PHP cURL, extract an XML response

Question

I am invoking PHP cURL method on a server and the response is XML type. cURL is saving the output (after removing the tags) in a scalar type variable. Is there a way to store it in an object/hash/array so that it's easy to parse?

Could you expand on what you mean by "after removing the tags". — Alana Storm, Feb 18 '09 at 23:01

score 117 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 18 '09 at 23:08

117

<?php
function download_page($path){
    $ch = curl_init();
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL,$path);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FAILONERROR,1);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION,1);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,1);
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 15);
    $retValue = curl_exec($ch);          
    curl_close($ch);
    return $retValue;
}

$sXML = download_page('http://alanstorm.com/atom');
$oXML = new SimpleXMLElement($sXML);

foreach($oXML->entry as $oEntry){
    echo $oEntry->title . "\n";
}

answered Feb 18 '09 at 23:08

Alana Storm

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How do we read ![CDATA using this? when I print $oXML I don't see ![CDATA but on htmlentities I am able to see it. – Twinkal Jun 25 '19 at 07:10
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2970602/php-how-to-handle-cdata-with-simplexmlelement – Alana Storm Jun 25 '19 at 12:59

score 8 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 31 '11 at 12:21

8

Just add header('Content-type: application/xml'); before your echo of the XML response and you will see an XML page.

edited Oct 31 '11 at 12:21

Jason Plank

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answered Oct 25 '11 at 14:17

arkleyjoe

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2
3

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered May 04 '13 at 13:38

Example:

<songs>
<song dateplayed="2011-07-24 19:40:26">
    <title>I left my heart on Europa</title>
    <artist>Ship of Nomads</artist>
</song>
<song dateplayed="2011-07-24 19:27:42">
    <title>Oh Ganymede</title>
    <artist>Beefachanga</artist>
</song>
<song dateplayed="2011-07-24 19:23:50">
    <title>Kallichore</title>
    <artist>Jewitt K. Sheppard</artist>
</song>

then:

<?php
$mysongs = simplexml_load_file('songs.xml');
echo $mysongs->song[0]->artist;
?>

Output on your browser: Ship of Nomads

credits: http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/how-to-parse-xml-with-php5

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 21 '16 at 16:10

2

$sXML = download_page('http://alanstorm.com/atom');
// Comment This    
// $oXML = new SimpleXMLElement($sXML);
// foreach($oXML->entry as $oEntry){
//  echo $oEntry->title . "\n";
// }
// Use json encode
$xml = simplexml_load_string($sXML);
$json = json_encode($xml);
$arr = json_decode($json,true);
print_r($arr);

answered Sep 21 '16 at 16:10

Dipanjan

29
3

2

download_page(), really? At least when you suggest a function, stick to built-ins or define those you are proposing. Newbies can easily get lost. I suggest you edit this and replace it with a simple file_get_contents() the least. – David Aug 15 '17 at 21:46

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 18 '09 at 16:28

2

no, CURL does not have anything with parsing XML, it does not know anything about the content returned. it serves as a proxy to get content. it's up to you what to do with it.

use JSON if possible (and json_decode) - it's easier to work with, if not possible, use any XML library for parsin such as DOMXML: http://php.net/domxml

answered Feb 18 '09 at 16:28

dusoft

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I agree to that . But why are tags not shown. I do an echo . Is it because of browser? – Rakesh Feb 18 '09 at 16:29
yes, browser treats XML as (X)HTML, so if > or < is encountered, it is treated as normal tag... – dusoft Feb 18 '09 at 16:30
1

If you echo htmlentities(...) you'll see the full XML – Greg Feb 18 '09 at 16:33

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Jul 22 '15 at 06:17

1

simple load xml file ..

$xml = @simplexml_load_string($retValuet);

$status = (string)$xml->Status; 
$operator_trans_id = (string)$xml->OPID;
$trns_id = (string)$xml->TID;

?>

answered Jul 22 '15 at 06:17

Ganesh

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PHP cURL, extract an XML response

6 Answers6

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