Pluralize array names in XML objects using simplexml

Question

I am using simplexml to load an XML file and encode the content in JSON format so that it can be consumed by another part of my application. Everything works fine but I noticed that simplexml generates singular names for "arrays", for instance, this piece of XML:

<employees>
    <employee>
        <name>John M.</name>
        <age>34</age>
    </employee>
    <employee>
        <name>Sarah J.</name>
        <age>31</age>
    </employee>
</employees>

Once that I load the XML code in a PHP object using:

$xml = simplexml_load_file("employees.xml");

I have to use the singular form for access the arrays of employees, for instance:

$xml->employee[1];

But I want to pluralize names of arrays. The major reason for doing this is because I want to generate JSON from that XML object directly using json_encode, rather than generating a new array/object with the respective name pluralized.

It is possible to change this behavior? If this cannot be accomplished within simplexml how would be the best approach to resolve this?

Some example code can be found in an [answer to a related question (PHP convert XML to JSON group when there is one child)](http://stackoverflow.com/a/16938322/367456), coming from a different problem, there is also [Part III in a series of posts regarding SimpleXML and JSON](http://hakre.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/simplexml-and-json-encode-in-php-part-iii-and-end/) that shows a solution decorating SimpleXMLElement that is superior over extending it that is commented. — hakre, Dec 29 '13 at 00:05

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 28 '13 at 23:34

It is possible to change this behavior?

Short answer: no.

You're going to want to "generate [something] with the respective name pluralized". In any case, I would advise against simply json_encode()-ing SimpleXMLElement objects anyway.

In the long run (and in your case, it seems, the short run) you'd be better off:

changing the XML document to have pluralised element names
or, doing some work yourself as an intermediate step between SimpleXML and json_encode()

As for "the best approach" (for serializing anything as JSON), I would advise going for your own class (perhaps extending SimpleXMLElement) that implements the JsonSerializable interface. Other options include changing the XML as mentioned above, or building your own array/object structure to JSON encode, to name a few.

Giacomo1968 · Answer 2 · 2013-12-29T00:09:28.110

When you say:

But I want to pluralize names of arrays.

It makes little sense. The XML parser in simplexml is just regurgitating what it sees. And in your XML structure:

<employees>
    <employee>
        <name>John M.</name>
        <age>34</age>
    </employee>
    <employee>
        <name>Sarah J.</name>
        <age>31</age>
    </employee>
</employees>

There is indeed an overarching <employees> hierarchy. But each employee record, the employee is stored as the singular <employee>. Which is returned in an array appropriately named $employee.

If it’s confusing to you, just ad a few more steps to the XML to JSON conversion to achieve your goal:

$xml = simplexml_load_file("employees.xml");
$xml2json = (array) $xml;
$json_employees = json_encode(array('employees' => $xml2json['employee']));

echo '<pre>';
print_r($json_employees);
echo '</pre>';

The JSON output would be:

{
    "employees": [
        {
            "name": "John M.",
            "age": "34"
        },
        {
            "name": "Sarah J.",
            "age": "31"
        }
    ]
}

Pluralize array names in XML objects using simplexml

2 Answers2