Here is the XML code of my config.xml file. I will be reading the nodes of this XML file.

<default>
	<catalog>
		<mypage>
			<name>myname</name>
			<age>100</age>
			<address_one>earth</address_one>
		</mypage>
	</catalog>
</default>

Here is the code to read the node of the above XML file. Here, ‘catalog/mypage‘ is parent nodes path. It depends upon XML node layout.

// prints 'myname'
echo Mage::getConfig()->getNode('catalog/mypage')->name;

// prints '100'
echo Mage::getConfig()->getNode('catalog/mypage')->age;

// prints 'earth'
echo Mage::getConfig()->getNode('catalog/mypage')->address_one;

Hope this helps and thanks for reading.

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Here is a sample XML file which I am going to read through Magento code. I will also be adding an XML node to the following XML data.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <MyNamespace_MyModule>
            <version>0.1.0</version>
        </MyNamespace_MyModule>
    </modules>
    <frontend>
        <routers>
            <mymodule>
                <use>standard</use>
                <args>
                    <module>MyNamespace_MyModule</module>
                    <frontName>mymodule</frontName>
                </args>
            </mymodule>
        </routers>
        <layout>
            <updates>
                <mymodule>
                    <file>mymodule.xml</file>
                </mymodule>
            </updates>
        </layout>
    </frontend>
</config>

Here is the Magento/PHP code to read the XML data. I have kept the XML file in the root directory of Magento installation. The XML file is named test.xml. At first, the XML file is loaded and then it’s node are read with getNode function. Then, I have printed the result.

$xmlPath = Mage::getBaseDir().DS.'test.xml';
$xmlObj = new Varien_Simplexml_Config($xmlPath);
$xmlData = $xmlObj->getNode();
echo "<pre>"; print_r($xmlData); echo "</pre>";

You can add node with the setNode function. Here, I have set a node inside the node ‘modules’. The name of my new node is ‘mukesh’ and it’s value is ‘chapagain’.

$xmlPath = Mage::getBaseDir().DS.'test.xml';
$xmlObj = new Varien_Simplexml_Config($xmlPath);

$xmlObj->setNode('modules/mukesh','chapagain');

$xmlData = $xmlObj->getNode()->asNiceXml();

// check if the XML file is writable and then save data
if(is_writable($xmlPath)) {
	@file_put_contents($xmlPath, $xmlData);
}

Hope this helps. Thanks for reading.

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The DOM extension allows you to operate on XML documents through the DOM API with PHP 5.

Below is the code to create XML file. I have named the output file ‘example.xml’. For better understanding, I have written comment for almost every line of code.

<?php

// Create a new DOMDocument object
$dom = new DomDocument("1.0", "ISO-8859-1");

// optionally the following can be done
// $dom->version  = "1.0";
// $dom->encoding = "ISO-8859-1";

// Create new element node 'mobiles'
$mobiles = $dom->createElement('mobiles');

// add $mobiles to the main dom
$dom->appendChild($mobiles);

// Suppose we have the following array of data
$items = array(array('name'=>'samsung','price'=>'21000'),
array('name'=>'sony','price'=>'25000'));

foreach($items as $item) {
// Create new element node 'brand'
$brand = $dom->createElement('brand');

// Create new element node 'name' with the node value
$name = $dom->createElement('name',$item['name']);

// Create new element node 'price' with the node value
$price = $dom->createElement('price',$item['price']);

// add 'name' node to 'brand' node
$brand->appendChild($name);

// add 'price' node to 'brand' node
$brand->appendChild($price);

// add brand to mobile
$mobiles->appendChild($brand);
}

// add spaces, new lines and make the XML more readable format
$dom->formatOutput = true;

// SET HEADER TO OUTPUT DATA

header('HTTP/1.1 200 OK');
header("Pragma: no-cache");
header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, max-age=0, must-revalidate');
header('Content-type', 'text/xml');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="example_dom.xml"');

// Dump the internal XML tree back into a string
echo $dom->saveXML();

?>

The following xml file is created. The xml file is named example_dom.xml.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<mobiles>
<brand>
<name>samsung</name>
<price>21000</price>
</brand>
<brand>
<name>sony</name>
<price>25000</price>
</brand>
</mobiles>

Here is the code to read the xml file. I have mentioned two ways to read the xml file. The first one loads the xml file, converts the data into string and prints it.

<?php

// Create a new DOMDocument object
$xmlDoc = new DOMDocument();

// Load XML from a file
$xmlDoc->load("example_dom.xml");

// Dump the internal XML tree back into a string
echo $xmlDoc->saveXML();

?>

The second way is to loop through the xml content and print. It’s more specific.

<?php

// Create a new DOMDocument object
$xmlDoc = new DOMDocument();

// Load XML from a file
$xmlDoc->load("example_dom.xml");

// Search for all elements with tag name 'brand'
$brands = $xmlDoc->getElementsByTagName('brand');

// loop through brands and print brand name and price
foreach ($brands AS $key => $brand) {

// search for element 'name'
$name = $xmlDoc->getElementsByTagName('name');

// search for element 'price'
$price = $xmlDoc->getElementsByTagName('price');

// print node value for name and price
echo $name->item($key)->nodeValue . " = " . $price->item($key)->nodeValue . "<br />";
}
?>

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The SimpleXML extension provides a very simple and easily usable toolset to convert XML to an object that can be processed with normal property selectors and array iterators.

Below is the code to create XML file. I have named the output file ‘example.xml’. For better understanding, I have written comment for almost every line of code.

<?php

// GENERATING XML NODE

// Create new SimpleXMLElement object
$itemsXml = new SimpleXMLElement("<items></items>");

// Add child element the SimpleXML element
$itemXml = $itemsXml->addChild('item');

// Add attribute to the SimpleXML element
$itemXml->addAttribute('id', 1);
$itemXml->addAttribute('type', 'simple');

$mobileXml = $itemXml->addChild('Mobiles');

// Suppose we have the following array of data
$items = array(array('name'=>'nokia','weight'=>'2'),
                array('name'=>'samsung','weight'=>'5'),
                array('name'=>'sony','weight'=>'3'));

foreach ($items as $item)
{
// XML PART
// Please look carefully on the variable names. They are important for using addChild method.
$brandXml = $mobileXml->addChild('Brand');
$nameXml = $brandXml->addChild('Name',$item['name']);
$weightXml = $brandXml->addChild('Weight',$item['weight']);
}

// FOR PROPER FORMATTING XML

// Create a new DOMDocument object
$doc = new DOMDocument('1.0');

// add spaces, new lines and make the XML more readable format
$doc->formatOutput = true;

// Get a DOMElement object from a SimpleXMLElement object
$domnode = dom_import_simplexml($itemsXml);

$domnode->preserveWhiteSpace = false;

// Import node into current document
$domnode = $doc->importNode($domnode, true);

// Add new child at the end of the children
$domnode = $doc->appendChild($domnode);

// Dump the internal XML tree back into a string
$saveXml = $doc->saveXML();

// SET HEADER TO OUTPUT DATA

header('HTTP/1.1 200 OK');
header("Pragma: no-cache");
header('Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, max-age=0, must-revalidate');
header('Content-type', 'text/xml');
header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="example.xml"');

echo $saveXml;

?>

The following xml file is created. The xml file is named example.xml.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<items>
  <item id="1" type="simple">
    <Mobiles>
      <Brand>
        <Name>nokia</Name>
        <Weight>2</Weight>
      </Brand>
      <Brand>
        <Name>samsung</Name>
        <Weight>5</Weight>
      </Brand>
      <Brand>
        <Name>sony</Name>
        <Weight>3</Weight>
      </Brand>
    </Mobiles>
  </item>
</items>

Here is the code to read the xml file.
I have mentioned two ways to read the xml file. The first one loads the xml file, converts the data into string and prints it.

<?php

// Get SimpleXMLElement object from an XML document
$xml = simplexml_load_file("example.xml");

// Get XML string from a SimpleXML element
// When you select "View source" in the browser window, you will see the objects and elements
echo $xml->asXML();

?>

The second way is to loop through the xml content and print. It’s more specific.

<?php

// Get SimpleXMLElement object from an XML document
$xml = simplexml_load_file("example.xml");

// Get the name of a SimpleXML element
echo "<p><b>Root Element:</b> <br/>";
echo $xml->getName();
echo "</p>";

// get the attribute of 'item' element
// Get SimpleXML element's attributes
$attribute = $xml->item->attributes();

// $attribute is an object
// looping through the object and printing the attribute name and value
echo "<p><b>Attributes:</b> (of element 'item')<br/>";
foreach($attribute as $key => $value) {
	echo $key . " = " . $value . "<br/>";
}
echo "</p>";

// Get the children of a specified node
$children = $xml->children();
// echo "<pre>"; print_r($children);

foreach($children as $child) {
	// get mobiles brands
	$mobiles = $child->Mobiles->Brand;

	// print brand name
	echo "<p><b>Brands:</b><br/>";
	foreach($mobiles as $key => $value) {
		echo $value->Name . "<br/>";
	}
	echo "</p>";
}

?>

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RSS was designed to show selected data. Without RSS, users will have to check your site daily to check for new updates. This may be too time-consuming for many users. With an RSS feed (RSS is often called a News Feed or RSS Feed) they can check your site faster using an RSS aggregator (a site or program that gathers and sorts out several RSS feeds).

RSS is a protocol, an application of XML that provides an open method of syndicating and aggregating Web content. Using RSS files, you can create a data feed that supplies headlines, links, and article summaries from your Web site. Users can have constantly updated content from web sites delivered to them via a news aggregator, a piece of software specifically tailored to receive these types of feeds.

The main benefits of creating an RSS feeds include;

• RSS is an excellent and cost-effective way of driving traffic to, and increasing brand awareness of, any website that publishes content (e.g news, jobs, events) regularly. Once a publisher produces an RSS file, they are enabling others to syndicate their headlines, without any further work on their part.
• RSS is the dominant format for distributing headline content on the Web.
• RSS allows easy sharing of data between sites. Webmasters can use an RSS file to easily incorporate third party content into their own site.
• Content from RSS feeds can be easily repurposed allowing, for example, cross searching of a number of different feeds at once.
• RSS content can be added to personal desktop news reading applications like Feedreader or AmphetaDesk.

Thank You.

Source:

http://www.w3schools.com/rss/rss_intro.asp

http://rssgov.com/rssworkshop.html

http://www.techxtra.ac.uk/rss_primer/

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