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SimpleXMLElement::addChild

(PHP 5 >= 5.1.3, PHP 7, PHP 8)

SimpleXMLElement::addChild — Adds a child element to the XML node

Description

public SimpleXMLElement::addChild(string $qualifiedName, ?string $value = null, ?string $namespace = null): ?SimpleXMLElement

Adds a child element to the node and returns a SimpleXMLElement of the child.

Parameters

qualifiedName

The name of the child element to add.

value

If specified, the value of the child element.

namespace

If specified, the namespace to which the child element belongs.

Return Values

The addChild method returns a SimpleXMLElement object representing the child added to the XML node on success; null on failure.

Examples

Note:

Listed examples may include examples/simplexml-data.php, which refers to the XML string found in the first example of the basic usage guide.

Example #1 Add attributes and children to a SimpleXML element

<?php

include 'examples/simplexml-data.php';

$sxe = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlstr);
$sxe->addAttribute('type', 'documentary');

$movie = $sxe->addChild('movie');
$movie->addChild('title', 'PHP2: More Parser Stories');
$movie->addChild('plot', 'This is all about the people who make it work.');

$characters = $movie->addChild('characters');
$character  = $characters->addChild('character');
$character->addChild('name', 'Mr. Parser');
$character->addChild('actor', 'John Doe');

$rating = $movie->addChild('rating', '5');
$rating->addAttribute('type', 'stars');
 
echo $sxe->asXML();

?>

The above example will output something similar to:

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="yes"?>
<movies type="documentary">
 <movie>
  <title>PHP: Behind the Parser</title>
  <characters>
   <character>
    <name>Ms. Coder</name>
    <actor>Onlivia Actora</actor>
   </character>
   <character>
    <name>Mr. Coder</name>
    <actor>El Act&#xD3;r</actor>
   </character>
  </characters>
  <plot>
   So, this language. It's like, a programming language. Or is it a
   scripting language? All is revealed in this thrilling horror spoof
   of a documentary.
  </plot>
  <great-lines>
   <line>PHP solves all my web problems</line>
  </great-lines>
  <rating type="thumbs">7</rating>
  <rating type="stars">5</rating>
 </movie>
 <movie>
  <title>PHP2: More Parser Stories</title>
  <plot>This is all about the people who make it work.</plot>
  <characters>
   <character>
    <name>Mr. Parser</name>
    <actor>John Doe</actor>
   </character>
  </characters>
  <rating type="stars">5</rating>
 </movie>
</movies>

See Also

© 1997–2025 The PHP Documentation Group
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License v3.0 or later.
https://www.php.net/manual/en/simplexmlelement.addchild.php