PHP | xml_set_character_data_handler() Function

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The xml_set_character_data_handler() function is an inbuilt function in PHP which is used to set the character data handler function for XML parser.

Syntax:

bool xml_set_character_data_handler( resource $xml_parser, callable $data_handler )

Parameters: This function accepts two parameters as mentioned above and described below:

$xml_parser: It is required parameter. It holds the reference of XML parser to set up character data handler.
$data_handler: It is required parameter. It is a string which contains the name of function.

handler( resource $parser, string $data )

The handler function must have these two parameters:

$xml_parser: It holds the reference of XML parser which is calling to handler.
$data: It holds the character data as a string.

Return Value: This function returns True on success or False on failure.

Note:

This function is available for PHP 4.0.0 and newer version.
These examples may not work on online IDE. So, try to run it on local server or php hosted servers.

gfg.xml file:

XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<user>
    <username> user123 </username>
    <name> firstname lastname </name>
    <phone> +91-9876543210 </phone>
    <detail> I am John Doe. Live in Kolkata, India. </detail>
</user>

Program 1:

PHP

<?php
 
// Create an XML parser
$xml_parser = xml_parser_create();
  
// Set the character handler function for XML parser
xml_set_character_data_handler($xml_parser, "char_print");
 
// Opening xml file
$file_pointer = fopen("gfg.xml", "r");
 
// Reading xml data from file
while($data = fread($file_pointer, 4096)) {
     
    // Parsing XML data
    xml_parse($xml_parser, $data, feof($file_pointer)) or
     
    // Display error when parsing error occurs
    die (sprintf("XML Error: %s at line %d",
         
        // Error string
        xml_error_string(xml_get_error_code($xml_parser)),
         
        // Current line
        xml_get_current_line_number($xml_parser)));
}
 
// Free to xml parser
xml_parser_free($xml_parser);
 
fclose($file_pointer);
  
// Character handler function for XML parser
function char_print($xml_parser, $data_to_print) {
    echo $data_to_print;
}
  
?>

Output:

user123 
firstname lastname 
+91-9876543210 
I am John Doe. Live in Kolkata, India.

Program 2:

PHP

<?php
 
// Create an xml parser
$xml_parser = xml_parser_create();
 
// Element handler function named "starting_handler"
// enables custom manipulation for output
function starting_handler($xml_parser,
            $element_name, $element_attrs) {
     
    switch($element_name) {
        case "USER":
            echo "<u>USER DATA</u><br>";
            break;
        case "USERNAME":
            echo "Username: ";
            break;
        case "NAME":
            echo "Name: ";
            break;
        case "PHONE":
            echo "Phone no: ";
            break;
        case "DETAIL":
            echo "More about user: ";
    }
}
 
// Element handler function named "ending_handler"
function ending_handler($xml_parser, $element_name) {
    echo "<br>";
}
 
// Character handler function named "char_handler"
function char_handler($xml_parser, $data) {
    echo $data;
}
 
// Setting element handlers
xml_set_element_handler($xml_parser,
        "starting_handler", "ending_handler");
 
// Setting character data handler
xml_set_character_data_handler($xml_parser, "char_handler");
 
// Opening xml file
$file_pointer = fopen("gfg.xml", "r");
 
// Reading xml file 
while ($data = fread($file_pointer, 4096)) {
    xml_parse($xml_parser, $data, feof($file_pointer)) or
     
    // Display error while xml parsing
    die (sprintf("XML Error: %s at line %d",
     
        // Error string
        xml_error_string(xml_get_error_code($xml_parser)),
         
        // Error line number
        xml_get_current_line_number($xml_parser)));
}
 
// Free to xml parser
xml_parser_free($xml_parser);
 
// Closing file stream
fclose($file_pointer);
 
?>

Output:

USER DATA
Username: user123
Name: firstname lastname
Phone no: +91-9876543210
More about user: I am John Doe. Live in Kolkata, India.

Reference: https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.xml-set-character-data-handler.php

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