The Curse of XML and PHP Whitespace

[JohnS]

I am having an issue with DOMDocument and whitespace. Currently I have two types of XML files. One file was created manually about a year ago, I will call this file A. The second file, file B, is being generated using a PHP DOMDocument. I have been trying very hard (unsuccessfully) to make the whitespace in file A match file B. Here's how it works... The user is given an option to add new \[code\]<Slide>\[/code\] elements to the XML file. After new slides have been added the user has the option to add new \[code\]<Items>\[/code\] to the XML file as a child of the \[code\]<Slide>\[/code\] element.When I add a \[code\]<Slide>\[/code\] element to file B it works like a charm. I can even add a new \[code\]<Item>\[/code\] element with zero problem. However, when I try to access the new \[code\]<Identifier>\[/code\] element I just added in file B using the second PHP script below with \[code\]$order != 'remove'\[/code\] I miss the node by one and select \[code\]<Information/>\[/code\] instead. It appears that manually created file A has white space that is not present in my generated file B. I have experimented with the preserveWhitespace property but it did not help. Are there any suggestions on how I can correct this problem. Constructive criticism is also welcome as this is my first shot at dynamic XML manipulation. I apologize for the length and appreciate your time!! File A - Created Manually - I am trying to match this file!\[code\]<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root><Areas>Head & Neck</Areas><Area>Head & Neck</Area><Type>Angiograph</Type><Slide>Ag-01a <Title>Catheter Angiography</Title> <Item1> <Identifier interestCoord=".51,.73" locator="point" labelBool="true" labelTxt="" leaderBool="true">Aortic Arch </Identifier> <Information/> <Question A="" B="" C="" D="" E="" Answer=""/> </Item1> .... More Items \[/code\]File B - Before user adds \[code\]<Slide>\[/code\]. This portion is created Manually. A template if you will. After the user enters slide names new slides are generated using the chunk of code below. \[code\]<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root><Areas>Head & Neck</Areas><Area>Head & Neck</Area><Type>Brain Sections</Type></root>\[/code\]File B - After users adds new \[code\]<Slide>\[/code\] and \[code\]<Item>\[/code\]. Formatting shown represents formatting created by DOMDocument. I think this is where the error is occuring! Whitespace!!!\[code\]<Slide>Ag-09a <Title>Catheter Angiography</Title><Item1><Identifier locator="point" interestCoord="0.143,0.65" labelBool="true" labelTxt="" leaderBool="false">Orbit</Identifier><Information/><Question A="" B="" C="" D="" E="" Answer=""/></Item1></Slide>\[/code\]PHP script used to add new \[code\]<Slide>\[/code\] elements to XML\[code\]<?phpsession_start();//Constants$SECTION_SEP = "========================================================================</br>";//Variables used to construct file path$area = trim($_POST['area']);$slideType = trim($_POST['slideType']);$rawSlides = trim($_POST['theseSlides']);$newSlideList = explode(",", $rawSlides);$fileLocation = "../XML/".$area."/".$slideType."/".$area.".XML";$dom = new DOMDocument();echo('New DOMDocument created!</br>');$dom->load($fileLocation);echo('XML file loaded!</br>');/*$dom->preserveWhiteSpace = false;echo('White space removed!</br>');*/$dom->documentElement;echo('DOM initialized!</br>');if ($dom->getElementsByTagName('Slide')->length == 0){ //New file with no slidesforeach ($newSlideList as $slide){ $newSlide = $dom->createElement('Slide', $slide); $newTitle = $dom->createElement('Title', 'Scan'); //Add the title element to the Item $newSlide->appendChild($newTitle); $dom->childNodes->item(0)->appendChild($newSlide); echo($slide." has been added to the list!</br>"); }} else {$locators = $dom->getElementsByTagName('Slide');}if($dom->save($fileLocation)){echo("File saved successfully!!");}else echo("There was a problem saving the file!");\[/code\]PHP script used to add/edit/remove \[code\]<Item>\[/code\] and \[code\]<Identifier>\[/code\] nodes depending on value of \[code\]$orders\[/code\] == WARNING! Lengthy :/\[code\]<?phpsession_start();//Constants$SECTION_SEP = "========================================================================</br>";//Variables used to construct file path$area = trim($_POST['area']);$slideType = trim($_POST['slideType']);$fileLocation = "../XML/".$area."/".$slideType."/".$area.".XML";//echo("File location:".$fileLocation);//Current data (c_ for current)$c_poi = "";$c_type = "";$c_lblBool = "";$c_lblOverride = "";$c_leaderBool = "";//Determine if this visit is for new or old data$orders = trim($_POST['orders']);//Variables used to replace information in XML file loaded below (n_ for new)$n_slideName = trim($_POST['slideName']); //slide name in view format ie Ag-01a$n_identName = trim($_POST['ident']); //contains multiple information separated by comma ie 0,Aortic Arch$n_type = trim($_POST['type']); //locator type$n_poi = trim($_POST['poi']);$n_lblBool = trim($_POST['lblBool']);$n_lblOverride = trim($_POST['lblOverride']);echo("Modified: ".date('c')."</br>");$dom = new DOMDocument();echo('New DOMDocument created!</br>');$dom->load($fileLocation);echo('XML file loaded!</br>');/*$dom->preserveWhiteSpace = false;echo('White space removed!</br>');*/$dom->documentElement;echo('DOM initialized!</br>');$locators = $dom->getElementsByTagName('Slide');echo($locators->length.' elements retrieved</br>');$slideEntryFound = false;$identEntryFound = false;$identAttributesFound = false;echo($SECTION_SEP);//Locate the correct slide nodeforeach ($locators as $locator){//If there is a match, store the infomation// rawSlide[x].childNode[0].nodeValueif(strcmp(trim($locator->childNodes->item(0)->nodeValue),$n_slideName) == 0){ $slideEntryFound = true; $slideChildren = $locator->childNodes; //Locate the correct identifier node foreach($slideChildren as $child){ if( strcmp(trim($child->nodeValue), substr($n_identName,strpos($n_identName,",")+1)) == 0){ $identEntryFound = true; if (strcmp($orders, "remove") == 0){//Removing an element echo("The identifier being removed is: ".trim($child->nodeValue."</br>")); echo("The node path is: ".($child->childNodes->item(1)->getNodePath())."</br>"); echo($SECTION_SEP); $locator->removeChild($child); echo("Identifier successfully removed!</br>"); echo($SECTION_SEP); break; } else {//Not removing anything - Adding or Editing echo("The identifier being modified is: ".trim($child->nodeValue."</br>")); echo("The node path is: ".($child->childNodes->item(1)->getNodePath())."</br>"); echo($SECTION_SEP); if($child->childNodes->item(1)->hasAttributes()){ $identAttributesFound = true; $c_poi = $child->childNodes->item(1)->getAttribute('interestCoord'); echo("--Current interestCoord: ".$c_poi."</br>"); echo("++New interestCoord: ".$n_poi."</br>"); if(strcmp($c_poi, $n_poi) != 0){ $child->childNodes->item(1)->setAttribute('interestCoord',$n_poi); } $c_type = $child->childNodes->item(1)->getAttribute('locator'); echo("--Current locator: ".$c_type."</br>"); echo("++New locator: ".$n_type."</br>"); $c_lblBool = $child->childNodes->item(1)->getAttribute('labelBool'); echo("--Current labelBool: ".$c_lblBool."</br>"); //echo("++New labelBool: ".$n_lblBool."</br>"); $c_lblOverride = $child->childNodes->item(1)->getAttribute('labelTxt'); echo("--Current labelOverride: ".$c_lblOverride."</br>"); echo("++New labelOverride: ".$n_lblOverride."</br>"); $c_leaderBool = $child->childNodes->item(1)->getAttribute('leaderBool'); echo("--Current leaderBool: ".$c_leaderBool."</br>"); //echo("++New leaderBool: ".$n_leaderBool."</br>"); if($n_lblOverride != ""){ echo("**A new label override was detected. The identifier will have the alias ".$n_lblOverride."."); } break; } else echo("Fatal Error - Node does not contain attributes!</br>"); if($identEntryFound == true && $identAttributesFound == false) echo("Error - Attribute entry not found!"); break; } } } if($slideEntryFound == true && $identEntryFound == false && $orders != "remove"){ echo("The identifier was not found... creating a new identifier!</br>"); //Create a new Element $newElement = $dom->createElement("Item".((integer)(substr($n_identName,0,strpos($n_identName,",")))+1)); echo("New element created!!</br>"); //Create new Item children $newSubElem = $dom->createElement("Identifier", substr($n_identName,strpos($n_identName,",")+1)); $newSubElem->setAttribute('locator',$n_type); $newSubElem ->setAttribute('interestCoord',$n_poi); $newSubElem->setAttribute('labelBool', $n_lblBool); $newSubElem->setAttribute('labelTxt', $n_lblOverride); //TODO link this next one to a variable instead of hard coding $newSubElem->setAttribute('leaderBool', "false"); //Info Child $newInfoElem = $dom->createElement("Information"); //Question Child $newQuestion = $dom->createElement("Question"); $newQuestion->setAttribute('A', ""); $newQuestion->setAttribute('B', ""); $newQuestion->setAttribute('C', ""); $newQuestion->setAttribute('D', ""); $newQuestion->setAttribute('E', ""); $newQuestion->setAttribute('Answer', ""); //Add new children to main Item $newElement->appendChild($newSubElem); $newElement->appendChild($newInfoElem); $newElement->appendChild($newQuestion); $locator->appendChild($newElement); echo("New identifier added!!</br>"); break; }} else {}}if($slideEntryFound == false)echo("Error - Slide entry not found!");if($dom->save($fileLocation)){echo("File saved successfully!!");echo('<div id="phpHandleBtns>"></br><form><button type="submit" id="continueEdit" formaction="../edit.php">Continue Editing</button>'. '</br><button type="submit" id="doneEdit" formaction="../main.php">Done Editing</button></form></div>');}else echo("There was a problem saving the file!");?>\[/code\]