What SimpleXML function is used to parse a file?

Question

Options

• Asimplexml_load_file()
• Bsimplexml_load_string()
• Cload()
• DloadFile()
• EloadXML()
• FNone of the above.

• A
  82% (23)
• C
  11% (3)
• E
  4% (1)
• F
  4% (1)

Explanation

simplexml_load_file() is correct because it accepts a file path (or URL) as its argument and parses the XML file directly into a SimpleXMLElement object, making it the dedicated function for file-based XML parsing in PHP.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• B. simplexml_load_string() - this is a real PHP function, but it parses an XML string already in memory, not a file on disk.
• C. load() - not a standalone SimpleXML function; this is a method on PHP's DOMDocument class, a different XML API.
• D. loadFile() - doesn't exist in PHP's SimpleXML or standard XML libraries.
• E. loadXML() - also a DOMDocument method (parses an XML string), not a SimpleXML function.

Memory tip: Think of it as a two-function family - simplexml_load_**file**() for files, simplexml_load_**string**() for strings. The suffix tells you what you're feeding it. If it doesn't start with simplexml_, it's not in the SimpleXML extension.

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