curl output manipulation

[rhock_95]

can someone direct me to a source or explain how to get specific content from a page returned from a curl script?...i.e. if the page submits a word (via curl ) to a dictionary site...how can I get get just the requested content in the output display?

 

do I have to strip everything or is is there a way to just grab the targeted content without retriving and stripping the rest of the page (images, text etc etc)

[GingerRobot]

You'll need to set the curl option RETURNTRANSFER to 1 to get the contents in a string. e.g:

 

<?php
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_URL,'your website');
curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,TRUE);
//other curl options
$result = curl_exec($ch);

 

You'll then need to use some regular expressions on the returned string, $result, to find the data you need. Theres a subforum on this site for regular expressions, or try looking in the manual: preg_match()

 

On a side note, some dictionary sites do offer an API, which would possibly be an easier way to go. A quick google shows that urbandictionary.com does, but take a look for the one you want.

[rhock_95]

ok thanks for the reply...

 

 

not being a php coder pre se'...can you tell me how to use preg_match() to remove unwanted content from the "$result" string ?