pab-documentation

Process

This applciation will provide a place for the LEGO® to post the inventory of Pick-a-Brick wall in LEGO® stores. In this first phase we focus on creating an import script to import all LEGO® store information into a database.

There is no backend for this project. Currently all backend functionality in completed by running the import script. In the future the import can be automated and run once a month using CRON.

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Completed by Instructor

The pab-v1 repo includes a starting point for the import. The store JSON fle taken from the LEGO® website has been copied to the /import.json file. The /import.php file inports the JSON using file_get_contents(), loops through the list of stores, and uses cURL to scrapes store profile page from the LEGO® website:

$url = 'import.json';
$stores = json_decode(file_get_contents($url), true);

foreach($stores['storesDirectory'] as $key => $country)
{

    foreach($country['stores'] as $key => $store)
    {

        $url = 'https://www.lego.com/en-my/stores/store/'.$store['urlKey'];

        $curl = curl_init($url);
        
        curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
        
        $response = curl_exec($curl);
        curl_close($curl);
     
        echo '<pre>';
        print_r($store);
        print_r(($response));
        echo '</pre>';

        sleep(10);

        echo '<hr>';

        die();

    }

}

[!NOTE]
Review the store directory to see what data is aviaable to be scraped and placed in the database.

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Steps

1. Local Server

   Install a tool such as MAMP on your computer. Open the MAMP progam and start the server.

   Open the MAMP home page. It should be something like http://localhost:8888 on a Mac or [http://localhost](http://localhost] on a PC.

   In another tab open up phpMyAdmin. If you’re using MAMP it will be something like http://localhost:8888/phpMyAdmin/ on a MAC or http://localhost/phpMyAdmin/ on a PC.

2. Database

   Using phpMyAdmin create a new database named brickmmo_pab and import the three SQL files in the /imports folder.

3. Source Code

   Clone the parts-v1 repo into your MAMP root folder (or point MAMP to your cloned directory). Restart the server if needed.

   Copy the /.env.sample file amd name it /.env. Change the database variables to brickmmo_parts and the MAMP defaults:

    DB_HOST=localhost
    DB_DATABASE=brickmmo_parts
    DB_USERNAME=root
    DB_PASSWORD=root
   

   At this point you can open open the BrickMMO PAB import page. It will output some location related data.

   [!TIP]
   Steps six through thirteen have a project task in GitHub. Make sure to assign these tasks when starting. And then use these tasks to create your branch and a pull request when done.

4. Regions

   The stores are gouped by region (contenant) and country.

   Within the first loop (but outside the second loop), there is a $country variable. Inside this variable there is a region name (two capital letters), a country name (two capital letters), and a country ID (a long string of characters and numbers and dashes).

   Using this data add a record to the regions. However, because multiple countries can belong to a region, you will needd to check to see if the region has already been inserted. You code will be something like this:

    QUERY DATABASE FOR REGION
       
    IF REGION IS FOUND
        PUT FOUND REGION ID IN A VARIABLE
       
    ELSE IF REGINO IS NOT FOUND
        INSERT NEW REGION 
        PUT NEW REGION ID IN A VARIABLE
   

   If writting a query in PHP is a hard step, start by just outputting the region name:

    foreach($stores['storesDirectory'] as $key => $country)
    {
        print_r($country);
        echo $country['region'];
    }
   

   Then write and output your query:

    foreach($stores['storesDirectory'] as $key => $country)
    {
        $query = 'INSERT INTO regions (
                name
            ) VALUES (
                "'.$country['region'].'"
            )';
        echo $query;
    }
   

   And once you are happy with it, try running it.

    foreach($stores['storesDirectory'] as $key => $country)
    {
        $query = 'INSERT INTO regions (
                name
            ) VALUES (
                "'.$country['region'].'"
            )';
        mysqli_query($connect, $query);
    }
   

5. Countries

   Still within the first loop, use the data in the $country variable to add a record to the countries table.

   Make sure to use the region ID from the previous insert step as the value for the region_id field.

6. Stores

   Once you have the code inserting regions and countries (without inserting duplicates) use the second loop to insert stores. For now just use the data that is available in the /import.json file.

    (
        [storeId] => 100
        [name] => LEGO® Store Mirdiff City Centre
        [phone] => 04 231 6321
        [state] => 
        [openingDate] => 
        [certified] => 1
        [additionalInfo] => This LEGO® Store is owned and operated by a licensed independent third-party. Offers, promotions, pricing, and inventory may vary, and the LEGO VIP loyalty program will not be available. Gift cards and product returns ordered through LEGO.com will not be accepted. Please contact the store directly for more information.
        [storeUrl] => https://www.lego.com/stores/stores/mirdiff-city-centre
        [urlKey] => mirdiff-city-centre
        [isNewStore] => 
        [isComingSoon] => 
        [__typename] => StoreInfo
    )
   

   Use this data to create a loation insert query. Fill the name, phone, info, certified, and reference_id fields.

7. Scraped Store Data

   There is already code in the /import.php file that scrapes the HTML from the official LEGO® locations website. You will need to use a variety of PHP string functions to extract important values such as:

   • address
   • hours
   • store features
   • image

   You will need to add fields to the locations table and possible a whole new table.

8. About PAB

   Update the pab-about Markdown! Add your names to the v1.markdown page.

➔ Back to V2

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