Serious help needed with xml parsing

kenneth74

I have huge problems getting the values from the xml document from an url. I want to read / parse the xml document I receive when sending an url to a site, and goo through it to check for errors, as I want to inform the user if the sms message was sent or not. And I want to use the result to look up what users it failed to send to.

// The idea is that I send mass-sms messages to a service provider, and receives an xml in return after sending the url to the browser. If all going well, the xml structure will be like below:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<SMS_INTERNETT version="2.0">
<RESPONSE processed="OK">
<BASIC_DATA sender="99999999" billedNumber="5533455" sId="10000000"/>
<RECIPIENT status="OK" address="+4700000000"/>
<RECIPIENT status="OK" address="+4700000001"/>
</RESPONSE>
</SMS_INTERNETT>

// If it has not gone ok, the xml code than is sent in return might look like below:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
- <SMS_INTERNETT version="2.0">
- <RESPONSE processed="OK">
<BASIC_DATA sender="99999999" billedNumber="742356487" sId="10000000" />
<RECIPIENT status="OK" address="+470000000" />
- <RECIPIENT status="FAILED" address="0000000">
<ERROR code="8000">Tried to send but failed.</ERROR>
</RECIPIENT>
</RESPONSE>
</SMS_INTERNETT>

I have tried with a lot of code examples from different sites. I am a newbie, and not able to understand all the code I have tried to use.

Does anyone know how to get the information above into an php array for me to continue to work with?

The fields (info) I need from the above xml documents are:
Recipient status and address.

So if I had it in an array like:
$recipients and $address I can work with it.

Can anyone help me with this problem, and perhaps help me write the code. I would be foreever thankful.

I know it is kind of rude to ask someone write me code, but I have tried for about three weeks to get it right. And if I post all the code I have tried, it would perhaps fill the forum alone 🙂

In order to understand it, what happends and so on: I believe I need code with comments.

If anyone can help, please do so, as I am desperate 🙂

Thanks.

AstroTeg

Have you looked at PHP's XML parsing?

kenneth74

Thanks for your quick answer.
Yes I have. But I can not say that I became any smarter of reading it. I have tried with the examples, and successfully parsed some xml examle codes, but when I try using the XML documents described in my original post, I get error messages saying: XML error: syntax error at line 1.
And the xml documents are valid xml as far as I can see.

My biggest problem is that I do not understand how it is parsing the documents, and when I want to change it to fit my xml output, I get lost in the process. That is why I feel that it is easier is someone could take the time to give me some code that actually work with my xml documents (as they are different from previous examples I have been able to see), and then to comment the code. That way I can see what happends from the comments on each line, and then ask specific questions to the one who posted the code.

And again, I know it is unusual to ask for so much help. But I am truly lost here, and I do not have a clue how to get this right.

AstroTeg

I know I don't have enough time to sit down and crank out an XML ruleset for your file. I'm not sure if others are game or not.

But in the meantime, we could continue helping you with your errors? What errors are you getting?

Or you can check out some books (I'd guess by now the library has got to have some PHP books) or hit up the local bookstore. You may find that a book is organized in a manner that makes more sense to you than maybe just some examples whipped up on the web...

ahundiak

<?php
error_reporting(E_ALL);

/* Will hold all the recipients */
$recipients = array();

/* Gets called once for each element*/
function startElement($parser, $element, $attrs)
{
    global $recipients;

switch($element) {
case 'RECIPIENT':
    $recipients[] = $attrs;
    break;
}
}
/* Probably need later */
function endElement($parser, $element)
{
}
/* The xml data */
$xml = '
<SMS_INTERNETT version="2.0">
<RESPONSE processed="OK">
<BASIC_DATA sender="99999999" billedNumber="5533455" sId="10000000"/>
<RECIPIENT status="OK" address="+4700000000"/>
<RECIPIENT status="OK" address="+4700000001"/>
</RESPONSE>
</SMS_INTERNETT>
';

/* Setup and parse the string */
$xml_parser = xml_parser_create();
xml_parser_set_option  ($xml_parser, XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING, false);
xml_set_element_handler($xml_parser, "startElement", "endElement");
xml_parse              ($xml_parser,$xml);
xml_parser_free        ($xml_parser);

/* The results */
print_r($recipients);

?>

Should yield:
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[status] => OK
[address] => +4700000000
)

[1] => Array
    (
        [status] => OK
        [address] => +4700000001
    )

)

kenneth74

Thank you ahundiak for your excellent reply. This helps a lot.
And thanks to AstroTeg as well for replying.

As to the books, yes this is a good idea I think, but I do not know what book to buy. I have figured out how to use php and SQL and MySQL, but how to read files and xml parsing is harder.
I have ALOT to learn. If anyone knows any good books that cover my problems, please let me know the ISBN number or name of the books.

I still have a lot of questions, but now it should be easier because I have some code that actually works 🙂

There are however some problems I still have, and I think I am missing some fundamental training on php, as I have not figured all out yet.

Here are some more questions:
(I am sorry for asking very stupid questions but I want to
understand this).

1.
function startElement($parser, $element, $attrs)
{
global $recipients;

switch($element) {
case 'RECIPIENT':
    $recipients[] = $attrs;
    break;
}

}

In the code above, the startElement function should include 3 variables $parser, $element and $attrs.
But where is those variables declared?
If I try to: print $element in the bottom of the page, I get: Undefined variable: element ....

Are those words reserved in any way?

2.
I tried altering some of the code given by ahundiak (thank you again), and changed $xml = '....' to $xml="test.xml";
where I took the content of of the $xml variable and put it into a file called test.xml. I thought it would read it but it did not.
Do I have to open it first for then to read the content, in order to get the content of the file?

If I want to only get the values of the status and address of the xml, do I need to and can I trim the $attrs on each element, in order to get the information I want?

If so, should I put the code below this line: case 'RECIPIENT':

Thanks. 🙂

ahundiak

The startElement function is called by the xml parser as each element is encountered. You actually specify what function is called with:
xml_set_element_handler($xml_parser, "startElement", "endElement");
$element is passed when the function is called. It has no meaning outside of the functions. There are no reserved words involved.
To read in a file use:
$xml = file_get_contents("test.xml");
Put any code you want under the case statement. I just stored the $attrs array because it was easy.

kenneth74

Thanks again.

A bit clearer now.

However, here are some more questions:

The values that comes inside the $attrs variable will be for each element: Array ( [0] => Array ( [status] => OK [address] => +4700000000 ) )

and the element will be <Recipient> will it not?

How come the name Array is printed, is this because of the print_r function? Or is the name array stored within the $attrs variable?
In the endElement you wrote Probably need later.
What can I do with this later?

ahundiak

I didn't mind posting the xml code because I already had something and it can be a bit confusing to use callbacks for the first time.

But now you are asking basic questions. I really think you need to start with the manual and maybe some tutorials.
http://www.php.net/manual/en/ref.array.php

kenneth74

Ok, I will read this. Thanks a lot for your answers, you have no IDEA hom much I appreciate your time and effort. You have helped me alot. Much more than I hoped for actually.