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POHow best use Regular Expressions to convert Heirarchical Text File into XML?
 

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  1. POHow best use Regular Expressions to convert Heirarchical Text File into XML?
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    <p>Good morning - </p> <p>I'm interested in seeing an efficient way of parsing the values of an <em>heirarchical</em> text file (i.e., one that has a Title => Multiple Headings => Multiple Subheadings => Multiple Keys => Multiple Values) into a simple XML document. For the sake of simplicity, the answer would be written using:</p> <ul> <li>Regex (preferrably in PHP)</li> <li>or, PHP code (e.g., if looping were more efficient)</li> </ul> <p>Here's an example of an Inventory file I'm working with. Note that Header = <strong>FOODS</strong>, Sub-Header = <strong>Type (A, B...)</strong>, Keys = <strong>PRODUCT (or CODE, etc.)</strong> and Values may have one more more lines.</p> <pre><code>**FOODS - TYPE A** ___________________________________ **PRODUCT** 1) Mi Pueblito Queso Fresco Authentic Mexican Style Fresh Cheese; 2) La Fe String Cheese **CODE** Sell by date going back to February 1, 2009 **MANUFACTURER** Quesos Mi Pueblito, LLC, Passaic, NJ. **VOLUME OF UNITS** 11,000 boxes **DISTRIBUTION** NJ, NY, DE, MD, CT, VA ___________________________________ **PRODUCT** 1) Peanut Brittle No Sugar Added; 2) Peanut Brittle Small Grind; 3) Homestyle Peanut Brittle Nuggets/Coconut Oil Coating **CODE** 1) Lots 7109 - 8350 inclusive; 2) Lots 8198 - 8330 inclusive; 3) Lots 7075 - 9012 inclusive; 4) Lots 7100 - 8057 inclusive; 5) Lots 7152 - 8364 inclusive **MANUFACTURER** Star Kay White, Inc., Congers, NY. **VOLUME OF UNITS** 5,749 units **DISTRIBUTION** NY, NJ, MA, PA, OH, FL, TX, UT, CA, IA, NV, MO and IN **FOODS - TYPE B** ___________________________________ **PRODUCT** Cool River Bebidas Naturales - West Indian Cherry Fruit Acerola 16% Juice; **CODE** 990-10/2 10/5 **MANUFACTURER** San Mar Manufacturing Corp., Catano, PR. **VOLUME OF UNITS** 384 **DISTRIBUTION** PR </code></pre> <p>And here's the desired output (please excuse any XML syntactical errors):</p> <pre><code>&lt;foods&gt; &lt;food type = "A" &gt; &lt;product&gt;Mi Pueblito Queso Fresco Authentic Mexican Style Fresh Cheese&lt;/product&gt; &lt;product&gt;La Fe String Cheese&lt;/product&gt; &lt;code&gt;Sell by date going back to February 1, 2009&lt;/code&gt; &lt;manufacturer&gt;Quesos Mi Pueblito, LLC, Passaic, NJ.&lt;/manufacturer&gt; &lt;volume&gt;11,000 boxes&lt;/volume&gt; &lt;distibution&gt;NJ, NY, DE, MD, CT, VA&lt;/distribution&gt; &lt;/food&gt; &lt;food type = "A" &gt; &lt;product&gt;Peanut Brittle No Sugar Added&lt;/product&gt; &lt;product&gt;Peanut Brittle Small Grind&lt;/product&gt; &lt;product&gt;Homestyle Peanut Brittle Nuggets/Coconut Oil Coating&lt;/product&gt; &lt;code&gt;Lots 7109 - 8350 inclusive&lt;/code&gt; &lt;code&gt;Lots 8198 - 8330 inclusive&lt;/code&gt; &lt;code&gt;Lots 7075 - 9012 inclusive&lt;/code&gt; &lt;code&gt;Lots 7100 - 8057 inclusive&lt;/code&gt; &lt;code&gt;Lots 7152 - 8364 inclusive&lt;/code&gt; &lt;manufacturer&gt;Star Kay White, Inc., Congers, NY.&lt;/manufacturer&gt; &lt;volume&gt;5,749 units&lt;/volume&gt; &lt;distibution&gt;NY, NJ, MA, PA, OH, FL, TX, UT, CA, IA, NV, MO and IN&lt;/distribution&gt; &lt;/food&gt; &lt;food type = "B" &gt; &lt;product&gt;Cool River Bebidas Naturales - West Indian Cherry Fruit Acerola 16% Juice&lt;/product&gt; &lt;code&gt;990-10/2 10/5&lt;/code&gt; &lt;manufacturer&gt;San Mar Manufacturing Corp., Catano, PR&lt;/manufacturer&gt; &lt;volume&gt;384&lt;/volume&gt; &lt;distibution&gt;PR&lt;/distribution&gt; &lt;/food&gt; &lt;/FOODS&gt; &lt;!-- and so forth --&gt; </code></pre> <p>So far, my approach (which might be quite inefficient with a huge text file) would be one of the following:</p> <ol> <li><p><strong>Loops and multiple Select/Case statements</strong>, where the file is loaded into a string buffer, and while looping through each line, see if it matches one of the header/subheader/key lines, append the appropriate xml tag to a xml string variable, and then add the child nodes to the xml based on IF statements regarding which key name is most recent (which seems time-consuming and error-prone, esp. if the text changes even slightly) -- OR</p></li> <li><p><strong>Use REGEX (Regular Expressions)</strong> to find and replace key fields with appropriate xml tags, clean it up with an xml library, and export the xml file. Problem is, I barely use regular expressions, so I'd need some <em>example-based</em> help.</p></li> </ol> <p>Any help or advice would be appreciated.</p> <p>Thanks.</p>
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    1. CO"Note that ... may have one more more lines." - can you give an example of that, too?
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    2. COTo Max S. - I've added my approach to the bottom of the question. To VolkerK - please see the two examples have multiple values under the **PRODUCT** header, and that the xml example I provided (rightly or wrongly) has more than one <product> item, as needed. Thanks
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    3. COAh ok, the 1), 2), 3) thingy. What did you mean by "Values" in that sentence? Can _each_ of the 1), 2) lines encompass more than one line? Or would it be feasible to write a rudimentary line-by-line parser?
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