- var_dump: documentation ( source)
- htmlspecialchars: documentation ( source)
<?php
$foo1 = new SimpleXMLElement('<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root />');
$foo1->addChild("x", htmlspecialchars("<test />"));
$foo2 = new SimpleXMLElement('<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root><x /></root>');
$foo2->x = htmlspecialchars("<test />");
var_dump($foo1->x);
var_dump($foo2->x);
var_dump($foo1->asXML() === $foo2->asXML());