Question

Is there an easy way to marshal a PHP associative array to and from XML? For example, I have the following array:

$items = array("1", "2",
    array(
        "item3.1" => "3.1",
        "item3.2" => "3.2"
        "isawesome" => true
    )
);

How would I turn it into something similar to the following XML in as few lines as possible, then back again?

<items>
    <item>1</item>
    <item>2</item>
    <item>
        <item3_1>3.1</item3_1>
        <item3_2>3.2</item3_2>
        <isawesome>true</isawesome>
    </item>
</items>

I don't really care if I have to change the array structure a bit or if the XML that comes out is different to the above example. I've been trying to work with PHP's XMLReader and XMLWriter, but the documentation is so poor and the code I've produced as a consequence looks nothing like what I feel it should look like:

$xml = SomeXMLWriter::writeArrayToXml($items);
$array = SomeXMLWriter::writeXmlToArray($xml);

Does it really have to be any harder than that to get a basic, raw XML dump of a PHP array without writing my own custom class?

I try to avoid PEAR. In addition to the configuration headaches I've had with it, I've never stuck with any of the packages I've ever used from it.

Was it helpful?

Solution

For those of you not using the PEAR packages, but you've got PHP5 installed. This worked for me:

/**
 * Build A XML Data Set
 *
 * @param array $data Associative Array containing values to be parsed into an XML Data Set(s)
 * @param string $startElement Root Opening Tag, default fx_request
 * @param string $xml_version XML Version, default 1.0
 * @param string $xml_encoding XML Encoding, default UTF-8
 * @return string XML String containig values
 * @return mixed Boolean false on failure, string XML result on success
 */
public function buildXMLData($data, $startElement = 'fx_request', $xml_version = '1.0', $xml_encoding = 'UTF-8') {
    if(!is_array($data)) {
        $err = 'Invalid variable type supplied, expected array not found on line '.__LINE__." in Class: ".__CLASS__." Method: ".__METHOD__;
        trigger_error($err);
        if($this->_debug) echo $err;
        return false; //return false error occurred
    }
    $xml = new XmlWriter();
    $xml->openMemory();
    $xml->startDocument($xml_version, $xml_encoding);
    $xml->startElement($startElement);

    /**
     * Write XML as per Associative Array
     * @param object $xml XMLWriter Object
     * @param array $data Associative Data Array
     */
     function write(XMLWriter $xml, $data) {
         foreach($data as $key => $value) {
             if(is_array($value)) {
                 $xml->startElement($key);
                 write($xml, $value);
                 $xml->endElement();
                 continue;
             }
             $xml->writeElement($key, $value);
         }
     }
     write($xml, $data);

     $xml->endElement();//write end element
     //Return the XML results
     return $xml->outputMemory(true); 
}

OTHER TIPS

SimpleXML works great for your use.

I've had some of these same issues, and so I created two classes:

bXml

A class that extends SimpleXml and corrects some of the problems it has. Like not being able to add CData nodes or Comment nodes. I also added some additional features, like using the php streams functionality to add child nodes $oXml->AddChild("file:///user/data.xml") or add XML string child nodes like $oXml->AddChild("<more><xml>yes</xml></more>"); but basically I just wanted to fix the simpleXML problems.

bArray

I extended the ArrayObject class so that all array functionality could be object oriented and consistent, so you don't need to remember that array_walk operates on the array by reference, while array_filter operates on the array by value. So you can do things like $oArray->flip()->Reverse()->Walk(/*callback*/); then still access the value the same way you normally would like $oArray[key].

Both of the methods output themselves as Arrays and Xml so you can jump seamlessly between them. So you can $oXml->AsArray(); or $oArray->AsXml(); I found that it was easier to do this than to constantly pass things back and forth between array2xml or xml2array methods.

http://code.google.com/p/blibrary/source

Both classes are can be overridden to make a custom class of your choosing and can be used independently of one another.

class Xml {

    public static function from_array($arr, $xml = NULL)
    {
        $first = $xml;
        if($xml === NULL) $xml = new SimpleXMLElement('<root/>');
        foreach ($arr as $k => $v) 
        {
            is_array($v)
                ? self::from_array($v, $xml->addChild($k))
                : $xml->addChild($k, $v);
        }
        return ($first === NULL) ? $xml->asXML() : $xml;
    }

    public static function to_array($xml)
    {
        $xml = simplexml_load_string($xml);
        $json = json_encode($xml);
        return json_decode($json,TRUE);
    }

}

$xml = xml::from_array($array);
$array = xml::to_array($xml);

Try Zend_Config and Zend Framework in general.

I imagine it would be a 2 step process: array to Zend_Config, Zend_Config to XML.

Sounds like a job for SimpleXML.

I would suggest a slightly different XML structure..

And wonder why you need to convert from an array -> XML and back.. If you can modify the array structure as you said why not just generate XML instead? If some piece of code already exists that takes that array configuration, just modify it to accept the XML instead. Then you have 1 data format/ input type, and don't need to convert at all..

<items>
  <item id="1"/>
  <item id="2"/>
  <item id="3">
  <subitems>     
    <item id="3.1"/>
    <item id="3.2" isawesome="true"/>
  </subitems>
  </item>
</items>

Here's a function that I wrote to take XML and converts it to a PHP Associative Array. One Caveat is that id does not currently handle attributes or c-data. Though it will handle repeated XML Tag at the same level by placing them into an array named after the tag.


<?php

$xml_req1 = <<<XML
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Vastera:CustomerValidation_RequestInfo
      xmlns:Vastera="http://ndc-ah-prd.am.mot.com:10653/MotVastera_CustomerValidation/MC000078/Docs/">
  <PartnerID>5550000100-003</PartnerID>
  <PartnerType>PTNR_INTER_CONSIGNEE</PartnerType>
  <OperatingUnit>100</OperatingUnit>
  <Status>ACTIVE</Status>
  <CustomerSeqNumber>111</CustomerSeqNumber>
  <CustomerName>Greg Co</CustomerName>
  <Address1>123 Any Ln</Address1>
  <Address2>?</Address2>
  <Address3>?</Address3>
  <Address4>?</Address4>
  <Address5>?</Address5>
  <City>Someplace</City>
  <PostalCode>603021</PostalCode>
  <State>CA</State>
  <CountryCode>US</CountryCode>
  <TaxReference>222</TaxReference>
  <PartyRelated>Y</PartyRelated>
  <BusinessUnit>GSBU</BusinessUnit>
  <Region>GSRGN</Region>
  <LocationName>DBA Mac Head Computing</LocationName>
  <LoadOnly>N</LoadOnly>
  <VSTM>333</VSTM>
  <MilitaryCustomerFlag>Y</MilitaryCustomerFlag>
  <USFederalGovernmentCustomer>Y</USFederalGovernmentCustomer>
  <Non-USGovernmentCustomer>Y</Non-USGovernmentCustomer>
  <Vastera:EPCIActivity>
    <EPCIActivityNuclearCode>NUCLEAR</EPCIActivityNuclearCode>
    <EPCIActivityNuclearValue>N</EPCIActivityNuclearValue>
    <EPCIActivityNuclearApproveDate>2011-05-16:07:19:37</EPCIActivityNuclearApproveDate>
    <EPCIActivityNuclearExpireDate>2056-12-31:12:00:00</EPCIActivityNuclearExpireDate>
    <EPCIActivityNuclearCountry>US</EPCIActivityNuclearCountry>
    <EPCIActivityChemBioCode>CHEM_BIO</EPCIActivityChemBioCode>
    <EPCIActivityChemBioValue>N</EPCIActivityChemBioValue>
    <EPCIActivityChemBioApproveDate>2011-05-16:07:19:37</EPCIActivityChemBioApproveDate>
    <EPCIActivityChemBioExpireDate>2056-12-31:12:00:00</EPCIActivityChemBioExpireDate>
    <EPCIActivityChemBioCountry>US</EPCIActivityChemBioCountry>
    <EPCIActivityMissileCode>MISSILE</EPCIActivityMissileCode>
    <EPCIActivityMissileValue>N</EPCIActivityMissileValue>
    <EPCIActivityMissileApproveDate>2011-05-16:07:19:37</EPCIActivityMissileApproveDate>
    <EPCIActivityMissileExpireDate>2056-12-31:12:00:00</EPCIActivityMissileExpireDate>
    <EPCIActivityMissileCountry>US</EPCIActivityMissileCountry>
  </Vastera:EPCIActivity>
  <SourceSystem>GSB2BSS</SourceSystem>
  <CreatedDate>2011-05-16:07:18:55</CreatedDate>
  <CreatedBy>c18530</CreatedBy>
  <LastModifiedDate>2011-05-16:07:18:55</LastModifiedDate>
  <LastModifiedBy>c18530</LastModifiedBy>
  <ContactName>Greg, "Da Man" Skluacek</ContactName>
  <ContactTitle>Head Honcho</ContactTitle>
  <ContactPhone>555-555-5555</ContactPhone>
  <ContactFax>666-666-6666</ContactFax>
  <ContactEmail>gskluzacek@gregco.com</ContactEmail>
  <ContactWeb>www.gregco.com</ContactWeb>
</Vastera:CustomerValidation_RequestInfo>
XML;

$xml_req2 = <<<XML
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<order>
    <orderNumber>123</orderNumber>
    <customerAddress>
        <type>Ship To</type>
        <name>Bob McFly</name>
        <addr1>123 Lincoln St</addr1>
        <city>Chicago</city>
        <state>IL</state>
        <zip>60001</zip>
    </customerAddress>
    <customerAddress>
        <type>Bill To</type>
        <name>McFly Products Inc.</name>
        <addr1>P.O. Box 6695</addr1>
        <city>New York</city>
        <state>NY</state>
        <zip>99081-6695</zip>
    </customerAddress>
    <item>
        <line>1</line>
        <part>123001A</part>
        <qty>5</qty>
        <price>10.25</price>
    </item>
    <item>
        <line>2</line>
        <part>456002B</part>
        <qty>3</qty>
        <price>20.50</price>
    </item>
    <item>
        <line>3</line>
        <part>789003C</part>
        <qty>1</qty>
        <price>41.00</price>
    </item>
    <orderSubTotal>133.25</orderSubTotal>
    <tax>6.66</tax>
    <shipping>10.00</shipping>
    <orderTotal>149.91</orderTotal>
</order>
XML;

$doc = new DOMDocument();
$doc->preserveWhiteSpace = false;
$doc->loadXML($xml_req1);

$arr = xml_to_arr($doc->documentElement);

print "\n\n----\n\n";

print_r($arr);

print "\n\n----\n\n";

$doc2 = new DOMDocument();
$doc2->preserveWhiteSpace = false;
$doc2->loadXML($xml_req2);

$arr2 = xml_to_arr($doc2->documentElement);

print "\n\n----\n\n";

print_r($arr2);

print "\n\n----\n\n";

exit;

function xml_to_arr($curr_node) {
    $val_array = array();
    $typ_array = array();

    foreach($curr_node->childNodes as $node) {
        if ($node->nodeType == XML_ELEMENT_NODE) {

            $val = xml_to_arr($node);

            if (array_key_exists($node->tagName, $val_array)) {

                if (!is_array($val_array[$node->tagName]) || $type_array[$node->tagName] == 'hash') {
                    $existing_val = $val_array[$node->tagName];
                    unset($val_array[$node->tagName]);
                    $val_array[$node->tagName][0] = $existing_val;
                    $type_array[$node->tagName] = 'array';
                }
                $val_array[$node->tagName][] = $val;

            } else {

                $val_array[$node->tagName] = $val;
                if (is_array($val)) {
                    $type_array[$node->tagName] = 'hash';
                }

            } // end if array key exists

        } // end if elment node
    }// end for each

    if (count($val_array) == 0) {
        return $curr_node->nodeValue;
    } else {
        return $val_array;
    }

} // end function xml to arr

?>

example output


----

Array
(
    [PartnerID] => 5550000100-003
    [PartnerType] => PTNR_INTER_CONSIGNEE
    [OperatingUnit] => 100
    [Status] => ACTIVE
    [CustomerSeqNumber] => 111
    [CustomerName] => Greg Co
    [Address1] => 123 Any Ln
    [Address2] => ?
    [Address3] => ?
    [Address4] => ?
    [Address5] => ?
    [City] => Somplace
    [PostalCode] => 60123
    [State] => CA
    [CountryCode] => US
    [TaxReference] => 222
    [PartyRelated] => Y
    [BusinessUnit] => GSBU
    [Region] => GSRGN
    [LocationName] => DBA Mac Head Computing
    [LoadOnly] => N
    [VSTM] => 333
    [MilitaryCustomerFlag] => Y
    [USFederalGovernmentCustomer] => Y
    [Non-USGovernmentCustomer] => Y
    [Vastera:EPCIActivity] => Array
        (
            [EPCIActivityNuclearCode] => NUCLEAR
            [EPCIActivityNuclearValue] => N
            [EPCIActivityNuclearApproveDate] => 2011-05-16:07:19:37
            [EPCIActivityNuclearExpireDate] => 2056-12-31:12:00:00
            [EPCIActivityNuclearCountry] => US
            [EPCIActivityChemBioCode] => CHEM_BIO
            [EPCIActivityChemBioValue] => N
            [EPCIActivityChemBioApproveDate] => 2011-05-16:07:19:37
            [EPCIActivityChemBioExpireDate] => 2056-12-31:12:00:00
            [EPCIActivityChemBioCountry] => US
            [EPCIActivityMissileCode] => MISSILE
            [EPCIActivityMissileValue] => N
            [EPCIActivityMissileApproveDate] => 2011-05-16:07:19:37
            [EPCIActivityMissileExpireDate] => 2056-12-31:12:00:00
            [EPCIActivityMissileCountry] => US
        )

    [SourceSystem] => GSB2BSS
    [CreatedDate] => 2011-05-16:07:18:55
    [CreatedBy] => c18530
    [LastModifiedDate] => 2011-05-16:07:18:55
    [LastModifiedBy] => c18530
    [ContactName] => Greg, "Da Man" Skluacek
    [ContactTitle] => Head Honcho
    [ContactPhone] => 555-555-5555
    [ContactFax] => 666-666-6666
    [ContactEmail] => gskluzacek@gregco.com
    [ContactWeb] => www.gregco.com
)

----

Array
(
    [orderNumber] => 123
    [customerAddress] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [type] => Ship To
                    [name] => Bob McFly
                    [addr1] => 123 Lincoln St
                    [city] => Chicago
                    [state] => IL
                    [zip] => 60001
                )

            [1] => Array
                (
                    [type] => Bill To
                    [name] => McFly Products Inc.
                    [addr1] => P.O. Box 6695
                    [city] => New York
                    [state] => NY
                    [zip] => 99081-6695
                )

        )

    [item] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [line] => 1
                    [part] => 123001A
                    [qty] => 5
                    [price] => 10.25
                )

            [1] => Array
                (
                    [line] => 2
                    [part] => 456002B
                    [qty] => 3
                    [price] => 20.50
                )

            [2] => Array
                (
                    [line] => 3
                    [part] => 789003C
                    [qty] => 1
                    [price] => 41.00
                )

        )

    [orderSubTotal] => 133.25
    [tax] => 6.66
    [shipping] => 10.00
    [orderTotal] => 149.91
)

--------

Hey @Conrad I just modify your code to work well with numeric arrays:

/**
 * Build A XML Data Set
 *
 * @param array $data Associative Array containing values to be parsed into an XML Data Set(s)
 * @param string $startElement Root Opening Tag, default fx_request
 * @param string $xml_version XML Version, default 1.0
 * @param string $xml_encoding XML Encoding, default UTF-8
 * @return string XML String containig values
 * @return mixed Boolean false on failure, string XML result on success
 */
public static function arrayToXML($data, $startElement = 'fx_request', $xml_version = '1.0', $xml_encoding = 'UTF-8'){
    if(!is_array($data)){
        $err = 'Invalid variable type supplied, expected array not found on line '.__LINE__." in Class: ".__CLASS__." Method: ".__METHOD__;
        trigger_error($err);
        if($this->_debug) echo $err;
        return false; //return false error occurred
    }
    $xml = new XmlWriter();
    $xml->openMemory();
    $xml->startDocument($xml_version, $xml_encoding);
    $xml->startElement($startElement);

    /**
     * Write XML as per Associative Array
     * @param object $xml XMLWriter Object
     * @param array $data Associative Data Array
     */
    function write(XMLWriter $xml, $data){
        foreach($data as $key => $value){
            if (is_array($value) && isset($value[0])){
                foreach($value as $itemValue){
                    //$xml->writeElement($key, $itemValue);

                    if(is_array($itemValue)){
                        $xml->startElement($key);
                        write($xml, $itemValue);
                        $xml->endElement();
                        continue;
                    } 

                    if (!is_array($itemValue)){
                        $xml->writeElement($key, $itemValue."");
                    }
                }
            }else if(is_array($value)){
                $xml->startElement($key);
                write($xml, $value);
                $xml->endElement();
                continue;
            } 

            if (!is_array($value)){
                $xml->writeElement($key, $value."");
            }
        }
    }
    write($xml, $data);

    $xml->endElement();//write end element
    //returns the XML results
    return $xml->outputMemory(true);
}

so yo can convert this:

$mArray["invitations"]["user"][0]["name"] = "paco";
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][0]["amigos"][0] = 82;
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][0]["amigos"][1] = 29;
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][0]["amigos"][2] = 6;

$mArray["invitations"]["user"][1]["name"] = "jose";
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][1]["amigos"][0] = 43;
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][1]["amigos"][1]["tuyos"] = 32;
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][1]["amigos"][1]["mios"] = 79;
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][1]["amigos"][2] = 11;

$mArray["invitations"]["user"][2]["name"] = "luis";
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][2]["amigos"][0] = 65;

into this xml:

<invitations>
<user>
    <name>paco</name>
    <amigos>82</amigos>
    <amigos>29</amigos>
    <amigos>6</amigos>
</user>
<user>
    <name>jose</name>
    <amigos>43</amigos>
    <amigos>
        <tuyos>32</tuyos>
        <mios>79</mios>
    </amigos>
    <amigos>11</amigos>
</user>
<user>
    <name>luis</name>
    <amigos>65</amigos>
</user>

I hope I can help someone with this

Have you seen the PEAR package XML_Serializer?

pear_php_XML_Serializer

I agree this is one area that PHP's documentation has dropped the ball, but for me I've always used the SimpleXML mixed with something like the xml2Array functions. The Xml you get from simpleXML isn't that hard to navigate with the help of a dumping function like print_r.

This builds on Ángel López's answer. Added support for attributes. If an element has attributes, prefix them with @, and refer to the actual element content with an empty string as the key.

/**
 * Build an XML Data Set
 *
 * @param array $data Associative Array containing values to be parsed into an XML Data Set(s)
 * @param string $startElement Root Opening Tag, default fx_request
 * @param string $xml_version XML Version, default 1.0
 * @param string $xml_encoding XML Encoding, default UTF-8
 * @return string XML String containig values
 * @return mixed Boolean false on failure, string XML result on success
 */
function arrayToXML($data, $startElement = 'fx_request', $xml_version = '1.0', $xml_encoding = 'UTF-8'){
  if(!is_array($data)){
    $err = 'Invalid variable type supplied, expected array not found on line '.__LINE__." in Class: ".__CLASS__." Method: ".__METHOD__;
    trigger_error($err);
    //if($this->_debug) echo $err;
    return false; //return false error occurred
  }
  $xml = new XmlWriter();
  $xml->openMemory();
  $xml->startDocument($xml_version, $xml_encoding);
  $xml->startElement($startElement);

  /**
   * Write keys in $data prefixed with @ as XML attributes, if $data is an array. When an @ prefixed key is found, a '' key is expected to indicate the element itself.
   * @param object $xml XMLWriter Object
   * @param array $data with attributes filtered out
   */
  function writeAttr(XMLWriter $xml, $data) {
    if(is_array($data)) {
      $nonAttributes = array();
      foreach($data as $key => $val) {
        //handle an attribute with elements
        if($key[0] == '@') {
          $xml->writeAttribute(substr($key, 1), $val);
        } else if($key == '') {
          if(is_array($val)) $nonAttributes = $val;
          else $xml->text("$val");
        }

        //ignore normal elements
        else $nonAttributes[$key] = $val;
      }
      return $nonAttributes;
    }
    else return $data;
  }

  /**
   * Write XML as per Associative Array
   * @param object $xml XMLWriter Object
   * @param array $data Associative Data Array
   */
  function writeEl(XMLWriter $xml, $data) {
    foreach($data as $key => $value) {
      if(is_array($value) && isset($value[0])) { //numeric array
        foreach($value as $itemValue){
          if(is_array($itemValue)) {
            $xml->startElement($key);
            $itemValue = writeAttr($xml, $itemValue);
            writeEl($xml, $itemValue);
            $xml->endElement();
          } else {
            $itemValue = writeAttr($xml, $itemValue);
            $xml->writeElement($key, "$itemValue");
          }
        }
      } else if(is_array($value)) { //associative array
        $xml->startElement($key);
        $value = writeAttr($xml, $value);
        writeEl($xml, $value);
        $xml->endElement();
      } else { //scalar
        $value = writeAttr($xml, $value);
        $xml->writeElement($key, "$value");
      }
    }
  }
  writeEl($xml, $data);

  $xml->endElement();//write end element
  //returns the XML results
  return $xml->outputMemory(true);
}

so yo can convert this:

$mArray["invitations"]["user"][0]["@name"] = "paco";
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][0][""]["amigos"][0] = 82;
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][0][""]["amigos"][1] = 29;
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][0][""]["amigos"][2] = 6;

$mArray["invitations"]["user"][1]["@name"] = "jose";
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][1][""]["amigos"][0] = 43;
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][1][""]["amigos"][1]["tuyos"] = 32;
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][1][""]["amigos"][1]["mios"] = 79;
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][1][""]["amigos"][2] = 11;

$mArray["invitations"]["user"][2]["@name"] = "luis";
$mArray["invitations"]["user"][2][""]["amigos"][0] = 65;

into this xml:

<invitations>
  <user name="paco">
    <amigos>82</amigos>
    <amigos>29</amigos>
    <amigos>6</amigos>
  </user>
  <user name="jose">
    <amigos>43</amigos>
    <amigos>
      <tuyos>32</tuyos>
      <mios>79</mios>
    </amigos>
    <amigos>11</amigos>
  </user>
  <user name="luis">
    <amigos>65</amigos>
  </user>
</invitations>

Thanks Ángel.

Based on answers here I made github repo https://github.com/jmarceli/array2xml

Maybe not the prettiest repo on the internet but the code seems to be working fine.

Here is the code which may be used:

// Based on: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/99350/passing-php-associative-arrays-to-and-from-xml
class ArrayToXML {
  private $version;
  private $encoding;
  /*
   * Construct ArrayToXML object with selected version and encoding 
   *
   * for available values check XmlWriter docs http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.xmlwriter-start-document.php
   * @param string $xml_version XML Version, default 1.0
   * @param string $xml_encoding XML Encoding, default UTF-8
   */
  public function __construct($xmlVersion = '1.0', $xmlEncoding = 'UTF-8') {
    $this->version = $xmlVersion;
    $this->encoding = $xmlEncoding;
  }
  /**
   * Build an XML Data Set
   *
   * @param array $data Associative Array containing values to be parsed into an XML Data Set(s)
   * @param string $startElement Root Opening Tag, default data
   * @return string XML String containig values
   * @return mixed Boolean false on failure, string XML result on success
   */
  public function buildXML($data, $startElement = 'data'){
    if(!is_array($data)){
      $err = 'Invalid variable type supplied, expected array not found on line '.__LINE__." in Class: ".__CLASS__." Method: ".__METHOD__;
      trigger_error($err);
      //if($this->_debug) echo $err;
      return false; //return false error occurred
    }
    $xml = new XmlWriter();
    $xml->openMemory();
    $xml->startDocument($this->version, $this->encoding);
    $xml->startElement($startElement);
    $this->writeEl($xml, $data);
    $xml->endElement();//write end element
    //returns the XML results
    return $xml->outputMemory(true);
  }
  /**
   * Write keys in $data prefixed with @ as XML attributes, if $data is an array. 
   * When an @ prefixed key is found, a '%' key is expected to indicate the element itself, 
   * and '#' prefixed key indicates CDATA content
   *
   * @param object $xml XMLWriter Object
   * @param array $data with attributes filtered out
   */
  protected function writeAttr(XMLWriter $xml, $data) {
    if(is_array($data)) {
      $nonAttributes = array();
      foreach($data as $key => $val) {
        //handle an attribute with elements
        if($key[0] == '@') {
          $xml->writeAttribute(substr($key, 1), $val);
        } else if($key[0] == '%') {
          if(is_array($val)) $nonAttributes = $val;
          else $xml->text($val);
        } elseif($key[0] == '#') {
          if(is_array($val)) $nonAttributes = $val;
          else {
            $xml->startElement(substr($key, 1));
            $xml->writeCData($val);
            $xml->endElement();
          }
        }
        //ignore normal elements
        else $nonAttributes[$key] = $val;
      }
      return $nonAttributes;
    }
    else return $data;
  }
  /**
   * Write XML as per Associative Array
   *
   * @param object $xml XMLWriter Object
   * @param array $data Associative Data Array
   */
  protected function writeEl(XMLWriter $xml, $data) {
    foreach($data as $key => $value) {
      if(is_array($value) && !$this->isAssoc($value)) { //numeric array
        foreach($value as $itemValue){
          if(is_array($itemValue)) {
            $xml->startElement($key);
            $itemValue = $this->writeAttr($xml, $itemValue);
            $this->writeEl($xml, $itemValue);
            $xml->endElement();
          } else {
            $itemValue = $this->writeAttr($xml, $itemValue);
            $xml->writeElement($key, "$itemValue");
          }
        }
      } else if(is_array($value)) { //associative array
        $xml->startElement($key);
        $value = $this->writeAttr($xml, $value);
        $this->writeEl($xml, $value);
        $xml->endElement();
      } else { //scalar
        $value = $this->writeAttr($xml, $value);
        $xml->writeElement($key, "$value");
      }
    }
  }
  /*
   * Check if array is associative with string based keys
   * FROM: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/173400/php-arrays-a-good-way-to-check-if-an-array-is-associative-or-sequential/4254008#4254008
   *
   * @param array $array Array to check
   */
  protected function isAssoc($array) {
    return (bool)count(array_filter(array_keys($array), 'is_string'));
  }
}

After that just use the ArrayToXML class. Example:

$xml = new ArrayToXML();
print $xml->buildXML($input);

Following class uses simplexml to achieve the same, you just need to loop through the array and call addchild of ximplexml.

http://snipplr.com/view.php?codeview&id=3491

The most simple way to get assoc array from xml string:

<?
$data_array = (array) simplexml_load_string($xml_string);
?>
/**
 * Write XML as per Associative Array
 * @param object $xml XMLWriter Object
 * @param array $data Associative Data Array
 */
function writeXmlRecursive(XMLWriter $xml, $data){
    foreach($data as $key => $value){
        if (is_array($value) && isset($value[0])){
            $xml->startElement($key);
            foreach($value as $itemValue){

                if(is_array($itemValue)){
                    writeXmlRecursive($xml, $itemValue);
                }
                else
                {
                    $xml->writeElement($key, $itemValue."");
                }
            }
            $xml->endElement();

        }else if(is_array($value)){
            $xml->startElement($key);
            writeXmlRecursive($xml, $value);
            $xml->endElement();
            continue;
        }

        if (!is_array($value)){
            $xml->writeElement($key, $value."");
        }
    }
}

This is final version, that give ahat i want from array with 4 nested level

<items>
<item>
  <id_site>59332</id_site>
  <id>33</id>
  <code>196429985</code>
  <tombid>23</tombid>
  <tombcode>196429985</tombcode>
  <religion></religion>
  <lastname>lastname</lastname>
  <firstname>name</firstname>
  <patronymicname>patronymicname</patronymicname>
  <sex>1</sex>
  <birthday>2</birthday>
  <birthmonth>4</birthmonth>
  <birthyear>1946</birthyear>
  <deathday>13</deathday>
  <deathmonth>5</deathmonth>
  <deathyear>2006</deathyear>
  <s_comments></s_comments>
  <graveyard>17446</graveyard>
  <latitude></latitude>
  <longitude></longitude>
  <images>
   <image>
    <siteId>52225</siteId>
    <fileId>62</fileId>
    <prefix>0</prefix>
    <path>path</path>
   </image>
   <image>
    <siteId>52226</siteId>
    <fileId>63</fileId>
    <prefix>0</prefix>
    <path>path</path>
   </image>
  </images>
 </item>
<items>
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