A possible solution using fpassthru
I thought about how to change the algorithm to make use of
fpassthru followed by pattern matching to check the page expiry date. So here's my third attempt at the pseudo-code for
expiredpagehandler.php4:
open and lock the file ExpiryData.xml
copy ExpiryData.xml to ExpiryDataLastWeek.xml
clear the ExpiryData.xml file (i.e. discard all entries)
unlock and close ExpiryData.xml
open and lock the file ExpiryDataLastWeek.xml
append the missing "</expiredpages>"
initialise expired-pages list
for each expired page recorded in ExpiryDataLastWeek.xml
if the page is an LSBU WWW or MYWEB page then
if the page is still expired (use fpassthru) then
normalise the url
append to expired-pages list if not already in list
endif
endif
endfor
unlock and close the file ExpiryDataLastWeek.xml
for each expired page in the expired-pages list
prepare and send email to the page owner
if the page expired over a month ago then
prepare and send email to <bcim@lsbu.ac.uk>
endif
endfor