So another simple function here, as I’ve found XSLT to be rather convoluted in PHP5 and would quite like to simplify its use.  As usual, my tabbing will probably go straight to hell.

function apply_xslt($simplexml, $path_to_xslt) {
    $xslt_file = new DOMDocument;
    $xslt_file->load($path_to_xslt);

    $xml = new DOMDocument;
    $xml->loadXML($simplexml->asXML());

    $transform = new XSLTProcessor();
    $transform->importStyleSheet($xslt_file);

    return $transform->transformToXML($xml);
}

Now all you have to do is pass the function a SimpleXML object (see my post on XMLifying DB results) and get on with your life.

$db_results = new SQL_as_XML;

echo apply_xslt($db_results->get_list_of_content_by_author_permalink('eric-stern','1'), 'some_stylesheet.xslt');

And just for reference on the SQL_as_XML class:

class SQL_as_XML {

	function get_content_by_permalink($content_permalink, $page = 0) {
		$content_permalink = clean($content_permalink);//sanitize input

		if (!is_numeric($page)) {
			$page = 1; //$page also sanitized		}

		$query = "SELECT content.publish_date,
			content.last_edit_date,
			content.title,
			content.number_of_pages,
			content.permalink AS content_permalink,
			authors.display_name,
			authors.permalink AS author_permalink,
			content_pages.body
			FROM content
			JOIN authors ON content.author_id = authors.id
			JOIN content_pages ON content_pages.content_id = content.id
			WHERE content.permalink = '$content_permalink'
			AND content_pages.page_number = $page";

		return mysql_to_xml(mysql_query($query), 'response', 'content');
	}

//other functions structured similarly

}

So there you go.

But it’s sort of true.  PHP5’s SimpleXML extension makes it a whole lot easier to deal with, both for creating the stuff and for freaks like me that don’t want to dabble with XSLT.  In any case, I wanted a simple way to throw XML around, both so I can create an API fairly easily in the future and not have to screw around with DB query result objects.  I didn’t find any great approaches pre-built, so I went ahead and made my own. So here:

function mysql_to_xml($mysql_result, $root_node_name, $child_node_name) {
 	$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('< ?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>< ' . $root_node_name . '>');

	while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($mysql_result)) {
 		$newrow = $xml->addChild($child_node_name);
 		foreach ($row as $key => $value ) {
 			$newrow->addChild($key, $value);
 		}
 	}

	return $xml;
 }

Updated… Wordpress really made a mess of the first one, and I did an even worse job fixing it.

function mysql_to_xml($mysql_result, $root_node_name = 'result', $child_node_name = 'row') {
	$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><' . $root_node_name . '></' . $root_node_name . '>');

	while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($mysql_result)) {
		$newrow = $xml->addChild($child_node_name);
		foreach ($row as $key => $value ) {
			$newrow->addChild($key, $value);
		}
	}
	return $xml;
}

In my SQL functions, I’m able to return an XML object quite easily:

return mysql_to_xml(mysql_query($query), 'response', 'content');

And to get it in the first place:

$sql = new SQL_as_XML;

 $xml = $sql->get_content_by_permalink($permalink, $page);

(the SQL_as_XML class is a series of functions that build and run a query, then return the XML using the previous snippet)

Finally, if you want to output the raw XML (after perhaps finagling it into an RSS feed):

echo $xml->asXML();

Questions? Ask. Improvements? Tell. And yes, I already know that I really should set default values for $root_node_name and $child_node_name in the original function. I’ll get there.

And yes, you’ll have to excuse the blog making a mess of the formatting. :(

So, that’s that.  I’ll post up little tips, tricks, and code snippets from time to time, so that you can benefit from my code-fu.  Or whatever it may be - I do more than write code.  Photography mostly, but also reading up on more freelance ideas. The 4-hour Workweek has had my attention as of late (though in audiobook form if you’re like me), and at least has some good concepts if nothing else.

Basically, from here on out, expect much more sporadic updates, and hopefully ones that are more meaningful.  I’ve got another thing I’m working on where a lot of the code I’ll open-source (if not the entire thing), so find some snippets.  I’ve been hesitantly taking the “XML is like violence - if it’s not working, then you’re not using enough” approach; thankfully, it’s actually working quite well so far.  Then photography tips, ideas, and shots.  All that good stuff.  I’ll figure it out when I get there.

And, of course, this awful rainy sleet-ish weather. Ick.

So, more soon. One project is nearly done, another is in-work only, and the space heater snagged from Woot is thawing me out from this damned winter (Al Gore continues spreading lies. Lies, I tell you, lies!).

Later that day:
We now have delivery date(s) for the order you placed on December 28 2007 13:19 PST
(Order# ***-*******-*******):

“Bamboo Fun (Small) Black Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics
Software” [Electronics]
Estimated arrival date: 01/03/2008

Four days later:
Unfortunately, we are unable to ship the item(s) as soon as we expected and need to provide you with a new estimate of when the item(s) may be delivered:

“Bamboo Fun (Small) Black Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics
Software” [Electronics]
Estimated arrival date: 01/07/2008 - 01/08/2008

Four more days later:
Unfortunately, we are unable to ship the item(s) as soon as we expected and need to provide you with a new estimate of when the item(s) may be delivered:

“Bamboo Fun (Small) Black Tablet with Pen, Mouse & Graphics
Software” [Electronics]
Estimated arrival date: 01/09/2008 - 01/10/2008

At this point, I’m approaching the “WTF?” stage. So I shoot them off a quick email to find out what’s going on. Ordered on 12/28, updated with delays a couple times, in stock elsewhere, blah blah blah, what gives?

Four hours later: “We thought you’d like to know that we shipped your items, and that this
completes your order.”

Never hurts to ask, I guess. I’ll probably post a quick review when it shows up in a couple days, just because I can. I’ll probably also post something for my new SpaceNavigator 3D Mouse too - that thing is good fun, and actually useful to boot.

Enter iTunes Folder Watch. It’s a bit of a workaround solution, but as the name suggests, it watches a folder for music files and adds them into iTunes as they’re discovered. Run that on all of your Windows machines with iTunes pointing it at your central network drive (W:Music in my case), and it will automatically keep your libraries relatively synchronized. Unfortunately it doesn’t address playlists or a lot of iTunes-specific metadata such as play count and rating stars, but it at least eliminates the numerous issues you can come across by relying on the sharing feature within iTunes - most notably that iTunes doesn’t have to be open on the main computer for this to work.

So a quick tip for you to get the new year started. Expect a lot more on higher-end home networking as the year progresses, as it’s been a point of both pain and interest for me. Designing a good server, choosing the right software, hardware recommendations, etc. Subscribe to the RSS feed to keep updated!

Damn computers.