Strange text when converting XML array to XML

Question

Im using the answer to this question to convert an array of XML to a single XML output:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2554671/output-array-of-xml-to-plain-xml

Im using the simpler solution of the two there (Marked as the answer)

It all works for me, however at the start of the output I get:

string(109960) "

Can anyone shed any light on this? Output here: http://bit.ly/aoA3qY

Answer 1

Looks like something is being var_dump(ed). If there is a var_dump keyword, you should remove it.

Answer 2

This looks like you are using var_dump to output your XML string :

var_dump($xml);

Instead of just using echo :

echo $xml;

It would explain :

• The quotes arround the whole XML string
• The string -- which is the type of the variable passed as a parameter to var_dump
• The 109960 -- which is the length of your string.

var_dump() is useful ; but should only be used when you are debugging, as it outputs more (debugging) informations than just the content of the variable.