php append xml substrings

Question

In the below xml i have to append all the url which comes under impression tag.

 <Ad id="32716">        
<InLine>            
    <AdSystem>BrightRoll</AdSystem>         
    <AdTitle/>          
    <Impression><![CDATA[http://2901.btrll.com/imp/2901/12446/PreRoll.911.123806/start;Video;1358769313]]>
    </Impression>           
    <Impression><![CDATA[http://brxserv.btrll.com/v1/epix/6835361/3850628/20799/32716/TbwKgCbwBkAABQ_SyhAABRPwAAf8wAOsGEAAAAAAAfYQiqTYrVDQ/event.imp/r_64.aHR0cDovL2Iuc2NvcmVjYXJkcmVzZWFyY2guY29tL3A_YzE9MSZjMj02MDAwMDA2JmMzPSZjND1icngmYzU9MDEwMDAwJmM2PTY4MzUzNjEmYzEwPSZjQTE9OCZjQTI9NjAwMDAwNiZjQTM9MjA3OTkmY0E0PTM4NTA2MjgmY0E1PTQ3NDcmY0E2PTY4MzUzNjEmY0ExMD0zMjcxNiZjdj0xLjcmY2o9JnJuPTEzNTg3NjkzMTMmcj1odHRwJTNBJTJGJTJGcGl4ZWwucXVhbnRzZXJ2ZS5jb20lMkZwaXhlbCUyRnAtY2I2QzB6RkY3ZFdqSS5naWYlM0ZsYWJlbHMlM0RwLjY4MzUzNjEuMzg1MDYyOC4wJTJDYS40NzQ3LjIwNzk5LjMyNzE2JTJDdS45NjguMHgwJTNCbWVkaWElM0RhZCUzQnIlM0QxMzU4NzY5MzEz]]>
    </Impression>           
    <Impression><![CDATA[http://ib.adnxs.com/seg?add=362896&t=2&cb=1358769313]]>
    </Impression>           
    <Impression><![CDATA[http://rc.rlcdn.com/361686.gif]]>
    </Impression>           
    <Impression><![CDATA[http://mobile.btrll.com/event/impression?ts=1358769313920&siteId=3850628&lineItemId=20799]]>
    </Impression>           
    <Creatives>             
        <Creative sequence="1">                 
            <Linear>                        
                <Duration>00:00:14</Duration>                       
                <TrackingEvents>                            
                    <Tracking event="midpoint"><![CDATA[http://brxserv.btrll.com/v1/epix/6835361/3850628/20799/32716/TbwKgCbwBkAABQ_SyhAABRPwAAf8wAOsGEAAAAAAAfYQiqTYrVDQ/event.mid/r_64.aHR0cDovLzI5MDEuYnRybGwuY29tL2ltcC8yOTAxLzEyNDQ2L1ByZVJvbGwuOTExLjEyMzgwNi9taWQ7VmlkZW87MTM1ODc2OTMxMw]]>
                    </Tracking>                         
                    <Tracking event="complete"><![CDATA[http://brxserv.btrll.com/v1/epix/6835361/3850628/20799/32716/TbwKgCbwBkAABQ_SyhAABRPwAAf8wAOsGEAAAAAAAfYQiqTYrVDQ/event.end/r_64.aHR0cDovLzI5MDEuYnRybGwuY29tL2ltcC8yOTAxLzEyNDQ2L1ByZVJvbGwuOTExLjEyMzgwNi9kb25lO1ZpZGVvOzEzNTg3NjkzMTM]]>
                    </Tracking>                         
                    <Tracking event="complete"><![CDATA[http://mobile.btrll.com/event/completion?ts=1358769313921&siteId=3850628&lineItemId=20799]]>
                    </Tracking>                     
                </TrackingEvents>                       
                <VideoClicks>                           
                    <ClickThrough><![CDATA[http://brxserv.btrll.com/v1/epix/6835361/3850628/20799/32716/TbwKgCbwBkAABQ_SyhAABRPwAAf8wAOsGEAAAAAAAfYQiqTYrVDQ/event.click/r_64.aHR0cDovLzI5MDEuYnRybGwuY29tL2Nsay8yOTAxLzEyNDQ2L1ByZVJvbGwuOTExLjEyMzgwNi9ub25lLztWaWRlbzsxMzU4NzY5MzEz]]>
                    </ClickThrough>                         
                    <ClickTracking><![CDATA[http://brxserv.btrll.com/v1/epix/6835361/3850628/20799/32716/TbwKgCbwBkAABQ_SyhAABRPwAAf8wAOsGEAAAAAAAfYQiqTYrVDQ/event.c_trk/r_64.aHR0cDovLzI5MDEuYnRybGwuY29tL2Nsay8yOTAxLzEyNDQ2L1ByZVJvbGwuOTExLjEyMzkyNy9ub25lLztWaWRlbzsxMzU4NzY5MzEz]]>
                    </ClickTracking>                            
                    <ClickTracking><![CDATA[http://mobile.btrll.com/event/click?ts=1358769313921&siteId=3850628&lineItemId=20799]]>
                    </ClickTracking>                        
                </VideoClicks>                      
                <MediaFiles>                            
                    <MediaFile delivery="progressive" type="video/mp4" bitrate="400" height="240" width="320"><![CDATA[http://brxcdn2.btrll.com/production/134980/Home_Depot_MuddyBoots_640x480_15sec.mp4]]>
                    </MediaFile>                        
                </MediaFiles>                   
            </Linear>                   
        </Creative>             
        <Creative sequence="1">                 
            <CompanionAds>                  </CompanionAds>             
        </Creative>         
    </Creatives>        
</InLine>

In existing content between <Impression> and </Impression>, would like to add more string.

how can i achieve this?

i am trying something like this

$pattern = '<Impression>.*?</Impression>';      
preg_match($pattern, $jsaved, $matchesarr);

Don't use a regex for this task. See this question for better ways of parsing XML/HTML: stackoverflow.com/questions/3577641/… — user1919238
– user1919238, Commented Jan 21, 2013 at 12:52

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 11:56:01Z

1

In most cases*, you should not use a regex for parsing HTML or XML. It is not the right tool for the job, and it is likely to be frustrating and error-prone. See this question for better ways of doing this in PHP.

That being said, your regex is failing because, by default, . does not match a newline character. This means that you will only match <Impression>...</Impression> if it all occurs on a single line.

To fix this, you have to add the multi-line switch (m):

$pattern = '|<Impression>.*?</Impression>|m';

**There are exceptions. A regex can be fine if your input is very well-defined and always follows a predictable format. But it is definitely worth considering whether an XML parser would be better.*

edited May 23, 2017 at 11:56

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered Jan 21, 2013 at 12:57

user1919238

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5 Comments

Magnus Over a year ago

Additionally, you shouldn't use .*? but rather .* - ? means "the previous, zero or one time" and * means "the previous, any number of times (including zero)", so the ? is redundant.

user1919238 Over a year ago

@Magnus, that's not correct. The ? is necessary so that each opening tag matches the first subsequent closing tag. If you remove it, you will get one huge match from the first opening tag to the final closing tag.

Magnus Over a year ago

ah right, I keep forgetting that Perl and PHP regexen aren't actually regular. sigh, sorry my bad.

user1919238 Over a year ago

Just to clarify: ? following * has a special meaning: it sets the "greediness" of the match. By default, * is greedy and matches the largest amount possible. Adding ? makes it non-greedy, matching the smallest amount possible.

Magnus Over a year ago

Aye, that's what I meant, I forgot that these aren't actual regular expressions but rather what the Perl crowd made of them. Although I do see that coming in handy, heh.

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