How do I parse this XML with xpath to get to an element directly? [duplicate]

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Parse XML with Namespace using SimpleXML

I'm new to xpath, and unable to get this to parse. It produces no output.

This contains XML returned from Google Map API V3. I want to have it parse and return the Zip Code from the PostalCode/PostalCodeNumber. I set-up this test because I need to be able to make sure I can get to the PostalCode/PostalCodeNumber even if Google's API puts other tags in the way, which is does sometimes. So it's important for me to get the xpath working because I want to be able to get direct access to things like PostalCode/PostalCodeNumber without relying on static tree structure path. Please be kind and helpful on your reply, thanks!

<?php $xml = <<<XML <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> <kml xmlns="http://earth.google.com/kml/2.0"><Response> <name>40.74445606,-73.97495072</name> <Status> <code>200</code> <request>geocode</request> </Status> <Placemark id="p1"> <address>317 E 34th St, New York, NY 10016, USA</address> <AddressDetails Accuracy="8" xmlns="urn:oasis:names:tc:ciq:xsdschema:xAL:2.0"><Country><CountryNameCode>US</CountryNameCode><CountryName>USA</CountryName><AdministrativeArea><AdministrativeAreaName>NY</AdministrativeAreaName><Locality><LocalityName>New York</LocalityName><Thoroughfare><ThoroughfareName>317 E 34th St</ThoroughfareName></Thoroughfare><PostalCode><PostalCodeNumber>10016</PostalCodeNumber></PostalCode></Locality></AdministrativeArea></Country></AddressDetails> <ExtendedData> <LatLonBox north="40.7458050" south="40.7431070" east="-73.9736017" west="-73.9762997" /> </ExtendedData> <Point><coordinates>-73.9749507,40.7444560,0</coordinates></Point> </Placemark> </Response></kml> XML; $xml = new SimpleXMLElement($xml); $result = $xml->xpath('PostalCode/PostalCodeNumber'); while(list( , $node) = each($result)) { echo 'PostalCode/PostalCodeNumber: ',$node,"\n"; } ?>

My first impulse is to suspect that your ?> is killing your String... have you verified that you have a valid XML there? — Yevgeny Simkin
– Yevgeny Simkin, Commented Oct 16, 2012 at 22:44
Yes, I have done a var_dump($xml) and it looks fine. You can insert a var_dump($xml); in there and see. — Edward
– Edward, Commented Oct 16, 2012 at 22:47
I could really use help with the right syntax here, that other posting doesn't address the method I'm having a problem with. Thanks! — Edward
– Edward, Commented Oct 16, 2012 at 22:53
@Edward: The comments are already there, and the chances of his removing them are pretty slim. :) Flag them if you feel they're offensive. But the content of them appears to be essentially correct. XML cares about namespaces -- this document's (urn:oasis:names:tc:ciq:xsdschema:xAL:2.0)PostalCode and your PostalCode, for example, don't match. You need to specify a namespace, and the highest-voted answer to the other question covers how to do that. — cHao
– cHao, Commented Oct 16, 2012 at 23:19
You could, of course, get the data in JSON format instead, then it would be easier to extract the data that you need. — uınbɐɥs
– uınbɐɥs, Commented Oct 16, 2012 at 23:28

choroba · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-16 23:11:33Z

2

Postal code lies in a namespace. You have to specify the namespace in the XPath expression to match the element:

$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($xml); $xml->registerXPathNamespace('urn', 'urn:oasis:names:tc:ciq:xsdschema:xAL:2.0'); $result = $xml->xpath('//urn:PostalCodeNumber');

answered Oct 16, 2012 at 23:11

choroba

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2 Comments

Edward Over a year ago

This worked out perfectly! The best way to learn is have a working example, so I think you for your kind help!

hakre Over a year ago

@Edward: If you want to learn by examples, I suggest you take a look in the manual: php.net/manual/en/simplexmlelement.registerxpathnamespace.php

Developer · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-20 14:28:00Z

Use descendant::PostalCode or //PostalCode.

Note that in the above links I removed the namespace definitions from your xml for it to work. Look at http://www.edankert.com/defaultnamespaces.html#Conclusion for a clear explanation.

See W3Schools for an easy to understand XPath introduction.

Thanks for the reply. I also didn't know about what XML tester, so that was cool!

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