CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpxmlsimplexml
LFLFM
LFLFM

Reputation: 53

How to change the value of a namespaced element using simplexml?

I'm trying to change an XML value and then save it back as XML. Works fine when I change elements that have no namespace. Problem is, when the value I want to change is in a namespace; I can find and print out, but any changes get ignored; like this:

$ns = $xmlsingle->children('mynamespace');
foreach ($ns as $myelement)
{
    echo "my element is: [$myelement]";
    //I can change it:
    $myelement = "something else";
    echo "my element is now: [$myelement]"; //yay, value is changed!
}
//GREAT!
//But when I save the XML back, the value is not changed... apparently the children method creates a new object; not a link to the existing object
//So if I copy/paste the code above, I have the original value, not the changed value
$ns2 = $xmlsingle->children('mynamespace');
foreach ($ns2 as $myelement)
{
    echo "my element is UNCHANGED! [$myelement]";
}
//So my change's not done when I save the XML.
$xmlsingle->asXML(); //This XML is exacly the same as the original XML, without changes to the namespaced elements.

**Please ignore any silly errors that might not compile, I re-typed the text from my original code, otherwise it would be too large; the code works, just the NAMESPACED element's values are unchanged when I put it back to XML.

I'm not a PHP expert and I don't know how to access namespaced elements in any other way... How could I change those values? I searched everywhere but only find instructions how to READ the values.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 95

Answers (1)

panos
panos

Reputation: 331

try something like this:

$xml = '
<example xmlns:foo="bar">
  <foo:a>Apple</foo:a>
  <foo:b>Banana</foo:b>
  <c>Cherry</c>
</example>';

$xmlsingle = new \SimpleXMLElement($xml);
echo "<pre>\n\n";
echo $xmlsingle->asXML();
echo "\n\n";

$ns = $xmlsingle->children('bar');
foreach ($ns as $i => $myelement){
    echo "my element is: [$myelement] ";

    //$myelement = "something else"; // <-- OLD
    $ns->$i = 'something else'; // <-- NEW

    echo "my element is now: [$myelement]"; //yay, value is changed!
    echo "\n";
}
echo "\n\n";
echo $xmlsingle->asXML();
echo "\n</pre>";

and result should be:


    
    
      Apple
      Banana
      Cherry
    

    my element is: [Apple] my element is now: [something else]
    my element is: [Banana] my element is now: [something else]

    
    
      something else
      something else
      Cherry

hope this help.

Upvotes: 1

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