XML query or XML array help needed

[surfnjunkie]

Basically what I am trying to do is search an xml files elements. In this example I am searching for a books ISBN. If the ISBN is found I would like it to show the book title. If it is not found in any of the <isbn> element tags then I would like to be able to have it echo a message that the ISBN can not be found only 1 time.

 

Here is the sample xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<catalog>
   <booklist>
      <book>
         <title>Cat in the hat</title>
         <image>cat.jpg</image>
         <isbn>12345</isbn>
         <link>http://amazon.com/book/cat_in_the_hat/</link>
      </book>
      <book>
         <title>Guerrila Marketing</title>
         <image>guerrilla.jpg</image>
         <isbn>54321</isbn>
         <link>http://amazon.com/book/guerrilla/</link>
      </book>
      <book>
         <title>The 48 Laws of Power</title>
         <image>power.jpg</image>
         <isbn>86543</isbn>
         <link>http://amazon.com/book/48_Laws_of_Power</link>
      </book>
   </booklist>
</catalog>

Here is the code:

<?php
// Will use simplexml to load xml file
$xml = simplexml_load_file('booklist.xml');

// Will search the isbn 12345
$isbnSearch = "54321";

foreach($xml->booklist->book as $book){
   if($book->isbn == $isbnSearch)
      echo "Your book is: " . $book->title . "<br>";
      // would like it to stop here if <isbn> and $isbnSearch match
   
   // if no <isbn> elements match $isbnSearch
   if($book->isbn != $isbnSearch)
      // would like it to echo 1 time and not for each isbn.
      echo "Your book with ISBN:" . $isbnSearch . " could not be found<br>";
}

?>

 

I have tried a few different things, but I keep hitting a wall. I tried setting up the xml into an array, but I couldn't get that quite right. If anyone can get me pointed in a better direction any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[semlabs]

Hi. You are using the old PHP4 XML functions. Try the newer ones:

 

http://uk.php.net/manual/en/book.dom.php

 

An example:

 

$doc = new DOMDocument;
$doc->Load( 'file.xml' );

// Create an XPath object
$xpath = new DOMXPath( $doc );

//Query the document
$query = '//isbn[text()=12345]';
$entries = $xpath->query( $query );

if( $enteries->length > 0 )
{
echo $entries->item( 0 )->nodeValue;
}
else
echo "no ISBN found\n";

 

This uses XPath. It's a query language for XML. You can get some schooling on it at w3schools

[surfnjunkie]

I figured it out, and was able to get the script to do what I wanted it to do. I thought I would post my solution.

<?php
$mySearch = 0;
$isbnSearch = "54321";
$xml = simplexml_load_file('booklist.xml');

foreach($xml->booklist->book as $book){
if($book->isbn == $isbnSearch){
	$title = $book->title;
	$mySearch = 1;
}
}

if($mySearch == 1){
echo "We Found your Book" . $title;
}
else {
echo "Sorry we could not find your book" . $isbnSearch;
}
?>