PHP | simplexml_load_file() Function

The simplexml_load_file() function is an inbuilt function in PHP which is used to convert the well-formed XML document into the given file to an object.

Syntax:

SimpleXMLElement simplexml_load_file( string $filename, string $class_name = "SimpleXMLElement",
                                    int $options = 0, string $ns = "", bool $is_prefix = FALSE )

Parameters: This function accepts five parameters as mentioned above and described below:

• $filename: This parameter holds the path of filename.
• $class_name: It is optional parameter. Use of simplexml_load_file() function return the object of specified class. That class extends the SimpleXMLElement class.
• $options: It is optional parameter and used for additional Libxml parameter.
• $ns: This parameter holds the Namespace prefix or URI.
• $is_prefix: This parameter is set to TRUE if ns is a prefix and FALSE if it is URI. Its default value is FALSE.

Return Value: This function returns an object of SimpleXMLElement class with properties containing the data held within the XML document, or FALSE on failure.

Below program illustrates the simplexml_load_file() function in PHP:

gfg.xml file:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<organization>
    <name>GeeksforGeeks</name>
    <address>Noida India</address>
    <contact>
        <email>abc@geeksforgeeks.org</email>
        <mobile>+91-987654321</mobile>
    </contact>
</organization>

Program:

<?php

// Check file exist or not
if (file_exists('gfg.xml')) {

    // If XML file exists then
    // load the XML file
    $xml_file = simplexml_load_file('gfg.xml');

    // Display the content of XML file
    var_dump($xml_file);

} else {

    exit('Fail to open the file');
}
?>

Output:

object(SimpleXMLElement)#1 (3) { 
    ["name"]=> string(13) "GeeksforGeeks" 
    ["address"]=> string(11) "Noida India" 
    ["contact"]=> object(SimpleXMLElement)#2 (2) {
        ["email"]=> string(21) "abc@geeksforgeeks.org" 
        ["mobile"]=> string(13) "+91-987654321" 
    }
}

Reference: https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.simplexml-load-file.php