Dixons own brand XML Feed

[Andy]

Dixons own datafeed has the following format:

<RECORD ID = "391041">
<FIELD NAME = "STORE" VALUE = "103"/>
<FIELD NAME = "AFFILIATE" VALUE = "Dixons - UsefulInfo"/>
<FIELD NAME = "PRODUCT ID" VALUE = "391041"/>
<FIELD NAME = "CATEGORY PATH" VALUE = "Phones &amp; Faxes&gt;Phones&gt;Telephones Cordless Digital"/>
<FIELD NAME = "LEAF CATEGORY" VALUE = "Telephones Cordless Digital"/>
<FIELD NAME = "NAME" VALUE = "BRIT TELE FS7310"/>
<FIELD NAME = "LONG DESCRIPTION" VALUE = "DIGITAL CORDLESS TELEPHONE"/>
<FIELD NAME = "SHORT DESCRIPTION" VALUE = ""/>
<FIELD NAME = "PRICE" VALUE = "69.99"/>
<FIELD NAME = "MINIMUM DELIVERY PRICE" VALUE = "6.99"/>
<FIELD NAME = "LIST PRICE" VALUE = "69.99"/>
<FIELD NAME = "WAS PRICE" VALUE = "79.99"/>
<FIELD NAME = "WAS WAS PRICE" VALUE = ""/>
<FIELD NAME = "PRICE_TYPE" VALUE = "Standard Price"/>
<FIELD NAME = "WEB_SPECIAL_DATE" VALUE = ""/>
<FIELD NAME = "STANDARD_PRICE_DATE" VALUE = ""/>
<FIELD NAME = "PROD SOURCE" VALUE = "NDC"/>
<FIELD NAME = "PROD SOURCE OVERRIDE" VALUE = ""/>
<FIELD NAME = "SALT OVERRIDE" VALUE = "1"/>
<FIELD NAME = "STOCK AVAILABILITY" VALUE = "In Stock"/>
<FIELD NAME = "REAL PROD SOURCE" VALUE = "NDC"/>
<FIELD NAME = "PROD SOURCE OVER RIDE" VALUE = ""/>
<FIELD NAME = "PROD CLASS" VALUE = "Standalone"/>
<FIELD NAME = "MANUFACTURER PART NO" VALUE = "019808"/>
<FIELD NAME = "PRODUCT TYPE" VALUE = "Digital Cordless Telephone"/>
<FIELD NAME = "BRAND" VALUE = "BT"/>
<FIELD NAME = "MODEL" VALUE = "FREESTYLE 7310"/>
<FIELD NAME = "TYPE INFORMATION" VALUE = "DIGITAL CORDLESS TELEPHONE"/>
<FIELD NAME = "DELIVERY STATEMENT" VALUE = "Delivery 4-5 days"/>
<FIELD NAME = "FEATURE TXT 1" VALUE = "200 Name &amp; Number Memory"/>
<FIELD NAME = "FEATURE TXT 2" VALUE = "SMS Text Messaging"/>
<FIELD NAME = "FEATURE TXT 3" VALUE = "Single Pack"/>
<FIELD NAME = "FEATURE TXT 4" VALUE = "30 hours Battery Standby"/>
<FIELD NAME = "FEATURE TXT 5" VALUE = "10 hours Battery Talktime"/>
<FIELD NAME = "FEATURE TXT 6" VALUE = "300 m Range (up to)"/>
<FIELD NAME = "FEATURE TXT 7" VALUE = "Up to 6 Handsets"/>
<FIELD NAME = "FEATURE TXT 8" VALUE = "Silver Colour"/>
<FIELD NAME = "FEATURE TXT 9" VALUE = "GAP Compatible"/>
<FIELD NAME = "FEATURE TXT 10" VALUE = "1 Handset Supplied"/>
<FIELD NAME = "IMAGE URL" VALUE = "http://www.dixons.co.uk/images/391041_01_small.jpg"/>
<FIELD NAME = "IMAGE URL LARGE" VALUE = "http://www.dixons.co.uk/images/391041_01_large.jpg"/>
<FIELD NAME = "LINK URL" VALUE = "http://www.dixons.co.uk/product.php?sku=391041"/>
<FIELD NAME = "TRACKING CODE PRE URL" VALUE = ""/>
<FIELD NAME = "TRACKING CODE POST URL" VALUE = ""/>
</RECORD>

I haven't managed to write the code in PHP neccessary to parse this as I am used to XML feeds having unique tags for each data type.

Can anyone show me how you can extract name and value data from each field tag?

[scifind]

Where did you get this feed from?

[Andy]

Originally Posted by scifind Where did you get this feed from?

Dixons Group of course. I can PM u a contact name if you wish. But do you know how to parse such an XML feed?

[dmorison]

Here's a quick attempt "off the top of my head" and assuming that the file is called "dixons.xml" in the same directory as the script. Might not work straight away but should be close...

PHP Code:

<?php
  function xml_start_tag($parser,$name,$attribs)
  {
    global $record;  
    if ($name == "RECORD")
    {
      $record = array();
      return;
    }
    $record[$attribs["NAME"]] = $attribs["VALUE"];
  }
  function xml_end_tag($parser,$name)
  {
    global $record;
    if ($name == "RECORD")
    {
      // use $record here
      print_r($record);
    }
  }

  $parser = xml_parser_create();

  xml_set_element_handler($parser, "xml_start_tag", "xml_end_tag");

  $xml = fopen("dixons.xml","r");

  while(!feof($xml)) xml_parse($parser,fread($xml,1024) ,false);

  xml_parse($parser,"",true);

  fclose($xml);
?>

What this does is use PHP's internal Sablotron (event based) parser to call the function xml_start_tag for every tag in the source document.

If that tag is "RECORD", it starts a new $record array. Otherwise, it creates an entry in the $record array with the key name from the attribute "NAME" and the value from the attribute "VALUE".

The xml_end_tag function is called every time the parser encounters a tag closing, so you check that to see if it is "RECORD", and if so, you can use the contents from the $record array.

Hope this works.... (might have a few bugs)

[Andy]

Thanks Dmorison. I'll play around with this code and see if I can sort it.

[Andy]

Yes it is now parsed. Thanks a lot Dmorison. I owe you one. Just got to extract the fields I want now but should manage that on my own.

Thanks again.