How can I properly prepare XML files for document-based database?

How can I move @attributes to the root of that element when converting XML to JSON in PHP?

The simplest way I found to convert my XML file is to json_encode. But I would like to get rid of the @attributes so id and name for example would be directly at the root as I'll be importing everything directly into a database for manipulation and computation. (Data are from 7 days to die for the curious).

How can I easily convert those XML files to json for I can then import those into my database without having those ugly @attributes? I understand their purpose but I have no need for them here, as you can see.

Small sample:

<block id="1" name="stone">
    <property name="Material" value="stone"/>
    <property name="Shape" value="Terrain"/>
    <property name="Mesh" value="terrain"/>
    <property name="Texture" value="1"/>
    <property name="ImposterExchange" value="imposterBlock" param1="97"/>
    <property name="DropScale" value="2"/>
    <property name="LPHardnessScale" value="2"/>
    <property name="Weight" value="125"/>
    <property name="Map.Color" value="100,100,100"/>
    <property class="RepairItems"> <property name="cobblestones" value="6"/> </property>
    <property name="HarvestOverdamage" value="true"/> <!-- default=true -->
    <drop event="Harvest" name="rockSmall" count="25" tool_category="harvestingTools"/>
    <drop event="Harvest" name="ironFragment" count="2" tool_category="harvestingTools"/>
    <drop event="Destroy" count="0"/>
    <drop event="Fall" name="rockSmall" count="50" prob="0.23" stick_chance="0"/>
    <drop event="Fall" name="ironFragment" count="4" prob="0.23" stick_chance="0"/>
    <drop event="Fall" name="destroyedStone" count="1" prob="0.1" stick_chance="0.5"/>
    <property name="CanMobsSpawnOn" value="true"/>
    <property name="EconomicValue" value="5"/>
    <property name="EconomicBundleSize" value="1"/>
    <property name="SellableToTrader" value="false"/>
</block>

Very small should-look-like:

{
    id: 1,
    name: "stone",
    property: [
        {
            name: "Material",
            value: "stone"
        },
        {
            name: "Shape",
            value: "Terrain"
        }
    ],
    drop: [
        {
            event: "Harverst",
            name: "rockSmall",
            count: 25
        },
        {
            event: "Harvest",
            name: "ironFragment",
            count: 2
        }
    ]
}

Solution

Let's try this:

<?php

$xmlContent = '<block id="1" name="stone">
    <property name="Material" value="stone"/>
    <property name="Shape" value="Terrain"/>
    <property name="Mesh" value="terrain"/>
    <property name="Texture" value="1"/>
    <property name="ImposterExchange" value="imposterBlock" param1="97"/>
    <property name="DropScale" value="2"/>
    <property name="LPHardnessScale" value="2"/>
    <property name="Weight" value="125"/>
    <property name="Map.Color" value="100,100,100"/>
    <property class="RepairItems"> <property name="cobblestones" value="6"/> </property>
    <property name="HarvestOverdamage" value="true"/> <!-- default=true -->
    <drop event="Harvest" name="rockSmall" count="25" tool_category="harvestingTools"/>
    <drop event="Harvest" name="ironFragment" count="2" tool_category="harvestingTools"/>
    <drop event="Destroy" count="0"/>
    <drop event="Fall" name="rockSmall" count="50" prob="0.23" stick_chance="0"/>
    <drop event="Fall" name="ironFragment" count="4" prob="0.23" stick_chance="0"/>
    <drop event="Fall" name="destroyedStone" count="1" prob="0.1" stick_chance="0.5"/>
    <property name="CanMobsSpawnOn" value="true"/>
    <property name="EconomicValue" value="5"/>
    <property name="EconomicBundleSize" value="1"/>
    <property name="SellableToTrader" value="false"/>
</block>';

$xml = simplexml_load_string($xmlContent, "SimpleXMLElement", LIBXML_NOCDATA);
$array = object_to_array($xml);
echo json_encode($array, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);

function object_to_array($input)
{
    $return = array();
    foreach ((array)$input as $key => $value) {
        if (strpos($key, '@') === 0) {
            $key = substr($key, 1);
        }
        if (is_array($value) || is_object($value)) {
            $value = object_to_array($value);
        }

        $return[$key] = $value;
    }
    return $return;
}

Output:

{
    "attributes": {
        "id": "1",
        "name": "stone"
    },
    "property": [
        {
            "attributes": {
                "name": "Material",
                "value": "stone"
            }
        },