Using php for http requests

Question

I am very new to PHP, and need to use an HTTP Request to download a URL that is external to my server. That URL is a PHP function that returns JSON code which I have decode. Any suggestions?

I have tried basic code:

    <?php   
    //Code for forming the url (which I'm sure is correct)
    $url = ...
    $response = fopen($url,"x+");
    $response = json_decode($response);
    echo $response;
    ?>
    //javascript in a seperate file that calls the php code
    var response = xmlhttp.responseText;
alert(response);

What have you tried? Can you post some code and be clear on what you need? There is nothing in your question with which we can give you suggestions... — Praveen Kumar Purushothaman
– Praveen Kumar Purushothaman, Commented Sep 3, 2012 at 7:09
Note, fopen and file_get_contents and other functions that are meant to work with files and streams, will only work if allow_url_fopen is enabled in your PHP config. — cHao
– cHao, Commented Sep 3, 2012 at 7:28
@Sam: Yes, it's on by default. But it's often disabled by paranoid admins for security reasons. (If a script is too naive and blindly uses user input to build paths, it can be rather easily tricked into executing arbitrary remote content.) — cHao
– cHao, Commented Sep 6, 2012 at 15:35

web-nomad · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-03 07:37:31Z

1

Try this:

<?php
$url = 'YOUR_URL_HERE';

$data = file_get_contents( $url ); // it is a JSON response as per your statement.

$data= json_decode($data);
print_r($data); // now, it's a normal array.
?>

edited Sep 3, 2012 at 7:37

answered Sep 3, 2012 at 7:11

web-nomad

6,0133 gold badges37 silver badges49 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Phorce Over a year ago

Remember "//" when commenting ;)

seeker · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-03 07:09:26Z

0

You may use fopen if config allows, or cURL or fsockopen functions to do that

answered Sep 3, 2012 at 7:09

seeker

3,3637 gold badges42 silver badges72 bronze badges

1 Comment

Sam Wilks Over a year ago

I tried fopen but it didn't work. My php code is called via ajax. It builds the URL (which I have checked multiple times for correctness) and then calls fopen with the url as the first parameter and w+ as the second (I just figured I needed read/write capabilities). I then use echo to pass the response back to my ajax function where I print out the result using xmlhttp.responseText and an alert.

xdazz · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-03 07:10:21Z

0

You could use:

$json_str = file_get_contents($url);
$json = json_decode($json_str, true);

answered Sep 3, 2012 at 7:10

xdazz

161k38 gold badges255 silver badges278 bronze badges

Comments

Phorce · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-03 07:10:43Z

0

Couldn't you use file_get_contents? E.g.

<?php

$url = "YOUR_URL";
$json = file_get_contents($url);

// handle the data
$data = json_decode($json, TRUE);

    var_dump($data); // example
?>

answered Sep 3, 2012 at 7:10

Phorce

2,67413 gold badges48 silver badges77 bronze badges

Comments

Mike · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-03 07:13:14Z

0

If you are doing a lot of requests you can try using a http class like Buzz which will Help clean up your code https://github.com/kriswallsmith/Buzz

answered Sep 3, 2012 at 7:13

Mike

1,81114 silver badges14 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Using php for http requests

5 Answers 5

1 Comment

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Comments

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

5 Answers 5

1 Comment

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Comments

Related