What I am trying to do is read in an xml file (working just fine). Scan element children, and based on element->data value, set the data value as new variable. Then accept post from html page with values to those NEW variables. Heres my code so far: $file = "comps.xml"; $xml = simplexml_load_file('comps.xml'); foreach ($xml->group as $group) { if ($group->uservisible=="true"){ pt_register('POST',$group->id); //ya I know -don't register globals, I'll change it when it works. } } // these variables have been set in a different html file as check box input, so the post should be // $group->id=on // this next part is where I'm stuck. foreach ($xml->group as $group) { if ($group->uservisible=="true"){ if ($group->id=="on") { // this is the part that doesn't work. the value is still the data from the // xml file element, not the html post. echo $group->name; } } }