PHP - HTTP Post - incorrect headers

Question

Hi I'm currently trying to post an xml file to an external server, but I'm getting a response back that the headers are incorrect. The server I'm posting requires some headers and I'm wondering if they're in the correct format or if there are any other "standard" headers that need to be included?

My code is:

<?php

function httpsPost($Url, $xml_data, $headers)
{
   // Initialisation
   $ch=curl_init();
   // Set parameters
   curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FORBID_REUSE, 1); 
   curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FRESH_CONNECT, 1);
   curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $headers);    
   curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $Url);
   // Return a variable instead of posting it directly
   curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
   curl_setopt($ch,CURLOPT_USERPWD,"username:password");
   // Active the POST method
   curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1) ;
   // Request
   curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $xml_data);
   curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, 0);
   curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 0);
   // execute the connexion
   $result = curl_exec($ch);
   // Close it
   curl_close($ch);
   return $result;
}

$headers[0]="BATCH_TYPE: XML_SINGLE"; 
$headers[1]="BATCH_COUNT: 1"; 
$headers[2]="VENDOR_ID: 53906";

$request_file = "./post_this.xml"; 
$fh = fopen($request_file, 'r'); 
$xml_data = fread($fh, filesize($request_file)); 
fclose($fh);  

$url = 'http://www.example.com/test.php';

$Response = httpsPost($url, $xml_data, $headers);

echo $Response;

?>

Answer 1

try

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, Array("Content-Type: text/xml")); 
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, Array("Accept: text/xml"));

or use that

$header[] = "Host: ".$host; 
$header[] = "MIME-Version: 1.0"; 
$header[] = "Accept: text/xml";
$header[] = "Content-length: ".strlen($xmlRequest);
$header[] = "Cache-Control: no-cache";
$header[] = "Connection: close \r\n";
$header[] = $xmlRequest; // Contains the XML request

link maybe help with example: http://www.nabble.com/Problems-posting-xml-file-with-curl-and-php-td16129807.html

Answer 2

I've done a bunch of research on this one, but I don't have any definitive answer. I'll go out on a limb and say that I think the problem is that your headers are using underscores instead of dashes. I can't think of any standard HTTP header that uses underscores.

This is perfectly legal per the HTTP 1.1 specification. According to RFC 2616:

message-header = field-name ":" [ field-value ]
field-name     = token
token          = 1*<any CHAR except CTLs or separators>
separators     = "(" | ")" | "<" | ">" | "@"
                  | "," | ";" | ":" | "\" | <">
                  | "/" | "[" | "]" | "?" | "="
                  | "{" | "}" | SP | HT

If it's an option, I suggest changing the server to expect Batch-Type, Batch-Count and Vendor-Id.

If Curl is changing your header names behind your back, you should report it as a bug.

Answer 3

If I use a local script as the script being posted to, the output is correct.

The local script simply consists of

<?php
  phpinfo();
?>

So, I guess the problem is not with your code but with the display at http://www.xhaus.com/headers. That site seems to replace underscores with dashes for display. Why use that url for displaying the results and not your own phpinfo-script?