xml + php

[morningstar]

Hello,

I want to show stats from a game in my website which i can access by reading in the xml file.

The file however is kinda big. So i wanted to use paging results and show like 25 results a page.

How can i do this using PHP + XML, in a way so my page doesnt have to load for like 2minutes?

Thnx Morningstar

[n_wattam]

have you tryied writing or using a XML phaser (sp), to read the XML file in php and then turn it into a multidimention array. Then using a quiery when looping though that array only spit out the 1st 25 results etc.???

[morningstar]

hey,

yeah i tryed it a bit but i am not that good in arrays.. so i dunno how exact to do it , well i post what i came up with:

$file = "link to the file ( this works) "; 
$current_xml = ""; 
$shows = array(); 
$start = 0; // i only want to start listing the data from the players..

function start_xml($parser, $name, $attr) {
	global $start;

if($name == "players") {
	$start = 1; //as soon as start tag = players i start
}

if($start == 1) {
                //here i need to add start tags in the array??
}
}

function end_xml($parser, $name) {
	global $start;

if($name == "players") {
	$start = 0;  // as soon as end tag is players i end 
//but i shouldnt forget to put the ending tag in the array? (or actually i dont 
//need the start and end tag of players itself , only each player + stats listed in 
//the array should be fine right?)
	}

if($start == 1) {
               //this endtags i need to add in array?
}
}

function data_xml($parser, $data) {
	global $start;

if($start == 1) {
                // here the data in the array i guess?
}
}

function parse_xml() {
	global $file;
	global $shows;

$xml_parser = xml_parser_create();

xml_set_element_handler($xml_parser, "start_xml", "end_xml");
xml_set_character_data_handler($xml_parser, "data_xml");

xml_parser_set_option($xml_parser, XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING, false);

if(!($fp = fopen($file, "r"))) {
	aesdie2("Error", "Couldnt request the ladder, please contact the administrator");
}

while($data = fread($fp,4096)) {
	if(!xml_parse($xml_parser, $data, feof($fp))) {
		aesdie2("Error", sprintf("XML error at line %d column %d, please contact the administrator", xml_get_current_line_number($xml_parser), xml_get_current_column_number($xml_parser)));
	}		
}

xml_parser_free($xml_parser);

return $shows;
}

$result = parse_xml();

//here the data display from array (with offset and amount for page) 
// aesdie2 is some manual die function i wrote

ok please help me out how i can add it in the array and show the data from the array? (dont know if it work so fast but well, i see that as soon as i know how to do it

thanx morningstar

//edit

oh yeah xml look like this:

<stats id="21342353667567234">
  <name>thenameofsomething</name>
  <game>thegame</game>
  <type></type>
  <etc></etc>
  <players>
    <player id=1245>
      <name>me</name>
      <win>11</win>
      <losses>2</losses>
      <rank>1</rank>
      <rating>2341</rating>
    </player>
    <player id=2457>
      <name>someone</name>
      <win>10</win>
      <losses>5</losses>
      <rank>2</rank>
      <rating>1112</rating>
    </player>
  </players>
</stats>

its also a bit annoying theres 2x name tag in it but oh well that why i wrote the $start variable

well anyway something like that structure.. onlly lots more players

[n_wattam]

to view the data in an array and its stricture there is a print command, printf or somot, i cant remember 100%, also use i think the <pre>

this will then print the results of any array, and the <pre> makes all the text equal so you get a nice layout of redults

What you will then see is something along the lines of

$array[players][player_id][win]
$array[players][player_id][loss]

once you know the layout, you can then access the data by doing this

echo $array[players][2457][win];

which would return that value, and so on.

Hope this helps, the above should put you on the right tracks, sorry i can be more detailed in the actual code needed, but its been awhile since i used the above.

[n_wattam]

This is the code you need to see the results of an xml parser piping the data into an array.

print "<pre>\n";
print_r ($result);
print "</pre>\n";

I tryied your parser and xml content but it wouldnt work.

once you use the above code you will then see how the data is stored in your array, and the accessing it is easy.

[morningstar]

yeah sorry, i dont understand quiet well how to do it.
I saw some previews of people doing it, but i dont get it how they work with the arrays.

They store in the start_xml all the element tags in an temporary array
something like this

(if $name == "player") {
$temporary['playerid'] = $attr['id'];
}
else {
$temporary['element_name'] = $name;
}

then if the end tag is player (or in the xml with other words </player> --> then they got the complete temporary array --> the full player stats)

they add the temporary array in another array that contain all results. That must be the array you talk about

think you can do that something like:
$array[players][] = $temporary;

if the temparray looks like: array('playerid','name','wins','losses','etc');
then the $array[players][] become like:

$array[players][1245][me][11][2][etc]
$array[players][2457][someone][10][5][etc]

???

sorry i suck in multiple arrays lol..
please help me a little farther thnx

Morningstar

[n_wattam]

OK np..

i dont think your parser is working quite right, or not in the way needed.

Basically once you get a good php xml parser, you can point it to any xml file and it will convert the lot to a milti dimention array, thats the hard bit out of the way really.

once you have that job done you will have a single varible which represents all the content from the xml feed.

using this code, changing the varible name if needed you will get an output display of whats there and how its all held to gether and linked.

print "<pre>\n"; 
print_r ($result); 
print "</pre>\n"; 

Multidimention arrays sound harder than what they are, if you know how an array works then its not much else really.

The following is an array build up using multidimention arrays, dont pay to much attention to this, but using this code and the above you will get to see how one looks like as a result

//  Multidimensional Array
$cds = array(
  'Christina Aguilera'=>array(
    'Impossible',
    'Beautiful',
    'Dirrty'
  ),
  'Pink'=>array(
    'Just like a pill',
    'Family potrait',
    'Missundaztood'
  ),
  'Kelly Rowland'=>array(
    'Stole',
    'Obsession',
    'Past 12'
  )
);

print "<pre>\n";
print_r ($cds);
print "</pre>\n";

Ok.... now the output will be like what your xml results will be like once you run the parser on it.

now what we will do here is get some of the date out of the array that you might like.

so by using this code

echo $cds['Christina Aguilera'][1];

we are accessing the Christina Aguilera section of the array and displaying the 2nd item in.

Does this make more sence?

you can put them in loops and pull all record very easy. Think of multidimention arrays like a tree structure on your pc, in explorer

[morningstar]

much thanx wattam for helping me out

now it make more sence to me,
Now i understand a bit how it works.

But as last confirmation you can do :

$temp1 = array('1','2','3');
$temp2 = array('4','5','6');

$all_array['player'][] = $temp1;
$all_array['player'][] = $temp2;

will outcome as (structure):

array(
'0' => array('1','2','3'),
'1' => array('4','5','6')
);

which you can acces with:

$all_array[player][0][1]; // displays 2??
$all_array[player][1][2]; // displays 6??

is this correct? please let me know ?

[n_wattam]

no problem...

Yes that looks correct to me 😃.

i found a really good parser, on the php.net site, but thats going back some time... it will still be around, incase you have problems with yours etc.

[morningstar]

ok i came up with something new.. which go pretty wrong :bemused:

Here is the code:

$file = "test.xml"; 
$currentElement = ""; 
$rankings = array(); 

//defining from the variables
$name = "";
$rung = "";
$rating = "";
$wins = "";
$losses = "";
$playerid = "";

//start tags
function start_xml($parser, $name, $attr) {
	$GLOBALS['currentElement'] = $name;
	if($name == "player") { //if name is player then add the attribute to playerid
		$GLOBALS['playerid'] = $attr['playerid']; //this is the only that works
	}
}

//close tags
function end_xml($parser, $name) {
		$elements = array('name', 'rung', 'rating', 'wins', 'losses','playerid');
		if($name == "player") { //if close tag is player then add the array to rankings array
			foreach($elements as $element) {
				$temp[$element] = $GLOBALS[$element];			
			}
			$GLOBALS['rankings'][] = $temp;
		}
}

function data_xml($parser, $data) {
	$elements = array('name','rung','rating','wins','losses');
	foreach($elements as $element) {//add the data from the current 
		if($element == $currentElement) { // element to the
			$GLOBALS[$element] = $data; //good one
		}
	}
}

//define all the parser stuff
function parse_xml() {
	global $file;
	global $rankings;

$xml_parser = xml_parser_create();
xml_set_element_handler($xml_parser, "start_xml", "end_xml");
xml_set_character_data_handler($xml_parser, "data_xml");
xml_parser_set_option($xml_parser, XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING, false);

if(!($fp = fopen($file, "r"))) {
	aesdie2("Error", "Couldnt request the ladder, please contact the administrator");
}

while($data = fread($fp,4096)) {
	if(!xml_parse($xml_parser, $data, feof($fp))) {
		aesdie2("Error", sprintf("XML error at line %d column %d, please contact the administrator", xml_get_current_line_number($xml_parser), xml_get_current_column_number($xml_parser)));
	}		
}

xml_parser_free($xml_parser);
return $rankings;
}

$result = parse_xml();

//show first 10 results (id works.. others are empty)
for($i = 0; $i < 10; $i++) {
	echo $result[$i]['playerid']." ".$result[$i]['name']."<br>";
}

echo "<br><br>";

//print the pre to see..

print "<pre>\n"; 
print_r ($result); 
print "</pre>\n";

and you can see the output here:

http://aes.alrocks.com/forum/test.php

// no commercial, no popups or spam, just to show you the output code above
// just took the first 15 players as a test from the original xml file to the test.xml file.

[morningstar]

aww i found out what i did wrong:

<?php

$file = "test.xml"; 
$currentElement = ""; 
$rankings = array(); 

$name = "";
$rung = "";
$rating = "";
$wins = "";
$losses = "";
$playerid = "";

function start_xml($parser, $name, $attr) {
	if($name == "players") {
		$GLOBALS['name'] = "";
	}

$GLOBALS['currentElement'] = $name;

if($name == "player") {
	$GLOBALS['playerid'] = $attr['playerid'];
}
}

function end_xml($parser, $name) {
	$elements = array('name', 'rung', 'rating', 'wins', 'losses','playerid');

if($name == "player") {
	foreach($elements as $element) {
		$temp[$element] = $GLOBALS[$element];		
	}
	$GLOBALS['rankings'][] = $temp;

//NEEDED TO RESET VARIABLES
		$GLOBALS['name'] = "";
		$GLOBALS['rung'] = "";
		$GLOBALS['rating'] = "";
		$GLOBALS['wins'] = "";
		$GLOBALS['losses'] = "";
		$GLOBALS['playerid'] = "";
	}
}

function data_xml($parser, $data) {
	$elements = array('name','rung','rating','wins','losses');
	foreach($elements as $element) {


//HAT TO PUT THE CURRENTELEMENT TO GLOBAL +   .= DATA SO IT WOULD BE STORED
		if($element == $GLOBALS['currentElement']) {
			$GLOBALS[$element] .= $data;
		}
	}
}

function parse_xml() {
	global $file;
	global $rankings;

$xml_parser = xml_parser_create();
xml_set_element_handler($xml_parser, "start_xml", "end_xml");
xml_set_character_data_handler($xml_parser, "data_xml");
xml_parser_set_option($xml_parser, XML_OPTION_CASE_FOLDING, false);

if(!($fp = fopen($file, "r"))) {
	aesdie2("Error", "Couldnt request the ladder, please contact the administrator");
}

while($data = fread($fp,4096)) {
	if(!xml_parse($xml_parser, $data, feof($fp))) {
		aesdie2("Error", sprintf("XML error at line %d column %d, please contact the administrator", xml_get_current_line_number($xml_parser), xml_get_current_column_number($xml_parser)));
	}		
}

xml_parser_free($xml_parser);
return $rankings;
}

$result = parse_xml();
for($i = 0; $i < 10; $i++) {
	echo $result[$i]['playerid']." ".$result[$i]['name']."<br>";
}

echo "<br><br>";

print "<pre>\n"; 
print_r ($result); 
print "</pre>\n";


?> 

now lets check if it fast enough

//EDIT

ermm is there some other way to do this? I now show only the first 10 records of the xml file from the array, like i actually wanted it to do.

but if you look:
http://aes.alrocks.com/forum/test.php

the loading take so long, or something it just give an error somewhere in my page.

someone know how i could fix this?

(btw link to xml is: http://arena.gamespy.com/ladder/xml/35030)