Displaying web services search results in XML format - PHP

In case you didn’t have the chance to read the first article of the series, I’m going to list the source code of a couple of practical examples that I developed in that tutorial. Reviewing these examples will help you to more quickly grasp how to invoke different Yahoo! Search Services directly from your own PHP 5 scripts.

Are you ready to digest all this useful material? Great! These hands-on examples look like this: 

// example using Yahoo! Search Web Service - search results are displayed in raw XML format

try{

$request='http://search.yahooapis.com/WebSearchService/V1/webSearch?
appid=Your-AP-ID&query=madonna&results=4';

// trigger the http request

if(!$results=file_get_contents($request)){

throw new Exception('Error requesting Yahoo! Web service');

}

// display the results in XML format

header('Content-type:text/xml;charset=iso-8859-1');

echo $results;

}

catch(Exception $e){

echo $e->getMessage();

exit();

}

/* displays the following:

<ResultSet xsi:schemaLocation="urn:yahoo:srch
http://api.search.yahoo.com/WebSearchService/V1/WebSearchResponse.xsd"
type="web" totalResultsAvailable="65700000" totalResultsReturned="4"
firstResultPosition="1" moreSearch="/WebSearchService/V1/webSearch?
query=madonna&appid= Your-AP-ID&region=us">

<Result>

<Title>Madonna</Title>

<Summary>Official site of pop diva Madonna, with news, music, media, and fan
club.</Summary>

<Url>http://www.madonna.com/</Url>

<ClickUrl>http://uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5aqLHBZHhCMBkjbdmMwF;
_ylu=
X3oDMTB2cXVjNTM5BGNvbG8DdwRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZAM-
/SIG=11buvpo71/EXP=1192717835/**http%3A//www.madonna.com/</ClickUrl>

<DisplayUrl>www.madonna.com/</DisplayUrl>

<ModificationDate>1192518000</ModificationDate>

<MimeType>text/html</MimeType>

<Cache>

<Url>http: //uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5aqLHBZHhCMBkzbdmMwF;
_ylu=X3oDMTBwOHA5a2tvBGNvbG8DdwRwb3MDMQRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZAM-
/SIG=15ipfur0l/EXP=1192717835/**http%3A//66.218.69.11/search/cache%
3Fei=UTF-8%26appid= Your-AP-ID %26query=madonna%26results=4%
26u=www.madonna.com/%26w=madonna%26d=ZjRUGudmPoUK%26icp=1%
26.intl=us

</Url>

<Size>18519</Size>

</Cache>

</Result>

<Result>

<Title>MySpace.com - Madonna - Pop / Rock - www.myspace.com/madonna</Title>

<Summary>Madonna MySpace page with news, blog, music downloads, desktops,
wallpapers, and more.</Summary>

<Url>http://www.myspace.com/madonna</Url>

<ClickUrl>http://uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5aqLHBZHhCMBlTbdmMwF;
_ylu=
X3oDMTB2ZjQ4dDExBGNvbG8DdwRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMgRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZAM-
/SIG=11i0d3vg8/EXP=1192717835/**http%3A//www.myspace.com/madonna

</ClickUrl>

<DisplayUrl>www.myspace.com/madonna</DisplayUrl>

<ModificationDate>1192518000</ModificationDate>

<MimeType>text/html</MimeType>

<Cache> <Url>http://uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5aqLHBZHhCMBljbdmMwF;
_ylu=X3oDMTBwZG5hOWwzBGNvbG8DdwRwb3MDMgRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZAM-
/SIG=15pd5lje6/EXP=1192717835/**http%3A//66.218.69.11/search/cache%
3Fei=UTF-8%26appid= Your-AP-ID %26query=madonna%26results=4%
26u=www.myspace.com/madonna%26w=madonna%26d=Z-awV-dmPogu%
26icp=1%26.intl=us

</Url>

<Size>138157</Size>

</Cache>

</Result>

<Result>

<Title>Madonna (I)</Title>

<Summary>Facts and filmography for the singer and actress.</Summary>

<Url>http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000187</Url>

<ClickUrl>http://uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5aqLHBZHhCMBmDbdmMwF;
_ylu=
X3oDMTB2M3MzdmZoBGNvbG8DdwRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMwRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZAM-
/SIG=11m0tssno/EXP=1192717835/**http%
3A//www.imdb.com/name/nm0000187

</ClickUrl>

<DisplayUrl>www.imdb.com/name/nm0000187</DisplayUrl>

<ModificationDate>1192518000</ModificationDate>

<MimeType>text/html</MimeType>

<Cache>

<Url>http://uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5aqLHBZHhCMBmTbdmMwF;
_ylu=
X3oDMTBwZ2dpZ2ZkBGNvbG8DdwRwb3MDMwRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZAM-
/SIG=15tn2vem4/EXP=1192717835/**http%3A//66.218.69.11/search/cache%
3Fei=UTF-8%26appid= Your-AP-ID %26query=madonna%26results=4%
26u=www.imdb.com/name/nm0000187%26w=madonna%26d=DgNm1OdmPoYh%
26icp=1%26.intl=us

</Url>

<Size>97655</Size>

</Cache>

</Result>

<Result>

<Title>Madonna Song Lyrics: Home Page</Title>

<Summary>Extensive collection of Madonna lyrics, organized by album. Includes lyrics to singles.</Summary>

<Url>http://www.madonnalyrics.org/</Url>

<ClickUrl>http://uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5aqLHBZHhCMBmzbdmMwF;
_ylu=
X3oDMTB2OWM1MXQ5BGNvbG8DdwRsA1dTMQRwb3MDNARzZWMDc3IEdnRpZAM-
/SIG=11h8ms67a/EXP=1192717835/**http%3A//www.madonnalyrics.org/

</ClickUrl>

<DisplayUrl>www.madonnalyrics.org/</DisplayUrl>

<ModificationDate>1181286000</ModificationDate>

<MimeType>text/html</MimeType>

<Cache>

<Url>http://uk.wrs.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5aqLHBZHhCMBnDbdmMwF;
_ylu=X3oDMTBwYzFnNmkxBGNvbG8DdwRwb3MDNARzZWMDc3IEdnRpZAM-
/SIG=15o801re7/EXP=1192717835/**http%3A//66.218.69.11/search/cache%
3Fei=UTF-8%26appid= Your-AP-ID %26query=madonna%26results=4%
26u=www.madonnalyrics.org/%26w=madonna%26d=WcyQU-dmPohM%26icp=1%
26.intl=us

</Url>

<Size>18749</Size>

</Cache>

</Result>

</ResultSet>