note 98077 added to book.simplexml

None of the XML2Array functions that I found satisfied me completely; Their results did not always fit the project I was working on, and I found none that would account for repeating XML elements (such as
<fields><field/><field/><field/></fields>)
So I rolled out my own; hope it helps someone.
I am just beginning in PHP so comments and corrections are more than welcomed.

<?php

/**
	 * Converts a simpleXML element into an array. Preserves attributes and everything.
	 * You can choose to get your elements either flattened, or stored in a custom index that
	 * you define.
	 * For example, for a given element
	 * <field name="someName" type="someType"/>
	 * if you choose to flatten attributes, you would get:
	 * $array['field']['name'] = 'someName';
	 * $array['field']['type'] = 'someType';
	 * If you choose not to flatten, you get:
	 * $array['field']['@attributes']['name'] = 'someName';
	 * _____________________________________
	 * Repeating fields are stored in indexed arrays. so for a markup such as:
	 * <parent>
	 * <child>a</child>
	 * <child>b</child>
	 * <child>c</child>
	 * </parent>
	 * you array would be:
	 * $array['parent']['child'][0] = 'a';
	 * $array['parent']['child'][1] = 'b';
	 * ...And so on.
	 * _____________________________________
	 * @param simpleXMLElement $xml the XML to convert
	 * @param boolean $flattenValues	Choose wether to flatten values
	 *									or to set them under a particular index.
	 *									defaults to true;
	 * @param boolean $flattenAttributes Choose wether to flatten attributes
	 *									or to set them under a particular index.
	 *									Defaults to true;
	 * @param boolean $flattenChildren	Choose wether to flatten children
	 *									or to set them under a particular index.
	 *									Defaults to true;
	 * @param string $valueKey			index for values, in case $flattenValues was set to
			*							false. Defaults to "@value"
	 * @param string $attributesKey		index for attributes, in case $flattenAttributes was set to
			*							false. Defaults to "@attributes"
	 * @param string $childrenKey		index for children, in case $flattenChildren was set to
			*							false. Defaults to "@children"
	 * @return array the resulting array.
	 */
	function simpleXMLToArray($xml, 
					$flattenValues=true,
					$flattenAttributes = true,
					$flattenChildren=true,
					$valueKey='@value',
					$attributesKey='@attributes',
					$childrenKey='@children'){

		$return = array();
		if(!($xml instanceof SimpleXMLElement)){return $return;}
		$name = $xml->getName();
		$_value = trim((string)$xml);
		if(strlen($_value)==0){$_value = null;};

		if($_value!==null){
			if(!$flattenValues){$return[$valueKey] = $_value;}
			else{$return = $_value;}
		}

		$children = array();
		$first = true;
		foreach($xml->children() as $elementName => $child){
			$value = simpleXMLToArray($child, $flattenValues, $flattenAttributes, $flattenChildren, $valueKey, $attributesKey, $childrenKey);
			if(isset($children[$elementName])){
				if($first){
					$temp = $children[$elementName];
					unset($children[$elementName]);
					$children[$elementName][] = $temp;
					$first=false;
				}
				$children[$elementName][] = $value;
			}
			else{
				$children[$elementName] = $value;
			}
		}
		if(count($children)>0){
			if(!$flattenChildren){$return[$childrenKey] = $children;}
			else{$return = array_merge($return,$children);}
		}

		$attributes = array();
		foreach($xml->attributes() as $name=>$value){
			$attributes[$name] = trim($value);
		}
		if(count($attributes)>0){
			if(!$flattenAttributes){$return[$attributesKey] = $attributes;}
			else{$return = array_merge($return, $attributes);}
		}
		
		return $return;
	}

?>
----
Server IP: 69.147.83.197
Probable Submitter: 109.110.96.5
----
Manual Page -- http://www.php.net/manual/en/book.simplexml.php
Edit        -- https://master.php.net/note/edit/98077
Del: integrated  -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/98077/integrated
Del: useless     -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/98077/useless
Del: bad code    -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/98077/bad+code
Del: spam        -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/98077/spam
Del: non-english -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/98077/non-english
Del: in docs     -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/98077/in+docs
Del: other reasons-- https://master.php.net/note/delete/98077
Reject      -- https://master.php.net/note/reject/98077
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