There are quite a few functions that do not fit into the DOM standard and should no longer be used. These functions are listed in the following table. The function DomNode_append_child() has changed its behaviour. It now adds a child and not a sibling. If this breaks your application, use the non-DOM function DomNode_append_sibling().
| Old function | New function |
|---|---|
| xmldoc | domxml_open_mem() |
| xmldocfile | domxml_open_file() |
| domxml_new_xmldoc | domxml_new_doc() |
| domxml_dump_mem | DomDocument_dump_mem() |
| domxml_dump_mem_file | DomDocument_dump_file() |
| DomDocument_dump_mem_file | DomDocument_dump_file() |
| DomDocument_add_root | DomDocument_create_element() followed by DomNode_append_child() |
| DomDocument_dtd | DomDocument_doctype() |
| DomDocument_root | DomDocument_document_element() |
| DomDocument_children | DomNode_child_nodes() |
| DomDocument_imported_node | No replacement. |
| DomNode_add_child | Create a new node with e.g. DomDocument_create_element() and add it with DomNode_append_child(). |
| DomNode_children | DomNode_child_nodes() |
| DomNode_parent | DomNode_parent_node() |
| DomNode_new_child | Create a new node with e.g. DomDocument_create_element() and add it with DomNode_append_child(). |
| DomNode_set_content | Create a new node with e.g. DomDocument_create_text_node() and add it with DomNode_append_child(). |
| DomNode_get_content | Content is just a text node and can be accessed with DomNode_child_nodes(). |
| DomNode_set_content | Content is just a text node and can be added with DomNode_append_child(). |
The API of the module follows the DOM Level 2 standard as closely as possible. Consequently, the API is fully object-oriented. It is a good idea to have the DOM standard available when using this module. Though the API is object-oriented, there are many functions which can be called in a non-object-oriented way by passing the object to operate on as the first argument. These functions are mainly to retain compatibility to older versions of the extension, and should not be used when creating new scripts.
This API differs from the official DOM API in two ways. First, all class attributes are implemented as functions with the same name. Secondly, the function names follow the PHP naming convention. This means that a DOM function lastChild() will be written as last_child().
This module defines a number of classes, which are listed - including their method - in the following tables. Classes with an equivalent in the DOM standard are named DOMxxx.
| Class name | Parent classes |
|---|---|
| DomAttribute | DomNode |
| DomCData | DomNode |
| DomComment | DomCData : DomNode |
| DomDocument | DomNode |
| DomDocumentType | DomNode |
| DomElement | DomNode |
| DomEntity | DomNode |
| DomEntityReference | DomNode |
| DomProcessingInstruction | DomNode |
| DomText | DomCData : DomNode |
| Parser | Currently still called DomParser |
| XPathContext |
| Method name | Function name | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| doctype | DomDocument_doctype() | |
| document_element | DomDocument_document_element() | |
| create_element | DomDocument_create_element() | |
| create_text_node | DomDocument_create_text_node() | |
| create_comment | DomDocument_create_comment() | |
| create_cdata_section | DomDocument_create_cdata_section() | |
| create_processing_instruction | DomDocument_create_processing_instruction() | |
| create_attribute | DomDocument_create_attribute() | |
| create_entity_reference | DomDocument_create_entity_reference() | |
| get_elements_by_tagname | DomDocument_get_elements_by_tagname() | |
| get_element_by_id | DomDocument_get_element_by_id() | |
| dump_mem | DomDocument_dump_mem() | not DOM standard |
| dump_file | DomDocument_dump_file() | not DOM standard |
| html_dump_mem | DomDocument_html_dump_mem() | not DOM standard |
| xpath_init | xpath_init | not DOM standard |
| xpath_new_context | xpath_new_context | not DOM standard |
| xptr_new_context | xptr_new_context | not DOM standard |
| Method name | Function name | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| tagname | DomElement_tagname() | |
| get_attribute | DomElement_get_attribute() | |
| set_attribute | DomElement_set_attribute() | |
| remove_attribute | DomElement_remove_attribute() | |
| get_attribute_node | DomElement_get_attribute_node() | |
| set_attribute_node | DomElement_set_attribute_node() | |
| get_elements_by_tagname | DomElement_get_elements_by_tagname() | |
| has_attribute | DomElement_has_attribute() |
| Method name | Remark |
|---|---|
| DomNode_node_name() | |
| DomNode_node_value() | |
| DomNode_node_type() | |
| DomNode_last_child() | |
| DomNode_first_child() | |
| DomNode_child_nodes() | |
| DomNode_previous_sibling() | |
| DomNode_next_sibling() | |
| DomNode_parent_node() | |
| DomNode_owner_document() | |
| DomNode_insert_before() | |
| DomNode_append_child() | |
| DomNode_append_sibling() | Not in DOM standard. This function emulates the former behaviour of DomNode_append_child(). |
| DomNode_remove_child() | |
| DomNode_has_child_nodes() | |
| DomNode_has_attributes() | |
| DomNode_clone_node() | |
| DomNode_attributes() | |
| DomNode_unlink_node() | Not in DOM standard |
| DomNode_replace_node() | Not in DOM standard |
| DomNode_set_content() | Not in DOM standard, deprecated |
| DomNode_get_content() | Not in DOM standard, deprecated |
| DomNode_dump_node() | Not in DOM standard |
| DomNode_is_blank_node() | Not in DOM standard |
| Method name | Remark | |
|---|---|---|
| name | DomAttribute_name() | |
| value | DomAttribute_value() | |
| specified | DomAttribute_specified() |
| Method name | Function name | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| target | DomProcessingInstruction_target() | |
| data | DomProcessingInstruction_data() |
| Method name | Function name | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| add_chunk | Parser_add_chunk() | |
| end | Parser_end() |
| Method name | Function name | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| eval | XPathContext_eval() | |
| eval_expression | XPathContext_eval_expression() | |
| register_ns | XPathContext_register_ns() |
| Method name | Function name | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| name | DomDocumentType_name() | |
| entities | DomDocumentType_entities() | |
| notations | DomDocumentType_notations() | |
| public_id | DomDocumentType_public_id() | |
| system_id | DomDocumentType_system_id() | |
| internal_subset | DomDocumentType_internal_subset() |
The classes DomDtd is derived from DomNode. DomComment is derived from DomCData.
Many examples in this reference require an XML string. Instead of repeating this string in every example, it will be put into a file which will be included by each example. This include file is shown in the following example section. Alternatively, you could create an XML document and read it with DomDocument_open_file().
Example #1 Include file example.inc with XML string
<?php
$xmlstr = "<?xml version='1.0' standalone='yes'?>
<!DOCTYPE chapter SYSTEM '/share/sgml/Norman_Walsh/db3xml10/db3xml10.dtd'
[ <!ENTITY sp \"spanish\">
]>
<!-- lsfj -->
<chapter language='en'><title language='en'>Title</title>
<para language='ge'>
&sp;
<!-- comment -->
<informaltable ID='findme' language='&sp;'>
<tgroup cols='3'>
<tbody>
<row><entry>a1</entry><entry
morerows='1'>b1</entry><entry>c1</entry></row>
<row><entry>a2</entry><entry>c2</entry></row>
<row><entry>a3</entry><entry>b3</entry><entry>c3</entry></row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>
</para>
</chapter>";
?>