SimpleXMLElement::children

(PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

SimpleXMLElement::childrenFinds children of given node

Description

public SimpleXMLElement::children(?string $namespaceOrPrefix = null, bool $isPrefix = 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

namespaceOrPrefix

An XML namespace.

isPrefix

If isPrefix is true, namespaceOrPrefix will be regarded as a prefix. If false, namespaceOrPrefix will be regarded as a namespace URL.

Return Values

Returns a SimpleXMLElement element, whether the node has children or not, unless the node represents an attribute, in which case null is returned.

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)

See Also