URL shorteners have exploded in popularity in the last several years, in large part due to the social nature of the web and the desire to share links. Zend_Service_ShortUrl provides an API for accessing a number of different URL shortener services, with the ability to both create short URLs as well as retrieve the original URL.

Adapters provided include:

• Zend_Service_ShortUrl_JdemCz, which accesses the » jdem.cz service.

• Zend_Service_ShortUrl_TinyUrlCom, which accesses the » tinyurl.com service.

• Zend_Service_ShortUrl_MetamarkNet, which accesses the » metamark.net service.

• Zend_Service_ShortUrl_IsGd, which accesses the » is.gd service.

• Zend_Service_ShortUrl_BitLy, which accesses the » bit.ly service.

Using one of the URL shortener services is straightforward. Each URL shortener follows a simple interface that defines two methods: shorten() and unshorten(). Instantiate the class, and call the appropriate method.

shorten ( $url )

Takes the given $url and passes it to the service in order to obtain a shortened URL.

If the provided $url is invalid, an exception will be raised.

unshorten ( $shortenedUrl )

Takes the provided $shortenedUrl and passes it to the service in order to obtain the original URL.

If the provided $shortenedUrl is invalid, an exception will be raised.

setHttpClient ( Zend_Http_Client $httpClient )

Use this method to set the HTTP client used for communicating with the service.

getHttpClient ( )

Use this method to access the HTTP client attached to the service. By default, this will lazy-load an instance of Zend_Http_Client if no client is yet attached.

The bitly API require that authentication credentials be supplied as query arguments. To get started, you'll need a free bitly user account and apiKey. Signup at: » http://bitly.com/a/sign_up

bitly currently also supports the OAuth 2 draft specification. You could provide a generated OAuth access token to Zend_Service_ShortUrl_BitLy using setOAuthAccessToken or as constructor argument.

setApiLogin ( $login, $apiKey )

Takes the required $login username and $apiKey and passes it to the service.

setOAuthAccessToken ( $accessToken )

Use the OAuth $accessToken for authentication