In PHP, parsing XML file is done using different extensions available.The PHP XML parser allows to read, create, update and manipulate XML documents. The XML language use to structure the sharing data across the websites. Its extension uses an Expect XML parser. The XML functions parse XML documents, but not validate.
There are two types of XML parser in PHP :
Tree-Based ParsersEvent-Based Parsers
Tree-Based Parsers :
Tree-based parsers holds the entire document in Memory and transforms the XML document into a Tree structure. It analyzes the whole document, and provides access to the Tree elements (DOM).
This type of parser is a better option for smaller XML documents, but not for large XML document as it causes major performance issues.
Example of tree-based parsers:
Event-Based Parsers :
Event-based parsers do not hold the entire document in Memory, instead, they read in one node at a time and allow you to interact with in real time. Once you move onto the next node, the old one is thrown away.
This type of parser is well suited for large XML documents. It parses faster and consumes less memory.
Example of event-based parsers:
-
XMLReader
- XML Expat Parser
XML parsing is based on SAX parse. It is more faster the all above parsers. It will create the XML file and parse the XML. XML parser has encoded by ISO-8859-1, US-ASCII and UTF-8 character encoding.
