PHP and XML CHAPTER 5
PHP and XML CHAPTER 5 The latest version of PHP, PHP 5, introduces several new features and enhancements to the PHP language. PHP 5 introduced a new object model, exceptions, and new database support such as MySQLi and SQLite, and it makes major strides in the areas of XML and Web services. This chapter will introduce you to the new XML-based extensions, their founding library, and the basic functionality common to the PHP 5 XML extensions. Introducing XML in PHP 5 Native XML support in PHP 4 was limited to certain basic technologies. The xml extension supported SAX, the domxml extension provided tree support as well as some XSLT support, and the xslt extension also provided XSLT support. With respect to Web services and data exchange, the wddx extension supported distributed data exchange, and xmlrpc supported XML-based remote procedure calls. Although this seems like a decent list of technologies, a fundamental problem was that each was its own distinct extension using its own underlying library. The extensions just did not work together, and to use all the extensions, you had to install all the necessary libraries. The shortcomings of XML in PHP 4 caused much frustration for those using it. All this XML technology was available, but it would not work together. So, while PHP 5 was still in its early stages of development, a discussion began that would ultimately shape the future of XML in PHP 5. The developers decided to rework and rewrite the XML-based extensions to provide the greatest functionality and flexibility as possible. libxml2 in PHP 5 The central library decided upon for the core of the XML extensions is libxml2, which you can find at http://www.xmlsoft.org. This library supports many of XML-related standards, including the XML, Namespaces, XML Schemas, Relax NG, XPath, and XInclude specifications just to name a few. It was chosen for its vast XML support, which means additional technologies can be implemented in PHP, and it is one of the fastest parsers; also, it is actively maintained and widely used. Its sibling, the libxslt library, which is dependent upon libxml2 and also located at http://www.xmlsoft.org, handles XSL within PHP 5. Both of these libraries, being actively maintained, continue to evolve by providing fixes to bugs and enhanced feature sets. To provide the best XML support possible, it is sometimes necessary to require newer versions of these two libraries in order to build PHP. Such is the case with PHP 5.1. The current minimum requirements for libxml2 and libxslt within PHP
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