Convert html > ul > li to a PHP array

ul-li-to-array.php

// original sauce: http://stackoverflow.com/a/9033361/158325

// dummy ul > li html content to parse into an array
$html = "<ul>
<li>Free shipping</li>
<li>Equipment & speakesr</li>
<li>Taxes & fees apply</li>
</ul>";

// call function to convert
print_r(ul_to_array($html));

// convert html > ul > li to a PHP array
function ul_to_array ($ul) {
  if (is_string($ul)) {
    // encode ampersand appropiately to avoid parsing warnings
    $ul=preg_replace('/&(?!#?[a-z0-9]+;)/', '&amp;', $ul);
    if (!$ul = simplexml_load_string($ul)) {
      trigger_error("Syntax error in UL/LI structure");
      return FALSE;
    }
    return ul_to_array($ul);
  } else if (is_object($ul)) {
    $output = array();
    foreach ($ul->li as $li) {
      $output[] = (isset($li->ul)) ? ul_to_array($li->ul) : (string) $li;
    }
    return $output;
  } else return FALSE;
}