    public function appendXML($append)
    {
    if (    $append) {
    if (    strlen(trim((string) $append))==0) {
    $xml = $this->addChild($append->getName());
    foreach(    $append->children() as $child) {
    $xml->appendXML($child);
    }
    } else {
    $xml = $this->addChild($append->getName(), (string) $append);
    }
    foreach(    $append->attributes() as $n => $v) {
    $xml->addAttribute($n, $v);
    }
    }
    }
    }
    ?>
    up
    12
    johninen at gmail dot com
    9 years ago
    In the docs for google sitemaps it is required an element for mobile sitemaps that looks like this: <mobile:mobile/>

    I used some time to figure out how to make it, but it is quite simple when understood.

    $mobile_schema = 'http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-mobile/1.0';

    //Create root element
    $xml_mobile = new SimpleXMLElement('
    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9" xmlns:mobile="'.$mobile_schema.'"></urlset>
    ');

    //Add required children
    $url_mobile = $xml_b_list_mobile->addChild('url');
    $url_mobile->addChild('loc', 'your-mobile-site-url');
    $url_mobile->addChild('mobile:mobile', null, $mobile_schema);

    For this to work properly the attribute xmlns:mobile must be set in the root node, and then used as namespace(third argument) when creating the mobile:mobile child with null as value.
    up
    3
    nwarap
    7 years ago
    Want to continue the ampersand (&) chain problem.

    Sometimes, you would want to assign (=) addChild.
    This trick will helps you to do this.

    <?php
    $webOrders     = new SimpleXMLElement('<?xml version="1.0"?><WebOrders></WebOrders>');
    $webOrder = $webOrders->addChild('WebOrder');
    $product = $webOrder->addChild('Product');
    $product[0] = 'T&M';
    $product->addAttribute('price', 19.99);
    $product->addAttribute('qty', 2);
    var_dump($webOrders->asXML());
    ?>

    OUTPUT would be:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <WebOrders>
    <WebOrder>
    <Product price="19.99" qty="2">T&amp;M</Product>
    </WebOrder>
    </WebOrders>
    up
    7
    Volker Grabsch
    13 years ago
    Note that although addChild() escapes "<" and ">", it does not escape the ampersand "&".

    So addChild() is unsuited to handle user-defined input!

    Instead, you will have to replace all "&" with "&amp;" before calling addChild().

    Or, use htmlspecialchars() which also replaces other characters, but won't do any harm as addChild() won't replace those again.
    up
    1
    fluxlicious at gmail dot com
    1 year ago
    The class below allows you to write CDATA and to add additional attributes.

    <?php
    class SimpleXMLElementExtended extends \SimpleXMLElement
    {
    public function     addChildWithCData($name, $value)
    {
    $child = parent::addChild($name);
    $element = dom_import_simplexml($child);
    $docOwner = $element->ownerDocument;
    $element->appendChild($docOwner->createCDATASection($value));
    return     $child;
    }
    }
    ?>

    Example:
    <?php
    $xml     = new SimpleXMLElementExtended('<xml></xml>');
    $content = $xml->addChildWithCData('content', 'Title of the page');
    $content->addAttribute('id', 1);
    $content->addAttribute('enabled', 'true');

    // Output:
    // <xml>
    // <content id="1" enabled="true"><![CDATA[Title of the page]]></content>
    // </xml>
    ?>
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