PHP | XMLReader readOuterXml() Function

The XMLReader::readOuterXml() function is an inbuilt function in PHP which is used to read the contents of the current node, including the node itself.

Syntax:

string XMLReader::readOuterXml( void )

Parameters: This function doesn’t accept any parameter.

Return Value: This function returns the contents of current node, including itself, as a string or empty string on failure.

Below examples illustrate the XMLReader::readOuterXml() function in PHP:

Example 1: In this program, we will read the value of an element without sub-nodes.

• data.xml

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <div>
      <h1>Hello World</h1>
  </div>
• index.php

  <?php
  
  // Create a new XMLReader instance
  $XMLReader = new XMLReader();
  
  // Open the XML file
  $XMLReader->open('data.xml');
  
  // Iterate through the XML nodes to
  // reach the h1 element
  $XMLReader->read();
  $XMLReader->read();
  $XMLReader->read();
  
  // Print the XML content
  // Here it will include itself,
  // <h1> tags also
  echo "The text inside is:" .
      $XMLReader->readOuterXml();
  ?>
• Output:
  

Example 2: In this program, we will read the value of an element with sub-nodes.

• data.xml

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <div>
      <h1>Hello World
        <sub>G4G</sub>
      </h1>
  </div>
• index.php

  <?php
  
  // Create a new XMLReader instance
  $XMLReader = new XMLReader();
  
  // Open the XML file
  $XMLReader->open('data.xml');
  
  // Iterate through the XML nodes to
  // reach the h1 element
  $XMLReader->read();
  $XMLReader->read();
  $XMLReader->read();
  
  // Print the XML content
  echo "The text inside is:" .
      $XMLReader->readOuterXml();
  ?>
• Output:
  

Reference: https://www.php.net/manual/en/xmlreader.readouterxml.php