Web Technology Solutions

Class: Application Syndication: Parse and Publish RSS & XML Data
Date : 2/25/2014

Tonight

Introduction to XML

Creating XML, RSS, and JSON with PHP

using simpleXML for XML\RSSLab

Lab Preview

Application Development

Registration Feature

Login\Logout

Maintain State

Admin CRUD for Survey

Publish XML and RSS

Lab Preview

Application Development:

Adding XML and RSS

Publish an RSS feed of your survey

responses
Publish an XML dump of your survey
responses

You will implement an ECO to provide

XML publication of a table in your
database. Provide a URL of feed.

Final Project
Review

Final Project - Web App (link)

registration feature (week 6)

login logout (week 7)

admin ability to
create\read\update\delete (CRUD)
(week 4-5)
Maintain State throughout app
(cookies\sessions) (week 7)

XML and RSS feeds (week 8)

Valid XHTML and CSS design

Web Apps

Problem with apps:

Data stored in other

systems cant be shared
easily.
Data is in different
formats
Data has no meaning to
other systems, just its
own native system.

Web Apps

Goals:
Share information across
multiple environments
Open, flexible language to
share data
Provide schematic meaning
to data elements

Solution: XML

Intro to XML

Markup language for documents

containing structured information.
Extensible Markup Language (akin
to HTML)
Supported by W3C as a standard
Provides known structure and
relevant meaning to that data
structure.
Widely used (iTunes, e.g.)
Perfect for PHP developers to
share data.

Terms of XML

Meta: literally provides

meaning.
Schema: A logical organized
structure of data.
Tags: Elements in XML that are
data containers
Attributes: Extend meaning of a
tag
Serialize: saving or storing data
Nodes: a DOM structure of a data
object (tree)

XML Sample

Consider this example:

<?xml version=1.0?>
<product barcode=2323423>
<maker>Smithson</maker>
<name>Apex DVD Player 1.2</name>
<quantity>3</quantity>
<size>33cm</size>
<color>black</color>
</product>

XML Syntax Structure

Consider this example:

<?xml version=1.0?> // XML Definition (version)

<product barcode=2323423>
<maker>Smithson</maker>
<name>Apex DVD Player 1.2</name>
<quantity>3</quantity>
<size>33cm</size>
<color>black</color>
</product>

XML Syntax Structure

Consider this example:

<?xml version=1.0?> // XML Definition (version)

<product barcode=2323423> // Extending Tagging System (user defined markup adds meaning)
<maker>Smithson</maker>
<name>Apex DVD Player 1.2</name>
<quantity>3</quantity>
<size>33cm</size>
<color>black</color>
</product>

XML Syntax Structure

Consider this example:

<?xml version=1.0?> // XML Definition (version)

<product barcode=2323423> // Extending Tagging System (user defined markup adds meaning)
<maker>Smithson</maker> //Tags are created and defined by the developer (XSD) XML Schema
<name>Apex DVD Player 1.2</name>
<quantity>3</quantity>
<size>33cm</size>
<color>black</color>
</product>

XML Syntax Structure

Consider this example:

<?xml version=1.0?> // XML Definition (version)

<product barcode=2323423> // Extending Tagging System (user defined markup adds meaning)
<maker>Smithson</maker> //Tags are created and defined by the developer (XSD) XML Schema
<name>Apex DVD Player 1.2</name> //Tags contain strictly strings
<quantity>3</quantity> //requires: start tag <quantity> and end tag </quantity>
<size>33cm</size> // string value is found between the tags.
<color hexvalue=0x000000>black</color> //tags can have attributes
</product>

Nodes in XML

The Node:

Contains all relevant data

about an element.
For example: <product>, which
contains all the data for that
individual product.
This node has childnodes,
such as <color>
Data can be a string (but
more...)

CDATA in XML

CDATA
Data can hold more complex data,
like HTML, using CDATA.
Tells the node to contain raw
character data, not markup.

<![CDATA[

]]>

Good for containing html, JS, etc,

as it will not be treated as plain
string data.

Create XML with PHP

fopen() - allows you to open a document on the filesystem. // resource

you can $file= fopen("presidents.xml", "w"); // note safe_mode ,
open_basedir

read only (r)

read and write(r+)

write only(w)

write and create(w+)

write to end of file (a)

write to end and create (a+)

permissions are an issue! Try chmod to 777 to start and throttle back.

Create XML with PHP

fwrite()

Write to the resource you were using.

Allows you to complete the write to the file system

will return the bytes written if successful.

Be aware of permissions! chmod 777 to start and go lower as needed.

Create XML with PHP

fclose()

closes the current resource.

returns boolean. worth checking!

XML Example

Create RSS
with PHP

Stands for Real Simple

Syndication
great for sharing or syndicating
your content to outside systems
commonly only holds some
recent data

natively uses XML as a transport

Has several standardized formats.

Well use RSS 2.0, common usage.

Create RSS
with PHP

RSS has a defined format:

A Channel which allows to add
meta about what your syndicating
Should Contain a title, link, and
description, (optional date,
language,etc)
RSS should have a defined tabbed
structure
Related Links: often found on
blogs to send a person to the
correct page to get more details.

Create RSS
with PHP

Browsers sniff for RSS feeds on

a site
You let the browser know youre
publishing RSS by embedding a
meta data tag:
<link rel="alternate"
type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS"
href="/pathto/rss.xml" />

RSS Example

SimpleXML

Simple XML is PHP5s longawaited class that allows

PHP developers to easily
and effectively parse XML
data!
Simple to Use (its in the
name)
Lets see it in action.

xPath

What is xPath and why do I care?

XSLT Standard by the W3C

xPath is a syntax for finding

information in XML documents
Can find values in nodes or
attributes

xPath is part of SimpleXML

Learn more about it!

JSON

JavaScript Object Notation

super fast, doesnt use bulky
markup that has to be parsed.
good for serializing data and
transport over a network
commonly used now in web
services for web and mobile apps.
its easy: its javascript!

JSON Example

Lab & Next

Week

Lab

implement xml\rss in app

working session for final

Reading: Web Services

See you Tuesday!