Forcing a SimpleXML Object to a string, regardless of context

Question

Let's say I have some XML like this ``` This is title 1 ``` The code below does what I want in that it outputs the title as a string ``` $xml = simplexml_load_string($xmlstring); echo $xml->channel->item->title; ``` Here's my problem. The code below doesn't treat the title as a string in that context so I end up with a SimpleXML object in the array instead of a string. ``` $foo = array( $xml->channel->item->title ); ``` I've been working around it like this ``` $foo = array( sprintf("%s",$xml->channel->item->title) ); ``` but that seems ugly. What's the best way to force a SimpleXML object to a string, regardless of context?

Accepted Answer

Typecast the SimpleXMLObject to a string:

```
$foo = array( (string) $xml->channel->item->title );
```

The above code internally calls `__toString()` on the SimpleXMLObject. This method is not publicly available, as it interferes with the mapping scheme of the SimpleXMLObject, but it can still be invoked in the above manner.

Forcing a SimpleXML Object to a string, regardless of context

Solution

Problem