I'm Stumped! Problem Reeding an RSS Feed

[jdubwelch]

I've got a script that reads RSS feeds and shows them.  Some show the xml file, some don't. 

 

I'm totally stumped as to why it doesn't.  At first I thought it wouldn't reed RSS version 2.0 files, but I tried different ones and some worked. So that wasn't it.

 

This is the xml file i'm trying to read in.  If I save this file on my own server link to it directly it WORKS!  However, if i link to the actual file on whatever server it's on, nothing shows up.  I know i have the right link, i copied it right from my RSS feed program and if i paste it into my web browser it brings up the feed. 

 

The link to the actual xml file is: http://rgweb-c.registerguard.com/blogs/index.php/ducksbkn/rss_2.0/

 

This is the xml file: 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:ng="http://newsgator.com/schema/extensions" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/">
<channel>
<title>Duck Men's Basketball with Bob Clark</title>
<link>http://rgweb-c.registerguard.com/blogs/index.php/ducksbkn</link>
<copyright>Copyright retained by original author, refer to http://rgweb-c.registerguard.com/blogs/index.php/ducksbkn/rss_2.0/ for further information</copyright><description />
<webMaster>support@newsgator.com</webMaster>
<lastBuildDate>2008-02-02T21:53:31</lastBuildDate><image><url />
<title>Duck Men's Basketball with Bob Clark</title>
<link>http://rgweb-c.registerguard.com/blogs/index.php/ducksbkn</link></image>
<ng:id>1790546</ng:id><ttl>60</ttl>
<ng:token>MDIyMDA4LTAyLTAyVDIxOjUzOjMxLjEzMCA0MjkyMTI3NDIz</ng:token>

<item>
<title>Moving up the lists in Civil War</title>
<link>http://rgweb-c.registerguard.com/blogs/index.php/ducksbkn/commentsmoving_up_the_lists_in_civil_war/</link>
<description><p>OK, who breaks their skid?
</p>
<p>
Oregon has lost four in a row, Oregon State it&#8217;s last 10 games. 
</p></description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:newsgator.com,2006:Feed.aspx/1790546/4292127318</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:23:43 GMT</pubDate>
<ng:modifiedDate>Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:23:44 GMT</ng:modifiedDate>
<ng:postId>4292127318</ng:postId>
<ng:read>False</ng:read>
<author>bclark@guardnet.com</author>
<ng:avgRating>0.000000</ng:avgRating>
<ng:clipped>False</ng:clipped>
</item>

<item>
<title>Oregon pulls away from Beavers, 79-63</title>
<link>http://rgweb-c.registerguard.com/blogs/index.php/ducksbkn/commentsoregon_pulls_away_from_beavers_79_63/</link>
<description><p>Oregon went on a three-point spree to break away from a one-point lead as the Ducks continued their mastery over Oregon State at McArthur Court with a 79-63 victory Saturday.
</p>
<p>
In winning the Civil War at home for the 15th consecutive year, the Ducks (13-8, 4-5 in the Pac-10) also halted their own four-game losing streak. The Beavers (6-15, 0-9) lost their 10th consecutive game and reached the midpoint of their Pac-10 schedule still winless.
</p></description>
<guid isPermaLink="false">tag:newsgator.com,2006:Feed.aspx/1790546/4292127423</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:23:43 GMT</pubDate>
<ng:modifiedDate>Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:23:44 GMT</ng:modifiedDate>
<ng:postId>4292127423</ng:postId>
<ng:read>True</ng:read>
<author>bclark@guardnet.com</author>
<ng:avgRating>0.000000</ng:avgRating>
<ng:clipped>False</ng:clipped>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>

 

Here's my php code do display xml RSS Feeds:

<?php
function readXML($file){
  // Read in XML from URL into variable $xml
  $filePointer = fopen($file,"r") or die("Could not connect to the rss file");
  while(!feof($filePointer)){
      $xml .= fread($filePointer,1024);
  }
  fclose($filePointer);
  return $xml;
}

function startTag($parser,$tag,$attributes){
  // Process XML Opening Tags
  global $rssBlockLocation;
  global $rssCurrentTag;
  
  if($tag == "CHANNEL"){
      $rssBlockLocation = "CHANNEL";
  } elseif ($tag == "ITEM") {
      $rssBlockLocation = "ITEM";
  }
  
  $rssCurrentTag = $tag;
}

function endTag($parser,$tag){
  // Process XML Closing Tags
  global $rssBlockLocation;
  global $rssItemArray;
  global $rssTempItem;
  if($rssBlockLocation == "ITEM" && $tag == "ITEM"){
          $rssItemArray[] = $rssTempItem;
          $rssTempItem = "";
  }   
}

function characterData($parser,$characterData){
  // Process XML Character Data
  global $rssBlockLocation;
  global $rssCurrentTag;
  global $rssChannelArray;
  global $rssTempItem;
  
  if($rssCurrentTag == "TITLE" || $rssCurrentTag == "LINK" || 
                                                          $rssCurrentTag == "DESCRIPTION"){
      if($rssBlockLocation == "CHANNEL"){
          $rssChannelArray[$rssCurrentTag] .= $characterData;
      } elseif($rssBlockLocation == "ITEM"){
          $rssTempItem[$rssCurrentTag] .= $characterData;
      }
  }
  
}

// Set up Variables to keep track of the position in the XML 
$rssBlockLocation = "";
$rssCurrentTag = "";

// Set up Variables to hold the data extracted from the XML
$rssChannelArray = "";
$rssTempItem = "";
$rssItemArray = "";

// Read in the XML
$url = "http://rgweb-c.registerguard.com/blogs/index.php/ducksbkn/rss_2.0/";
$xml = readXML($url);

// Parse the XML
$parser = xml_parser_create();

xml_set_element_handler($parser,"startTag","endTag");
xml_set_character_data_handler($parser,"characterData");

if(!xml_parse($parser,$xml)){
  $error = xml_error_string($xml_ger_error_code($parser));
  $line = xml_get_current_line_number($parser);
  die("XML Error: " . $error . " at line number " . $line);
}

xml_parser_free($parser);
?>
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<title>RSS Feed - Macromedia Dreamweaver MX</title>
<style type="text/css">
<!--

#rssFeed{
    width: 400px;
}
.channelHeadline{ 
    font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
    font-size: 12px;
    font-weight: bold;
}

.itemDescription{
    font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
    font-size: 12px;   
}

a{ font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;   }
a:link{ color: #009900; text-decoration: none; }
a:visited{ color:#009900; text-decoration: none; }
a:hover{ color:#009900; }
a:active{ color:#009900; text-decoration: none; }
-->
</style>
</head>

<body>
<?php
echo "<div id='rssFeed'>";

// Output Channel Header
echo "<span class='channelHeadline'>" . $rssChannelArray['TITLE'] 
                                                                                              . "</span><br />";
echo "<a href='" . $rssChannelArray['LINK'] . "'>" . 
                                               $rssChannelArray['DESCRIPTION'] . "</a>";
echo "<br />";

// Output Items
foreach($rssItemArray as $item){
  echo "<hr width='100%' align='left'>";
  echo "<a href='" . $item['LINK'] . "'>" . $item['TITLE'] . "</a>";
  echo "<br />";
  echo "<span class='itemDescription'>" . $item['DESCRIPTION'] . "</span>";
  echo "<br />";
}

echo "</div>";
?>
</body>
</html>

 

If you can help in anyway, I'd be so greatful.  Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[chwebdesigns]

Not sure whether you are still interested, but somehow i came across this topic.

Have you tried just putting the local link to the feed here?

<?php
// Read in the XML
$url = "http://rgweb-c.registerguard.com/blogs/index.php/ducksbkn/rss_2.0/";
$xml = readXML($url);
?>

for example;

<?php
// Read in the XML
$url = "feed.xml";
$xml = readXML($url);
?>

I tested it on my Apache 2.2 Server and it worked fine. Not sure whether it would work all of the time though

[jdubwelch]

It's not my feed so it's not a local feed.  Unless, there's a way to make it local just to load the file temporarily and then get rid of it. 

 

Ideas?

[tippy_102]

I think it's not working because this:

$url = "http://rgweb-c.registerguard.com/blogs/index.php/ducksbkn/rss_2.0/";

isn't the actual name of the .xml file. Maybe contact the site owner and see if they will give you the link to the feed file?

[jdubwelch]

I'm linking to tons of feeds (lots are having this problem), so i was just trying to make this one work and implement it on the rest.  There's so many feeds I probably wont get the actual link to the xml file.

 

How can I read in their feed, and make a temporary xml file on my server to read it, then delete it?