PHP xml_parse_into_struct() Function

int xml_parse_into_struct ( resource $parser , string $data , array &$values [, array &$index ] )

This function parses an XML string into 2 parallel array structures, one (index) containing pointers to the location of the appropriate values in the values array. These last two parameters must be passed by reference.

The xml_parse_into_struct() function parses XML data into an array.

Example -

Example #1 xml_parse_into_struct() example

Example #2 moldb.xml - small database of molecular information

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<moldb>

  <molecule>
      <name>Alanine</name>
      <symbol>ala</symbol>
      <code>A</code>
      <type>hydrophobic</type>
  </molecule>

  <molecule>
      <name>Lysine</name>
      <symbol>lys</symbol>
      <code>K</code>
      <type>charged</type>
  </molecule>

</moldb>

Example #3 parsemoldb.php - parses moldb.xml into an array of molecular objects

<?php

class AminoAcid {
    var $name;  // aa name
    var $symbol;    // three letter symbol
    var $code;  // one letter code
    var $type;  // hydrophobic, charged or neutral
    
    function AminoAcid ($aa) 
    {
        foreach ($aa as $k=>$v)
            $this->$k = $aa[$k];
    }
}

function readDatabase($filename) 
{
    // read the XML database of aminoacids
    $data = implode("", file($filename));
    $parser = xml_parser_create();
    xml_parser_set_option($parser, XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING, 0);
    xml_parser_set_option($parser, XML_OPTION_SKIP_WHITE, 1);
    xml_parse_into_struct($parser, $data, $values, $tags);
    xml_parser_free($parser);

// loop through the structures
    foreach ($tags as $key=>$val) {
        if ($key == "molecule") {
            $molranges = $val;
            // each contiguous pair of array entries are the 
            // lower and upper range for each molecule definition
            for ($i=0; $i < count($molranges); $i+=2) {
                $offset = $molranges[$i] + 1;
                $len = $molranges[$i + 1] - $offset;
                $tdb[] = parseMol(array_slice($values, $offset, $len));
            }
        } else {
            continue;
        }
    }
    return $tdb;
}

function parseMol($mvalues) 
{
    for ($i=0; $i < count($mvalues); $i++) {
        $mol[$mvalues[$i]["tag"]] = $mvalues[$i]["value"];
    }
    return new AminoAcid($mol);
}

$db = readDatabase("moldb.xml");
echo "** Database of AminoAcid objects:\n";
print_r($db);

After executing parsemoldb.php, the variable $db contains an array of AminoAcid objects, and the output of the script confirms that:

** Database of AminoAcid objects:
Array
(
    [0] => aminoacid Object
        (
            [name] => Alanine
            [symbol] => ala
            [code] => A
            [type] => hydrophobic
        )

    [1] => aminoacid Object
        (
            [name] => Lysine
            [symbol] => lys
            [code] => K
            [type] => charged
        )

)

Parameter	Description
parser	A reference to the XML parser.
data	A string containing the XML data.
values	An array containing the values of the XML data
index	An array containing pointers to the location of the appropriate values in the $values.

xml_parse_into_struct() returns 0 for failure and 1 for success. This is not the same as FALSE and TRUE, be careful with operators such as ===.