Retrieving XML data from Dynamic XML file

[klous-1]

Hi everyone,

I'm simply trying to grab a simple element from an XML.

The XML has the following format:

<geonames>
<geoname>
<toponymName>Grand Tikal Futura Hotel</toponymName>
<name>Grand Tikal Futura Hotel</name>
<lat>14.618</lat>
<lng>-90.5249</lng>
<geonameId>6475052</geonameId>
<countryCode>GT</countryCode>
<countryName>Guatemala</countryName>
<fcl>S</fcl>
<fcode>HTL</fcode>
<distance>1.23124</distance>
</geoname>
</geonames>

My PHP is currently like this (note the link to the XML is calling two PHP variables as part of it's URL)

<?PHP
header('Content-Type: text/plain');

$userId = '-USERID';

if ( $_GET['user'] ) {
if ( is_numeric( $_GET['user'] ) )
$userId = $_GET['user'];
else
exit('This isn\'t a valid user id.');
}

$url = 'http://www.google.com/latitude/apps/badge/api?user='.$userId.'&type=json';

// We get the content
$content = file_get_contents( $url );

// We convert the JSON to an object
$json = json_decode( $content );

$coord = $json->features[0]->geometry->coordinates;
$timeStamp = $json->features[0]->properties->timeStamp;

if ( ! $coord )
exit('This user doesn\'t exist.');

$date = date( 'Y-m-d H:i', $timeStamp );
$lat = $coord[1];
$lon = $coord[0];


$dom = new DomDocument();
$dom->load("http://www.URL.com?lat=$lat&lng=$lon&username=USER&style=short"); 
$titles = $dom->getElementsByTagName("geonameId");
foreach($titles as $node) {
   print $node->geonameId. " ";
   
}


?>

I've been trying and searching all morning, lots of different ideas, but with no luck. At the moment, for simplicity, I'm simply trying to output the needed field "GeonameId". I would really appreciate some help, and apologies.... I am, quite obviously, a novice! Thanks!

[JShor]

You have multiple problems with your code.

1. You're not accessing the node "geonameId" properly. You're trying to access it directly, as if it were the parent. The parent node of "geonameId" is "geoname", and "geoname" has a parent named "geonames" (so it is nested twice).

2. You need to access your node with item({count}), otherwise it will not access anything except the object itself.

3. You need to use nodeValue to access any node value. Any node names are accessed through getElementsByTagName() or getElementsById() (so $node->geonameId is not valid).

Also, you're looping through the nodes as if there are multiple nodes wih the name "geonameId", but your XML file contains only one. I kept the loop in there in case you do in fact need it, and I also added another line of code to access that node once on the zero level.

This should work for you:

<?PHP
header('Content-Type: text/plain');

$userId = '-USERID';

if ( $_GET['user'] ) {
if ( is_numeric( $_GET['user'] ) )
$userId = $_GET['user'];
else
exit('This isn\'t a valid user id.');
}

$url = 'http://www.google.com/latitude/apps/badge/api?user='.$userId.'&type=json';

// We get the content
$content = file_get_contents( $url );

// We convert the JSON to an object
$json = json_decode( $content );

$coord = $json->features[0]->geometry->coordinates;
$timeStamp = $json->features[0]->properties->timeStamp;

if ( ! $coord )
exit('This user doesn\'t exist.');

$date = date( 'Y-m-d H:i', $timeStamp );
$lat = $coord[1];
$lon = $coord[0];

$dom = new DomDocument();
$dom->load("test.xml"); 
$geonames = $dom->getElementsByTagName("geonames")->item(0);
$geoname = $geonames->getElementsByTagName("geoname")->item(0);
$titles = $geoname->getElementsByTagName("geonameId");
$c = 0; // This is the counter.

// This will print all of the nodes named "geonameId".
foreach($titles as $node) {
   print $titles->item($c)->nodeValue. " ";
   $c++; // Increase the counter for each node.
}

// This will print the first node value.  You should use this if you have only one node named "geonameId".
print $titles->item(0)->nodeValue. " ";

?>

... and it will return all of the values of the nodes named "geonameId" within geoname within geonames.

Here's some documentation on DomElements.
http://www.php.net/manual/en/class.domdocument.php

[klous-1]

Wow! Great reply....

It was really good of you to take time out to write that...must have taken a little while....I'm really grateful! Cheers!

Let me try all this out....and I'll let you know how I go!