note 118372 added to function.simplexml-load-file

I stumbled on this: a single element with a simple string in it becomes a string, but a single element with a *space* in it becomes an Array, with one element, the string space. I'm sure to XML mystics this is wise and wonderful but it really confused me, and I thought it might confuse others. <?php $parsed = simplexml_load_string('<container><space> </space><blank></blank><string>hello</string></container>'); $content = json_decode(json_encode($parsed),TRUE); var_dump($content); /* Output is: array(3) { 'space' => array(1) { ← did NOT expect this! [0] => string(1) " " } 'blank' => array(0) { } 'string' => string(5) "hello" } */ ---- Server IP: 72.52.91.14 Probable Submitter: 81.174.169.217 ---- Manual Page -- http://php.net/manual/en/function.simplexml-load-file.php Edit -- https://master.php.net/note/edit/118372 Del: integrated -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/118372/integrated Del: useless -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/118372/useless Del: bad code -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/118372/bad+code Del: spam -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/118372/spam Del: non-english -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/118372/non-english Del: in docs -- https://master.php.net/note/delete/118372/in+docs Del: other reasons-- https://master.php.net/note/delete/118372 Reject -- https://master.php.net/note/reject/118372 Search -- https://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php