XML and simpleXML

[richard82]

Hi,

This is the first time I have had to consume XML returned from a webservice and I am having a bit of trouble and was hoping somebody would be able to help.

I can make the call ok to the web service ok using the following :

$rawFeed = file_get_contents($url);

If I do a echo $xml at this stage it outputs all returned data minus the element tags. So I then do:

$xml = new SimpleXmlElement($rawFeed);

But this is where I get confused on how to access each of the the XML nodes to populate the array.

The file that is returned as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<DataSet xmlns="http://localhost/WSBatteries2/WS">
<xs:schema id="NewDataSet" xmlns="" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata">
<xs:element name="NewDataSet" msdata:IsDataSet="true">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:choice maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xs:element name="StdData">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="MAKE" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" />
<xs:element name="MODEL" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" />
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="BatteryData">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="fldBatteryType" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" />
<xs:element name="fldBatteryCategory" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" />
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:choice>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:schema>
<diffgr:diffgram xmlns:msdata="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-msdata" xmlns:diffgr="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-diffgram-v1">
<NewDataSet xmlns="">
<StdData diffgr:id="StdData1" msdata:rowOrder="0">
<MAKE>MINI</MAKE>
<MODEL>MINI COOPER S</MODEL>
</StdData>
<BatteryData diffgr:id="BatteryData1" msdata:rowOrder="0">
<fldBatteryType>065</fldBatteryType>
<fldBatteryCategory>Premium</fldBatteryCategory>
</BatteryData>
<BatteryData diffgr:id="BatteryData2" msdata:rowOrder="1">
<fldBatteryType>075</fldBatteryType>
<fldBatteryCategory>Calcium</fldBatteryCategory>
</BatteryData>
</NewDataSet>
</diffgr:diffgram>
</DataSet>

I think I need to do something like the following:

$stdData['MAKE'] = $xml->stdData->MAKE;

But it does not work, could somebody please help me and tell me how to:
a) get one of the elements values by their name i.e. the MAKE in stdData

b) create an array that contained the 2 BatteryData sets so I would then be able to loop through them.

Thanks for your time

Richard

[big_nerd]

Richard,

The XML you have shown is not compliant, at least not on my system (the DataSet you are declaring with the xmlns i dont have)

But you can access XML as an array, using an example from php.net:

<?php
$xmlstr = <<<XML
<?xml version='1.0' standalone='yes'?>
<movies>
 <movie>
  <title>PHP: Behind the Parser</title>
  <characters>
   <character>
    <name>Ms. Coder</name>
    <actor>Onlivia Actora</actor>
   </character>
   <character>
    <name>Mr. Coder</name>
    <actor>Elar</actor>
   </character>
  </characters>
  <plot>
   So, this language. It's like, a programming language. Or is it a
   scripting language? All is revealed in this thrilling horror spoof
   of a documentary.
  </plot>
  <great-lines>
   <line>PHP solves all my web problems</line>
  </great-lines>
  <rating type="thumbs">7</rating>
  <rating type="stars">5</rating>
 </movie>
</movies>
XML;

// note: this process taken from [URL="http://www.php.net/manual/en/simplexml.examples-basic.php"]http://www.php.net/manual/en/simplexml.examples-basic.php[/URL]
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlstr);

// Cast $xml object as simple array
$xmlArray = (array) $xml;

printf('<pre>&#37;s</pre>',print_r($xmlArray,true));
printf('<pre>%s</pre>',print_r($xml,true));
?>

Hope this helps.

[richard82]

Is this because it is a .NET webservice that returns the XML? If so do I need to use a different approach?

Thanks

[richard82]

I have tried doing what you suggested:

$url = "$base?$query_string";
$rawFeed = file_get_contents($url);
$xml = new SimpleXmlElement($rawFeed);

$xmlArray = (array) $xml;

printf('<pre>&#37;s</pre>',print_r($xmlArray,true));
printf('<pre>%s</pre>',print_r($xml,true));

but all the output gives me is the following

======= OUTPUT ========

Array
(
)
SimpleXMLElement Object
(
)

Thanks
Richard

[big_nerd]

Okay, I don't do much M$ stuff, so I apologize.

From what I can read, others have had luck parsing the Webservice XML with php's DOM capabilities.

Take a look at a class a user wrote here.

He gives an example at the bottom portion of his comment on converting it to an array.

[richard82]

Thanks big.nerd, I will have a read through that link.

[Installer]

XMLReader also works well for often-used, consistently-formatted documents. It's simple, fast, and uses less memory than SimpleXML.

$xmlr = new XMLReader;
$xmlr->open($url);
$set = -1;
while ($node = $xmlr->read()) {
    if ($xmlr->nodeType != XMLReader::ELEMENT) {
        continue;
    }
    switch ($xmlr->name) {
        case 'NewDataSet':
            $set++;
            $batt_set = -1;
            $product[$set] = array('make' => '', 'model' => '', 'batteries' => array());
            break;
        case 'MAKE':
            $product[$set]['make'] = $xmlr->readString();
            break;
        case 'MODEL':
            $product[$set]['model'] = $xmlr->readString();
            break;
        case 'BatteryData':
            $batt_set++;
            $product[$set]['batteries'][$batt_set] = array('type' => '', 'category' => '');
            break;
        case 'fldBatteryType';
            $product[$set]['batteries'][$batt_set]['type'] = $xmlr->readString();
            break;
        case 'fldBatteryCategory';
            $product[$set]['batteries'][$batt_set]['category'] = $xmlr->readString();
            break;
        default:
            break;
    }
}

echo '<pre>';
print_r($product);
echo '</pre>';