PHP WDDX: Creating Web Service Server

Web Distributed Data Exchange Step By Step tutorial - Part 11: We ever talked about web services using nusoap and wsdl. We can build a simple web service using WDDX. In this post, I will show you simple way to build web service at server side that will transfer data to client.

In this practice, we will use database. So create database named "test". Then create table named "books". Here is query:

CREATE TABLE `books` (
  `id` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,
  `title` varchar(150) NOT NULL,
  `author` varchar(150) NOT NULL,
  `description` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
  `on_sale` tinyint(1) NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY  (`id`)
)

Then, try to insert sample data:

INSERT INTO `books` (`id`, `title`, `author`, `description`, `on_sale`, `cover`) VALUES (1, 'PHP AJAX', 'Andreas', 'This is good book for learning AJAX', 1);
INSERT INTO `books` (`id`, `title`, `author`, `description`, `on_sale`, `cover`) VALUES (2, 'PHP Eclipse ', 'George', 'Nice book', 0);
INSERT INTO `books` (`id`, `title`, `author`, `description`, `on_sale`, `cover`) VALUES (3, 'PHP Pattern', 'Imanda', '-', 1);
INSERT INTO `books` (`id`, `title`, `author`, `description`, `on_sale`, `cover`) VALUES (4, 'PHP Zend Framework', 'Ozulian', 'great', 0);
INSERT INTO `books` (`id`, `title`, `author`, `description`, `on_sale`, `cover`) VALUES (5, 'PHP Web Services', 'Bobi', '', 0);
INSERT INTO `books` (`id`, `title`, `author`, `description`, `on_sale`, `cover`) VALUES (6, 'PHP API', 'Hugo', '', 1);
INSERT INTO `books` (`id`, `title`, `author`, `description`, `on_sale`, `cover`) VALUES (7, 'PHP SEO', 'Monteo', '', 1);
INSERT INTO `books` (`id`, `title`, `author`, `description`, `on_sale`, `cover`) VALUES (8, 'PHP Security', 'Jack Hijack', '', 0);
INSERT INTO `books` (`id`, `title`, `author`, `description`, `on_sale`, `cover`) VALUES (9, 'ZEND FRAMEWORK TUTORIAL', 'PHP Everyday', '', 0);

Now, create a file named "server.php" within www/test/wddx. Enter following code:

<?php
$dbhost = 'localhost';
$dbname = 'test';
$dbuser = 'root';
$dbpass = 'admin';

mysql_connect($dbhost,$dbuser,$dbpass) or die('Connection error');
mysql_select_db($dbname);

$wddxst = wddx_packet_start('Book Library');

$sql = "SELECT id, title, author, description FROM books";
$q   = mysql_query($sql) or die(mysql_error());

$i = 1;
while($r = mysql_fetch_assoc($q)){
  $varname = 'book'.$i;
  $$varname = $r;
  
  wddx_add_vars($wddxst, $varname);
  $i++;
}

$packet = wddx_packet_end($wddxst);

echo $packet;
?>

When we test, we may get:

<wddxPacket version='1.0'><header><comment>Book Library</comment></header><data><struct><var name='book1'><struct><var name='id'><string>1</string></var><var name='title'><string>PHP AJAX</string></var><var name='author'><string>Andreas</string></var><var name='description'><string>This is good book for learning AJAX</string></var></struct></var><var name='book2'><struct><var name='id'><string>2</string></var><var name='title'><string>PHP Eclipse </string></var><var name='author'><string>George</string></var><var name='description'><string>Nice book</string></var></struct></var><var name='book3'><struct><var name='id'><string>3</string></var><var name='title'><string>PHP Pattern</string></var><var name='author'><string>Imanda</string></var><var name='description'><string>-</string></var></struct></var><var name='book4'><struct><var name='id'><string>4</string></var><var name='title'><string>PHP Zend Framework</string></var><var name='author'><string>Ozulian</string></var><var name='description'><string>great</string></var></struct></var><var name='book5'><struct><var name='id'><string>5</string></var><var name='title'><string>PHP Web Services</string></var><var name='author'><string>Bobi</string></var><var name='description'><string></string></var></struct></var><var name='book6'><struct><var name='id'><string>6</string></var><var name='title'><string>PHP API</string></var><var name='author'><string>Hugo</string></var><var name='description'><string></string></var></struct></var><var name='book7'><struct><var name='id'><string>7</string></var><var name='title'><string>PHP SEO</string></var><var name='author'><string>Monteo</string></var><var name='description'><string></string></var></struct></var><var name='book8'><struct><var name='id'><string>8</string></var><var name='title'><string>PHP Security</string></var><var name='author'><string>Jack Hijack</string></var><var name='description'><string></string></var></struct></var><var name='book9'><struct><var name='id'><string>9</string></var><var name='title'><string>ZEND FRAMEWORK TUTORIAL</string></var><var name='author'><string>PHP Everyday</string></var><var name='description'><string></string></var></struct></var></struct></data></wddxPacket>