--TEST-- SimpleXML: XPath --SKIPIF-- <?php if (!extension_loaded("simplexml")) print "skip"; ?> --FILE-- <?php $xml =<<<EOF <?xml version='1.0'?> <!DOCTYPE sxe SYSTEM "notfound.dtd"> <sxe id="elem1"> <elem1 attr1='first'> <!-- comment --> <elem2> <elem3> <elem4> <?test processing instruction ?> </elem4> </elem3> </elem2> </elem1> </sxe> EOF; $sxe = simplexml_load_string($xml); var_dump($sxe->xpath("elem1/elem2/elem3/elem4")); var_dump($sxe->xpath("***")); ?> --EXPECTF-- array(1) { [0]=> object(SimpleXMLElement)#%d (1) { ["test"]=> object(SimpleXMLElement)#%d (0) { } } } bool(false)