DOM XML

&reftitle.intro; &warn.experimental; The DOM XML extension has been overhauled in PHP 4.3.0 to better comply with the DOM standard. The extension still contains many old functions, but they should no longer be used. In particular, functions that are not object-oriented should be avoided. The extension allows you to operate on an XML document with the DOM API. It also provides a function domxml_xmltree to turn the complete XML document into a tree of PHP objects. Currently, this tree should be considered read-only — you can modify it, but this would not make any sense since DomDocument_dump_mem cannot be applied to it. Therefore, if you want to read an XML file and write a modified version, use DomDocument_create_element, DomDocument_create_text_node, set_attribute, etc. and finally the DomDocument_dump_mem function.

&reftitle.required; This extension makes use of the GNOME XML library. Download and install this library. You will need at least libxml-2.4.14.

&reftitle.install; This extension is only available if PHP was configured with --with-dom=[DIR].

There are quite a few functions that do not fit into the DOM standard and should no longer be used. These functions are listed in the following table. The function DomNode_append_child has changed its behaviour. It now adds a child and not a sibling. If this breaks your application, use the non-DOM function DomNode_append_sibling. Old function New function xmldoc domxml_open_mem xmldocfile domxml_open_file domxml_new_xmldoc domxml_new_doc domxml_dump_mem DomDocument_dump_mem domxml_dump_mem_file DomDocument_dump_file DomDocument_dump_mem_file DomDocument_dump_file DomDocument_add_root DomDocument_create_element followed by DomNode_append_child DomDocument_dtd DomDocument_doctype DomDocument_root DomDocument_document_element DomDocument_children DomNode_child_nodes DomDocument_imported_node No replacement. DomNode_add_child Create a new node with e.g. DomDocument_create_element und add it with DomNode_append_child. DomNode_children DomNode_child_nodes DomNode_parent DomNode_parent_node DomNode_new_child Create a new node with e.g. DomDocument_create_element and add it with DomNode_append_child. DomNode_set_content Create a new node with e.g. DomDocument_create_text_node and add it with DomNode_append_child. DomNode_get_content Content is just a text node and can be accessed with DomNode_child_nodes. DomNode_set_content Content is just a text node and can be added with DomNode_append_child.

&reference.domxml.constants;

The API of the module follows the DOM Level 2 standard as closely as possible. Consequently, the API is fully object-oriented. It is a good idea to have the DOM standard available when using this module. Though the API is object-oriented, there are many functions which can be called in a non-object-oriented way by passing the object to operate on as the first argument. These functions are mainly to retain compatibilty to older versions of the extension, and should not be used when creating new scripts. This API differs from the official DOM API in two ways. First, all class attributes are implemented as functions with the same name. Secondly, the function names follow the PHP naming convention. This means that a DOM function lastChild() will be written as last_child(). This module defines a number of classes, which are listed — including their method — in the following tables. Classes with an equivalent in the DOM standard are named DOMxxx. Class name Parent classes DomAttribute DomNode DomCData DomNode DomComment DomCData : DomNode DomDocument DomNode DomDocumentType DomNode DomElement DomNode DomEntity DomNode DomEntityReference DomNode DomProcessingInstruction DomNode DomText DomCData : DomNode Parser Currently still called DomParser XPathContext Method name Function name Remark doctype DomDocument_doctype document_elemnent DomDocument_document_element create_element DomDocument_create_element create_text_node DomDocument_create_text_node create_comment DomDocument_create_comment create_cdata_section DomDocument_create_cdata_section create_processing_instruction DomDocument_create_processing_instruction create_attribute DomDocument_create_attribute create_entity_reference DomDocument_create_entity_reference get_elements_by_tagname DomDocument_get_elements_by_tagname get_element_by_id DomDocument_get_element_by_id dump_mem DomDocument_dump_mem not DOM standard dump_file DomDocument_dump_file not DOM standard html_dump_mem DomDocument_html_dump_mem not DOM standard xpath_init xpath_init not DOM standard xpath_new_context xpath_new_context not DOM standard xptr_new_context xptr_new_context not DOM standard Method name Function name Remark tagname DomElement_tagname get_attribute DomElement_get_attribute set_attribute DomElement_set_attribute remove_attribute DomElement_remove_attribute get_attribute_node DomElement_get_attribute_node get_elements_by_tagname DomElement_get_elements_by_tagname has_attribute DomElement_has_attribute Method name Remark DomNode_node_name DomNode_node_value DomNode_node_type DomNode_last_child DomNode_first_child DomNode_child_nodes DomNode_previous_sibling DomNode_next_sibling DomNode_parent_node DomNode_owner_document DomNode_insert_before DomNode_append_child DomNode_append_sibling Not in DOM standard. This function emulates the former behaviour of DomNode_append_child. DomNode_remove_child DomNode_has_child_nodes DomNode_has_attributes DomNode_clone_node DomNode_attributes DomNode_unlink_node Not in DOM standard DomNode_replace_node Not in DOM standard DomNode_set_content Not in DOM standard, deprecated DomNode_get_content Not in DOM standard, deprecated DomNode_dump_node Not in DOM standard DomNode_is_blank_node Not in DOM standard Method name Remark name DomAttribute_name value DomAttribute_value specified DomAttribute_specified Method name Function name Remark target DomProcessingInstruction_target data DomProcessingInstruction_data Method name Function name Remark add_chunk Parser_add_chunk end Parser_end Method name Function name Remark eval XPathContext_eval eval_expression XPathContext_eval_expression register_ns XPathContext_register_ns Method name Function name Remark name DomDocumentType_name entities DomDocumentType_entities notations DomDocumentType_notations public_id DomDocumentType_public_id system_id DomDocumentType_system_id internal_subset DomDocumentType_internal_subset The classes DomDtd is derived from DomNode. DomComment is derived from DomCData.

&reftitle.examples; Many examples in this reference require an XML string. Instead of repeating this string in every example, it will be put into a file which will be included by each example. This include file is shown in the following example section. Alternatively, you could create an XML document and read it with DomDocument_open_file. ]> &sp; a1b1c1 a2c2 a3b3c3 "; ?> ]]>

&reference.domxml.functions;