[Typo3-dev] suggestion for t3lib_div::xml2array()

[Martin T. Kutschker]

Hi!

To simplify numeric arrays eg used TCEform types "select" I suggest an
attribute "type" with the currently value of "list" (or "array").

Example (of a nested array):

<TCEforms>
  <label>blah</label>
  <config>
   <type>select</type>
    <items type="list">
     <item type="list">
      <label>foobar</label>
      <pos>0</pos>
     </item>
    </items>
  </config>
<TCEforms>

Implementation (only relevant code given):

// Init vars
$listStack = array(array());

// Traverse the parsed XML structure
if ($stackList[$stacktop-1]['list'] &&
   ($val['type']=='open' || $val['type']=='complete'))      {
  $tagName = $stackList[$stacktop-1]['cnt']++;
}

// Setting tag-values, manage stack:
case 'open':
  $stackList[$stacktop]['list'] =
    $val['attributes']['type']=='list' ? true : false;
  $stackList[$stacktop]['cnt'] = 0;

----

I also plead for changing a current feature. As it is now the "index" 
attribute is used for denoting an alternative node name. OTOH a IMHO 
rather unfortunate way for numeric PHP arrays is in place: a "magic" 
element name "n" followed by an integer (eg "n2").

I suggest to use the attribute "key" (or "name") for alternative names 
and "index" (or even the shorter "idx") for numeric indices.

Example code for the function:

if ($val['attributes']['key']) {
  $tagName = $val['attributes']['name'];
}
if ($val['attributes']['idx'])  {
  $tagName = intval($val['attributes']['idx']);
}

So the XML can be validated against a DTD or a schema.

<T3DataStructure>
  <sheets>
   <sheet key="sDEF">
     ...
   </sheet>
  <sheets>
</T3DataStructure>

----

Minor point:

// $index = array(); // not used
// unused $index opt. removed
xml_parse_into_struct($parser, $string, $vals);

Masi (nitpicking again)

PS: Why is there a ROOT element within the sheet element of the FlexForm 
data structure? It looks superfluos to me.

PPS: Is there any chance to change the current "el" to "elements"? So it 
   looks like this for FlexForms:

<ROOT>
  <TCEforms>
   <elements>
    <el key="field">
    </el>
   </elements>
  </TCEforms>
</ROOT>

It's a few bytes more for the container, but "el" implies a singular. 
IMHO it's more easily understood.