get values of the second <td> in every <tr> in local file

[dodgeitorelse3]

Hi all,

I have a html file on my server so it is a local file. I would like to get the value of every second <td> in each <tr>

 

as I said it is a local html file and is written as

<table border="1" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center; margin: 5px;">
<tr>
<th>Song title</th>
<th>Artist</th>
<th>Decade</th>
<th>Genre</th>
<th>Single / Pack name</th>
<th>Release date</th>
<th>Family Friendly</th>
<th>Additional <i>Rock Band 3</i> Features</th>
</tr>
<tr><td>"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortunate_Son" title="Fortunate Son">Fortunate Son</a>"<sup id="cite_ref-cover_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cover-14"><span>[</span>a<span>]</span></a></sup></td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creedence_Clearwater_Revival" title="Creedence Clearwater Revival">Creedence Clearwater Revival</a></td>
<td>1969</td>
<td>Southern Rock</td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">... !</span><span class="sorttext">Single</span></td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">2007-11-20 !</span><span class="sorttext">Nov. 20, 2007</span></td>
<td style="background: #90ff90; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;" class="table-yes">Yes</td>
<td style="background:#ff9090; color:black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;" class="table-no">None</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juke_Box_Hero" title="Juke Box Hero">Juke Box Hero</a>"<sup id="cite_ref-cover_14-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cover-14"><span>[</span>a<span>]</span></a></sup></td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreigner_(band)" title="Foreigner (band)">Foreigner</a></td>
<td>1981</td>
<td>Classic Rock</td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">... !</span><span class="sorttext">Single</span></td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">2007-11-20 !</span><span class="sorttext">Nov. 20, 2007</span></td>
<td style="background: #90ff90; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;" class="table-yes">Yes</td>
<td style="background:#ff9090; color:black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;" class="table-no">None</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_It_On_(T._Rex_song)" title="Get It On (T. Rex song)">Bang a Gong</a>"<sup id="cite_ref-cover_14-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cover-14"><span>[</span>a<span>]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-scheduled_to_be_removed_august_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-scheduled_to_be_removed_august-15"><span>[</span>b<span>]</span></a></sup></td>
<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Rex_(band)" title="T. Rex (band)">T. Rex</a></td>
<td>1971</td>
<td>Glam</td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">... !</span><span class="sorttext">Single</span></td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">2007-11-20 !</span><span class="sorttext">Nov. 20, 2007</span></td>
<td style="background:#ff9090; color:black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;" class="table-no">No</td>
<td style="background:#ff9090; color:black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;" class="table-no">None</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sharona" title="My Sharona">My Sharona</a>"<sup id="cite_ref-cover_14-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cover-14"><span>[</span>a<span>]</span></a></sup></td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">Knack !</span><span class="sorttext"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knack" title="The Knack">The Knack</a></span></td>
<td>1979</td>
<td>Pop-Rock</td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">... !</span><span class="sorttext">Single</span></td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">2007-11-20 !</span><span class="sorttext">Nov. 20, 2007</span></td>
<td style="background:#ff9090; color:black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;" class="table-no">No</td>
<td style="background: #FFB; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;" class="partial table-partial">Pro Guitar/Bass</td>
</tr>
<tr><td>"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_Bomb_(song)" title="Cherry Bomb (song)">Cherry Bomb</a>"<sup id="cite_ref-cover_14-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-cover-14"><span>[</span>a<span>]</span></a></sup></td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">Runaways !</span><span class="sorttext"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Runaways" title="The Runaways">The Runaways</a></span></td>
<td>1976</td>
<td>Punk</td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">... !</span><span class="sorttext">Single</span></td>
<td><span style="display:none" class="sortkey">2007-11-20 !</span><span class="sorttext">Nov. 20, 2007</span></td>
<td style="background:#ff9090; color:black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;" class="table-no">No</td>
<td style="background:#ff9090; color:black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center;" class="table-no">None</td>
</tr>

goes on for another 1100 <tr>'s .........................................

I tried

<?php 
$url  =  "rb3_list.html";
$html = new simple_html_dom();
$html = file_get_html($url);

foreach($html->find('table tr') as $row) {
    $cell = $row->find('td', 1);
    echo $cell;
}
?>

but all I get is a blank page.

[dodgeitorelse3]

i forgot to say that simple_html_dom.php is included at the begining of the code above and that simple_html_dom.php resides in same folder as the html file and the php file

Edited September 17, 2013 by dodgeitorelse3

[vinny42]

If it's cleam HTML then it's also XML, which means you can perse it as XML and use XPATH to get the right elements.

 

It's also very advisable to try to find a different source of data, ripping content from HTML is not only difficult, it's usually also illegal.