fatal error with createTextNode()

[sky]

hello again,

I'm getting this output:
Fatal error: Call to a member function createTextNode() on a non-object

from this line:
$name= $tnode->createTextNode("michelle");

I get the same error when I try this as well:
$tnode->createTextNode("michelle");

can somebody tell me why?

[Jessica]

Where did you create $tnode?

[sky]

I used it like this:

<?php
$dom = new DomDocument;
$dom->formatoutput=true;
$dom->whiteSpace=true;
$dom->load("theXML.xml");


$element= $dom->createElement('name');
$dom->appendChild($element);


######## Try One###############
$element=$tnode->createTextNode("michelle");

########Try Two###############
//$tnode->createTextNode("michelle");

//$element->appendChild($tnode);



$dom->save("theXML.xml");
// saves the domDocument

?>


Is there a place to look up fatal errors and other errors
for php almost like a list of errors and possible reasons why?

[sky]

ok... think I got it.

Please tell me if I'm wrong you need to create everything at the $dom level first

[code]$element = $dom->createElement('saying');
$saying = $dom->createTextNode("hello");[/code]

THEN APPEND IT

[code]$element->appendChild($saying);
$dom->appendChild($element);[/code]
this is the standard way correct? Sorry just new to this.

Still curious about a list of errors and possible troubleshooting answers. Is there one available? I haven't found one I and google and search forum posts but nothing.

[Jessica]

you never initialize $tnode.
At some point you need to do
$tnode = new (whatever the heck this object type is);

[sky]

I've been searching with google and looking in the two books I have "PHP 5-Power Programming" and "PHP, MySqL and Apache" and can not find something like you are talking about.

Are you saying I need to declare the variable type as in

$tnode= new [i]datatype[/i] ?

I see you do this in a class.
Should I do this with every variable? Declare it?

can you show me a line of how to do this?

[Jessica]

You can't use the -> operator on a non-object. What is $tnode supposed to be? A "Text Node". What is that?
$element=$tnode->createTextNode("michelle");

Where is the function createTextNode defined?

[sky]

I want ---$tnode to be a text node--- that is appended to my $nameNode node
that is then appended to my $rootNode and then ultimate saved in my $dom and
saved to my xml file.

Here is what I'm working with.
It seems to work but I want to make sure it's the correct way to code.
What would be the correct way to create the object?

[code]<?php
$dom = new DomDocument;
$dom->load("theXML.xml");

$rootElement=$dom->createElement('person');
$nameNode=$dom->createElement('name');
$textNode=$dom->createTextNode("Thomas");

// Above I created my nodes to be appended
// to my $dom object and then saved in my file.

$nameNode->appendChild($textNode);
$rootElement->appendChild($nameNode);
$dom->appendChild($rootElement);

// appends all the nodes to the $dom object

$dom->save("newxmlfile.xml");
// saves the domDocument into a file called "theXML2.xml"

?>[/code]

output:
[code]<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<person><name>Thomas</name></person>[/code]

thanks,

sky

[Jessica]

$dom = new DomDocument;
This is you creating an object.

You might have to do:
$textNode= new TextNode();
$textNode=$dom->createTextNode("Thomas");


Post the code for the createTextNode() function?

[sky]

Here is the place I found the createTextNode function.

http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.dom-domdocument-createtextnode.php

Am I using it wrong?

[Jessica]

After
$textNode=$dom->createTextNode("Thomas");

Add
print_r($textNode);
What does it say?

[sky]

It prints to the browser:

DOMText Object ( )

[Jessica]

So it looks like the object isn't being created properly, since it has no properties. I don't really understand what you're trying to do here. What is "Thomas"? What is a textnode anyway? Gah!

[sky]

I'm sorry.

All I was trying to do was create an $dom object to append my xml file

I wanted to create a new element "$rootNode"
<person>    </person>

then create a text node for that element "$textNode"
  <person>
        <name> Thomas </name>
  </person>

should I just create another element and append
to the <person> element?

Did I create the $rootNode correctly?

[Jessica]

I can't help you, maybe someone else can. Best of luck.

[sky]

thanks for trying