RSS/XML feed parser
Here's some php:
PHP
function xml_parser($page,$container,$tags,$number,$cdata) {
if (!$number) {$number=100;}
$stories=0;
$xml=file_get_contents($page);
preg_match_all("/<$container>.+<\/$container>/sU",$xml, $items);
$items=$items[0];
$itemsArray=array();
foreach ($items as $item) {
for($i=0; $i<count($tags); $i++) {
preg_match("/<$tags[$i](.+)(<\/$tags[$i]>)/sU", $item, $tag);
$this[$i]=preg_replace("/<$tags[$i]>(.+)(<\/$tags[$i]>)/sU",'$1',$tag);
$this[$i]=array_map('html_entity_decode', $this[$i]);
}
if (count($itemsArray)<$number) {array_push($itemsArray, $this);}
}
$theData="<dl>";
foreach ($itemsArray as $item) {
for($i=0; $i<count($tags); $i++) {
$data[$i]=$item[$i][0];
}
$title=$data[0];
$dpatterns[0]="/<img(.+)><\/img>/sU"; $dreplacements[0]='<img$1>';
$dpatterns[1]="/<img(.+)\/>/sU"; $dreplacements[1]='<img$1>';
$dpatterns[2]="/<(\/|)content?(.+|)>/sU"; $dreplacements[2]='';
$dpatterns[3]="/border=\"0\"/sU"; $dreplacements[3]='';
if ($cdata!='hide') {
$dpatterns[4]="/<\!\[CDATA\[(.+)\]\]>/sU"; $dreplacements[4]='$1';
}
else {
$dpatterns[4]="/<\!\[CDATA\[(.+)\]\]>/sU"; $dreplacements[4]='';
}
$description=preg_replace($dpatterns,$dreplacements,$data[1]);
$link=preg_replace("/<link.+href=\"(.+)\"(.+|)\/>/sU",'$1',$data[2]);
$date=$data[3];
$theData.="
<dt><a href=\"$link\">$title</a></dt>
<dd class=\"story\">$description</dd>
<dd>Date: $date</dd>\r";
}
$theData.="</dl>";
return $theData;
}
$container='item';
$tags=array('title','description','link','pubDate');
$bbc=xml_parser("http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_uk_edition/front_page/rss.xml",$container,$tags,10,'');
$cnn=xml_parser("http://rss.cnn.com/rss/cnn_topstories.rss",$container,$tags,10,'');
$tags=array('title','content:encoded','link','pubDate');
$lockergnome=xml_parser("http://feed.lockergnome.com/nexus/all",$container,$tags,5,'hide');
$tags=array('title','content:encoded','link','pubDate');
$lockergnome=xml_parser("http://feed.lockergnome.com/nexus/all",$container,$tags,5,'');
$container='entry';
$tags=array('title','content','link','published');
$flickr=xml_parser("http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photos_public.gne",$container,$tags,10,'');
Here's some HTML with PHP
HTML/PHP
<h2>bbc</h2>
<?php echo $bbc; ?>
<h2>cnn</h2>
<?php echo $cnn; ?>
<h2>lockergnome</h2>
<?php echo $lockergnome1; ?>
<h2>lockergnome</h2>
<?php echo $lockergnome2; ?>
<h2>flickr</h2>
<?php echo $flickr; ?>
Here's what we get... (the lastest feeds from the BBC, CNN, Lockergnome - with CDATA stripped and shown - and flickr).
bbc
- Darling pledges to support banks
- Chancellor Alistair Darling says the government will do whatever necessary to maintain stability of the financial system.
- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:45:51 GMT
- Death crash footballer is jailed
- Ex-Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Luke McCormick is jailed for causing the deaths of two children by dangerous driving.
- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:23:25 GMT
- Mammals facing extinction threat
- About 25% of the world's mammal species are at risk of extinction, according to an international survey.
- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:03:17 GMT
- Police chief sent 'suicide' texts
- A police chief found dead on a mountain had sent texts saying he wanted to kill himself, an inquest hears.
- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:28:51 GMT
- Obama digs up past McCain scandal
- US Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama attacks rival John McCain over his links with a 1980s financial scandal.
- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:15:23 GMT
- Menezes officers 'not at fault'
- The police did nothing wrong in the run-up to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, a policewoman tells the inquest into his death.
- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:58:33 GMT
- Biker 'shot in ruthless attack'
- A biker shot dead as he rode on a motorway was the victim of a "cold-blooded" and "ruthless" attack, a court hears.
- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:37:22 GMT
- Inquiry into Met racism concerns
- London Mayor Boris Johnson orders an inquiry into concerns voiced by ethnic minority officers in the Metropolitan Police.
- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:41:29 GMT
- PM 'warned not to force 42 days'
- No 10 says it will push ahead with its plan for 42-day detention, as ministers warn Gordon Brown not to use the Parliament Act.
- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:38:15 GMT
- Why this couple were delighted to have a rubbish honeymoon
- A couple spent three months collecting litter around their home town to earn enough air miles to pay for part for their honeymoon.
- Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:36:35 GMT
cnn
- Bush to praise McCain as 'ready to lead'
- In comments to be shown at the Republican National Convention tonight, President Bush calls presumptive nominee Sen. John McCain "ready to lead," saying he's been prepared for the presidency by a lifetime of service.
- Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:50:24 EDT
- Lawmaker: Palin due to face investigators
- As she takes part in the Republican National Convention with Sen. John McCain, the abuse of power probe facing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at home is charging ahead -- and the governor is expected to be questioned later this month, according to the lawmaker overseeing the investigation.
- Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:27:08 EDT
- Anti-abortion group says Palin 'walks her talk'
- Sarah Palin's announcement that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant -- and she supports her daughter -- shows that the Alaska governor is steadfast in her support of family values, GOP loyalists and anti-abortion groups say. "She walks her talk," said Serrin Foster, the president of Feminists for Life of America.
- Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:32:00 EDT
- Leslie Sanchez: Obama's high-tech advantage
- In 1840, a young Whig organizer named Abraham Lincoln wrote the guidebook on political field work. His "confidential" circular advised Whig campaign operatives to "make a perfect list of all the voters and ascertain with certainty for whom they will vote."
- Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:47:35 EDT
- Papers suggest Olympians got banned drugs
- Two members of the 2008 Jamaican Olympic track team received shipments of performance-enhancing drugs through an Internet distribution network, according to documents obtained by SI.
- Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:22:58 EDT
- Trio of storms stirring up Atlantic
- Hurricane Hanna's path and strength remain uncertain, but the latest forecast map from the National Hurricane Center predicts it could make landfall as a major hurricane on the southeastern U.S. coast by Friday evening.
- Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:48:28 EDT
- Sheriff: 'Strong probability' Caylee is dead
- Read full story for latest details.
- Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:37:12 EDT
- Police: Tycoon killed family in mansion arson
- British police said Tuesday they now believe a millionaire killed his wife and daughter before setting fire to their mansion home and killing himself.
- Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:43:38 EDT
- 'Bandit' star Jerry Reed dies
- Read full story for latest details.
- Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:07:45 EDT
lockergnome (hidden CDATA)
The lockergnome feed seems to be down.
lockergnome
The lockergnome feed seems to be down.
flickr
- CIMG1896
vickychenw posted a photo:
- Date: 2008-10-06T14:57:15Z
- Philippines 2007 245
joeverzosa posted a photo:
- Date: 2008-10-06T14:57:20Z
- P1070480
Thundercheese posted a photo:
- Date: 2008-10-06T14:57:20Z
- Vacation 2008 250
donnieandcammieanderson posted a photo:
- Date: 2008-10-06T14:57:16Z
- ONE_2051.jpg
zaf /2.1 posted a photo:
- Date: 2008-10-06T14:57:16Z
- CIMG7624
ladeline28@yahoo.com.sg posted a photo:
- Date: 2008-10-06T14:57:20Z
- 100_2955
godkain666 posted a photo:
- Date: 2008-10-06T14:57:20Z
- DSCN6021
Zeugolator posted a photo:
- Date: 2008-10-06T14:57:19Z
- White Party 10-04-08 248
lexeestar posted a photo:
- Date: 2008-10-06T14:57:19Z
- Picture 15
mooncalf39 posted a photo:
- Date: 2008-10-06T14:57:20Z
Comments
#1 #2dave,
You can include the php or just have it in one page. The page would have a '.php' extension - not '.html.'
Here's a simple example of this page (with no style or anthing) in one file.
Save it and change the extension to '.php'. If you don't have a server installed on your machine, you'll have to upload it to a remote server to view it.
If you want, you can take the php code out of that page and save it in a different file and include it into the page - that way, you could use it on more than one page if you wanted.
I hope that makes it a bit clearer.
Thanks for the explanations. Much clearer now and ... yes, it indeed works like a champ. (Maybe I was just too tired? Putting 1 and 1 together and coming up with 11 instead of two?) Best regards and thanks for all the tips elsewhere as well.
Useful indeed, BonRouge, but how does one display the <description> tagged material that is buried behind things like <![CDATA[ <p> etc.? Is the PHP code easily modified to handle that? And if so, can one apply it selectively? That is, show the fuller "description" material for one site but then reduce the next site entry to "headines" only (i.e., "titles" and "links") and then toggle the next one back to fuller details? Hope this is not a major headache, but it's beyond my ability to work it out at this stage ... and everything tried brought the larger process to a grinding halt. (This isn't a do-my-homework-for-me question. I'm bewildered by the code.) Thanks.
dave,
I thought I'd already sorted out the problem of data wrapped in the CDATA stuff. Does the code have a problem? If you could show me where it's not working, I'll try to improve it.
As for choosing whether to show that particular data or not, yes - I think you could do that by adding another variable. You see near the top where there's a preg_replace() to remove the CDATA tags? You could put that in an if statement - if the variable is not present, remove the CDATA tags, if it is, leave them where they are.
Does that make sense?
dave,
I think I found the problem and sorted it out. As you can see, it seems to work OK now. Some of the characters in the Lockergnome feed don't show right on this page though. I wonder if it's anything to do with me being in Japan. Do you see strange characters?
I have been trawling the web for days looking for something like this. Thanks a WHOLE lot man. I was also wondering if you can modify this parser to merge these fields and display, say, only the latest 10 items? wine
thanks sorted out my cdata parasing problem, seems that is not too clear in the docs
s
Sorry, I'm new to this stuff, willing to learn and all that, but I don't get the idea. Copy that snippet of PHP code into a file and call it, say, parser.php. Copy the other snippet of HTML into a file and call it, for lack of inventiveness, parser.html. Right so far? If so, where's the intermediate step? How does this HTML "call" or "include" the PHP in order to function? Or am I missing something so basic that even asking this will earn me the cherished "Idiot of the Day Award"? Thanks.