Question

I have a simpleXML output of:

SimpleXMLElement Object
(
    [@attributes] => Array
    (
        [version] => 2
    )
    [currentTime] => 2013-02-05 21:26:09
    [result] => SimpleXMLElement Object
    (
        [rowset] => SimpleXMLElement Object
        (
            [@attributes] => Array
            (
                [name] => characters
                [key] => characterID
                [columns] => name,characterID,corporationName,corporationID
            )
            [row] => Array
            (
                [0] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                (
                    [@attributes] => Array
                    (
                        [name] => Wrytha Cy
                        [characterID] => 209668693
                        [corporationName] => Deep Core Mining Inc.
                        [corporationID] => 1000006
                    )
                )
                [1] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                (
                    [@attributes] => Array
                    (
                        [name] => Eve Mae
                        [characterID] => 624980803
                        [corporationName] => Viziam
                        [corporationID] => 1000066
                    )
                )
                [2] => SimpleXMLElement Object
                (
                    [@attributes] => Array
                    (
                        [name] => Wrytha
                        [characterID] => 709227913
                        [corporationName] => The Flying Tigers
                        [corporationID] => 669350666
                    )
                )
            )
        )
    )
    [cachedUntil] => 2013-02-05 21:35:04
)

I would like to loop through with my php loop and get “name’ and “characterID”. I’ve trying something like:

    $simpleXML = simplexml_load_string($xml); 

    foreach ($simpleXML->result->rowset->row as $row) {
        print_r($row);
        $name = $row['@attributes']['name'];
        echo $name.'<br>';
    }

but $name is not being set. It’s gonna be something simple, just not seeing it in my haste and first time with simpleXML.

Answer 1

Attributes are accessed using the syntax $element['attribute_name'], so in your case, you need $row['name'].

It’s important to remember that SimpleXML objects are kind of magic – the $element->child, $element_list[0] and $element['foo'] syntax overloads the normal PHP logic to be useful. Similarly, (string)$element will give you the full textual content of an element, however it is broken up in the actual XML.

As such, the print_r output will not give you a “real” view of the object, so should be used with care. There are a couple of alternative debug functions I’ve written here which give a more accurate idea of how the object will behave.