Parsing XML supplier feeds for 1C-Bitrix

Parsing XML Feeds from Suppliers for 1C-Bitrix

A supplier's XML feed is a structured file with up-to-date product data: prices, stock, descriptions, characteristics. Unlike Excel price lists, XML is predictable: it has a schema and can be parsed reliably. But "predictable" doesn't mean "standard" — each supplier invents their own XML format.

XML Feed Formats

Several common structures are encountered:

Simple flat XML:

<products>
  <product>
    <id>12345</id>
    <name>Product A</name>
    <price>1500.00</price>
    <stock>10</stock>
  </product>
</products>

Hierarchical with categories:

<catalog>
  <categories>
    <category id="1" name="Electronics"/>
  </categories>
  <offers>
    <offer id="12345" category_id="1">
      <name>Product A</name>
      <param name="Color">Black</param>
    </offer>
  </offers>
</catalog>

With namespaces:

<feed xmlns:g="http://base.google.com/ns/1.0">
  <entry>
    <g:id>12345</g:id>
    <g:price>1500 RUB</g:price>
  </entry>
</feed>

Parsing Tools in PHP

SimpleXML — for small files (up to 50 MB):

$xml = simplexml_load_file($filePath);
foreach ($xml->offers->offer as $offer) {
    $id = (string)$offer['id'];
    $price = (float)$offer->price;
}

XMLReader — for large files (hundreds of thousands of items). Reads file as stream, doesn't load into memory entirely:

$reader = new XMLReader();
$reader->open($filePath);
while ($reader->read()) {
    if ($reader->nodeType === XMLReader::ELEMENT && $reader->name === 'offer') {
        $node = new SimpleXMLElement($reader->readOuterXml());
        // process single element
    }
}

For a 500,000-item feed, XMLReader is the only working option. SimpleXML with that size will exhaust PHP memory.

XPath — for navigating complex structures:

$nodes = $xml->xpath('//catalog/offers/offer[@available="true"]');

Attributes and Nested Parameters

Many suppliers store product characteristics as a list of <param> elements:

<offer id="111">
  <param name="Brand">Samsung</param>
  <param name="Warranty">12 months</param>
  <param name="Color">Silver</param>
</offer>

Parsing such parameters:

$params = [];
foreach ($offer->param as $param) {
    $name = (string)$param['name'];
    $value = (string)$param;
    $params[$name] = $value;
}
// $params['Brand'] === 'Samsung'

Then map $params['Brand'] → BRAND property in Bitrix infoblock.

Mapping to Infoblock Properties

Product properties in Bitrix are stored in b_iblock_element_property tables (strings and numbers), b_iblock_element_prop_s{N} (optimized storage). Writing via API:

CIBlockElement::SetPropertyValueCode($elementId, 'BRAND', $params['Brand']);
// or bulk on Add/Update:
'PROPERTY_VALUES' => [
    'BRAND'    => $params['Brand'],
    'WARRANTY' => $params['Warranty'],
]

For list properties (type LIST), value must be ID of list element. If no such value exists — add via CIBlockPropertyEnum::Add().

Synchronization: Update vs. Full Reload

Full reload — simpler. Deactivate all, create/update from feed data, not found remains inactive. Problem: with large catalog (50K+ items) — slow and heavy on database.

Incremental sync — update only changed. Requires comparison with previous state. Approaches:

• Data row hash: if md5(serialize($currentData)) !== $savedHash — update.
• modified field in feed: update only if change date is newer.

Schedule and Notifications

Feed is processed on schedule via cron. Typical schedule for prices/stock — every 2–4 hours, for descriptions/characteristics — once daily.

0 */3 * * * /usr/bin/php /home/bitrix/www/local/cron/supplier_xml_import.php

After each run — log entry: how many updated, how many errors, execution time. On error (file unavailable, invalid XML) — notification to admin.

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