See also: Available types for the
xmlandxml[]DBAL types
| PostgreSQL function | Register for DQL as | Implemented by |
|---|---|---|
| xml_is_well_formed | XML_IS_WELL_FORMED | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XmlIsWellFormed |
| xml_is_well_formed_content | XML_IS_WELL_FORMED_CONTENT | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XmlIsWellFormedContent |
| xml_is_well_formed_document | XML_IS_WELL_FORMED_DOCUMENT | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XmlIsWellFormedDocument |
| xmlagg | XMLAGG | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XmlAgg |
| xmlcomment | XMLCOMMENT | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XmlComment |
| xmlconcat | XMLCONCAT | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XmlConcat |
| xmlexists | XMLEXISTS | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XmlExists |
| xmlpi | XMLPI | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XmlPi |
| xmlserialize | XMLSERIALIZE | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XmlSerialize |
| xmltext | XMLTEXT | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XmlText |
| xpath | XPATH | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\Xpath |
| xpath_exists | XPATH_EXISTS | MartinGeorgiev\Doctrine\ORM\Query\AST\Functions\XpathExists |
Usage examples
The results come from these rows of App\Entity\Article, read with PostgreSQL’s default xmloption, content:
| id | category | xmlData | xmlText | createdAt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | news | <feed><item active="true"><title>First</title></item><item><title>Second</title></item></feed> |
<feed><item/></feed> |
2026-09-01 08:00 |
| 2 | news | <feed><item><title>Third</title></item></feed> |
<item/><item/> |
2026-09-02 08:00 |
| 3 | blog | <feed/> |
plain text |
2026-09-03 08:00 |
Each -- → line under a query is one row of its result. A query without its own ORDER BY has its rows listed in sample-row order, or by group.
-- ORDER BY inside the aggregate - not obvious in Doctrine DQL
SELECT e.category, XMLAGG(e.xmlData ORDER BY e.createdAt) FROM App\Entity\Article e GROUP BY e.category
-- → ['category' => 'blog', 1 => '<feed/>']
-- ['category' => 'news', 1 => '<feed><item active="true"><title>First</title></item><item><title>Second</title></item></feed><feed><item><title>Third</title></item></feed>']
-- xml_is_well_formed uses the session xmloption (DOCUMENT or CONTENT mode)
-- xml_is_well_formed_document always requires a single root element
-- xml_is_well_formed_content accepts fragments and plain text nodes
SELECT XML_IS_WELL_FORMED(e.xmlText) FROM App\Entity\Article e
-- → [1 => true]
-- [1 => true]
-- [1 => true]
SELECT XML_IS_WELL_FORMED_DOCUMENT(e.xmlText) FROM App\Entity\Article e
-- → [1 => true]
-- [1 => false]
-- [1 => false]
SELECT XML_IS_WELL_FORMED_CONTENT(e.xmlText) FROM App\Entity\Article e
-- → [1 => true]
-- [1 => true]
-- [1 => true]
-- XPath text() node extraction and attribute predicates
SELECT XPATH('//item/title/text()', e.xmlData) FROM App\Entity\Article e WHERE e.id = :id
-- → [1 => '{First,Second}']
SELECT XPATH_EXISTS('//item[@active="true"]', e.xmlData) FROM App\Entity\Article e WHERE e.id = :id
-- → [1 => true]
-- XPath existence test (boolean) and XML processing instruction
SELECT XMLEXISTS('//item', e.xmlData) FROM App\Entity\Article e WHERE e.id = :id
-- → [1 => true]
SELECT XMLPI('php', 'echo "hello";') FROM App\Entity\Article e WHERE e.id = :id
-- → [1 => '<?php echo "hello";?>']
-- XMLSERIALIZE takes DOCUMENT or CONTENT, then TEXT or VARCHAR, then an optional INDENT or NO INDENT
SELECT XMLSERIALIZE(DOCUMENT e.xmlData AS TEXT INDENT) FROM App\Entity\Article e WHERE e.id = :id
-- → [1 => "<feed>\n <item active=\"true\">\n <title>First</title>\n </item>\n <item>\n <title>Second</title>\n </item>\n</feed>"]