cURL vers allow_url_fopen

[oobat]

I am very new at PHP, so I only know what I have read on the web, in seaching out this problem

I have a script that uses allow_url_fopen and I am hosting on Dreamhost which has that disabled, and they suggest you can use cURL to get the same results.

How hard is it to convert a script that is using allow_url_fopen to use cURL?

Since I am new, I don't know if it's possible but very hard, and not worth it, or if it's just a matter of a few lines? If it's fairly easy and someone is willing to help me understand what I need to do, I can post the code for the script for you to review.

Can anyone give me some insight on this?

Thanks!

[samudasu]

It might not be too difficult. Post the code

[oobat]

Thanks for taking the time to look at this. The learning curve I am up against is pretty steep.

I should let you know that I did get this script installed and working on another host without any problems. It was a another member that pointed out that DreamHost diabled allow_url_fopen which was problably causing the problem.

The RSS script I am trying to get working comes in three files. It's meant to work with Simple Machine Forums and post news into your forums from RSS feeds.

Thanks for any help with this!

The first file news.php:

<?php
//
// SMF RSS Injector by Jerry Bell - [e-mail]
// Based on the Joomla RSS import script by Max Soukhomlinov, [e-mail]
//
// This script requires XML_RSS and PHP Pear Libraries
//
//
// This script is quick and dirty. Please remember to abide by the RSS content providers' terms of use.

/** the PEAR XML_RSS object/class is required */
require 'RSS.php';

/** DATABASE Configuration */
define("DB_HOSTNAME","mysql.domain.com"); //Insert your DB server name here
define("DB_USERNAME","mysql_username"); //DB username here
define("DB_PASSWD","mysql_password"); // DB password here
define("DB_DATABASE","mysql_database"); //DB name here
$userid = 1; //Set this to the SMF userid you want the messages posted from
$boardid = 1;//Set this to the id of the board you want to post the messages in

/** pull list of remote RSS feeds, via a remote RSS feed. */
$rss_feed = & new XML_RSS('http://xml.amazon.com/onca/xml3?mode=magazines&bcm=Magazines%3A%20Gay%20%26%20Lesbian&t=webservices-20&dev-t=amznRss&type=lite&page=1&ct=text/xml&sort=+salesrank&f=http://xml.amazon.com/xsl/xml-rss091.xsl&BrowseNodeSearch=602338'); //Insert your URL here
//$rss_feed = & new XML_RSS(''); //Used this for testing with local file, a bit quicker
// Function for shortening articles based on maximum length
function str_stop($string, $max_length){
   if (strlen($string) > $max_length){
       $string = substr($string, 0, $max_length);
       $pos = strrpos($string, " ");
       if($pos === false) {return substr($string, 0, $max_length)."...";}
       return substr($string, 0, $pos)."...";
   }else{return $string;}
}
/** create the database connection object */
$obj_db = @mysql_connect(DB_HOSTNAME,DB_USERNAME,DB_PASSWD) or die (mysql_error());

/** select the intended database */
@mysql_select_db(DB_DATABASE,$obj_db) or die (mysql_error());

$rss_feed->parse();

	$num_articles=0; //Variable used to count number of new articles, displayed in an email below

// Here we make sure that feed articles do not already exist in DB
// this uses title names, make sure to use the same title formatting here as you will use further down
// state = 1 not trashed
foreach ($rss_feed->getItems() as $item) {
    $obj_query = @mysql_query("
        SELECT
            COUNT(ID_MSG) AS link_match
        FROM
            smf_messages
        WHERE
            subject = '". str_stop(addslashes($item['title']),100) ."'
    ",$obj_db) or die(mysql_error());

    $int_count = @mysql_fetch_assoc($obj_query) or die(mysql_error());

    mysql_free_result($obj_query);

    if ($int_count['link_match'] == 0) {

		$num_articles = $num_articles +1;
		/**
		 * REFORMATTING CODE
		 **/
// In my experience you have to play with the definitions from different RSS feeds - some rss feeds call fields different things.
		$titletext = str_stop(addslashes($item['title']),100);
// This adds an html link at to the original article at the very bottom of the post.
		$maintext = addslashes($item['description']) . "<p><a href=\"" . $item['link'] . "\">" . $item['link'] . "</a>";
    @mysql_query("
			INSERT INTO smf_topics(
				ID_BOARD,
				ID_MEMBER_STARTED,
				ID_MEMBER_UPDATED
			) VALUES (
				'$boardid',
				'$userid',
				'$userid'
			)
		",$obj_db) or die(mysql_error());
$topic = mysql_insert_id();
$postertime = date('U');
//Insert the actual message
    @mysql_query("
			INSERT INTO smf_messages(
				subject,
				body,
			 	ID_MEMBER,
				ID_BOARD,
				ID_TOPIC,
				posterTime
			) VALUES (
				'". $titletext ."',
				'". $maintext ."',
				'$userid',
				'$boardid',
				'$topic',
				'$postertime'
			)
		",$obj_db) or die(mysql_error());
$messageid = mysql_insert_id();
//Go back and set ID_FIRST_MSG and ID_LAST_MSG in the topics table
    @mysql_query("
			UPDATE smf_topics
				SET ID_FIRST_MSG = '$messageid',
				ID_LAST_MSG = '$messageid'
				WHERE ID_TOPIC = '$topic'
		",$obj_db) or die(mysql_error());
//Increment total posts for board
    @mysql_query("
			UPDATE smf_boards
				SET numPosts = numPosts + 1,
				numTopics = numTopics + 1
				WHERE ID_BOARD = '$boardid'
		",$obj_db) or die(mysql_error());
//Increment Total Messages
    @mysql_query("
			UPDATE smf_settings
				SET value = value + 1
				WHERE variable = 'totalMessages'
		",$obj_db) or die(mysql_error());
//Increment Total Topics
    @mysql_query("
			UPDATE smf_settings
				SET value = value + 1
				WHERE variable = 'totalTopics'
		",$obj_db) or die(mysql_error());
// Increment post count for user record
    @mysql_query("
                        UPDATE smf_members
                        SET posts = posts + 1
                                WHERE ID_MEMBER = '$userid'
                ",$obj_db) or die(mysql_error());
        }
    }

if ($obj_db) {
    @mysql_close($obj_db);
}
?>

[samudasu]

Doesn't look like there's anything on this page that'll require allow_url_fopen. What does RSS.php look like?

Edit:
Ok, i looked further into this. It's going to take a modification to pear XML_Parser package. Probably not a good idea. You're probably better of finding a different solution. As you know, it doesn't work because your script can't open remote urls. If you can find a way to store the remote url to a directory in your server space then i think that will solve your problem. If your host has CURL, use it to retieve the file and update it every so often automatically and change this line to something like this:

$rss_feed = & new XML_RSS('yourdirectory/file.xml');

[oobat]

Thanks for the suggestion and your help! I will give that a try and see if I can get it to work.

Thanks again!