Table of Contents
Zend_Http_Client provides an easy interface with which to perform HTTP requests.
Zend_Http_Client is able to perform GET, POST, PUT and DELETE requests.
![[Note]](images/note.png) |
Note |
|---|---|
Zend_Http_Client follows up to 5 HTTP redirections by default. To change this behavior, pass the
maximum number of allowed redirections to the get() method.
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Example 9.1. Performing a Basic GET Request
<?php
require_once 'Zend/Http/Client.php';
try {
$http = new Zend_Http_Client('http://example.org');
$response = $http->get();
if ($response->isSuccessful()) {
echo $response->getBody();
} else {
echo '<p>An error occurred</p>';
}
} catch (Zend_Http_Client_Exception $e) {
echo '<p>An error occurred (' .$e->getMessage(). ')</p>';
}
?>
The Zend_Http_Client constructor creates a Zend_Http_Client instance for sending
HTTP requests.
When using Zend_Http_Client on a single URL, in most cases you can supply the URL and
relevant headers to the constructor, as in the following examples:
Example 9.2. Creating a Basic Zend_Http_Client
<?php
require_once 'Zend/Http/Client.php';
// Specify the URL and a single header
$http = new Zend_Http_Client('http://example.org', 'Accept: text/html');
?>
Example 9.3. Sending Multiple Headers
<?php
require_once 'Zend/Http/Client.php';
// Specify the URL and multiple headers
$http = new Zend_Http_Client('http://example.org',
array('Accept: text/html', 'Accept-Language: en-us,en;q=0.5'));
?>
If you wish to use Zend_Http_Client to send requests to multiple URLs,
see Section 9.1.3, “Requesting Multiple Domains”
Zend_Http_Client supports sending requests to multiple domains by setting the URL to query
using Zend_Http_Client::setUri().
|
Note |
|---|---|
A great use for this is when querying multiple RSS feeds. |
Example 9.4. Requesting Multiple Domains
<?php
require_once 'Zend/Http/Client.php';
// Instantiate our client object
$http = new Zend_Http_Client();
// Set the URI to Slashdot's main feed
$http->setUri('http://rss.slashdot.org/Slashdot/slashdot');
// Retrieve the feed
$slashdot = $http->get();
// Now get the BBC news feed
$http->setUri('http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_world_edition/technology/rss.xml');
// Retrieve the feed
$bbc = $http->get();
?>
Zend_Http_Client::setTimeout() allows you to set the timeout for the HTTP connection in
seconds.
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Note |
|---|---|
The default timeout is 10 seconds. |
Using Zend_Http_Client::setHeaders() you supply an array of
headers.
![[Important]](images/important.png) |
Important |
|---|---|
Headers must follow the format:
|
Performing HTTP POST, PUT, and DELETE requests are facilitated in Zend_Http_Client by three
methods: post(), put(), and delete(), respectively. The
post() and put() methods each take a single string parameter, $data,
into which should be placed a string with the data properly encoded, as in the following:
name=value&foo=bar. The delete() method has no
parameters.
Example 9.5. Sending POST data with Zend_Http_Client
<?php
require_once 'Zend/Http/Client.php';
// Instantiate our client object
$http = new Zend_Http_Client();
// Set the URI to a POST data processor
$http->setUri('http://example.org/post/processor');
// Save specific GET variables as HTTP POST data
$postData = 'foo=' . urlencode($_GET['foo']) . '&bar=' . urlencode($_GET['bar']);
// Make the HTTP POST request and save the HTTP response
$httpResponse = $http->post($postData);
?>
Making a PUT request is the same as in the example above for making a POST request; just substitute the
put() method for post().