PHP Break Apart Array Variables - php

Question

I am extracting XML from a feed. There is a tag entitled:
<georss:point>34.234 -34.435</georss:point>
which contains two variables I am inserting into MySQL
When I run this code, the variable is 'array'. I then place an extract to break out the variables, unsure of next
$xmlString = str_replace('georss:point','point',$xmlString);
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlString);
$items = $xml->xpath('channel/item');
$closeItems = array();
foreach($items as $item)
{
$latlng = explode(' ',trim($item->point));
array(
'lat'=>$latlng[0],
'lng'=>$latlng[1]
);
$lat = array($latlng[0]);
$lng = array($latlng[1]);
echo $lat;
echo $lng;
}
When I place those echo statements (in the last two lines of code), the variables get echod to the screen. However when I place these varaibles outside of the array, the values do not get echod.
I am attempting to get these variables outside of the array, so that I can insert these variables into the database. I have tried extract on the varaiables, but this prints back to the screen as 'Array'... unsure of what I need to do to extract these variables from the array. Thanks,

Answer 1

Replace your foreach with a version like this...
$new_array = array();
foreach($items as $item)
{
$latlng = explode(' ',trim($item->point));
$new_array[] = array('lat'=>$latlng[0],'lng'=>$latlng[1]);
}
var_dump($new_array);
this should give you a array of your lat/long values.

Answer 2

Some observations.
1) you can register xpath namespaces instead of replacing in the string
2) array('lat'=>$latlng[0],'lng'=>$latlng[1]); does nothing. It is a dead store.
3) Instead of
$lat = array($latlng[0]);
$lng = array($latlng[1]);
echo $lat;
echo $lng;
You can do: echo $latlng[0].'-'.$latlng[1];
If you try to echo an array, you will always get Array.
Use a specific index to echo an individual element.
4) Alternatively you could use list to store the variables directly
list($lat, $long) = explode(' ',trim($item->point));
Edit
To insert multiple results into your database, store the results in an array:
$lat_long = array();
foreach($items as $item){
$lat_long[] = explode(' ', $item);
}
Then later iterate through this array and do your database insert.
foreach($lat_long as $point){
//do SQL injection prevention as well
//INSERT INTO your_table (`lat`, `long`) VALUES ($point[0], $point[1]);
}

Answer 3

I think this:
$lat = array($latlng[0]);
$lng = array($latlng[1]);
should be:
$lat = $latlng[0];
$lng = $latlng[1];

Answer 4

Obmitting the array(..) around $latlng[..] would do the trick, I think.
$lat = $latlng[0];
$lng = $latlng[1];