Trouble returning usable string or array with foreach loop

Question

I am trying to return an string that I can use in a function (programatically adding terms in WordPress).

My function that generates my string is basically looping through html meta tags that match a certain criteria and is as follows:

function getYouTubeTags( $post_id ) {

    $video_id = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'rfvi_video_id', true );
    $tag_url = "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=" . $video_id;
    $sites_html = file_get_contents($tag_url);
    $html = new DOMDocument();
    @$html->loadHTML($sites_html);
    $meta_og_tag = null;

    foreach( $html->getElementsByTagName('meta') as $meta ) {
        if( $meta->getAttribute('property')==='og:video:tag' ){
            $meta_og_tag = $meta->getAttribute('content');
            print_r ($meta_og_tag . ",");
        }
    }

}

When I simply execute this (getYouTubeTags();), it returns the string:

supra vs lambo,tt lambo,twin turbo,street race,texas streets,underground racing,supra,turbo supra,1200hp,nitrous,superleggera,gallardo,

In my function to add terms to a post, the following DOES NOT work:

function rct_save_post_terms( $post_id ) {

    $terms = getYouTubeTags();
    wp_set_post_terms( $post_id, $terms, 'post_tag', true );

}

If I manually add the string as outputted from the first function, it DOES work:

function rct_save_post_terms( $post_id ) {

    $terms = 'supra vs lambo,tt lambo,twin turbo,street race,texas streets,underground racing,supra,turbo supra,1200hp,nitrous,superleggera,gallardo,';
    wp_set_post_terms( $post_id, $terms, 'post_tag', true );

}

Also, according to WordPress, $terms in wp_set_post_terms: Can be an array or a comma separated string.

I know I must be missing something simple here but cannot seem to figure it out. Thank in advance for some help!

Kevin · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-02 01:01:23Z

2

Since you want to get those string to be reused, why not return those:

function getYouTubeTags( $post_id ) {
    $out = null;

    $video_id = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'rfvi_video_id', true );
    $tag_url = "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=" . $video_id;
    $sites_html = file_get_contents($tag_url);
    $html = new DOMDocument();
    @$html->loadHTML($sites_html);
    $meta_og_tag = null;

    foreach( $html->getElementsByTagName('meta') as $meta ) {
        if( $meta->getAttribute('property')==='og:video:tag' ){
            // i seriously doubt this checking i think this should be
            // if($meta->getAttribute('property') == 'og:video') {
            $meta_og_tag = $meta->getAttribute('content');
            // print_r ($meta_og_tag . ",");
            $out[] = $meta_og_tag; // gather them inside first
        }
    }

    return implode(',', $out); // return implode comma delimited strings
}

And then utimately, then you could use them:

function rct_save_post_terms( $post_id ) {

    $terms = getYouTubeTags(); // strings are in here
    wp_set_post_terms( $post_id, $terms, 'post_tag', true );

}

answered Oct 2, 2014 at 1:01

Kevin

41.9k12 gold badges57 silver badges72 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

7 Comments

Joe Conlin Over a year ago

This worked perfectly. You have no idea how appreciative I am after struggling with this for a while. Thanks!

Joe Conlin Over a year ago

One quick question @Ghost: While this works perfectly, it seems to be having an issue running one multiple posts at the same time. I believe it is exhausting memory. Is there something that I can add to the end so each time it executes, it will flush the memory from the prior execution?

Kevin Over a year ago

@JoeConlin how are you using this getYouTubeTags() function anyways? is this inside a loop? i think that culprit is that file_get_contents(), that really slows you down, strings inside the array i think is okay, anyway i do not know if you could explicitly tell PHP to free memory, i think this is automatic

Joe Conlin Over a year ago

I am hooking into the save_post action with add_action( 'save_post', 'rct_save_post_terms' ); so that any time a post is created, the function is run. The catch is that I am also importing/creating posts in bulk via a json response from the YouTube API so it is possibly trying to run multiple instances simultaneously. So, is there a way to ensure the this function will only run one at a time and ensure they dont run concurrently? I know this might have expanded beyond the scope of this question so my apologies.

Kevin Over a year ago

@JoeConlin then i guess the only way to get around this is to find another route, since for every tag url, you will search for that meta tag and might not be very good. i haven't really used youtube api, but maybe there is a way of getting those info inside the meta tag thru the api instead of using file get contents and then getting thru dom, by the way, have you tried this? get_meta_tags(url), might be worth a shot

|

worldofjr · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-02 01:03:12Z

1

You don't seem to be returning a value in your original function. You need to use;

return $meta_og_tag;

at the end of your function to return a value back to an assigned variable.

Also, you need to append strings to the end of your returned variable using .=;

$meta_og_tag .= $meta->getAttribute('content');

OR you can save each attribute in an array and implode for the return;

// inside loop
$meta_og_tag[] = $meta->getAttribute('content');

// outside loop
return implode(', ',$meta_og_tag);

print_r will simply echo the contents of the variable, not return a value.

Hope this helps.

edited Oct 2, 2014 at 1:03

answered Oct 2, 2014 at 0:57

worldofjr

3,8968 gold badges41 silver badges53 bronze badges

4 Comments

Joe Conlin Over a year ago

I tried using that but it only returns the FIRST value. I figured the return with stopping the loop??

worldofjr Over a year ago

You should place the return statement outside and after the loop. You also need to add the next value onto the string with .=, not replace it.

Joe Conlin Over a year ago

Instead of using print_r in the foreach loop, and knowing that return $meta_og_tag; only returns the first value, maybe someone can let me know how to return all values. That's probably where my issue is and unfortunately, I'm not that strong with foreach loops.

worldofjr Over a year ago

print_r doesn't return anything, it prints output only. Updated answer.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Trouble returning usable string or array with foreach loop

2 Answers 2

7 Comments

4 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

7 Comments

4 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related