Using SimpleXML to get twitter avatar url (weird) - php

Question

Im using simplexml to get the twitter profile avatar url from the xml status page.
this is the code im using
<?
$username = twitter;
$xml = simplexml_load_file("http://twitter.com/users/".$username.".xml");
echo $xml->user->profile_image_url;
?>
The xml page loads when i visit it, but for some reason nothing is being echoed. No errors. Nothing.
When i visit it in a browser, i get this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<user>
<id>783214</id>
<name>Twitter</name>
<screen_name>twitter</screen_name>
<location>San Francisco, CA</location>
<description>Always wondering what everyone's doing.</description>
<profile_image_url>http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/75075164/twitter_bird_profile_normal.png</profile_image_url>
<url>http://twitter.com</url>.....
(the rest is long and irrelevant to the question)
The data is there, why wont it echo?

Answer 1

After loading the XML document, the root element user is represented by the SimpleXMLElement object saved in $xml. Therefore $xml->user does not exist.
This one should work:
<?
$username = "twitter"; // <-- You did not use quotes here?! Typo?
$xml = simplexml_load_file("http://twitter.com/users/".$username.".xml");
echo $xml->profile_image_url; // <-- No $xml->user here!
?>

Answer 2

It is because the root element (in this case, <user>) is implied - you do not have to specify it.
Try this:
echo $xml->profile_image_url;

Answer 3

hey guys - tried out twivatar but I was getting an error 500 error????
anyway here is the code I ended up using - how it is helpful
<?php
if (isset($_REQUEST['user']))
//if "user" is filled out, get the user's twitter picture
{
$username = $_REQUEST['user'];
}else{
$username = 'aplusk';
//else lets use ashton kutcher's picture just for the F of it
} // <-- You did not use quotes here?! Typo?
$xml = simplexml_load_file("http://twitter.com/users/".$username.".xml");
$timage = $xml->profile_image_url; // <-- No $xml->user here!
header('location: ' . $timage);
?>
Now it is extremely easy to call this script from anywhere in your application simply print ...
<img src="http://mywebapp.org/timage.php?user=<php echo $data['twitter_screen_name'];?>" />

Answer 4

Twivatar
Previously, the easiest way to get the twitter avatar was to use Twivatar, which was built by Remy Sharp. However the service has since been shut down.
Using a third party for this is unnecessary.