Question

I am using the Google Geocoding API, specifically relying on the XML output format. The code below loops through the array $arrGeocodeSales and for each row it retrieves the $lat and $long, which are then displayed in the table.

This code is working fine, but I would like to extend it so that I can extract more fields from the $xml result that is returned. For example, some of the additional fields that I would like to extract from the $xml result are formatted_address and postal_code. How can I modify the code below to extract the additional fields?

You can see an example of an $xml result here:

http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/xml?address=1600+Amphitheatre+Parkway,+Mountain+View,+CA&sensor=true

Here is the code that needs to be modified. I guess I don’t understand how to work with the SimpleXMLElement that is returned. Thanks for the help.

<table border="1" style="margin-bottom:0px;">
<tr>
  <th>ID</th>
  <th>Roll</th>
  <th>Address</th>
  <th>Lat</th>
  <th>Long</th>
  <th>MapSaleNumber</th>
  </tr>

<?php foreach ($arrGeocodeSales as $key => $value): 
    $address = $value['Address']."+".$value['Municipality']."+Ontario+Canada"; 
    $googleAddress = "https://maps.google.com/maps/geo?q=".urlencode($address)."&output=xml";
    // Retrieve the URL contents
    $googlePage = file_get_contents($googleAddress);
    // Parse the returned XML file
    $xml = new SimpleXMLElement($googlePage);
    // Parse the coordinate string  
    list($lng, $lat, $alt) = explode(",", $xml->Response->Placemark->Point->coordinates);
 ?>
<tr>
  <td ><?php echo str_pad($row++, 2, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT); ?></td>
  <td ><?php echo $value['SingleRoll']; ?></td>
  <td ><?php echo $address; ?> </td>
  <td ><?php echo $lat ?></td>
  <td ><?php echo $lng ?></td>
  <td ><?php echo $value['MapSaleNumber']; ?></td>
  </tr>
<?php endforeach; ?>

Answer 1

You can manipulate the SimpleXMLElement result using the methods documented here.

You will need to iterate through the address_component elements to find one with the type element value you are interested in. Look for examples of other code using that API and you should be able to quickly figure it out.