Question

After learning how to “correctly” unset a node, I noticed that using PHP’s unset() function leaves the tabs and spaces behind. So now I have this big chunk of white space in between nodes at times. I’m wondering if PHP iterates through blank spaces/returns/tabs and whether it would eventually slow down the system.

I’m also asking whether there’s an easy to remove the space unset leaves behind?

Thanks,
Ryan

ADDED NOTE:

This is how I removed the whitespaces after unsetting a node and it worked for me.

$dom = new DOMDocument();
$dom->preserveWhiteSpace = false;
$dom->formatOutput = true;
$dom->load($xmlPath);
$dom->save($xmlPath);

Answer 1

Wether it slows down the process: probably to little to care about.

And simpleXML is just that, simple. If you require a ‘pretty’ output, DOM is your friend:

<?php
$xml = '
<xml>
        <node>foo </node>
        <other>bar</other>
</xml>';
$x = new SimpleXMLElement($xml);
unset($x->other);
echo $x->asXML();

$dom = new DOMDocument();
$dom->preserveWhiteSpace = false;
$dom->formatOutput = true;
$dom->loadXML($xml);
$dom->documentElement->removeChild($dom->documentElement->lastChild);
echo $dom->saveXML();