How do I set an existing SimpleXMLElement attribute?

Question

I am running the following code:

$attributes = $xmlTable2->attributes();
foreach ($attributes as $key => $value) {
    $xmlTable1->addAttribute($key, $value);
}

But it causes an error:

Warning: SimpleXMLElement::addAttribute(): Attribute already exists in ... on line 100
Buildfile: /.../vendor/propel/propel1/generator/build.xml

How do I override the value of an existing attribute?

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 03 '14 at 20:11

2

Easiest way is to just use the attributes() function that is part of the SimpleXML object on the element you want to get the attributes for.

$xmlTable1->elementYouWantAttrsFor->attributes()->attrName = newAttrValue;

or if each $xmlTable1 element is what you want

$xmlTable1->attributes()->attrName = newAttrValue;

Here is the documentation. The comments show how to do this.

answered Feb 03 '14 at 20:11

Zarathuztra

1

`$xmlTable1[$key] = $value` is easy too. – salathe Feb 03 '14 at 20:17
I was reading the comments on [this page](http://us2.php.net/manual/en/simplexmlelement.addattribute.php), to which the first comment matched my issue. I'll try this now. – NobleUplift Feb 03 '14 at 20:18
@salathe Indeed it does. I just like to try and keep things as close to just using the API as much as possible. – Zarathuztra Feb 03 '14 at 20:20
1

This worked! I also tried @salathe's line, and it worked as well. – NobleUplift Feb 03 '14 at 20:25
Yup, both do work! Glad to hear it solved your problem! – Zarathuztra Feb 03 '14 at 20:29
Will these also work on adding nonexistent attributes? I changed an old line of code to the first solution and it is no longer adding new attributes. – NobleUplift Feb 03 '14 at 23:22
Yes, the second solution works on both adding _and_ editing elements. The first solution only works on editing elements. – NobleUplift Feb 03 '14 at 23:29

1 Answers1