Php – How to send a POST request with PHP

httpPHPpostrequest

Actually I want to read the contents that come after the search query, when it is done. The problem is that the URL only accepts POST methods, and it does not take any action with GET method…

I have to read all contents with the help of domdocument or file_get_contents(). Is there any method that will let me send parameters with POST method and then read the contents via PHP?

Best Answer

CURL-less method with PHP5:

$url = 'http://server.com/path';
$data = array('key1' => 'value1', 'key2' => 'value2');

// use key 'http' even if you send the request to https://...
$options = array(
    'http' => array(
        'header'  => "Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n",
        'method'  => 'POST',
        'content' => http_build_query($data)
    )
);
$context  = stream_context_create($options);
$result = file_get_contents($url, false, $context);
if ($result === FALSE) { /* Handle error */ }

var_dump($result);

See the PHP manual for more information on the method and how to add headers, for example:

stream_context_create: http://php.net/manual/en/function.stream-context-create.php

Dynamically create `<input>`s in a form and submit it

/**
 * sends a request to the specified url from a form. this will change the window location.
 * @param {string} path the path to send the post request to
 * @param {object} params the parameters to add to the url
 * @param {string} [method=post] the method to use on the form
 */

function post(path, params, method='post') {

  // The rest of this code assumes you are not using a library.
  // It can be made less verbose if you use one.
  const form = document.createElement('form');
  form.method = method;
  form.action = path;

  for (const key in params) {
    if (params.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
      const hiddenField = document.createElement('input');
      hiddenField.type = 'hidden';
      hiddenField.name = key;
      hiddenField.value = params[key];

      form.appendChild(hiddenField);
    }
  }

  document.body.appendChild(form);
  form.submit();
}

Example:

post('/contact/', {name: 'Johnny Bravo'});

EDIT: Since this has gotten upvoted so much, I'm guessing people will be copy-pasting this a lot. So I added the hasOwnProperty check to fix any inadvertent bugs.

Php – Detecting request type in PHP (GET, POST, PUT or DELETE)

By using

$_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']

Example

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
     // The request is using the POST method
}

For more details please see the documentation for the $_SERVER variable.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

JavaScript post request like a form submit

Dynamically create <input>s in a form and submit it

Php – Detecting request type in PHP (GET, POST, PUT or DELETE)

Example

Related Topic

Dynamically create `<input>`s in a form and submit it