How to convert array to SimpleXML

Question

How can I convert an array to a SimpleXML object in PHP?

Answer 1

I found all of the answers to use too much code. Here is an easy way to do it:

function to_xml(SimpleXMLElement $object, array $data)
{   
    foreach ($data as $key => $value) {
        if (is_array($value)) {
            $new_object = $object->addChild($key);
            to_xml($new_object, $value);
        } else {
            // if the key is an integer, it needs text with it to actually work.
            if ($key != 0 && $key == (int) $key) {
                $key = "key_$key";
            }

            $object->addChild($key, $value);
        }   
    }   
}   

Then it's a simple matter of sending the array into the function, which uses recursion, so it will handle a multi-dimensional array:

$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('');
to_xml($xml, $my_array);

Now $xml contains a beautiful XML object based on your array exactly how you wrote it.

print $xml->asXML();