Parse XML file in PHP

Hello everyone, today in this tutorial you will learn how to parse the XML file in PHP.

The term parse an XML file in PHP means to interpret and read its data by using PHP.

XML file

The XML file is defined as to store and transport the data.

Like HTML, the XML file uses tags and attributes to provide meaning to its data.

PHP – Hypertext PreProcessor

PHP i.e. HyperText PreProcessor is a type of server-side scripting language.

The server-side scripting language is a set of instructions that runs on a particular web server rather than the user’s web browser.

PHP applications manipulate from simple content to dynamic content, including e-commerce websites, social networking sites, private websites, etc.

What does parsing an XML file in PHP mean

Parsing the XML file means interpreting the file and reading or scanning all the data present in the XML file.

Parse the XML to break the file into different components such as tags, attributes, elements, nodes, etc.

After parsing use the XML file in the PHP only for editing purposes to manipulate the data in the file within the web application.

The steps to create XML data in the XML file

Follow the following steps to create the XML data in the XML files –

1. In the first step, create the parent node or the root node.

   <parent>
   
   </parent>

    

2. In the next step, inside the parent node create the child node or the sub-heading

   <parent>
      <child1>
      
      </child1>
   </parent>

   The parent is the root node and child1 is the child node or the sub-heading.

   In the parent node, you can create multiple child nodes.

3. In the next step, inside the child node create the different tags and hence insert content and information in it.

   <tutorial>
   <topic>
   <name>Aditya pradhan</name>
   <age>22</age>
   <gender>Male</gender>
   </topic>
   <topic1>
   <name>Aman patel</name>
   <age>21</age>
   <gender>Male</gender>
   </topic1>
   <topic2>
   <name>Gracy mishra</name>
   <age>17</age>
   <gender>Female</gender>
   </topic2>
   </tutorial>

   Create such parent node, child node, tags, and such content or information inside the tag shown in the above code.

4. In the next step, create the PHP file and link the XML file with the PHP file by using the following code

   <?php
       $xml = simplexml_load_file('file.xml'); 
       ?>

   As through the above code link the XML file with the PHP file

5. In the next step, print any of the tags present in the different child nodes by using the following code

   <?php
       $xml = simplexml_load_file('file.xml');
       $file = $xml->topic1->gender;
       echo $file; 
       ?>
   
   
   

   You can also print different content present in different child nodes and tags by changing the name of the child node and the tag.

The output of the above code is
Male