help on adding (pushing) xml nodes into arrays

registerInventory = function(){
    //register the products into a _global variable, this makes cloning the xml easier later on.
    _global.registeredItems = this.firstChild.childNodes;
    //show how many items are in the catalog
    inventoryItems = registeredItems.length + " Items in inventory";
    //delete the original XML object to free up memory
    delete inventory;
    //tell the display were ready to show the first item in our inventory
    inventoryLoaded();
}
inventoryLoaded = function(){
    //loop through the array of xml childNodes
    for(var i=0; i<registeredItems.length; i++){
        //attach a "product" mc for graphic representation
        attachMovie("product", "product"+i, 100+i);
        //set the label for this product
        this["product"+i].label = unescape(registeredItems[i].attributes.name);
        //link this mc to a basket childNode by product id
        this["product"+i].id = unescape(registeredItems[i].attributes.id);
        //position mc
        this["product"+i]._x = 15;
        this["product"+i]._y = 35+(i*25);
        //attach addToBasket handler to mc
        this["product"+i].onRelease = addToBasket;
    }
}
addToBasket = function(){
    //get a clone of the childNode associated with this MCs id
    var item = getItem(this.id);
    //attach the clone to the basket XML object
    basket.appendChild(item);
    //update graphic representation of basket
    updateBasket();
}
removeFromBasket = function(){
    //loop through childNodes of basket XML object untill a childNode with a product id matching the MCs id is found
    for(var i=0; i<basket.childNodes.length; i++){
        //if ids match remove the childNode from basket XML
        if(this.id == unescape(basket.childNodes[i].attributes.id)){
            basket.childNodes[i].removeNode();
            //break loop
            i = basket.childNodes.length;
        }
    }
    //update graphic representation of basket
    updateBasket();
}

function getItem(id){
    var item;
    //loop through registered items untill matching id is found
    for(var i=0; i<registeredItems.length; i++){
        if(unescape(registeredItems[i].attributes.id) == id){
            //return a clone of the childNode, breaks the loop as well
            return registeredItems[i].cloneNode(true);
        }
    }
}
updateBasket = function(){
    //removes basketCase MC & all MCs attached to it, creates a fresh one
    refreshBasketCase();
    //loop through childNodes of basket XML
    for(var i=0; i<basket.childNodes.length; i++){
        //attach product MC for each childNode
        basketCase.attachMovie("product", "product"+i, 200+i);
        //set MC label/id for linkage
        basketCase["product"+i].label = unescape(basket.childNodes[i].attributes.name);
        basketCase["product"+i].id = unescape(basket.childNodes[i].attributes.id);
        //position MC
        basketCase["product"+i]._x = 0;
        basketCase["product"+i]._y = i*25;
        //set removeFromBasket handler
        basketCase["product"+i].onRelease = removeFromBasket;
    }
    //show how many items are in the basket
    basketItems = basket.childNodes.length + " Items in basket";
}
refreshBasketCase = function(){
    //pretty self explainitory here
    removeMovieClip(basketCase);
    createEmptyMovieClip("basketCase", 99);
    basketCase._x = 215;
    basketCase._y = 35;
}

inventory = new XML();
inventory.ignoreWhite = true;
inventory.onLoad = registerInventory;
inventory.load("inventory.php");

createEmptyMovieClip("basketCase", 99);
basket = new XML();
basket.ignoreWhite = true;

<?php
require("includes/sql_config.php");

$pic_base = "images/inventory/";

$sql = "SELECT * FROM inventory";
$inventory = mysql_query($sql);

$inventory_xml = array(
    '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>',
    '<inventory picbase="'. urlencode($pic_base) . '">'
);

while($item = mysql_fetch_assoc($inventory)){
    $inventory_xml[] = '<product id="' . urlencode($item['id']) . '" name="' . urlencode($item['name']) . '" stock="' . urlencode($item['stock']) . '" price="' . urlencode($item['price']) . '" pic="' . urlencode($item['pic']) . '"><description><![CDATA[ ' . $item['description'] . ' ]]></description></product>';
}

$inventory_xml[] = '</inventory>';
$inventory_xml = implode("", $inventory_xml);

header("Content-Type:text/xml");
echo $inventory_xml;

/*
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<inventory>
    <product id="1" name="product+1" stock="966" price="9895">
        <description> this is product ones description </description>
    </product>
    <product id="2" name="product+2" stock="926" price="91895">
        <description> this is product twos description </description>
    </product>
    <product id="3" name="product+3" stock="266" price="12345">
        <description> this is product threes description </description>
    </product>
</inventory>
*/

?>

//add param to basket function
addToBasket = function(id){
  //get a clone of the childNode associated with this MCs id
  var item = getItem(id ? id : this.id);
  //attach the clone to the basket XML object
  basket.appendChild(item);
  //update graphic representation of basket
  updateBasket();
}

//create shared object, attempt to find item ids & put them in the basket
cachedBasket = sharedobject.getLocal("basket");
cachedItems = cachedBasket.data.items.split("||");
for(var i=0; i<cachedItems.length; i++){
    addToBasket(cachedItems[i]);
}

//cache basket
cacheBasket = function(){
    basketItems = new Array();
    for(var i=0; i<basket.childNodes.length; i++){
        basketItems.push( unescape(basket.childNodes[i].attributes.id) );
    }
    cachedBasket.data.items = basketItems.join("||");
}