How Can I Transform Multidimensional Arrays into XML Using an Iterative Approach?

Iterative Approach to Multidimensional Array Iteration

Transforming multidimensional arrays into XML can be achieved through various techniques. While recursive methods provide a comprehensive solution, this article focuses on an iterative approach using a custom iterator.

TranformArrayIterator Class

The TranformArrayIterator extends the RecursiveIteratorIterator class, providing additional functionality for XML generation.

<code class="php">class TranformArrayIterator extends RecursiveIteratorIterator
{
    // Custom functionality for outputting indentation, XML tags, etc.
}</code>

Assembling the Iterator

To create the iterator, we wrap a RecursiveArrayIterator with our custom iterator:

<code class="php">$nodes = ...;
$iterator = new TranformArrayIterator(new RecursiveArrayIterator($nodes));</code>

Iterating and Outputting

We can then iterate over the iterator, echoing the customized output:

<code class="php">foreach ($iterator as $val) {
    echo $val;
}</code>

Output Format

This will produce XML output structured as follows:

<code class="xml"><nodes>
    <node>parent node</node>
    <node>parent node</node>
    <nodes>
        <node>child node</node>
        <node>child node</node>
        <nodes>
            <node>grand child node</node>
            <node>grand child node</node>
        </nodes>
    </nodes>
</nodes></code>

Additional Enhancements

• Blank key: Add public function key() { return ''; } to the iterator to blank out the key when using $key => $val.
• Using XMLWriter: Collaborate the iterator with an XMLWriter for more control and valid XML output.

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