XML library

Standalone XML Library

Install and use the standalone XML library for secure forward-only reading, schema mapping, and configurable XML output.

Updated August 1, 2026

LevelAll levelsReading time6 minPackagemnb/mnb-phpexcel-xml

Xml::read()Xml::write()XmlSchemaMapping::from()XmlWriter::payloadToString()

What you will learn

Install the standalone XML library and understand its secure defaults.
Read simple row XML or map external schemas into canonical columns.
Write row or workbook XML with configurable element names.

Install the XML package#

composer require mnb/mnb-phpexcel-xml:^2.0

ext-xmlreader is recommended for native streaming. The package includes a portable XML reader fallback through Core.

Read and write the default row shape#

use Mnb\PHPExcel\Format\Xml;

$rows = Xml::read('customers.xml', [
    'row_tag' => 'customer',
])->withHeaderRow(1)->rows();

use Mnb\PHPExcel\Format\Xml;

Xml::write($customers, 'customers.xml', [
    'root' => 'customers',
    'row_tag' => 'customer',
    'pretty' => true,
]);

Secure parser defaults#

External network access is disabled through non-network parser flags.
Document type declarations are rejected unless allow_doctype is explicitly enabled.
File size, row count, and nesting depth can be bounded.
Element names emitted by the writer are sanitized into valid XML tags.

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