Generating Large XML Feeds in Multiple Passes

Large product feeds and marketplace exports often fail for one simple reason: the script tries to fetch everything, render everything, and write everything in one request. On many hosts that collides with max_execution_time long before the export finishes.

Better Pattern

• Split the export into batches.
• Track progress between requests.
• Append partial output or write intermediate files.
• Use AJAX or a simple step controller to move through the export safely.

Good Use Cases

• Yandex Market or Google-style XML feeds for large catalogs.
• Exports with many TV fields or expensive joins.
• Projects on shared hosting where raising limits is not realistic.

The main architectural idea is simple: treat a feed as a job, not a page render. Once you do that, chunking, retrying, and resuming become much easier to design.