Creating XML files with PHP

Creating XML files with PHP using SimpleXML is really easy, and elegant.

To create a SimpleXML object from a string, I use the following code.

$xml = simplexml_load_string("<?xml version='1.0'?>\n<phpsysinfo></phpsysinfo>");


From there it's really easy to expand.


$xml = simplexml_load_string("<?xml version='1.0'?>\n<phpsysinfo></phpsysinfo>");
$generation = $xml->addChild('Generation');
$generation->addAttribute('version', PSI_VERSION);
$generation->addAttribute('timestamp', time());


This code will create something like this:


<phpsysinfo>
<Generation version="2.5.4-dev" timestamp="1185620717"/>
</phpsysinfo>


We can also add child elements.

$vitals = $xml->addChild('Vitals');
$vitals->addChild('Hostname', 'hostname');


This will return something like this:

<phpsysinfo>
<Generation version="2.5.4-dev" timestamp="1185620717"/>
<Vitals>
<Hostname>hostname</Hostname>
</Vitals>
</phpsysinfo>


For more information about the SimpleXML functions, have a look in the PHP manual.