Export to variables

Phptabs::convert($format)

Sometimes, for debugging or storing contents another way, you may want to output a song to a variable.

You may make an explicit conversion with the convert() method.

use PhpTabs\IOFactory;

$filename = 'my-file.gp5';

// The Guitar Pro file is parsed, converted and returned as MIDI
// content
$midi = IOFactory::fromFile($filename)->convert('mid');

The following parameters are available:

  • gp3 for Guitar Pro 3
  • gp4 for Guitar Pro 4
  • gp5 for Guitar Pro 5
  • mid or midi for MIDI
  • json
  • xml
  • ser for PHP serialized string
  • txt or text for a textual representation
  • yml or yaml

PhpTabs shortcuts

There are some shortcuts to do that.

use PhpTabs\PhpTabs;

$filename = 'my-file.gp5';
$song = new PhpTabs($filename);

// Guitar Pro 3
$gp3 = $song->toGuitarPro3();

// Guitar Pro 4
$gp4 = $song->toGuitarPro4();

// Guitar Pro 5
$gp5 = $song->toGuitarPro5();

// MIDI
$midi = $song->toMidi();

// JSON
$json = $song->toJson();

// XML
$xml = $song->toXml();

// YAML
$yml = $song->toYaml();

// Text
$txt = $song->toText();

// PHP Serialized
$ser = $song->toSerialized();

All these methods return strings (binary or not).

PHP array

You may export a whole song as a PHP array with the toArray() method.

use PhpTabs\IOFactory;

$filename = 'my-file.gp5';
$song = IOFactory::fromFile($filename);

$array = $song->toArray();

Exports are made to visualize the internal music-tree or to communicate with a third-party application.

Exported arrays may be imported with fromArray() method.

use PhpTabs\IOFactory;

$song = IOFactory::fromArray($array);

This way of reading data is bypassing entire parsing and may lead to better performances for large files.

For those who are interested, there is a manual dedicated to performances issues.

Warning

All modifications that you made before a fromArray() call will be erased, including meta informations.