foo 123 '); var_dump(gettype($xml->node)); var_dump(isset($xml->node)); var_dump(empty($xml->node)); var_dump(is_null($xml->node)); var_dump(@count($xml->node)); var_dump(@count($xml->node->children())); echo "----------------------\n"; var_dump(gettype($xml->bar)); var_dump(isset($xml->bar)); var_dump(empty($xml->bar)); var_dump(is_null($xml->bar)); var_dump(@count($xml->bar)); var_dump(@count($xml->bar->children())); echo "----------------------\n"; var_dump(gettype($xml->children('abstract',true)->node)); var_dump(isset($xml->children('abstract',true)->node)); var_dump(empty($xml->children('abstract',true)->node)); var_dump(is_null($xml->children('abstract',true)->node)); var_dump(@count($xml->children('abstract',true)->node)); var_dump(@count($xml->children('abstract',true)->node->children())); echo "----------------------\n"; var_dump(gettype($xml->children('abstract',true)->bar)); var_dump(isset($xml->children('abstract',true)->bar)); var_dump(empty($xml->children('abstract',true)->bar)); var_dump(is_null($xml->children('abstract',true)->bar)); var_dump(@count($xml->children('abstract',true)->bar)); var_dump(@count($xml->children('abstract',true)->bar->children()));