Comments on: Parse Current Weather Conditions Data from the NWS in PHP http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/parse-current-weather-conditions-data-from-the-nws-in-php/ PHP Tips & Tools From Starters to Experts Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:04:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Andrew http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/parse-current-weather-conditions-data-from-the-nws-in-php/comment-page-1/#comment-394 Andrew Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:40:55 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=386#comment-394 Hey Tim, I figured that this way, I would only have to parse the XML once on the data load rather than every time someone loads a page. Would this make a huge difference in the page load time? Probably not. Also, if the NWS made changes to their file structure, you would have to rewrite some PHP code anyway, so I figured it wouldn't be too much of a big deal to change some MySQL data fields while you are at it. Your method would probably work just as well - it's a matter of personal preference on what you would rather maintain. Hey Tim,

I figured that this way, I would only have to parse the XML once on the data load rather than every time someone loads a page. Would this make a huge difference in the page load time? Probably not. Also, if the NWS made changes to their file structure, you would have to rewrite some PHP code anyway, so I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a big deal to change some MySQL data fields while you are at it.

Your method would probably work just as well – it’s a matter of personal preference on what you would rather maintain.

]]> By: Tim Barmann http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/parse-current-weather-conditions-data-from-the-nws-in-php/comment-page-1/#comment-393 Tim Barmann Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:30:29 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=386#comment-393 Sorry about using the wrong name, Andrew! Sorry about using the wrong name, Andrew!

]]> By: Tim Barmann http://phpstarter.net/2009/02/parse-current-weather-conditions-data-from-the-nws-in-php/comment-page-1/#comment-392 Tim Barmann Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:02:48 +0000 http://phpstarter.net/?p=386#comment-392 Hey Chris, Great work! I'm finding your tutorials very helpful. One question about the approach you took for caching. Rather than create fields in the MYSQL database to mirror those in the NWS current observation xml file, why not just create a big text field in the DB and store the xml in a single field? Another DB field could be the station id, and a third field could be the last updated time. Can you see any advantage/disadvantage to this approach? My thinking is that you don't have to worry about changing the database if the NWS decides to change the format of their current observations xml. Thanks again for your great work. Tim Hey Chris,
Great work! I’m finding your tutorials very helpful.
One question about the approach you took for caching. Rather than create fields in the MYSQL database to mirror those in the NWS current observation xml file, why not just create a big text field in the DB and store the xml in a single field? Another DB field could be the station id, and a third field could be the last updated time. Can you see any advantage/disadvantage to this approach? My thinking is that you don’t have to worry about changing the database if the NWS decides to change the format of their current observations xml.
Thanks again for your great work.
Tim

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