Wrong results using Simple_HTML_Dom

Question

Hi,

I am trying to scrape this web page: http://www.acttab.com.au/interbet/venues?day=today

Here is my code:

function FindRaceRows($html) {
    foreach ($rows = $html->find(
        'tr[bgcolor="#ffffff"], tr[bgcolor="#cccccc"]') as
        $row);
        {
        echo $row->plaintext . "END ROW<br />\n";

        foreach ($row->find('td[align=center]') as $cell) {

            //echo $cell->bgcolor;

            //black
            if ($cell->bgcolor == "#000000") {
                echo "Already run";
            }

            //blue
            if ($cell->bgcolor == "#0000ff") {
                echo "Next race for type";
            }

            //green
            if ($cell->bgcolor == "#00cc00") {
                echo "Still to jump";
            }

            //Red
            if ($cell->bgcolor == "#cc0000") {
                echo "Next race for meeting";
            }

            foreach ($cell->find('a') as $tag); {
                $link = $tag->href;

                $eventIx = strpos($link, "mting=");

                if ($eventIx != -1) {
                    $event = substr($link, $eventIx + 6);
                    //echo $event."<br />\n";
                    $url =
                        "http://www.acttab.com.au/interbet/odds?mting="
                        . $event;

                    echo $url . "<br />\n";
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

$url = "http://www.acttab.com.au/interbet/venues?day=today";
$html = file_get_html($url);

FindRaceRows($html);

But it is not seperating each row. I get a whole bunch of rows in the row variable.

Here is some of the output: (notice how "END ROW" does not appear at the end of each row)

AR MORPHETTVILLE FINE/DEAD R2@ 1:10pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   BR DOOMBEN FINE/GOOD R3@ 1:30pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   CR TOOWOOMBA FINE/GOOD R1@ 5:08pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7   CT OTAKI NZ FINE/HVY R8@ 1:01pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10   DR TOWNSVILLE FINE/GOOD R3@ 1:15pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   DT TE RAPA NZ FINE/SLOW R6@ 1:15pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   MR MOONEE VALLEY OCAST/DEAD R2@ 1:05pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   NR NEWCASTLE FINE/SLOW R3@ 1:35pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   SR RANDWICK FINE/HVY R3@ 1:20pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   VR DONALD FINE/DEAD R3@ 1:25pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   XR BELMONT FINE/DEAD R1@ 2:25pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8     HARNESS MEETINGS AT GLOBE DERBY FINE/GOOD R1@ 6:13pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10   BT ALBION PARK FINE/GOOD R1@ 5:23pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10   MT BALLARAT OCAST/GOOD R1@ 7:02pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   NT PARKES FINE/FAST R1@ 5:12pm 1 2 3 4 5 6   ST NEWCASTLE FINE/FAST R1@ 6:35pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   XT GLOUCESTER PARK FINE/GOOD R1@ 8:45pm 1 2 3 4 5     GREYHOUND MEETINGS MD THE MEADOWS FINE/GOOD R1@ 7:20pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11   ND THE GARDENS FINE/GOOD R1@ 5:04pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   SD WENTWORTH PARK FINE/GOOD R1@ 7:27pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10   XD CANNINGTON FINE/GOOD R1@ 9:05pm 1 2 3 4 5 6   END ROW
`http://www.acttab.com.au/interbet/odds?mting=XD06000`
BR DOOMBEN FINE/GOOD R3@ 1:30pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   CR TOOWOOMBA FINE/GOOD R1@ 5:08pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7   CT OTAKI NZ FINE/HVY R8@ 1:01pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10   DR TOWNSVILLE FINE/GOOD R3@ 1:15pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   DT TE RAPA NZ FINE/SLOW R6@ 1:15pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   MR MOONEE VALLEY OCAST/DEAD R2@ 1:05pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   NR NEWCASTLE FINE/SLOW R3@ 1:35pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   SR RANDWICK FINE/HVY R3@ 1:20pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   VR DONALD FINE/DEAD R3@ 1:25pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   XR BELMONT FINE/DEAD R1@ 2:25pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8     HARNESS MEETINGS AT GLOBE DERBY FINE/GOOD R1@ 6:13pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10   BT ALBION PARK FINE/GOOD R1@ 5:23pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10   MT BALLARAT OCAST/GOOD R1@ 7:02pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   NT PARKES FINE/FAST R1@ 5:12pm 1 2 3 4 5 6   ST NEWCASTLE FINE/FAST R1@ 6:35pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   XT GLOUCESTER PARK FINE/GOOD R1@ 8:45pm 1 2 3 4 5     GREYHOUND MEETINGS MD THE MEADOWS FINE/GOOD R1@ 7:20pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11   ND THE GARDENS FINE/GOOD R1@ 5:04pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   SD WENTWORTH PARK FINE/GOOD R1@ 7:27pm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10   XD CANNINGTON FINE/GOOD R1@ 9:05pm 1 2 3 4 5 6   END ROW

Answer 1

The problem is not with Simple_HTML_Dom but is in fact with your code.

You have put semi-colons (;) after your two foreach declarations.

When using foreach, you must not put a semi-colon (;) after your declaration. Consider the following example:

$array = array(1,2,3,4);
foreach($array as $value) {
    echo $value;
}

The output of the above will be "1234".

Now let's see what happens if we put a semi-colon (;) after your declaration:

$array = array(1,2,3,4);
foreach($array as $value); {
    echo $value;
}

The output of the above will be "4". The reason why is that PHP will execute your loop, but will not go in the braces. It will process after the loop has been processed, and $value will hold the last value available in the loop.

Answer 2

Thanks that fixed it.