Introduction

Zend Framework provides support for consuming remote XML-RPC services as a client in the Zend_XmlRpc_Client package. Its major features include automatic type conversion between PHP and XML-RPC, a server proxy object, and access to server introspection capabilities.

Method Calls

The constructor of Zend_XmlRpc_Client receives the URL of the remote XML-RPC server endpoint as its first parameter. The new instance returned may be used to call any number of remote methods at that endpoint.

To call a remote method with the XML-RPC client, instantiate it and use the call() instance method. The code sample below uses a demonstration XML-RPC server on the Zend Framework website. You can use it for testing or exploring the Zend_XmlRpc components.

Example #1 XML-RPC Method Call

span style="color: #ff0000;">'http://framework.zend.com/xmlrpc''test.sayHello');
 
// hello

The XML-RPC value returned from the remote method call will be automatically unmarshaled and cast to the equivalent PHP native type. In the example above, a PHP String is returned and is immediately ready to be used.

The first parameter of the call() method receives the name of the remote method to call. If the remote method requires any parameters, these can be sent by supplying a second, optional parameter to call() with an Array of values to pass to the remote method:

Example #2 XML-RPC Method Call with Parameters

span style="color: #ff0000;">'http://framework.zend.com/xmlrpc');
 
$arg1 = 1.1;
$arg2 = 'foo';
 
$result = $client->call('test.sayHello'// $result is a native PHP type

If the remote method doesn't require parameters, this optional parameter may either be left out or an empty array() passed to it. The array of parameters for the remote method can contain native PHP types, Zend_XmlRpc_Value objects, or a mix of each.

The call() method will automatically convert the XML-RPC response and return its equivalent PHP native type. A Zend_XmlRpc_Response object for the return value will also be available by calling the getLastResponse() method after the call.

Types and Conversions

Some remote method calls require parameters. These are given to the call() method of Zend_XmlRpc_Client as an array in the second parameter. Each parameter may be given as either a native PHP type which will be automatically converted, or as an object representing a specific XML-RPC type (one of the Zend_XmlRpc_Value objects).

PHP Native Types as Parameters

Parameters may be passed to call() as native PHP variables, meaning as a String , Integer , Float , Boolean , Array , or an Object . In this case, each PHP native type will be auto-detected and converted into one of the XML-RPC types according to this table:

**PHP and XML-RPC Type Conversions**
PHP Native Type	XML-RPC Type
integer	int
Zend_Crypt_Math_BigInteger	i8
double	double
boolean	boolean
string	string
null	nil
array	array
associative array	struct
object	array
Zend_Date	dateTime.iso8601
DateTime	dateTime.iso8601

Note: What type do empty arrays get cast to?
Passing an empty array to an XML-RPC method is problematic, as it could represent either an array or a struct. Zend_XmlRpc_Client detects such conditions and makes a request to the server's system.methodSignature method to determine the appropriate XML-RPC type to cast to.
However, this in itself can lead to issues. First off, servers that do not support system.methodSignature will log failed requests, and Zend_XmlRpc_Client will resort to casting the value to an XML-RPC array type. Additionally, this means that any call with array arguments will result in an additional call to the remote server.
To disable the lookup entirely, you can call the setSkipSystemLookup() method prior to making your XML-RPC call:

span style="color: #ff0000;">'foo.bar'

Zend_XmlRpc_Value Objects as Parameters

Parameters may also be created as Zend_XmlRpc_Value instances to specify an exact XML-RPC type. The primary reasons for doing this are:

When you want to make sure the correct parameter type is passed to the procedure (i.e. the procedure requires an integer and you may get it from a database as a string)
When the procedure requires base64 or dateTime.iso8601 type (which doesn't exists as a PHP native type)
When auto-conversion may fail (i.e. you want to pass an empty XML-RPC struct as a parameter. Empty structs are represented as empty arrays in PHP but, if you give an empty array as a parameter it will be auto-converted to an XML-RPC array since it's not an associative array)

There are two ways to create a Zend_XmlRpc_Value object: instantiate one of the Zend_XmlRpc_Value subclasses directly, or use the static factory method Zend_XmlRpc_Value::getXmlRpcValue().

**Zend_XmlRpc_Value Objects for XML-RPC Types**
XML-RPC Type	Zend_XmlRpc_Value Constant	Zend_XmlRpc_Value Object
int	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_INTEGER`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_Integer
i8	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_I8`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_BigInteger
ex:i8	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_APACHEI8`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_BigInteger
double	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_DOUBLE`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_Double
boolean	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_BOOLEAN`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_Boolean
string	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_STRING`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_String
nil	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_NIL`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_Nil
ex:nil	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_APACHENIL`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_Nil
base64	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_BASE64`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_Base64
dateTime.iso8601	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_DATETIME`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_DateTime
array	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_ARRAY`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_Array
struct	`Zend_XmlRpc_Value::XMLRPC_TYPE_STRUCT`	Zend_XmlRpc_Value_Struct

Note: Automatic Conversion
When building a new Zend_XmlRpc_Value object, its value is set by a PHP type. The PHP type will be converted to the specified type using PHP casting. For example, if a string is given as a value to the Zend_XmlRpc_Value_Integer object, it will be converted using (int)$value.

Server Proxy Object

Another way to call remote methods with the XML-RPC client is to use the server proxy. This is a PHP object that proxies a remote XML-RPC namespace, making it work as close to a native PHP object as possible.

To instantiate a server proxy, call the getProxy() instance method of Zend_XmlRpc_Client. This will return an instance of Zend_XmlRpc_Client_ServerProxy. Any method call on the server proxy object will be forwarded to the remote, and parameters may be passed like any other PHP method.

Example #3 Proxy the Default Namespace

span style="color: #ff0000;">'http://framework.zend.com/xmlrpc');
 
$service = $client->getProxy();           // Proxy the default namespace
 
$hello = $service->test->sayHello(1, 2);  // test.Hello(1, 2) returns "hello"

The getProxy() method receives an optional argument specifying which namespace of the remote server to proxy. If it does not receive a namespace, the default namespace will be proxied. In the next example, the 'test' namespace will be proxied:

Example #4 Proxy Any Namespace

span style="color: #ff0000;">'http://framework.zend.com/xmlrpc');
 
$test  = $client->getProxy('test');     // Proxy the "test" namespace
 
$hello = $test->sayHello(1, 2);         // test.Hello(1,2) returns "hello"

If the remote server supports nested namespaces of any depth, these can also be used through the server proxy. For example, if the server in the example above had a method test.foo.bar(), it could be called as $test->foo->bar().

Error Handling

Two kinds of errors can occur during an XML-RPC method call: HTTP errors and XML-RPC faults. The Zend_XmlRpc_Client recognizes each and provides the ability to detect and trap them independently.

HTTP Errors

If any HTTP error occurs, such as the remote HTTP server returns a 404 Not Found, a Zend_XmlRpc_Client_HttpException will be thrown.

Example #5 Handling HTTP Errors

span style="color: #ff0000;">'http://foo/404');
 
try {
 
    $client->call('bar'// $e->getCode() returns 404
    // $e->getMessage() returns "Not Found"
 
}

Regardless of how the XML-RPC client is used, the Zend_XmlRpc_Client_HttpException will be thrown whenever an HTTP error occurs.

XML-RPC Faults

An XML-RPC fault is analogous to a PHP exception. It is a special type returned from an XML-RPC method call that has both an error code and an error message. XML-RPC faults are handled differently depending on the context of how the Zend_XmlRpc_Client is used.

When the call() method or the server proxy object is used, an XML-RPC fault will result in a Zend_XmlRpc_Client_FaultException being thrown. The code and message of the exception will map directly to their respective values in the original XML-RPC fault response.

Example #6 Handling XML-RPC Faults

span style="color: #ff0000;">'http://framework.zend.com/xmlrpc');
 
try {
 
    $client->call('badMethod'// $e->getCode() returns 1
    // $e->getMessage() returns "Unknown method"
 
}

When the call() method is used to make the request, the Zend_XmlRpc_Client_FaultException will be thrown on fault. A Zend_XmlRpc_Response object containing the fault will also be available by calling getLastResponse().

When the doRequest() method is used to make the request, it will not throw the exception. Instead, it will return a Zend_XmlRpc_Response object returned will containing the fault. This can be checked with isFault() instance method of Zend_XmlRpc_Response.

Server Introspection

Some XML-RPC servers support the de facto introspection methods under the XML-RPC system. namespace. Zend_XmlRpc_Client provides special support for servers with these capabilities.

A Zend_XmlRpc_Client_ServerIntrospection instance may be retrieved by calling the getIntrospector() method of Zend_XmlRpcClient. It can then be used to perform introspection operations on the server.

From Request to Response

Under the hood, the call() instance method of Zend_XmlRpc_Client builds a request object (Zend_XmlRpc_Request) and sends it to another method, doRequest(), that returns a response object (Zend_XmlRpc_Response).

The doRequest() method is also available for use directly:

Example #7 Processing Request to Response

span style="color: #ff0000;">'http://framework.zend.com/xmlrpc''test.sayHello''foo', 'bar'// $client->getLastRequest() returns instanceof Zend_XmlRpc_Request
// $client->getLastResponse() returns instanceof Zend_XmlRpc_Response

Whenever an XML-RPC method call is made by the client through any means, either the call() method, doRequest() method, or server proxy, the last request object and its resultant response object will always be available through the methods getLastRequest() and getLastResponse() respectively.

HTTP Client and Testing

In all of the prior examples, an HTTP client was never specified. When this is the case, a new instance of Zend_Http_Client will be created with its default options and used by Zend_XmlRpc_Client automatically.

The HTTP client can be retrieved at any time with the getHttpClient() method. For most cases, the default HTTP client will be sufficient. However, the setHttpClient() method allows for a different HTTP client instance to be injected.

The setHttpClient() is particularly useful for unit testing. When combined with the Zend_Http_Client_Adapter_Test, remote services can be mocked out for testing. See the unit tests for Zend_XmlRpc_Client for examples of how to do this.