SimpleXMLElement::children

(PHP 5, PHP 7)

SimpleXMLElement::children — Finds children of given node

Description

public SimpleXMLElement::children ([ string $ns [, bool $is_prefix = FALSE ]] ) : SimpleXMLElement

This method finds the children of an element. The result follows normal iteration rules.

Note:
SimpleXML has made a rule of adding
iterative properties to most methods. They cannot be viewed using var_dump() or anything else which can examine objects.

Parameters

ns: An XML namespace.
is_prefix: If is_prefix is TRUE, ns will be regarded as a prefix. If FALSE, ns will be regarded as a namespace URL.

Return Values

Returns a SimpleXMLElement element, whether the node has children or not.

Examples

Example #1 Traversing a children() pseudo-array

<?php$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('<person> <child role="son"> <child role="daughter"/> </child> <child role="daughter"> <child role="son"> <child role="son"/> </child> </child></person>');foreach ($xml->children() as $second_gen) { echo ' The person begot a ' . $second_gen['role']; foreach ($second_gen->children() as $third_gen) { echo ' who begot a ' . $third_gen['role'] . ';'; foreach ($third_gen->children() as $fourth_gen) { echo ' and that ' . $third_gen['role'] . ' begot a ' . $fourth_gen['role']; } }}?>

The above example will output:

The person begot a son who begot a daughter; The person
begot a daughter who begot a son; and that son begot a son

Example #2 Using namespaces

<?php$xml = '<example xmlns:foo="my.foo.urn"> <foo:a>Apple</foo:a> <foo:b>Banana</foo:b> <c>Cherry</c></example>';$sxe = new SimpleXMLElement($xml);$kids = $sxe->children('foo');var_dump(count($kids));$kids = $sxe->children('foo', TRUE);var_dump(count($kids));$kids = $sxe->children('my.foo.urn');var_dump(count($kids));$kids = $sxe->children('my.foo.urn', TRUE);var_dump(count($kids));$kids = $sxe->children();var_dump(count($kids));?>

int(0)
int(2)
int(2)
int(0)
int(1)

Notes

SimpleXMLElement::children() returns a node object no matter if the current node has children or not. Use count() on the return value to see if there are any children. As of PHP 5.3.0, SimpleXMLElement::count() may be used instead.

Php/docs/simplexmlelement.children

Contents