User defined XML output of mysql table with php

Question

I have run into a tough one here, I hope someone would help out. I want the public user to define the order of the display of information on the webpage. The user will know the data fields in the mysql database and make a custom output of the fields in the order he or she wants. Here is my php generating xml:

<?php 
    header("Content-type: text/xml"); 
    include_once("config.php");

    parse_str($_POST['data'], $order);
    $order = array(firstname,surname,title,booktitle);

    $neworder = explode("&", $order);
    echo $neworder[1];      

    $query = "SELECT `author`.`surname`,`author`.`firstname`,`publication`.`title`,`book`.`book_title` FROM author, book, publication "; 
    $resultID = mysql_query($query, $conn) or die("Data not found."); 

     $xml_output = "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>\n"; 
    $xml_output .= "<entries>\n"; 

    for($x = 0 ; $x < mysql_num_rows($resultID) ; $x++){ 
        $row = mysql_fetch_assoc($resultID); 
        $xml_output .= "\t<entry>\n"; 
        foreach($order as $col){
            $xml_output = "\t\t<$col>" . $row[$col] . "</$col\n"; 
        }    
        $xml_output .= "\t</entry>\n"; 
    } 
    $xml_output .= "</entries>"; 
    echo $xml_output;  
?>

And the xml output

<entries>
<entry>
<firstname>Kimtai</firstname>
<surname>Evans</surname>
<title>
Operational Decision Support: Context-Based Approach and Technological Framework
</title>
<book_title>Operational Support Decision</book_title>
</entry>
</entries>

What i need is this, the user can change the order of output from a html form by putting the order of the fields he wants, so that the final output on the webpage can start with surname and not firstname for example. I hope i have explained my question well. Any help will be appreciated.

jquery ajax code

<script>
  $(function() {
        $( "#sortable" ).sortable({
        placeholder: "ui-state-highlight",
        opacity: 0.6,
       update: function(event, ui) {
        var info = $(this).sortable("serialize");
        alert(info);
        $.ajax({
            type: "POST",
            url: "home.php",
            data: info,
            context: document.body,
            success: function(){
            }
      });
    }
    });
    $( "#sortable" ).disableSelection();
  });

You could use htmlspecialchars() instead of the series of str_replaces — Mifeet
– Mifeet, Commented May 30, 2013 at 14:19

user399666 · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-31 09:06:30Z

2

Have the user order the fields using something like jQuery UI Sortable. Add those fields to an array in the same order that the user chose. Example:

$order = array('firstname', 'title', 'etc');

Then, when you're printing out the XML, do something similar to:

<?php

//Example array
$order = array('firstname', 'title', 'etc');

for($x = 0 ; $x < mysql_num_rows($resultID) ; $x++){ 
    $row = mysql_fetch_assoc($resultID); 
    $xml_output .= "\t<entry>\n"; 
    foreach($order as $col){
        $xml_output = "\t\t<$col>" . $row[$col] . "</$col\n"; 
    }    
    $xml_output .= "\t</entry>\n"; 
}

Caveat: Column names will have to have the same names as the XML elements that you're creating. If that's not do-able, you'll need to create some sort of lookup array. I suggest doing this anyway, simply because you'll want to whitelist what fields that user can choose.

From the example you've given in the comments:

<?php
$string = 'post[]=firstname&post[]=title&post[]=surname&post[]=booktitle';
$order = array();

$stringExploded = explode("&", $string);
foreach($stringExploded as $val){
    $keyVal = explode("=", $val);
    array_push($order, $keyVal[1]);
}

var_dump($order);

edited May 31, 2013 at 9:06

answered May 30, 2013 at 14:22

user399666

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4 Comments

job kwemoi Over a year ago

i used the jquery sortable and iam able to serialize the data and oarse it using ajax, but am stuck here, parse_str($_POST['data'], $order); echo $order; How do i use this data from post and make an array that ill use to make the output

user399666 Over a year ago

You should separate the order via a common delimiter such as "," and then use the function php.net/manual/en/function.explode.php

job kwemoi Over a year ago

still not working, please check i have updated the php xml code, the jquery ui portable outputs this when i alert post[]=firstname&post[]=title&post[]=surname&post[]=booktitle, this is what ajax sends, i also updated the jquery ajax code above.

job kwemoi Over a year ago

Now if i echo the $order array i get the elements in it, but i the order will always be different, according to what the user determines in the jquery ui sortable

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