PHP simple_html_dom extract data from url

Question

What is the problem with my code? Why it doesn't work?

This is my code that i tried to use:

function extract_data($url){

    // Create DOM from URL
    $html = file_get_html($url);

    // initialize empty array to store the data array from each row
    $theData = array();

    // loop over rows
    foreach($html->find('p.ch_title') as $row) {

        // initialize array to store the cell data from each row
        $rowData = array();
        foreach($row->find('p.ch_spec') as $cell) {

            // push the cell's text to the array
            $rowData[] = $cell->innertext;
        }

        // push the row's data array to the 'big' array
        $theData[] = $rowData;
    }

    return $theData;

}

and this is the html data from the url;

<div class="holder-specificatii">
       <div class="box-specificatie">
          <div class="ch_group">Dimensiuni</div>
          <p class="ch_title">Latime (mm):</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">195</p>
          <p class="ch_title">Inaltime:</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">65</p>
          <p class="ch_title">Diametru (inch):</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">15</p>
          <div class="clear"></div>
       </div>
       <div class="box-specificatie">
          <div class="ch_group">Caracteristici tehnice</div>
          <p class="ch_title">Anotimp:</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">Iarna</p>
          <p class="ch_title">Indice sarcina:</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">91</p>
          <p class="ch_title">Indice viteza:</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">T</p>
          <p class="ch_title">Economie de carburant:</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">C</p>
          <p class="ch_title">Franare pe suprafete umede:</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">C</p>
          <p class="ch_title">Tip vehicul:</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">Turism</p>
          <p class="ch_title">DOT:</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">2014</p>
          <p class="ch_title">Nivel de zgomot (dB):</p>
          <p class="ch_spec">72dB</p>
          <div class="clear"></div>
       </div>
    </div>

The problem is the function that returns an empty array.

You really should try to narrow this down or be more specific. — pguardiario
– pguardiario, Commented Nov 1, 2014 at 9:48
Your using the object $table, in the for loop, which has not been defined? That should give you error messages! — KIKO Software
– KIKO Software, Commented Nov 1, 2014 at 9:49
Yes that was a minor problem. redamed $table to $html but it returns a empty array. — m3tsys
– m3tsys, Commented Nov 1, 2014 at 9:54

Kevin · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-01 10:08:40Z

1

You're pointing to an undefined object, you should be using $html instead:

function extract_data($url){

    $html = file_get_html($url);
    $theData = array();
    // loop over rows
    foreach($html->find('div.box-specificatie') as $k => $row) { // loop each container
        $temp = array();
        // $main_title = $row->find('div.ch_group', 0)->innertext;
        foreach($row->find('p.ch_title') as $title) { // each title
            $spec = $title->next_sibling()->innertext(); // pair up with spec
            $temp[] = array('title' => $title->innertext, 'spec' => $spec);
        }
        $theData[$k] = $temp; // push inside
        // $theData[$main_title] = $temp; // optionally you can use a main title

    }

    return $theData;
}

echo '<pre>';
print_r(extract_data($url));

edited Nov 1, 2014 at 10:08

answered Nov 1, 2014 at 9:59

Kevin

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4 Comments

m3tsys Over a year ago

is there a way to add a custom string for each title?

Kevin Over a year ago

@m3tsys what do you mean custom string? since you already have the title $title->innertext, you can do whatever you need to do

Kevin Over a year ago

@m3tsys you mean this element? <div class="ch_group">Dimensiuni</div> ?

m3tsys Over a year ago

yes i guess you are right! thank you very much! $title->innertext is more than enough

kaseOga · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-01 09:59:28Z

0

In the first foreach you are doing right, you use the html received from file_get_html but in the nested foreach you are using the returned $row, and it doesn't have the p.ch_spec cause isn't a children of p.ch_title.

answered Nov 1, 2014 at 9:59

kaseOga

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