Framework Documentation - HTTP Package

Overview

The HTTP package includes a suite of classes to facilitate RESTful HTTP requests over a variety of transport protocols.
All methods return a Response object which is PSR-7 compliant.
Additionally, the main Http class provides support for sending requests as covered by the PSR-18
ClientInterface.

Making a HEAD request

An HTTP HEAD request can be made using the head method passing a URL and an optional key-value array of header variables.

use Joomla\Http\HttpFactory;

// Create an instance of a default Http object.
$http = (new HttpFactory)->getHttp();

// Invoke the HEAD request.
$response = $http->head('http://example.com');

// Get the response code, see http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html
var_dump($response->getStatusCode());

// Get the response headers.
var_dump($response->getHeaders());

// Get the body of the response (not applicable for the HEAD method).
var_dump((string) $response->getBody());

URI Arguments

In each of the Http class' methods, either a string or Joomla\Uri\UriInterface object may be passed representing the URI
that should be requested. Internally this argument is converted to a Joomla\Uri\Uri object if a string is passed and an
InvalidArgumentException is thrown if the URI parameter is not of one of these types.

Making a GET request

An HTTP GET request can be made using the get method passing a URL, an optional key-value array of header variables and an
optional timeout value. In RESTful terms, a GET request is sent to read data from the server.

// Invoke the GET request.
$response = $http->get('http://api.example.com/cars');

Making a POST request

An HTTP POST request can be made using the post method passing a URL, a data variable, an optional key-value array of header
variables and an optional timeout value. The data can be either an associative array of POST variables, or a string to be sent
with the request. In RESTful terms, a POST request is sent to create new data on the server.

// Prepare the update data.
$data = ['make' => 'Holden', model => 'EJ-Special'];

// Invoke the POST request.
$response = $http->post('http://api.example.com/cars/1', $data);

Making a PUT request

An HTTP POST request can be made using the post method passing a URL, a data variable, an optional key-value array of header
variables and an optional timeout value. The data can be either an associative array of POST variables, or a string to be sent
with the request. In RESTful terms, a PUT request is typically sent to update existing data on the server.

// Prepare the update data.
$data = ['description' => 'My first car.', 'color' => 'gray'];

// Invoke the PUT request.
$response = $http->put('http://api.example.com/cars/1', $data);

Making a DELETE request

An HTTP DELETE request can be made using the delete method passing a URL, an optional key-value array of header variables
and an optional timeout value. In RESTful terms, a DELETE request is typically sent to delete existing data on the server.

// Invoke the DELETE request.
$response = $http->delete('http://api.example.com/cars/1');

Making a TRACE request

An HTTP TRACE request can be made using the trace method passing a URL and an optional key-value array of header variables.
In RESTful terms, a TRACE request is to echo data back to the client for debugging or testing purposes.

// Invoke the TRACE request.
$response = $http->trace('http://api.example.com/cars/1');

Working with options

Custom headers can be passed into each REST request, but they can also be set globally in the constructor options where the
option path starts with "headers.". In the case where a request method passes additional headers, those will override the
headers set in the options.

// Configure a custom Accept header for all requests.
$options = [
    'headers.Accept' => 'application/vnd.github.html+json'
];

// Make the request, knowing the custom Accept header will be used.
$pull = $http->get('https://api.github.com/repos/joomla-framework/http/pulls/1');

// Set up custom headers for a single request.
$headers = ['Accept' => 'application/foo'];

// In this case, the Accept header in $headers will override the options header.
$pull = $http->get('https://api.github.com/repos/joomla-framework/http/pulls/1', $headers);