How to Parse XML data to a PHP variable

Question

I am mediocre with php and ignorant with XML...if you can be detailed it will help me learn.

I am attempting to use PHP programming to execute a scripts to this link... http://ws.geonames.org/postalCodeSearch?postalcode=VARIABLE_ZIP&country=US. The VARIABLE_ZIP is the actual zip code entered into the form that will submit the information in the link above. The output of that link creates an XML page that i do not want displayed anywhere on my website.

What I want to do is capture the XML data Latitude and Longitude values as variables within php and store them into a database.

1) I have a form

2) The user inputs their zip code into the form

3) upon submitting the form: I want code to capture the XML data generated by the link with the zip code variable added: http://ws.geonames.org/postalCodeSearch?postalcode=90210&country=US (I don't want this page to display anywhere, I just want to capture the data)

4) I want to take those variables back to PHP so I can store them in my database

*Step 3 is an unknown process for me. This is what the XML code generates on a separate page...(i don't want a page to display):

= = = = =

<geonames>
<totalResultsCount>1</totalResultsCount>
<code><postalcode>90210</postalcode>
<name>Beverly Hills</name>
<countryCode>US</countryCode>
<lat>34.09011</lat>
<lng>-118.40648</lng>
<adminCode1>CA</adminCode1>
<adminName1>California</adminName1>
<adminCode2>037</adminCode2>
<adminName2>Los Angeles</adminName2>
<adminCode3/><adminName3/>
</code>
</geonames>

= = = = =

Someone provided me with the following but I am not sure how to execute it and parse the variables I need:

<?php
$pc = $_POST['postalcode'];
$c = $_POST['country'];
$xml = file_get_contents("http://ws.geonames.org/postalCodeSearch?postalcode={$pc}&country={$c}");
file_put_contents("geopost_{$pc}_{$c}.xml",$xml);
?>

Thank you for your assistance!

Solution 1

The best thing to do is to see how the XML is structured by navigating directly to the link (I used my own zipcode and country), and then navigate through the tree grabbing the data you need using SimpleXMLElement. This example grabs the Latitude and Longitude:

<?php
$pc = $_POST['postalcode'];
$c = $_POST['country'];
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement(file_get_contents("http://ws.geonames.org/postalCodeSearch?postalcode=".$pc."&country=".$c));
$lat = $xml->code->lat;
$lng = $xml->code->lng;
echo "Lat: $lat<br/>Lng: $lng";
?>

This should help get you started with storing those values.

Solution 2

Step 3 is to process the xml with PHP which is outlined quite nicely with these Simple XML examples

Solution 3

Take a look at PHPs SimpleXML for how to parse and read the XML data received.