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HttpSocket

CakePHP includes an HttpSocket class which can be used easily for making requests, such as those to web services.

get

The get method makes a simple HTTP GET request returning the results.

string get($uri, $query, $request)

$uri is the web address where the request is being made; $query is any query string parameters, either in string form: “param1=foo&param2=bar” or as a keyed array: array(‘param1’ => ‘foo’, ‘param2’ => ‘bar’).

App::import('Core', 'HttpSocket');
$HttpSocket = new HttpSocket();
$results = $HttpSocket->get('http://www.google.com/search', 'q=cakephp');
//returns html for Google's search results for the query "cakephp"

// Example response array
// Responses will include varying header and cookie fields
debug($HttpSocket->response);

/*
Array
(
    [raw] => Array
    (
        [status-line] => HTTP/1.1 200 OK
        [header] => -- Headers except for status-line header --
        [body] => -- response body (i.e. <!doctype html><head></head> etc) --
        [response] => -- Full HTTP response, including all headers and body --
    )
    [status] => Array
    (
        [http-version] => HTTP/1.1
        [code] => 200
        [reason-phrase] => OK
    )
    [header] => Array
    (
        [Date] => Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:16:10 GMT
        [Expires] => -1
        [Cache-Control] => private, max-age=0
        [Content-Type] => text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
        [Set-Cookie] => Array
        (
            [0] => PREF=ID=pReFvAlUeHeRe; expires=Fri, 01-Mar-2013 17:16:10 GMT; path=/; domain=.google.com
            [1] => NID=44=gOoGlEsPeCiFicCoOkIeVaLuEsHeRe; expires=Thu, 01-Sep-2011 17:16:10 GMT; path=/; domain=.google.com; HttpOnly
        )

        [Server] => gws
        [X-Xss-Protection] => 1; mode=block
        [Connection] => close
    )
    [body] => -- response body (i.e. <!doctype html><head></head> etc) --
    [cookies] => Array
    (
        [PREF] => Array
        (
            [value] => ID=pReFvAlUeHeRe
            [expires] => Fri, 01-Mar-2013 17:16:10 GMT
            [path] => /
            [domain] => .google.com
        )

        [NID] => Array
        (
            [value] => 44=gOoGlEsPeCiFicCoOkIeVaLuEsHeRe
            [expires] => Thu, 01-Sep-2011 17:16:10 GMT
            [path] => /
            [domain] => .google.com
            [httponly] => 1
        )
    )
)
*/

post

The post method makes a simple HTTP POST request returning the results.

string function post ($uri, $data, $request)

The parameters for the post method are almost the same as the get method, $uri is the web address where the request is being made; $query is the data to be posted, either in string form: “param1=foo&param2=bar” or as a keyed array: array(‘param1’ => ‘foo’, ‘param2’ => ‘bar’).

App::import('Core', 'HttpSocket');
$HttpSocket = new HttpSocket();
$results = $HttpSocket->post('www.somesite.com/add', array('name' => 'test', 'type' => 'user'));
//$results contains what is returned from the post.

request

The base request method, which is called from all the wrappers (get, post, put, delete). Returns the results of the request.

string function request($request)

$request is a keyed array of various options. Here is the format and default settings:

var $request = array(
    'method' => 'GET',
    'uri' => array(
        'scheme' => 'http',
        'host' => null,
        'port' => 80,
        'user' => null,
        'pass' => null,
        'path' => null,
        'query' => null,
        'fragment' => null
    ),
    'auth' => array(
        'method' => 'Basic',
        'user' => null,
        'pass' => null
    ),
    'version' => '1.1',
    'body' => '',
    'line' => null,
    'header' => array(
        'Connection' => 'close',
        'User-Agent' => 'CakePHP'
    ),
    'raw' => null,
    'cookies' => array()
);