xml parsing

[Anon]

I am using Joe Stumps(per column) example for parsing xml data.
The startElement function looks like this:

function startElement($parser, $name, $attrs='') {
echo "We are in Start <br>";
global $open_tags, $temp, $current_tag;
$current_tag = $name;

if (isset($open_tags[$name]) and $format=$open_tags[$name]) {
switch($name) {

case 'RateQuote':
break;

case 'DestinationZip':
echo_mark($temp);
default:
break;
}
}
}

The result is that I get a page with "We are in start" displayed roughly 30 times. Question: When does the parameter $name get set? why is it not set in this function so that it will enter the case statements??

Thanks..