How to access nested XML node?

Question

I try to import an XML file:

<works_list>    
  <licenses>
    <name>First Company Name</name>     
    <work_address_list>
        <address_place>
            <address>36234020,first address </address>              
            <works>
                <work>Service 1</work>
                <work>Service 2</work>
                <work>Service 3</work>
            </works>
        </address_place>
        <address_place>
            <address>36234020,second address</address>                
            <works>
                <work>Service 1</work>
                <work>Service 3</work>
            </works>
        </address_place>
    </work_address_list>        
  </licenses>
  <licenses>
   ...
  </licenses>
</works_list>

and I want to put it in array:

$companyName = [
    [
        'address' => '36234020,first address',
        'works' => ['Service 1', 'Service2', 'Service3']
    ],
    [
        'address' => '36234020,second address',
        'works' => ['Service 1', 'Service3']
    ]
]

With this code

$node = simplexml_import_dom($doc->importNode($reader->expand(), true));
$companyName = (string) $node->name;
foreach ($node->work_address_list as $item) {
    var_dump($item);
}

I get all elements in var_dump:

 object(SimpleXMLElement)#29 (1) { ["address_place"]=> array(2) { [0]=> object(SimpleXMLElement)#30 (7) { ["address"]=> string(142) "36234020,first address" ["works"]=> object(SimpleXMLElement)#32 (1) { ["work"]=> array(3) { [0]=> string(121) "Service 1" [1]=> string(117) "Service 2" [2]=> string(117) "Service 3" } } } [1]=> object(SimpleXMLElement)#31 (7) { ["address"]=>'..'..}

How can I access all elements and put it in array?

I thought that $company_places[] = $item->address_place; will create two arrays but it doesn't work.

Answer 1

You can use simplexml_load_file if you're trying to read from an XML file. Then use json_encode and json_decode respectively.

<?php
$xml = simplexml_load_file('filename.xml');
$json = json_encode($xml);
$array = json_decode($json, true);
print_r($array);

Output:

Array
(
    [licenses] => Array
        (
            [name] => First Company Name
            [work_address_list] => Array
                (
                    [address_place] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => Array
                                (
                                    [address] => 36234020,first address 
                                    [works] => Array
                                        (
                                            [work] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => Service 1
                                                    [1] => Service 2
                                                    [2] => Service 3
                                                )

                                        )

                                )

                            [1] => Array
                                (
                                    [address] => 36234020,second address
                                    [works] => Array
                                        (
                                            [work] => Array
                                                (
                                                    [0] => Service 1
                                                    [1] => Service 3
                                                )

                                        )

                                )

                        )

                )

        )

)