Getting XML data in PHP - php

Question

I am trying to read XML data in PHP. The XML data is coming from an API whose link is the following: https://seekingalpha.com/api/sa/combined/AAPL.xml
I just need News Headline, News Link , Published Date and Author Name of the first five news from the API. To do this, I am using the following PHP code:
$note = "https://seekingalpha.com/api/sa/combined/".$symbolValue.".xml";
$xml=simplexml_load_file($note);
$jsonArray = array();
for ($i=0; $i<5; $i++) {
$newsHeadline = $xml->channel->item[$i]->title->__toString();
$newsLink = $xml->channel->item[$i]->link->__toString();
$publishedDate = $xml->channel->item[$i]->pubDate->__toString();
$authorName = $xml->channel->item[$i]->sa:author_name->__toString();
$temp = array('Title' => $newsHeadline, 'Link' => $newsLink,'Publish'=>$publishedDate,'Author'=>$authorName);
array_push($jsonArray,$temp);
}
$jsonNews = json_encode($jsonArray);
$completeData[9] = $jsonNews;
In the above code, $note contains the link to the API. The $symbolValue is the value which I am getting from the front end. My code works absolutely until I access the author name ie. The following line of code:
$authorName = $xml->channel->item[$i]->sa:author_name->__toString();
I am getting the following error:
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ':' in /home/File/Path
It seems like I am not supposed to use the ":" for fetching the author name.
So, how do I get the user name and put it in the $temp such that the Tag for the author name is "Author"?
Please have a look at the API to get an idea about the XML file.

Answer 1

The children() method supports an argument for the namespace you want to read. This is required when you want to read elements which are not in the current/default namespace.
$xmldata = <<<'XML'
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<foobar xmlns:x="http://example.org/">
<abc>test</abc>
<x:def>content</x:def>
</foobar>
XML;
$xml = new Simplexmlelement($xmldata);
$other = $xml->children('http://example.org/');
var_dump((string)$other->def);
This will output the value "content", but using the expression $xml->def will not because that is not in the current/default namespace.

Answer 2

If you property contains for example a :, you could use curly braces
->{'sa:author_name'}
The values you are looking for are in the https://seekingalpha.com/api/1.0 namespace.
You could use the children of the SimpleXMLElement and add te namespace:
$authorName = (string)$xml->channel->item[$i]->children('https://seekingalpha.com/api/1.0')->{'author_name'};
Or you could use xpath.
$authorName = (string)$xml->channel->item[$i]->xpath('sa:author_name')[0];
For example:
$jsonArray = array();
for ($i = 0; $i < 5; $i++) {
$newsHeadline = $xml->channel->item[$i]->title->__toString();
$newsLink = $xml->channel->item[$i]->link->__toString();
$publishedDate = $xml->channel->item[$i]->pubDate->__toString();
$authorName = (string)$xml->channel->item[$i]->xpath('sa:author_name')[0];
// or xpath
// $authorName = (string)$xml->channel->item[$i]->children('https://seekingalpha.com/api/1.0')->{'author_name'};
$temp = array('Title' => $newsHeadline, 'Link' => $newsLink, 'Publish' => $publishedDate, 'Author' => $authorName);
array_push($jsonArray, $temp);
}
$jsonNews = json_encode($jsonArray);
print_r($jsonArray);
Will give you:
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[Title] => Apple acknowledges iPhone X issue in some devices, plans fix
[Link] => https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AAPL/news?source=feed_symbol_AAPL
[Publish] => Fri, 10 Nov 2017 12:04:42 -0500
[Author] => Brandy Betz
)
etc...