Question

Fetch URL content containing xml data in php

Asked by: ucsdmbdm

Hi,
I am trying to connect to a url requesting post variables which produces xml string based on the post variables. I would like to get the xml result and store it into a php variable. I tried CURL but nothing would load. Can somebody put a sample code showing how to connect to a page requesting post variables and store the page content into a php variable ? the following are the post variables the page requires:
LoginID=string&Password=string&strRequest=string


Thank you,
Ross

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Asked On
2008-07-19 at 15:10:21ID23579482
Tags

php

Topics

phpBB

,

PHP and Databases

,

PHP Scripting Language

Participating Experts
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Answers

 

by: kirkheaton25Posted on 2008-07-19 at 15:44:14ID: 22043851

Try the attached code.

Have you tried testing the url by posting from a form, and does the url require a login?

<?
$poststr = "LoginID=string&Password=string&strRequest=string";
$var = CurlPost($poststr);
 
function CurlPost($poststr) { 
$url = "http://www.domain/folder/action.php"; 
$ch = curl_init();
// set the target url 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL,$url); 
// howmany parameter to post 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1); 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 6); 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $poststr); 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1); 
$result = curl_exec($ch); 
curl_close($ch); 
return $result;
} 
?>
                                              
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by: babuno5Posted on 2008-07-19 at 19:00:04ID: 22044203

u can also try fsockopen  cause curl is required to be compiled with php

http://in.php.net/manual/en/function.fsockopen.php#71532

 

by: ucsdmbdmPosted on 2008-07-19 at 22:51:41ID: 22044688

Hi,
I tried the code you provided but nothing is printed
When I added echo($ch), i got a "Resource id #1 "
I also checked curl and it seems to be installed on our server.
Babuno5, can you provide me with sample code for using fsocketopen

Thanks,
Ros

 

by: babuno5Posted on 2008-07-20 at 00:15:58ID: 22044847

check this example out

        function socketpost($domain,$portno=80,$method,$url,$data)
        {
                $http_response = "";
                // building POST-request:
                $http_request.= $method." ".$url ." HTTP/1.0\r\n";
                $http_request.= "Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n";
                $http_request.="Content-length: ".strlen($data)."\r\n";
                $http_request.= "Cache-Control: no-cache\r\n";
                $http_request.= "User-Agent: MSIE\r\n";
                $http_request.="Connection: close\r\n";
                $http_request.="\r\n";
                $http_request.= $data."\r\n";
 
                $fp = fsockopen($domain, $portno,$errno, $errstr);
                if($fp)
                {
                        fputs($fp, $http_request);
                        while (!feof($fp)) $http_response .= fgets($fp, 128);
                        fclose($fp);
                }
                else
                {
                         error_log("function:socketpost||socketerror|ERROR: $errno - $errstr\n");
                }
                $response=split("\r\n\r\n",$http_response);
 
                $header=$response[0];
                $responsecontent=trim($response[1]);
                return $responsecontent;
        }
 
 
$domain = "www.domain.com";
$portno = 80;
$method = "POST";
$url    = "/folder/action.php";
$data   = "LoginID=string&Password=string&strRequest=string";
$tmp_str_response = socketpost($domain,$portno,$method,$url,$data);
                                              
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by: Ray_PaseurPosted on 2008-07-20 at 15:32:12ID: 22047232

This is a fairly standard thing with PayPal.  Here is an extract from my PayPal Instant Payment Notification script.  HTH, ~Ray

<?php // paypal_ipn.php - custom PayPal IPN processor
 
$req		.= "name=RAY&$key=$value"; // YOUR POST VARIABLES HERE SEPARATED BY AMPERSANDS
 
// POST TO PayPal SYSTEM TO VALIDATE
$header .= "POST /cgi-bin/webscr HTTP/1.0\r\n";
$header .= "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n";
$header .= "Content-Length: " . strlen($req) . "\r\n\r\n";
$fp = fsockopen ('www.paypal.com', 80, $errno, $errstr, 30);
 
// TEST FOR VERIFICATION
if (!$fp) { // HTTP ERROR
	warning_RAY("IPN HTTP ERROR", "fsockopen failed \n\n ERRNO=$errno \n\n ERRSTR=$errstr \n\n");
	die();
}
 
// HTTP OPEN - WRITE HEADER AND REQUEST
fputs ($fp, $header . $req);
 
// HTTP OPEN - READ PayPal RESPONSE, GATHERING HEADERS TO THE VERY END
$paypal_reply 	= '';
$paypal_headers	= '';
while (!feof($fp)) {
	$paypal_reply	= fgets ($fp, 1024);
	$paypal_headers	.= $paypal_reply;
}
fclose ($fp);
 
// IF THIS IS TRULY A POST FROM PAYPAL, PROCESS ORDER NOTIFICATION
if (strcmp ($paypal_reply, "VERIFIED") == 0) {
	$errormsg = "";
 
/* etc... */

                                              
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by: ucsdmbdmPosted on 2008-07-23 at 21:29:35ID: 22076110

Hi all,

Thanks for all your helps so far. I keep on getting the following error no matter which method I try:
//begin error
Warning: fsockopen() [
function.fsockopen
]: php_network_getaddresses: getaddrinfo failed: hostname nor servname provided, or not known in /home/u6/mkweb/html/file.php on line 18

Warning: fsockopen() [
function.fsockopen
]: unable to connect to sub.domain.com/Service/DataServices.asmx/RequestData:80 in /home/u6/mkweb/html/file.php on line 18

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: warning_ray() in /home/u6/mkweb/html/file.php on line 22.
//end error

Even when I add "https" to fsockopen domain, I still get the same error. I have a form on the same page with the following parameters that connects successfully and displays the XML data. The following are the form parameters and the StrRequest parameter of the form is a XML string:

LoginID: ****Test
Password: ~****+
StrRequest: <Data><Request><Function>120</Function></Request></Data>

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a deadline and need to get this done.

Thanks.

<form target="_blank" action='https://sub.domain.com/Service/DataServices.asmx/RequestData' method="POST">                      
<table>
<tr>
<td>Parameter</td>
<td>Value</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>LoginID:</td>
<td><input type="text" name="LoginID"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Password:</td>
<td><input type="text" name="Password"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>strRequest:</td>
<td><input type="text" name="strRequest"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td align="right"> <input type="submit" value="Invoke" class="button"></td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>     

                                              
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by: babuno5Posted on 2008-07-23 at 22:23:29ID: 22076289

can you post code from file.php

 

by: babuno5Posted on 2008-07-23 at 22:24:38ID: 22076292

oops sorry

can you paste the code from file.php here

 

by: Ray_PaseurPosted on 2008-07-23 at 22:24:44ID: 22076293

Hi, ucsdmbdm.  Show us the script you used that gave the error messages in the post above.  Also, do you know how to do CURL?  We might have an example there if we can't get fsockopen to work -- but if you can post to a URL, we should be able to go there with fsockopen.

Also, please use the real code, not things with replacements like "my.domain.com - if we can see what is really happening, we can have a better chance at helping out.  

Best, ~Ray

 

by: ucsdmbdmPosted on 2008-07-27 at 14:47:05ID: 22099675

Hi,,
Thanks for the help guys,
I really can't put the actual URL because of the confidentiality issues. One thing I tried was using port 443 instead of 80 since it's https. Can anyone submit the complete code working with a known HTTPS  website which I can try just by changing the inputs.

Thanks and sorry for not putting the actual address,
Ross  

 

by: babuno5Posted on 2008-07-28 at 04:49:19ID: 22102194

check this example out

<?
        function socketpost($domain,$portno,$method,$url,$data)
        {
                $http_request = "";
                $http_response = "";
                // building POST-request:
                $http_request.= $method." ".$url ." HTTP/1.0\r\n";
                $http_request.= "Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n";
                $http_request.="Content-length: ".strlen($data)."\r\n";
                $http_request.= "Cache-Control: no-cache\r\n";
                $http_request.= "User-Agent: MSIE\r\n";
                $http_request.="Connection: close\r\n";
                $http_request.="\r\n";
                $http_request.= $data."\r\n";
 
                $fp = fsockopen($domain, $portno,$errno, $errstr);
                if($fp)
                {
                        fputs($fp, $http_request);
                        while (!feof($fp)) $http_response .= fgets($fp, 128);
                        fclose($fp);
                }
                else
                {
                         error_log("function:socketpost||socketerror|ERROR: $errno - $errstr\n");
                }
                $response=split("\r\n\r\n",$http_response);
 
                $header=$response[0];
                $responsecontent=trim($response[1]);
                return $responsecontent;
        }
 
$domain = "www.php.net";
$portno = 80;
$method = "POST";
$url    = "/";
$data   = "LoginID=string&Password=string&strRequest=string";
$tmp_str_response = socketpost($domain,$portno,$method,$url,$data);
var_dump($tmp_str_response);
?>
                                              
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by: ucsdmbdmPosted on 2008-07-28 at 08:31:50ID: 22104114

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. That example is using the regular 80 port and it's not a httpS connection. Do you have an example connecting to https. I found a few on google but none of which worked.

Thanks,
Ross

 

by: ucsdmbdmPosted on 2008-08-01 at 22:22:01ID: 31478247

Port was the issue. Different port used with https

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