SimpleXML behaves like chameleon

Hi,

I found strange problem with SimpleXML. If there are multiple elements=20
with the same name on the same level (they are siblings) there are=20
sometimes returned as an array and sometimes as an object. Is this a bug =

or am I missing something? See code that demonstrates problem:

<pre>
<?php

$xml =3D simplexml_load_string("
<root>
   <item>
     <subitem>A</subitem>
     <subitem>B</subitem>
   </item>
</root>
");

// Inspect $xml->item. It seems that $xml->item->subitem is array
print_r($xml->item);

// OK. Count number of subitems. It should be 2
echo count($xml->item->subitem);
echo "\n";

// But we get 1. Why?
// It seems that $xml->item->subitem is not array anymore, it is object=20
now. Huh?!
print_r($xml->item->subitem);

?>
</pre>

TIA,

				Jirka

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