Successfully parsed SimpleXMLElement comparison to 'false' returning 'true'

Question

I got a very awkward and specific issue with a simplexml evaluation.

The code:

$simplexml = simplexml_load_string($xmlstring);
var_dump($simplexml);
var_         


        

Answer 1

var_dump($simplexml == false); //returns false

This is expected behavior and it is explained by data comparison via "loose" data typing. In PHP, NULL, zero, and boolean FALSE are considered "Falsy" values; everything else is considered "Truthy." Inside the parentheses, PHP performs an evaluation of the expression. In this case, PHP evaluates a comparison of the named variable OBJECT and the boolean FALSE. They are not the same, so the return value from the comparison is FALSE and this is what *var_dump()* prints.

You can use this to your advantage in the if() statement. Example:

$simplexml = SimpleXML_Load_String('test');
if ($simplexml) { /* process the object */ }
else { /* process the failure to load the XML */ }