API problem

[Tobman]

Tweet

Morning all,

I'm used to working with feeds but have been given the job of working with an XML / API web service. After reading many tutorials and guides I'm still not able to make a simple request and print something on screen from it.

This is the code I'm trying.

<?php

$password = 'passwordhere';
$productCode = 'ITEMCODEHERE';
$userName = 'USERNAMEHERE';

$xmlParameters = "password=$password&productCode=productCode";

$client = new SoapClient('https://api.domain.com/');

$res = $client->GetImagesforProduct($userName,$xmlParameters);

$contentString = $res->contentString;

print($contentString);

?>

I'm trying to pass the variables to the API and get a response. Any help more than appreciated as I think I'm about to bank my head into a wall!

Thanks

Tom

[Sproates]

In the first instance you might want to check that you can see any errors this might be producing. If this script outputs nothing at all then that might be the case. Put this at the top of the script:

error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', 1); 

This should hopefully make any error messages show up in the output. Remember to remove this in production.

Most APIs aren't set up to be called the way you're calling it with the various parameters passed as a query string. Usually, the parameters should be passed directly in the method call, e.g.:

$res = $client->GetImagesforProduct($userName, $password, $productCode); 

But you should check the API documentation to see if you're calling it correctly.

The following only applies if the API has a WSDL (which it should!) but might shed some light on whether you're calling the API in the right way:

$client = new SoapClient('https://api.domain.com/');
print_r($client->__getFunctions()); 

SoapClient::__getFunctions is supposed to give you a spec of the actual functions you can call on the client, as a bunch of strings. It's useful to see this as it basically tells you how you should be calling the various functions from php.

[Tobman]

Hmm that's weird. I've been trying to get this to work for days now and even another team of programmers I passed it to couldnt get their code to work. I've got to somehow pass the XML as a full chunk of XML:

The merchant's tech team have been completely unhelpful too. If anyone can help - thank you!

<?php
$body = „
<FeaturesForProductType
xmlns="https://api.domain.co.uk/API.asmx">
<userName>Your API Username</userName>
<xmlParameters>
<![CDATA[
<FeaturesLookup xmlns="http://tempuri.org/DummySchema.xsd">
<authorisation>
<password>Your Password</password>
</authorisation>
<request>
<ProductTypeCode>311</ProductTypeCode>
</request>
</FeaturesLookup>
]]>
</xmlParameters>
</FeaturesForProductType>
‟;
// Call NuSOAP class
require_once('nusoap.php');
$s = new soapclientnusoap('https://api.domain.co.uk/API.asmx');
$msg = $s->serializeEnvelope($body);
$s ->
send($msg,'https://api.domain.co.uk/API.asmx/FeaturesForProductTy
pe');
$response = $s->response;
?>

In the first instance you might want to check that you can see any errors this might be producing. If this script outputs nothing at all then that might be the case. Put this at the top of the script:

error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', 1); 

This should hopefully make any error messages show up in the output. Remember to remove this in production.

Most APIs aren't set up to be called the way you're calling it with the various parameters passed as a query string. Usually, the parameters should be passed directly in the method call, e.g.:

$res = $client->GetImagesforProduct($userName, $password, $productCode); 

But you should check the API documentation to see if you're calling it correctly.

The following only applies if the API has a WSDL (which it should!) but might shed some light on whether you're calling the API in the right way:

$client = new SoapClient('https://api.domain.com/');
print_r($client->__getFunctions()); 

SoapClient::__getFunctions is supposed to give you a spec of the actual functions you can call on the client, as a bunch of strings. It's useful to see this as it basically tells you how you should be calling the various functions from php.

[Sproates]

Sounds like their API is a bit weird if you've got to create the payload yourself like that. It will be difficult for anyone to spot what the matter is just given this code snippet and no access to the API for testing. If you don't want to give out the actual web service URL in public, PM or email me and I'll have a dabble with it.

[Wells]

Sounds like their API is a bit weird if you've got to create the payload yourself like that. It will be difficult for anyone to spot what the matter is just given this code snippet and no access to the API for testing. If you don't want to give out the actual web service URL in public, PM or email me and I'll have a dabble with it.

This code looks familiar did you have any success?

[Sproates]

This code looks familiar did you have any success?

Not yet. I created a test client that sends a request exactly as the provider specified, but there was no response. So possibly the API is broken or doesn't work as advertised.

[Wells]

Not yet. I created a test client that sends a request exactly as the provider specified, but there was no response. So possibly the API is broken or doesn't work as advertised.

Do you have the api technical documentation?

[Sproates]

Do you have the api technical documentation?

There is online documentation plus a snippet that was sent to the OP; I think it would be better to contact him about it though as I don't know how public he'd like to be with it.

[jackson24771]

This error can be caused by an incorrect API username, an incorrect API password, or an invalid API signature. Make sure that all three of these values are correct. For your security, PayPal does not report exactly which of these three values might be in error.