How to Convert XML into Associative Array in PHP

In this tutorial I will show you how to convert XML into associative array in php. I have found several methods and library to convert XML into array and following is a simple script to convert xml into array. I am using file_get_contents() php method to read xml file data into string.

Steps to Convert XML into Associative Array

Step 1: Following is a sample XML file books.xml

<?xml version='1.0'?> 
<books>  
    <book name='Java'>  
        <reference>book1</reference>  
    </book>  
    <book name='PHP'>  
        <reference>book2</reference>  
    </book>
	<book name='Android'>  
        <reference>book3</reference>  
    </book>
	<book name='Web'>  
        <reference>book4</reference>  
    </book>
</books>

Step 2: Convert books.xml file into string

I have used file_get_contents() PHP method to read entire file into a string and store into $xmlfile variable.

$xmlfile = file_get_contents('PATH/books.xml');

Step 3: Convert string of XML into an Object

I have used simplexml_load_string() php method to convert string of XML into an object.

$xmlobj = simplexml_load_string($xmlfile);

Step 4: Encode XML Object into JSON

To encode XML object into JSON use json_encode php method

$xmljson  = json_encode($xmlobj);

Step 5: Decode the JSON Object

Now we will decode the json to get array from json string.

$booksData = json_decode($xmljson, true);

Following is the full Source Code to convert XML into associative array

$xmlfile = file_get_contents('PATH/books.xml');
$xmlobj = simplexml_load_string($xmlfile);
$xmljson  = json_encode($xmlobj);
$booksData = json_decode($xmljson, true);

LIVE DEMO