Question

Hi there i have got my feed functioning problem I have is in the xml there is description tag and inside is html code. now php is treating the HTML tags as other xml tags and making more arrays. How can I stop this from creating arrays out of the HTML tags?
eg.

<description>
   <h3>Some text</h3>
</description>

its out putting

array['description'] => array['h3'] => "someText"

PHP code:

public function merchant_import_wahanda(){
        if (!$this->session->userdata('logged_in')){
            redirect('admin/login');
        }

        $data['pageTitle'] = 'Merchant Admin';
        $data['error_warning'] = '';
        $data['success'] = '';

        $xmlfile= 'http://www.wahanda.com/rss/mobdeal.xml';  
        $xmlRaw = file_get_contents($xmlfile);  

        $this->load->library('xml');  
        $xmlData = $this->xml->xml_parse($xmlRaw);
        $this->load->model('admin/Deals_model', 'Deals');
        $this->load->model('admin/Cities_model', 'Cities');
        $this->load->model('admin/Partners_model', 'Partners');

        //Get City ID
        foreach($xmlData["channel"]["item"] as $product){
            $cityName[] = $product['w:location']["@content"];
        }

        $cities = array_unique($cityName);
        foreach ($cities as $city){
            if(!$this->Cities->getCityByName($city)){
                $this->Cities->addFeedCity($city);
            }
        }

        //Get Partner ID
        foreach($xmlData["channel"]["item"] as $product){
            $partnerName[] = $product['w:venues']['w:venue']['w:name'];
        }

        $partners = array_unique($partnerName);
        foreach ($partners as $partner){
            if(!$this->Partners->getPartnerByName($partner)){
                $this->Partners->addFeedPartner($partner);
            }
        }

        foreach($xmlData["channel"]["item"] as $product){
            $cityID = $this->Cities->getCityByName($product['w:location']["@content"]);
            $partnerID = $this->Partners->getPartnerByName($product['w:venues']['w:venue']['w:name']);

            $deals[] = array(
                'dealTitle' => $product['title'],
                'price' => $product['w:price'],
                'image' => $product['w:hiResImageLink'],
                'buyLink' => $product['link'],
                'startDate' => $product['w:startDate'],
                'endDate' => $product['w:endDate'],
                'partner' => $partnerID['partner_id'],
                'city' => $cityID['city_id'],
                'description' => $product['description'],
                'RRP' => $product['w:rrp'],
                'discount' => $this->getDiscount($product['w:price'], $product['w:rrp'])
            );
        }
        ?><pre><?php var_dump($deals); ?></pre><?php
        foreach($deals as $deal){
            $this->Deals->importWahanda($deal);
        }
    }

XML Description example:

<description>
            <a id="Wahanda_loves" name="Wahanda_loves"></a><h3>Wahanda loves</h3>

<p>If you&#39;re fed up of shaving and can&#39;t bear the pain of waxing then remove hair the easy way with this course of IPL hair removal. It works by using beams of light to damage the hair follicle, meaning after a course of treatment you&#39;ll be hair-free for longer. Five sessions will catch the hair in each stage of the growth cycle so your skin will stay silky-smooth and fuzz-free for longer.</p>
<a id="What.27s_in_it_for_you.3F" name="What.27s_in_it_for_you.3F"></a><h3>What&#39;s in it for you?</h3>


<ul>
<li>Five IPL Sessions on <b>one</b> of the following areas:
<ul>
<li>Lip and Chin</li>
<li>Bikini Line</li>
<li>Underarm</li></ul></li></ul>


<ul>
<li>Location: <a href="/place/depicool-leeds/" title="place/depicool-leeds/">DepiCool</a>, Leeds</li>
<li>Available Monday - Saturday</li>
<li><b>Strict voucher limit of 1 per person.</b> May buy multiples as gifts</li>
<li>You will receive an eVoucher valid for one person to print out and take with you.</li>
<li>Voucher valid for 6 months</li>
<li>Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Subject to availability. No cash alternative</li></ul>

<p>You&#39;ll get a snazzy pair of goggles to wear during the treatment so your eyes are protected throughout the fifteen minute procedure. DepiCool&#39;s therapists are fully qualified and consider your comfort and safety to be the most important part of the treatment process. All staff are trained to be able to answer your questions so you&#39;ll be informed at at ease at all times. </p>
<a id="Want_to_buy_this_as_a_gift.3F" name="Want_to_buy_this_as_a_gift.3F"></a><h3>Want to buy this as a gift?</h3>

<p>If you&#39;re feeling generous and want to buy this as a gift for someone, don&#39;t worry - the voucher won&#39;t show the price or discount of the MobDeal if you add a gift message, making it perfect for giving as a gift. All you need to do is choose how many vouchers you&#39;d like to buy at checkout so you can enter each recipient&#39;s name on the coupon, then add your message for the lucky recipient.</p></description>

Answer 1

You can either place your HTML into CDATA, as suggested by Agop, or encode the characters – use < instead of <, > instead of >, etc. As far as XML is concerned, they are identical. I’d go for the CDATA option since you have many lines of HTML, and it’s more readable.

<description>
    <![CDATA[<a id="Wahanda_loves" name="Wahanda_loves"></a><h3>Wahanda loves</h3>

    <p>If you&#39;re fed up of shaving and can&#39;t bear the pain of waxing then remove hair the easy way with this course of IPL hair removal. It works by using beams of light to damage the hair follicle, meaning after a course of treatment you&#39;ll be hair-free for longer. Five sessions will catch the hair in each stage of the growth cycle so your skin will stay silky-smooth and fuzz-free for longer.</p>
    <a id="What.27s_in_it_for_you.3F" name="What.27s_in_it_for_you.3F"></a><h3>What&#39;s in it for you?</h3>

    ...

    ]]>
</description>