Read large xml files with php

process_large_xml.php

<?php

// Assuming we have the following xml structure:
//<redords>
//    <record>
//        <field1>Lorem ipsum</field1>
//        <field2>Doler</field2>
//        <field3>Sit amet</field3>
//    </record>
//    ...
//    <record>
//        <field1>Virescut</field1>
//        <field2>Volnere</field2>
//        <field3>Virtus</field3>
//    </record>
//</records>

$file = "xml_file_to_read";
$reader = new \XMLReader();
$reader->open($file);
while($reader->read()) {
    if ($reader->nodeType == \XMLReader::ELEMENT and $reader->name == 'record') {
        $doc = new \DOMDocument('1.0', 'UTF-8');
        // Create simple xml object for convinient access to subelements 
        $record = simplexml_import_dom($doc->importNode($reader->expand(), true));
        var_dump($record);
    }
}
$reader->close();