--TEST-- SimpleXML and CDATA --SKIPIF-- --FILE-- Plain text. EOF ); print_r($sxe); $elem1 = $sxe->elem1; $elem2 = $elem1->elem2; var_dump(trim((string)$elem2)); ?> ===DONE=== --EXPECT-- simplexml_element Object ( [elem1] => simplexml_element Object ( [comment] => simplexml_element Object ( ) [elem2] => simplexml_element Object ( [elem3] => simplexml_element Object ( [elem4] => simplexml_element Object ( [test] => simplexml_element Object ( ) ) ) ) ) ) string(11) "CDATA block" ===DONE===