International PHP Conference Berlin 2025

xml_parse_into_struct

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

xml_parse_into_structParse XML data into an array structure

Description

xml_parse_into_struct(
    XMLParser $parser,
    string $data,
    array &$values,
    array &$index = null
): int|false

This function parses an XML string into 2 parallel array structures, one (index) containing pointers to the location of the appropriate values in the values array. These last two parameters must be passed by reference.

Parameters

parser

A reference to the XML parser.

data

A string containing the XML data.

values

An array containing the values of the XML data

index

An array containing pointers to the location of the appropriate values in the $values.

Return Values

xml_parse_into_struct() returns 0 for failure and 1 for success. This is not the same as false and true, be careful with operators such as ===.

Changelog

Version Description
8.0.0 parser expects an XMLParser instance now; previously, a valid xml resource was expected.

Examples

Below is an example that illustrates the internal structure of the arrays being generated by the function. We use a simple note tag embedded inside a para tag, and then we parse this and print out the structures generated:

Example #1 xml_parse_into_struct() example

<?php
$simple
= "<para><note>simple note</note></para>";
$p = xml_parser_create();
xml_parse_into_struct($p, $simple, $vals, $index);
xml_parser_free($p);
echo
"Index array\n";
print_r($index);
echo
"\nVals array\n";
print_r($vals);
?>

When we run that code, the output will be:

Index array
Array
(
    [PARA] => Array
        (
            [0] => 0
            [1] => 2
        )

    [NOTE] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

)

Vals array
Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [tag] => PARA
            [type] => open
            [level] => 1
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [tag] => NOTE
            [type] => complete
            [level] => 2
            [value] => simple note
        )

    [2] => Array
        (
            [tag] => PARA
            [type] => close
            [level] => 1
        )

)

Event-driven parsing (based on the expat library) can get complicated when you have an XML document that is complex. This function does not produce a DOM style object, but it generates structures amenable of being traversed in a tree fashion. Thus, we can create objects representing the data in the XML file easily. Let's consider the following XML file representing a small database of aminoacids information:

Example #2 moldb.xml - small database of molecular information

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<moldb>

  <molecule>
      <name>Alanine</name>
      <symbol>ala</symbol>
      <code>A</code>
      <type>hydrophobic</type>
  </molecule>

  <molecule>
      <name>Lysine</name>
      <symbol>lys</symbol>
      <code>K</code>
      <type>charged</type>
  </molecule>

</moldb>
And some code to parse the document and generate the appropriate objects:

Example #3 parsemoldb.php - parses moldb.xml into an array of molecular objects

<?php

class AminoAcid {
var
$name; // aa name
var $symbol; // three letter symbol
var $code; // one letter code
var $type; // hydrophobic, charged or neutral

function __construct ($aa)
{
foreach (
$aa as $k=>$v)
$this->$k = $aa[$k];
}
}

function
readDatabase($filename)
{
// read the XML database of aminoacids
$data = file_get_contents($filename);
$parser = xml_parser_create();
xml_parser_set_option($parser, XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING, 0);
xml_parser_set_option($parser, XML_OPTION_SKIP_WHITE, 1);
xml_parse_into_struct($parser, $data, $values, $tags);
xml_parser_free($parser);

// loop through the structures
foreach ($tags as $key=>$val) {
if (
$key == "molecule") {
$molranges = $val;
// each contiguous pair of array entries are the
// lower and upper range for each molecule definition
for ($i=0; $i < count($molranges); $i+=2) {
$offset = $molranges[$i] + 1;
$len = $molranges[$i + 1] - $offset;
$tdb[] = parseMol(array_slice($values, $offset, $len));
}
} else {
continue;
}
}
return
$tdb;
}

function
parseMol($mvalues)
{
for (
$i=0; $i < count($mvalues); $i++) {
$mol[$mvalues[$i]["tag"]] = $mvalues[$i]["value"];
}
return new
AminoAcid($mol);
}

$db = readDatabase("moldb.xml");
echo
"** Database of AminoAcid objects:\n";
print_r($db);

?>
After executing parsemoldb.php, the variable $db contains an array of AminoAcid objects, and the output of the script confirms that:
** Database of AminoAcid objects:
Array
(
    [0] => aminoacid Object
        (
            [name] => Alanine
            [symbol] => ala
            [code] => A
            [type] => hydrophobic
        )

    [1] => aminoacid Object
        (
            [name] => Lysine
            [symbol] => lys
            [code] => K
            [type] => charged
        )

)

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