What does the function saveXML() return in a DOMDocument?

The function saveXML() in a DOMDocument is designed to return the entire XML document as a string. This function serializes the current state of the DOMDocument (which represents an XML document) into a string format that adheres to XML standards.

When you call saveXML() without any parameters, it outputs the complete XML content, including all elements, attributes, and text nodes, starting from the root element down to all nested elements. This versatility allows developers to easily retrieve or manipulate the entire XML structure as a single string, making it suitable for tasks such as exporting data, writing to files, or transmitting XML over networks.

Options that suggest it returns only the root element, DOM nodes, or a formatted version of the XML do not accurately describe the capabilities or output of the saveXML() function. The method is specifically meant to provide a comprehensive string representation of the whole XML document encapsulated in the DOMDocument object.