xml-navigator

XmlExtractKit

XmlExtractKit for PHP: Stream large XML, extract only what matters, and get plain PHP arrays.

large XML → selected nodes → plain PHP arrays

Installation

composer require sbwerewolf/xml-navigator

For local test and coverage dependencies on a standard PHP 8.4 setup, see tests/ENVIRONMENT.md.

Why this package?

XmlExtractKit is built for the boring XML jobs that show up in real systems:

• convert XML into native PHP arrays;
• stream huge XML files and extract only the elements you need;
• keep application code working with plain arrays instead of cursor-level XMLReader logic.

Use it for feeds, partner exports, imports, SOAP-ish payloads, marketplace catalogs, ETL pipelines, and other legacy XML integrations.

Core workflow

Open large XML with XMLReader, select matching nodes, receive plain PHP arrays.

use SbWereWolf\XmlNavigator\Parsing\FastXmlParser;

require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

$uri = tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(), 'xml-extract-kit-');
file_put_contents(
    $uri,
    <<<XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<catalog generated_at="2026-04-05T10:00:00Z">
  <offer id="1001" available="true">
    <name>Keyboard</name>
    <price currency="USD">49.90</price>
  </offer>
  <service id="s-1">
    <name>Warranty</name>
  </service>
  <offer id="1002" available="false">
    <name>Mouse</name>
    <price currency="USD">19.90</price>
  </offer>
</catalog>
XML
);

$reader = XMLReader::open($uri);
foreach (
    FastXmlParser::extractHierarchy(
        $reader,
        static fn(XMLReader $cursor): bool =>
            $cursor->nodeType === XMLReader::ELEMENT
            && $cursor->name === 'offer'
    ) as $offer
) {
    var_export($offer);
    echo PHP_EOL;
}
$reader->close();

unlink($uri);

Output:

array (
  'n' => 'offer',
  'a' =>
  array (
    'id' => '1001',
    'available' => 'true',
  ),
  's' =>
  array (
    0 =>
    array (
      'n' => 'name',
      'v' => 'Keyboard',
    ),
    1 =>
    array (
      'n' => 'price',
      'v' => '49.90',
      'a' =>
      array (
        'currency' => 'USD',
      ),
    ),
  ),
)
array (
  'n' => 'offer',
  'a' =>
  array (
    'id' => '1002',
    'available' => 'false',
  ),
  's' =>
  array (
    0 =>
    array (
      'n' => 'name',
      'v' => 'Mouse',
    ),
    1 =>
    array (
      'n' => 'price',
      'v' => '19.90',
      'a' =>
      array (
        'currency' => 'USD',
      ),
    ),
  ),
)

Index

• Turn XML into arrays with custom keys
• Extract only the needed elements from large XML without loading the whole document
• Convert XML to a traversable array and walk it with XmlElement
• Practical notes
• Detailed documentation
• Common use cases
• Pick your entry point
• Contacts

Working examples

Turn XML into arrays with custom keys

Use XmlConverter when your project already has its own internal array contract and you want hierarchy output with your own key names.

use SbWereWolf\XmlNavigator\Conversion\XmlConverter;

require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

$converter = new XmlConverter(
    val: 'value',
    attr: 'attributes',
    name: 'name',
    seq: 'children',
);

$hierarchy = $converter->toHierarchyOfElements(
    '<price currency="USD">129.90</price>'
);

var_export($hierarchy);

Output:

array (
  'name' => 'price',
  'value' => '129.90',
  'attributes' =>
  array (
    'currency' => 'USD',
  ),
)

Extract only the needed elements from large XML without loading the whole document

Use FastXmlParser on top of XMLReader when the file is large and only some nodes matter.

use SbWereWolf\XmlNavigator\Parsing\FastXmlParser;

require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

$uri = tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(), 'xml-extract-kit-');
file_put_contents(
    $uri,
    <<<'XML'
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<catalog>
  <offer id="1001">
    <name>Keyboard</name>
    <price>49.90</price>
  </offer>
  <service id="s-1">
    <name>Warranty</name>
  </service>
  <offer id="1002">
    <name>Mouse</name>
    <price>19.90</price>
  </offer>
</catalog>
XML
);

$reader = XMLReader::open($uri);

$offers = FastXmlParser::extractHierarchy(
    $reader,
    static fn(XMLReader $cursor):
    bool => $cursor->nodeType === XMLReader::ELEMENT
        && $cursor->name === 'offer'
);

$reader->close();
unlink($uri);

foreach ($offers as $offer) {
    var_export($offer);
    echo PHP_EOL;
}

Convert XML to a traversable array and walk it with XmlElement

Use FastXmlToArray::convert() when you want a stable normalized structure, then wrap it with XmlElement for convenient traversal.

use SbWereWolf\XmlNavigator\Conversion\FastXmlToArray;
use SbWereWolf\XmlNavigator\Navigation\XmlElement;

require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

$xml = <<<'XML'
<catalog region="eu">
  <offer id="1001" available="true">
    <name>Keyboard</name>
    <tag>office</tag>
    <tag>usb</tag>
  </offer>
</catalog>
XML;

$root = new XmlElement(FastXmlToArray::convert($xml));
$offer = $root->pull('offer')->current();

echo $root->name() . PHP_EOL;                // catalog
echo $root->get('region') . PHP_EOL;         // eu
echo ($root->hasElement('offer') ? 'yes' : 'no') . PHP_EOL; // yes

echo PHP_EOL;
echo 'offer attributes:' . PHP_EOL;
foreach ($offer->attributes() as $attribute) {
    echo $attribute->name() . '=' . $attribute->value() . PHP_EOL;
}

echo PHP_EOL;
echo 'offer elements with name `tag`:' . PHP_EOL;
$tagValues = array_map(
    static fn (XmlElement $tag): string => $tag->value(),
    $offer->elements('tag')
);

var_export($tagValues);

Output:

catalog
eu
yes

offer attributes:
id=1001
available=true

value of offer elements with name `tag`:
array (
  0 => 'office',
  1 => 'usb',
)

Practical notes

• attributes are always strings;
• repeated child tags become indexed arrays in readable output;
• empty elements become empty arrays in readable output and name-only nodes in normalized output;
• for one-shot conversion, provide either $xmlText or $xmlUri, but not both;
• if you already have an XMLReader, use the streaming API first instead of loading the entire document.

Detailed documentation

The detailed method-by-method documentation stays available in dedicated files:

• Examples by workflow and API
• Output formats: readable vs normalized
• Public API reference

Standalone runnable snippets are also included in examples/.

Common use cases

• supplier and marketplace feeds;
• partner imports and exports;
• ETL jobs that consume XML in batches;
• SOAP-ish or legacy integration payloads;
• queue payload preparation and JSON serialization;
• large catalogs where only selected nodes are relevant.

What it is not

XmlExtractKit is not trying to be:

• a full XML query language;
• an XML schema validator;
• an XML editor;
• an object mapper that hides XML structure behind a large abstraction layer.

The value proposition is much simpler:

stream XML, extract only what matters, and keep working with plain arrays.

Pick your entry point

Need	Start here
I need plain arrays from XML now	FastXmlToArray::prettyPrint()
I need a stable normalized structure for traversal	FastXmlToArray::convert()
I need to stream only matching elements from large XML	FastXmlParser::extractPrettyPrint()
I need streaming plus normalized output	FastXmlParser::extractHierarchy()
I need custom key names	XmlConverter or XmlParser
I need low-level composition around an existing cursor	PrettyPrintComposer or HierarchyComposer

Contacts

Nicholas Volkhin
e-mail ulfnew@gmail.com
phone +7-902-272-65-35
Telegram @sbwerewolf

• Telegram chat with me
• WhatsApp chat with me