PHP code to extract data from html page including tags

Question

I've searched and tested for hours, ready to give up. I have a html page that will change every now and then, it's structure is this....

100 or so lines of HTML
<div class="the start of the info I want">
500 lines of HTML that I want to extract
<div class="end of the info I want">
more lines of HTML

This is my code that does not work, well one of many I've tried.

<?php
$data = file_get_contents('http://www.soemstupidsite.xyz');
$regex = '#<div class="the start of the info I want">(.*?)<div
class="end of the info I want">#';
preg_match($regex,$data,$match);
print_r($match);
echo $match[1];
?>

Returns the following error:
PHP Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in /home/www/mycrapcode.php on line 7

What the hell am I doing wrong?

I assume the offset error is because the array is empty which is what print_r($match); shows. — DeathRox
– DeathRox, Commented Jan 16, 2017 at 9:49
echo $match[1]; this line throws the NOTICE, because the array $match is empty. — Soni Vimalkumar
– Soni Vimalkumar, Commented Jan 16, 2017 at 10:02

Oleksandr Maliuta · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-16 09:56:50Z

1

    $regex = '/<div class="the start of the info I want">(.*?)<div
class="end of the info I want">/s';

answered Jan 16, 2017 at 9:56

Oleksandr Maliuta

5164 silver badges19 bronze badges

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

1 Comment

DeathRox Over a year ago

Wow, one rotten "s" missing. That fixed it. Thank you so much. If you are ever in the Aussie outback look me up I owe you a beer mate!

Blaatpraat · Accepted Answer · 2017-01-16 10:02:17Z

0

Please read something more about the regex modifiers/flags here.

The flag you need, is the s flag, so your selector would work on multiple lines.

Example with your code:

<?php
$data = file_get_contents('http://www.soemstupidsite.xyz');
$regex = '#<div class="the start of the info I want">(.*?)<div class="end of the info I want">#s';
preg_match($regex,$data,$match);
print_r($match);
echo $match[1];
?>

Also: the regex needs to be on 1 line, otherwise it won't work.

answered Jan 16, 2017 at 10:02

Blaatpraat

2,84913 silver badges23 bronze badges

1 Comment

DeathRox Over a year ago

regex is on one line it wrapped when pasted. Thanks for the explanation of the 's' flag. Alexandr Malyita beat you by 6 minutes for the answer I've been looking for for half a day. I'll spot you a beer too if you're ever out my way!

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

PHP code to extract data from html page including tags

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related