“String could not be parsed as XML” php error

Question

I keep getting this error when I try to create a new instance of SimpleXMLElement.

I checked my xml syntax manually and with online tools, and even copy/pas

Answer 1

I replicated this message by making sure that example.php cannot be found. I think this is your problem too.

Check that example.php is in a directory from which includes are served or else, put it in the same directory.

If this is indeed the case, you need to turn up your error reporting levels, I saw a notice and 2 warnings prior to the exception - these spell out exactly what was causing this problem, and will save you a lot of time, effort and hair.

Setting error reporting