# SimpleXMLElement->asXML()

(PHP 5 >= 5.0.1)

SimpleXMLElement->asXML() — Return a well-formed XML string based on SimpleXML element

### Description

SimpleXMLElement
mixed asXML ([ string `$filename` ] )

The asXML method formats the parent object's data in XML version 1.0.

### Parameters

`filename`

  If specified, the function writes the data to the file rather than returning it.

### Return Values

If the `filename` isn't specified, this function returns a string on success and `FALSE` on error. If the parameter is specified, it returns `TRUE` if the file was written successfully and `FALSE` otherwise.

### Examples

Example#1 Get XML

`<?php
$string = <<<XML
<a>
<b>
<c>text</c>
<c>stuff</c>
</b>
<d>
<c>code</c>
</d>
</a>
XML;
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($string);
echo $xml->asXML(); // <?xml ... <a><b><c>text</c><c>stuff</c> ...
?>`

asXML also works on Xpath results:

Example#2 Using asXML() on Xpath results

`<?php
// Continued from example XML above.
/* Search for <a><b><c> */
$result = $xml->xpath('/a/b/c');
while(list( , $node) = each($result)) {
echo $node->asXML(); // <c>text</c> and <c>stuff</c>
}
?>`