We’ll be introducing a few more curl_setopt() options in the
following examples, but there are a little too many for one tutorial. You
can read all about the others in the PHP documentation and in the cURL documentation.
following examples, but there are a little too many for one tutorial. You
can read all about the others in the PHP documentation and in the cURL documentation.
Accessing password-protected pages
The next scripts assume that the example.co.za/protected
directory requires a username and password to access, and demonstrate
the two simple ways to pass the authentication data to the remote
server. Firstly, by using the CURLOPT_USERPWD option:
directory requires a username and password to access, and demonstrate
the two simple ways to pass the authentication data to the remote
server. Firstly, by using the CURLOPT_USERPWD option:
<?php
// curl3.php
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'http://www.example.co.za/protected/recipient.php');
// Username and password, separated by a colon.
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, 'iang:iang');
curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
?>
There’s also an alternative way to handle the password protection –
simply put the username and password in the URL, in the same way as you
can do in a browser.
simply put the username and password in the URL, in the same way as you
can do in a browser.
<?php
//curl4.php
$ch = curl_init();
// Username and password, always separated by a colon after the protocol, with an amphersand
leading into the URL.
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'http://iang:[email protected]/protected/recipient.php');
curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
?>
Returning file info from the remote server
cURL allows you to return some potentially useful information, such
as the HTTP_CODE (for example, 200 for success, 403 for forbidden, 500 for internal
server error. See the full list on the w3.org site), various times (time to connect, resolve the name,
complete the transfer and so on), size of the download, or upload, and
size of all header or requests. The full list is displayed in the
sample output, below.
as the HTTP_CODE (for example, 200 for success, 403 for forbidden, 500 for internal
server error. See the full list on the w3.org site), various times (time to connect, resolve the name,
complete the transfer and so on), size of the download, or upload, and
size of all header or requests. The full list is displayed in the
sample output, below.
<?php
//curl5.php
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'http://iang:[email protected]/protected/recipient.php');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_exec($ch);
// Return the results as an associative array.
$info = curl_getinfo($ch);
// Loop through the array, showing all key=>value pairs.
foreach ($info as $key=>$value) {
print "$key -> $value<br>";
}
curl_close($ch);
?>
curl_getinfo() with no arguments returns an associative array with all data. Below is the sample output:
// curl5.php output
url -> http://iang:[email protected]/protected/recipient.php
content_type -> text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
http_code -> 200
header_size -> 244
request_size -> 138
filetime -> -1
ssl_verify_result -> 0
redirect_count -> 0
total_time -> 0.004161
namelookup_time -> 5.5E-05
connect_time -> 0.000253
pretransfer_time -> 0.000336
size_upload -> 0
size_download -> 21
speed_download -> 5046
speed_upload -> 0
download_content_length -> 0
upload_content_length -> 0
starttransfer_time -> 0.004037
redirect_time -> 0
Posting variables to a remote script
The next script shows how to POST values to a remote script. This is potentially very powerful, as it allows you to script your interaction with a remote form.
<?php
//curl6.php
// populate the array containing the values to be posted.
$postfields = array();
$postfields['field1'] = urlencode('value1');
$postfields['field2'] = urlencode('value2');
$ch = curl_init();
// Follow any Location headers
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'http://www.example.co.za/recipient2.php');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
// Alert cURL to the fact that we're doing a POST, and pass the associative array for POSTing.
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postfields);
$output = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
print $output;
?>
The POST fields to be sent can either be placed into an associative
array, as above (in which case it’s sent as multipart/form-data) or as
name-value pairs, separated by amphersands (in which case it’s sent as
application/x-www-form-urlen-coded). Note that the former enables one way of uploading files.
array, as above (in which case it’s sent as multipart/form-data) or as
name-value pairs, separated by amphersands (in which case it’s sent as
application/x-www-form-urlen-coded). Note that the former enables one way of uploading files.
The CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION is
another option you’ll commonly use, as it ensures any Location headers
are followed (as happens for example when you leave the trailing slash
off an URL). The script we POST to is listed below, and simply prints
the results.
another option you’ll commonly use, as it ensures any Location headers
are followed (as happens for example when you leave the trailing slash
off an URL). The script we POST to is listed below, and simply prints
the results.
<?php
// curl7.php
foreach ($_POST as $key=>$value) {
print "$key: $value<br>";
}
?>
The output from curl6, as expected, reads as follows:
field1: value1 field2: value2
To give you a taste of the power of this feature, you can use it to
get results from any website accepting POST variables. A Google search?
Paypal balances? Here’s an example that returns the Amazon results of a
search for books on cURL, also demonstrating the alternative way to use POST variables.
get results from any website accepting POST variables. A Google search?
Paypal balances? Here’s an example that returns the Amazon results of a
search for books on cURL, also demonstrating the alternative way to use POST variables.
<?php
// curl8.php
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, 1);
// Optionally set a timeout
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 30);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/002-0565257-5012066');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, "url=index%3Dbooks&field-keywords=CURL");
$output = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
print $output;
?>
FTP’ing a file to a server
As a final example, we FTP a file to a server. No cURL tutorial would be complete without this, as it’s a common use of cURL, although there are other ways of performing the same operation.
<?php
// curl9.php
// Assign filename, and open file handle for the file we wish to send from the local server
$filename = '/path/localfile.txt';
$fh = fopen($filename, "r");
$ch = curl_init();
//URL and filename with authentication details for the FTP server
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'ftp://username:[email protected]/path/newfile.txt');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
// Alert cURL for the fact that we're uploading a file
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_UPLOAD, 1);
// File to FTP
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_INFILE, $fp);
// Use ASCII mode for the FTP transfer
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TRANSFERTEXT, 1);
// Supply the expected file size, in bytes, of the file to upload.
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_INFILESIZE, filesize($filename));
$output = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
print $output;
?>
We’ve only had a taste in this tutorial, but I hope you’ve grasped
some of the potential of this powerful library, and are keen to explore
further. Good luck!
some of the potential of this powerful library, and are keen to explore
further. Good luck!
