Web Scrapin works, but when i try to use with form, it displays blank??

[Modernvox]

Hi Guyz.

 

I have  a working web scraping script that returns musicians ads from CL. The problem is I have implemented a US States html form and depending on the users choice of State it is suppose to return the corresponding ads.

Instead it keeps displaying a blank white page?

 

Here is the html form:

<form action="test.php" method="POST">

 

<select name="state">

<option value="AL">Alabama</option>

<option value="AK">Alaska</option>

<option value="AZ">Arizona</option>

<option value="AR">Arkansas</option>

<option value="CA">California</option>

<option value="CO">Colorado</option>

<option value="CT">Connecticut</option>

<option value="DE">Delaware</option>

<option value="DC">District of Columbia</option>

<option value="FL">Florida</option>

<option value="GA">Georgia</option>

<option value="HI">Hawaii</option>

<option value="ID">Idaho</option>

<option value="IL">Illinois</option>

<option value="IN">Indiana</option>

<option value="IA">Iowa</option>

<option value="KS">Kansas</option>

<option value="KY">Kentucky</option>

<option value="LA">Louisiana</option>

<option value="ME">Maine</option>

<option value="MD">Maryland</option>

<option value="MA">Massachusetts</option>

<option value="MI">Michigan</option>

<option value="MN">Minnesota</option>

<option value="MS">Mississippi</option>

<option value="MO">Missouri</option>

<option value="MT">Montana</option>

<option value="NE">Nebraska</option>

<option value="NV">Nevada</option>

<option value="NH">New Hampshire</option>

<option value="NJ">New Jersey</option>

<option value="NM">New Mexico</option>

<option value="NY">New York</option>

<option value="NC">North Carolina</option>

<option value="ND">North Dakota</option>

<option value="OH">Ohio</option>

<option value="OK">Oklahoma</option>

<option value="OR">Oregon</option>

<option value="PA">Pennsylvania</option>

<option value="RI">Rhode Island</option>

<option value="SC">South Carolina</option>

<option value="SD">South Dakota</option>

<option value="TN">Tennessee</option>

<option value="TX">Texas</option>

<option value="UT">Utah</option>

<option value="VT">Vermont</option>

<option value="VA">Virginia</option>

<option value="WA">Washington</option>

<option value="WV">West Virginia</option>

<option value="WI">Wisconsin</option>

<option value="WY">Wyoming</option>

</select>

<input type="submit" value="submit" name="submit"><br />

</form><br />

 

Here is the php code:

 <?php
if(isset($_POST['submit'])) 
$st = $_post['state'];

if ($st == "AL")
{
$url = "http://southcoast.craigslist.org";
$html = file_get_contents("$url/muc/");

preg_match_all('/<a href="([^"]+)">([^<]+)<\/a><font size="-1">([^"]+)<\/font>/s', $html,$posts,PREG_SET_ORDER);
//echo "<pre>";print_r($posts);

}
foreach ($posts as $post)
{
    //print $post[0]; //HTML
    $post[2] = str_ireplace($url,"",$post[2]); //remove domain
    echo "<a href=\"$url{$post[1]}\">{$post[2]}<\/a><font size=\"-1\">{$post[3]}<\/font>";
    print "<BR />\n";

}

?> 

 

As always thanks for your time answering questions.

[Buddski]

Your $st variable definition is incorrect..

it should be

$st = $_POST['state'];

[Modernvox]

Your $st variable definition is incorrect..

it should be

$st = $_POST['state'];

 

Thanks , But still returns blank.

[Buddski]

Do a little error checking..

preg_match_all can return an error.. You should check this aswell as the size of $posts;

 

Something like this.

<?php
$preg = preg_match_all('/<a href="([^"]+)">([^<]+)<\/a><font size="-1">([^"]+)<\/font>/s', $html,$posts,PREG_SET_ORDER);

if ($preg !== false && count($posts) != 0) {
//do the loop//
} else {
echo 'Preg match problem';
var_dump($preg);
}
?>

[RaythMistwalker]

try:

if(isset($_POST['submit'])) 
$st = $_post['state'];

 

into

if(isset($_POST['submit'])) 
$st = $_POST['state'];

 

and if not then try

if(isset($_GET['submit'])) 
$st = $_GET['state'];

 

the second is from experience when forms send to other page.

[Buddski]

Using $_GET will not solve this issue as his form is using the POST method.

[Modernvox]

The script works alone. However, I am trying to use the script in a if statement and it keeps displaying a blank page.

If I change anything it then gives an invalid foreach argument.

 

Could it be the if statement is the wrong way to do this?

[RaythMistwalker]

Using $_GET will not solve this issue as his form is using the POST method.

works on mine if the form points to other php files (dunno why) so it may work this time

[Buddski]

A blank page could mean a PHP syntax error.. Have you enabled error reporting?

error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors',1);

 

And RaythMistwalker:

POST and GET have nothing to do with the method of a form.. and it doesnt matter where your posting it to.. the action attribute is completely irrelevant when it comes to accessing the values.

 

If method="POST" PHP accesses the form values in $_POST

If method="GET" PHP accesses the form values in $_GET

[Modernvox]

Checked errors got nothing. 

 

I can't figure it out for the life of me. I mean, just run the script itself and it returns the ads. But, try to access the script via form and it don't display anything? (Puzzled )

[Buddski]

Ok...What is in the $html variable?

Do you try my preg_match_all checking method?

[Modernvox]

Ok...What is in the $html variable?

Do you try my preg_match_all checking method?

 

$html just holds the muc pertaining to musicians ads

example:  craigslist SouthCoast homepage is http://southcoast.craigslist.org   

Musicians ads are located at http://southcoast.craigslist.org/muc/

 

This is the same for all musicians ads for each location

[Buddski]

Can you show us the whole PHP script..

[Modernvox]

Can you show us the whole PHP script..

 

 <?php
$url = "http://southcoast.craigslist.org";
$html = file_get_contents("$url/muc/");

preg_match_all('/<a href="([^"]+)">([^<]+)<\/a><font size="-1">([^"]+)<\/font>/s', $html,$posts,PREG_SET_ORDER);
//echo "<pre>";print_r($posts);
foreach ($posts as $post)
{
    //print $post[0]; //HTML
    $post[2] = str_ireplace($url,"",$post[2]); //remove domain
    echo "<a href=\"$url{$post[1]}\">{$post[2]}<\/a><font size=\"-1\">{$post[3]}<\/font>";
    print "<BR />\n";
}
?> 

That's it for this step