Bug #66084 [Com]: simplexml_load_string() mangles empty node name

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=66084&edit=1 ID: 66084 Comment by: php at kenman dot net Reported by: php at kenman dot net Summary: simplexml_load_string() mangles empty node name Status: Open Type: Bug Package: SimpleXML related Operating System: Win7 PHP Version: 5.5Git-2013-11-12 (snap) Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: This just keeps getting stranger; apparently, whitespace influences this behavior. Both of these lines produce the expected output: var_dump(simplexml_load_string('<a><b/><c> <x/></c></a>')->c); var_dump(simplexml_load_string('<a><b/><c><x/> </c></a>')->c); However, whitespace added at any other point in the string will still produce the unexpected output. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2013-11-12 19:31:40] php at kenman dot net Curiously, the element is actually present at the expected string key, even though it's not represented in the raw var_dump(): var_dump(isset(simplexml_load_string('<a><b/><c><x/></c></a>')->c->x)); That will return TRUE, even though var_dump() exposes no such element (nor does get_object_vars()). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2013-11-12 17:31:16] php at kenman dot net Description: ------------ Since PHP 5.4.16 (at least), simplexml_load_string() incorrectly interprets some XML strings. For specific inputs with empty nodes, node names are converted to integers. Works as expected in 5.3.10 (libxml 2.7.7); does not work as expected in 5.4.16 (libxml 2.7.8) or 5.5.6-dev (libxml 2.9.1). Seems to be related to libxml2's xmlReadMemory(), though don't quote me on that. Further observations: * Removing the <b/> node results in the expected output, though otherwise manipulating <b/> (adding text content, including a closing tag, etc.) has no effect. * Changing the problematic node to non-selfclosing has no effect. * Adding a value to <x>, such as <x>1</x>, results in the expected output. * Adding an attribute to <x> has no effect. * Including the XML prologue has no effect. * libxml_use_internal_errors(true) does not report any errors. * The libxml option LIBXML_NOEMPTYTAG seems to have no effect. Test script: --------------- var_dump(simplexml_load_string('<a><b/><c><x/></c></a>')->c); Expected result: ---------------- object(SimpleXMLElement)#2 (1) { ["x"]=> object(SimpleXMLElement)#3 (0) { } } Actual result: -------------- object(SimpleXMLElement)#2 (1) { [0]=> object(SimpleXMLElement)#3 (1) { [0]=> object(SimpleXMLElement)#4 (0) { } } } ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=66084&edit=1