Basic PHP for Noobie

[phpgurl]

If I have a form using the _POST method, and I've asked for a zipcode...  saved into a variable $zipcode, how would I go about putting that variable into a request to Yahoo Local Search API - such that that zipcode is replaced in

http://local.yahooapis.com/LocalSearchService/V3/localSearch?appid=YahooDemo&query=pizza&zip=94306&results=2

 

And then, do I continue with the same file to handle / manipulate the results? This confuses me because if I put that URL in the browser, I get back some xml - right in the browser.  That's not what I want my visitor to see.  I think I need the next step - or some explanation of what happens.  I do have the developer page http://developer.yahoo.com/search/local/V3/localSearch.html and I'm reading it as best I can, but it seems I fail to grasp how to move forward.  I don't need complete code - just an outline or direction of where to take this.  (I'd like to put the results into a map - either Yahoo or Google).  I'm getting a bit dizzy with all the different methods offered on many sites and no one of them has actually explained what I think is fairly do-able.

[dsaba]

file_get_contents() retrieves the source of files/webpages thus loading the page, you can send the variable by concactenatin it in teh url

 

$zip = '23445';

$raw = file_get_contents('http://local.yahooapis.com/LocalSearchService/V3/localSearch?appid=YahooDemo&query=pizza&zip='.$zip.'&results=2');

 

//raw is the html source or source of whatever you grab with file_get_contents()

you can use string manipulation to loop, use regex to grab whatever you need from the source, like search results.. etc....

 

good luck