How to Send HTTP GET Requests and Retrieve XML Data in PHP?

Sending GET Requests in PHP

Question: How can I send an HTTP GET request to retrieve XML content from a URL using PHP?

Answer:

To download XML content from a URL using a GET request in PHP, you have two main options:

1. Using file_get_contents()

If you simply need the contents of the XML file, you can use the file_get_contents() function. Here's how:

$xml = file_get_contents("http://www.example.com/file.xml");

2. Using cURL

For more complex requests, where you may need to handle cookies, headers, or other HTTP-specific features, consider using cURL. Here's an example:

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "http://www.example.com/file.xml");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
$xml = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

The curl_exec() function returns the response body, which you can assign to the $xml variable.

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