XML to HTML via PHP

@MoldarinFeb 16.2006

I’d really appreciate some help to exctract XML content to HTML via PHP. I’ve ordered a book on PHP, but I wouldn’t have it for a couple of weeks and I need this ready ASAP.

Here’s the external XML file:

~~[quote=”XML fila”]~~

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”ISO-8859-1″?>
<Listings>
<Count>2</Count>
<Listing>
<Title><![CDATA[~~[b]~~Tittel[/b]]]></Title>
<URL>~~[b]~~synlig.adresse.net[/b]</URL>
<URI>~~[b][url]~~http://adresse-til.no/e[/url][/b]</URI>
<Description><![CDATA[~~[b]~~Beskrivelse[/b]]]></Description>
<Bid>0</Bid>
</Listing>
<Listing>
<Title><![CDATA[~~[b]~~Tittel2[/b]]]></Title>
<URL>~~[b]~~synlig.adresse2.net[/b]</URL>
<URI>~~[b][url]~~http://adresse-til2.no/e[/url][/b]</URI>
<Description><![CDATA[~~[b]~~Beskrivelse2[/b]]]></Description>
<Bid>0</Bid>
</Listing>
</Listings>

[/quote]

And here’s what I like to output:

[code]<a href=”http://adresse-til.no/e” title=”Tittel”><h3>Tittel Beskrivelse</a> <a href=”http://adresse-til.no/e title=”Tittel”>synlig.adresse.net</a>

<a href=”http://adresse-til2.no/e” title=”Tittel2″><h3>Tittel2 Beskrivelse2</a> <a href=”http://adresse-til2.no/e title=”Tittel2″>synlig.adresse2.net</a>[/code]

Thanks in advance!

to post a comment

PHP

18 Comments(s) _↴

@chazzyFeb 17.2006 — #You don't need PHP to do this, you should be using XSLT.

@NogDogFeb 17.2006 — #If you're running PHP5:

[code=php]
 <?php
 if (file_exists('sample.xml'))
 {
 $xml = simplexml_load_file('sample.xml');
 foreach($xml->Listing as $val)
 {
 echo <<<XML
 <p><a href="{$val->URI}" title="{$val->Title}"><strong>{$val->Title}</strong>
 {$val->Description}</a><span style="font-size: small">
 <a href="{$val->URI}" title="{$val->Title}">{$val->URL}</a></span> 
 XML;
 }
 }
 else
 {
 exit('Failed to open test.xml.');
 }
 ?>
 [/code]

(Note: I altered the HTML markup a bit so that it might actually have a chance of validating.)

@MoldarinauthorFeb 17.2006 — #And what if I'm running PHP 4.3.11?

@chazzyFeb 17.2006 — #And what if I'm running PHP 4.3.11?[/QUOTE]

I would really recommend you to use an XML style sheet (XSLT) to just style it. no need for a server side language to parse this into your text.

@MoldarinauthorFeb 17.2006 — #How can I do this?

The XML file is external and I cannot modify it.

I thougt using PHP vould be the easyiest way of doing this?

@the_treeFeb 17.2006 — #If you can't edit the XML file then I'm afraid XSLT is out of the question, you can still use PHP 4.3, it would just be trickier.

http://uk2.php.net/domxml

@chazzyFeb 17.2006 — #well, using DOM manipulation you can add the stylesheet to doc when you call it.

@bokehFeb 17.2006 — #you can still use PHP 4.3, it would just be trickier.[/QUOTE]It is really pretty simple, if not a bit fiddley. All you need to do is build a stack. Pass through the XML string and work on the data. Everytime a new tag opens put it on the top of the stack, when the tag closes take it off the stack. That way you keep track of where you are within the document tree. If you come across a closing tag that doesn't match the opening tag on the top of the stack the XML is not well formed.

@MoldarinauthorFeb 17.2006 — #Anyhow... I can't PHP just yet, so could anyone please help me with the code?

And I know about the validation part. I just figured I'd be able to edit it myself once I got it working...

@bokehFeb 17.2006 — #A quick search found this:

[code=php]<?php
 
 $xmlFile = 'test.xml';
 
 echo'<pre>';
 print_r(xmlFileToArray($xmlFile));
 echo'</pre>';
 
 
 
 // {{{ toString()
 /**
 * This method converts a file to a string. It returns an Error object if it is unable to open the file.
 *
 * @param    fileName String. The name of the file to convert.
 *
 * @return    String
 * @author  simgar
 */
 
 function & toString( $fileName )
 {
 if ($content_array = file($fileName))
 {
 return implode("", $content_array);
 }
 else
 {
 // Error
 return false;
 }
 }
 // }}}
 
 // {{{ xmlFileToArray()
 /**
 * This static method converts an xml file to an associative array 
 * duplicating the xml file structure.
 *
 * @param    $fileName. String. The name of the xml file to convert. 
 *             This method returns an Error object if this file does not 
 *             exist or is invalid.
 * @param    $includeTopTag. booleal. Whether or not the topmost xml tag 
 *             should be included in the array. The default value for this is false.
 * @param    $lowerCaseTags. boolean. Whether or not tags should be 
 *            set to lower case. Default value for this parameter is true.
 * @access    public static
 * @return    Associative Array
 * @author    Jason Read <[email protected]>
 */
 function & xmlFileToArray($fileName, $includeTopTag = false, $lowerCaseTags = true)
 {
 // Definition file not found
 if (!file_exists($fileName))
 {
 // Error
 return false;
 }
 $p = xml_parser_create();
 xml_parse_into_struct($p,toString($fileName),$vals,$index);
 xml_parser_free($p);
 $xml = array();
 $levels = array();
 $multipleData = array();
 $prevTag = "";
 $currTag = "";
 $topTag = false;
 foreach ($vals as $val)
 {
 // Open tag
 if ($val["type"] == "open")
 {
 if (!_xmlFileToArrayOpen($topTag, $includeTopTag, $val, $lowerCaseTags, 
 $levels, $prevTag, $multipleData, $xml))
 {
 continue;
 }
 }
 // Close tag
 else if ($val["type"] == "close")
 {
 if (!_xmlFileToArrayClose($topTag, $includeTopTag, $val, $lowerCaseTags, 
 $levels, $prevTag, $multipleData, $xml))
 {
 continue;
 }
 }
 // Data tag
 else if ($val["type"] == "complete" && isset($val["value"]))
 {
 $loc =& $xml;
 foreach ($levels as $level)
 {
 $temp =& $loc[str_replace(":arr#", "", $level)];
 $loc =& $temp;
 }
 $tag = $val["tag"];
 if ($lowerCaseTags)
 {
 $tag = strtolower($val["tag"]);
 }
 $loc[$tag] = str_replace("\n", "n", $val["value"]);
 }
 // Tag without data
 else if ($val["type"] == "complete")
 {
 _xmlFileToArrayOpen($topTag, $includeTopTag, $val, $lowerCaseTags, 
 $levels, $prevTag, $multipleData, $xml);
 _xmlFileToArrayClose($topTag, $includeTopTag, $val, $lowerCaseTags, 
 $levels, $prevTag, $multipleData, $xml);
 }
 }
 return $xml;
 }
 // }}}
 
 // {{{ _xmlFileToArrayOpen()
 /**
 * Private support function for xmlFileToArray. Handles an xml OPEN tag.
 *
 * @param    $topTag. String. xmlFileToArray topTag variable
 * @param    $includeTopTag. boolean. xmlFileToArray includeTopTag variable
 * @param    $val. String[]. xmlFileToArray val variable
 * @param    $currTag. String. xmlFileToArray currTag variable
 * @param    $lowerCaseTags. boolean. xmlFileToArray lowerCaseTags variable
 * @param    $levels. String[]. xmlFileToArray levels variable
 * @param    $prevTag. String. xmlFileToArray prevTag variable
 * @param    $multipleData. boolean. xmlFileToArray multipleData variable
 * @param    $xml. String[]. xmlFileToArray xml variable
 * @access    private static
 * @return    boolean
 * @author    Jason Read <[email protected]>
 */
 function _xmlFileToArrayOpen(& $topTag, & $includeTopTag, & $val, & $lowerCaseTags, 
 & $levels, & $prevTag, & $multipleData, & $xml)
 {
 // don't include top tag
 if (!$topTag && !$includeTopTag)
 {
 $topTag = $val["tag"];
 return false;
 }
 $currTag = $val["tag"];
 if ($lowerCaseTags)
 {
 $currTag = strtolower($val["tag"]);
 }
 $levels[] = $currTag;
 
  // Multiple items w/ same name. Convert to array.
  if ($prevTag === $currTag)
  {
   if (!array_key_exists($currTag, $multipleData) || 
   !$multipleData[$currTag]["multiple"])
   {
   $loc =& $xml;
   foreach ($levels as $level)
   {
   $temp =& $loc[$level];
   $loc =& $temp;
   }
   $loc = array($loc);
   $multipleData[$currTag]["multiple"] = true;
   $multipleData[$currTag]["multiple_count"] = 0;
   }
   $multipleData[$currTag]["popped"] = false;
   $levels[] = ":arr#" . ++$multipleData[$currTag]["multiple_count"];
  }
  else
  {
   $multipleData[$currTag]["multiple"] = false;
  }
 
  // Add attributes array
  if (array_key_exists("attributes", $val))
  {
   $loc =& $xml;
   foreach ($levels as $level)
   {
   $temp =& $loc[str_replace(":arr#", "", $level)];
   $loc =& $temp;
   }
   $keys = array_keys($val["attributes"]);
   foreach ($keys as $key)
   {
   $tag = $key;
   if ($lowerCaseTags)
   {
   $tag = strtolower($tag);
   }
   $loc["attributes"][$tag] = & $val["attributes"][$key];
   }
  }
  return true;
 }
 // }}}
 
 // {{{ _xmlFileToArrayClose()
 /**
 * Private support function for xmlFileToArray. Handles an xml OPEN tag.
 *
 * @param    $topTag. String. xmlFileToArray topTag variable
 * @param    $includeTopTag. boolean. xmlFileToArray includeTopTag variable
 * @param    $val. String[]. xmlFileToArray val variable
 * @param    $currTag. String. xmlFileToArray currTag variable
 * @param    $lowerCaseTags. boolean. xmlFileToArray lowerCaseTags variable
 * @param    $levels. String[]. xmlFileToArray levels variable
 * @param    $prevTag. String. xmlFileToArray prevTag variable
 * @param    $multipleData. boolean. xmlFileToArray multipleData variable
 * @param    $xml. String[]. xmlFileToArray xml variable
 * @access    private static
 * @return    boolean
 * @author    Jason Read <[email protected]>
 */
 function _xmlFileToArrayClose(& $topTag, & $includeTopTag, & $val, & $lowerCaseTags, 
 & $levels, & $prevTag, & $multipleData, & $xml)
 {
 // don't include top tag
 if ($topTag && !$includeTopTag && $val["tag"] == $topTag)
 {
 return false;
 }
 if ($multipleData[$currTag]["multiple"])
 {
 $tkeys = array_reverse(array_keys($multipleData));
 foreach ($tkeys as $tkey)
 {
 if ($multipleData[$tkey]["multiple"] && !$multipleData[$tkey]["popped"])
 {
 array_pop($levels);
 $multipleData[$tkey]["popped"] = true;
 break;
 }
 else if (!$multipleData[$tkey]["multiple"])
 {
 break;
 }
 }
 }
 $prevTag = array_pop($levels);
 if (strpos($prevTag, "arr#"))
 {
 $prevTag = array_pop($levels);
 }
 return true;
 }
 // }}}
 ?> [/code]

@NogDogFeb 17.2006 — #

[code=php]
 // read xml file into string
 $text = file_get_contents("sample.xml");
 
 // parse the xml into structure
 $p = xml_parser_create();
 xml_parser_set_option($p, XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING, 0);
 xml_parse_into_struct($p, $text, $vals, $index);
 xml_parser_free($p);
 
 // read data of interest from structure into array:
 for($i=0; $i<$index['Listings'][1]; $i++)
 {
 foreach(array('Title', 'URL', 'URI', 'Description', 'Bid') as $key)
 {
 $data[$i][$key] = $vals[$index[$key][$i]]['value'];
 }
 }
 
 // output HTML:
 foreach($data as $val)
 {
 echo <<<XML
 <p><a href="{$val['URI']}" title="{$val['Title']}"><strong>{$val['Title']}</strong>
 {$val['Description']}</a><span style="font-size: small">
 <a href="{$val['URI']}" title="{$val['Title']}">{$val['URL']}</a></span>
 XML;
 }
 [/code]

@SpectreReturnsFeb 17.2006 — #bokeh, are those ampersands I see before the functions? What version of PHP is that for, 3?

@bokehFeb 17.2006 — #bokeh, are those ampersands I see before the functions? What version of PHP is that for, 3?[/QUOTE]I'm not sure. I just copied it from a tutorial, gave it a quick run to make sure it worked and then posted it here.

@MoldarinauthorFeb 17.2006 — #I really can't figure this out. Shouldn't this work just fine?

[code=php]<?php
 // read xml file into string
 $text = file_get_contents("http://www.searchfeed.com/rd/feed/XMLFeed.jsp?trackID=N5757523274&pID=49403&cat=blog&nl=5&page=1&ip=$REMOTE_ADDR");
 
 // parse the xml into structure
 $p = xml_parser_create();
 xml_parser_set_option($p, XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING, 0);
 xml_parse_into_struct($p, $text, $vals, $index);
 xml_parser_free($p);
 
 // read data of interest from structure into array:
 for($i=0; $i<$index['Listings'][1]; $i++)
 {
 foreach(array('Title', 'URL', 'URI', 'Description', 'Bid') as $key)
 {
 $data[$i][$key] = $vals[$index[$key][$i]]['value'];
 }
 }
 
 // output HTML:
 foreach($data as $val)
 {
 echo <<<XML
 <h3><a href="{$val['URI']}" title="{$val['Title']}">{$val['Title']}</a></h3>
 <p>{$val['Description']}</p>
 <a href="{$val['URI']}" title="{$val['Title']}"><small>{$val['URL']}</small></a>
 XML;
 }
 ?>[/code]

? Checked with Amazon by the way and they say I'll have my PHP book within four weeks [SIZE=1](shipped to Norway - no, Norway's not the capitol of Denmark nor Sweeden and we don't have polar bears in the steets either)[/SIZE].

@NogDogFeb 17.2006 — #After the file_get_contents line, try doing the following to make sure you got the data:

[code=php]
 if(!$text)
 {
 die("ERROR: Unable to read file");
 }
 echo "DEBUG:<br>".html_entities($text);
 [/code]

@MoldarinauthorFeb 17.2006 — #[b]Parse error[/b]: parse error, unexpected '<' in [b]public_html/test.php[/b] on line [b]9[/b]

[code=php]<?php
 
 // read xml file into string
 $text = file_get_contents("http://www.searchfeed.com/rd/feed/XMLFeed.jsp?trackID=N5757523274&pID=49403&cat=blog&nl=5&page=1&ip=$REMOTE_ADDR");
 
 
 if(!$text) {
 die("ERROR: Unable to read file");
 }
 echo "DEBUG:<br>$text";
 
 // parse the xml into structure
 $p = xml_parser_create();
 xml_parser_set_option($p, XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING, 0);
 xml_parse_into_struct($p, $text, $vals, $index);
 xml_parser_free($p);
 
 // read data of interest from structure into array:
 for($i=0; $i<$index['Listings'][1]; $i++)
 {
 foreach(array('Title', 'URL', 'URI', 'Description', 'Bid') as $key)
 {
 $data[$i][$key] = $vals[$index[$key][$i]]['value'];
 }
 }
 
 // output HTML:
 foreach($data as $val)
 {
 echo <<<XML
 <h3><a href="{$val['URI']}" title="{$val['Title']}">{$val['Title']}</a></h3>
 <p>{$val['Description']}</p>
 <a href="{$val['URI']}" title="{$val['Title']}"><small>{$val['URL']}</small></a>
 XML;
 }
 ?>[/code]

@NogDogFeb 18.2006 — #I just ran this from my PC and it worked fine:

[code=php]
 <?php
 
 // read xml file into string
 $text = file_get_contents("http://www.searchfeed.com/rd/feed/XMLFeed.jsp?trackID=N5757523274&pID=49403&cat=blog&nl=5&page=1&ip=$REMOTE_ADDR");
 
 if(!$text) {
 die("ERROR: Unable to read file");
 }
 
 // parse the xml into structure
 $p = xml_parser_create();
 xml_parser_set_option($p, XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING, 0);
 xml_parse_into_struct($p, $text, $vals, $index);
 xml_parser_free($p);
 
 // read data of interest from structure into array:
 for($i=0; $i<$index['Listings'][1]; $i++)
 {
 foreach(array('Title', 'URL', 'URI', 'Description', 'Bid') as $key)
 {
 $data[$i][$key] = $vals[$index[$key][$i]]['value'];
 }
 }
 
 // output HTML:
 foreach($data as $val)
 {
 echo <<<XML
 <h3><a href="{$val['URI']}" title="{$val['Title']}">{$val['Title']}</a></h3>
 <p>{$val['Description']}</p>
 <a href="{$val['URI']}" title="{$val['Title']}"><small>{$val['URL']}</small></a>
 XML;
 }
 ?>
 [/code]

@MoldarinauthorFeb 18.2006 — #My web server (PHP 4.3.11) just show a blank page when I tried to use your code. -the document was empty.

Running it localy on Mac OS 10.4.5 just showed everything in the PHP as the document is written after [i]echo <<<XML[/i].

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