The Request Class

Overview

The Zend\Http\Request object is responsible for providing a fluent API that allows a developer to interact with all the various parts of an HTTP request.

A typical HTTP request looks like this:

--------------------------
| METHOD | URI | VERSION |
--------------------------
|        HEADERS         |
--------------------------
|         BODY           |
--------------------------

In simplified terms, the request consists of a method, URI and HTTP version number which together make up the “Request Line.” Next come the HTTP headers, of which there can be 0 or more. After that is the request body, which is typically used when a client wishes to send data to the server in the form of an encoded file, or include a set of POST parameters, for example. More information on the structure and specification of a HTTP request can be found in RFC-2616 on the W3.org site.

Quick Start

Request objects can either be created from the provided fromString() factory, or, if you wish to have a completely empty object to start with, by simply instantiating the Zend\Http\Request class.

use Zend\Http\Request;

$request = Request::fromString(<<<EOS
POST /foo HTTP/1.1
\r\n
HeaderField1: header-field-value1
HeaderField2: header-field-value2
\r\n\r\n
foo=bar&
EOS
);

// OR, the completely equivalent

$request = new Request();
$request->setMethod(Request::METHOD_POST);
$request->setUri('/foo');
$request->getHeaders()->addHeaders(array(
    'HeaderField1' => 'header-field-value1',
    'HeaderField2' => 'header-field-value2',
));
$request->getPost()->set('foo', 'bar');

Configuration Options

No configuration options are available.

Available Methods

Request::fromString

Request::fromString(string $string)

A factory that produces a Request object from a well-formed HTTP Request string.

Returns Zend\Http\Request

setMethod

setMethod(string $method)

Set the method for this request.

Returns Zend\Http\Request

getMethod

getMethod()

Return the method for this request.

Returns string

setUri

setUri(string|Zend\Uri\Http $uri)

Set the URI/URL for this request; this can be a string or an instance of Zend\Uri\Http.

Returns Zend\Http\Request

getUri

getUri()

Return the URI for this request object.

Returns Zend\Uri\Http

getUriString

getUriString()

Return the URI for this request object as a string.

Returns string

setVersion

setVersion(string $version)

Set the HTTP version for this object, one of 1.0 or 1.1 (Request::VERSION_10, Request::VERSION_11).

Returns Zend\Http\Request

getVersion

getVersion()

Return the HTTP version for this request.

Returns string

setQuery

setQuery(Zend\Stdlib\ParametersInterface $query)

Provide an alternate Parameter Container implementation for query parameters in this object. (This is NOT the primary API for value setting; for that, see getQuery()).

Returns Zend\Http\Request

getQuery

getQuery(string|null $name, mixed|null $default)

Return the parameter container responsible for query parameters or a single query parameter.

Returns string, Zend\Stdlib\ParametersInterface, or null depending on value of $name argument.

setPost

setPost(Zend\Stdlib\ParametersInterface $post)

Provide an alternate Parameter Container implementation for POST parameters in this object. (This is NOT the primary API for value setting; for that, see getPost()).

Returns Zend\Http\Request

getPost

getPost(string|null $name, mixed|null $default)

Return the parameter container responsible for POST parameters or a single POST parameter.

Returns string, Zend\Stdlib\ParametersInterface, or null depending on value of $name argument.

getCookie

getCookie()

Return the Cookie header, this is the same as calling $request->getHeaders()->get(‘Cookie’);.

Returns Zend\Http\Header\Cookie

setFiles

setFiles(Zend\Stdlib\ParametersInterface $files)

Provide an alternate Parameter Container implementation for file parameters in this object, (This is NOT the primary API for value setting; for that, see getFiles()).

Returns Zend\Http\Request

getFiles

getFiles(string|null $name, mixed|null $default)

Return the parameter container responsible for file parameters or a single file parameter.

Returns string, Zend\Stdlib\ParametersInterface, or null depending on value of $name argument.

setHeaders

setHeaders(Zend\Http\Headers $headers)

Provide an alternate Parameter Container implementation for headers in this object, (this is NOT the primary API for value setting, for that see getHeaders()).

Returns Zend\Http\Request

getHeaders

getHeaders(string|null $name, mixed|null $default)

Return the container responsible for storing HTTP headers. This container exposes the primary API for manipulating headers set in the HTTP request. See the section on Zend\Http\Headers for more information.

Returns Zend\Http\Headers if $name is null. Returns Zend\Http\Header\HeaderInterface or ArrayIterator if $name matches one or more stored headers, respectively.

setMetadata

setMetadata(string|int|array|Traversable $spec, mixed $value)

Set message metadata.

Non-destructive setting of message metadata; always adds to the metadata, never overwrites the entire metadata container.

Returns Zend\Http\Request

getMetadata

getMetadata(null|string|int $key, null|mixed $default)

Retrieve all metadata or a single metadatum as specified by key.

Returns mixed

setContent

setContent(mixed $value)

Set request body (content).

Returns Zend\Http\Request

getContent

getContent()

Get request body (content).

Returns mixed

isOptions

isOptions()

Is this an OPTIONS method request?

Returns bool

isGet

isGet()

Is this a GET method request?

Returns bool

isHead

isHead()

Is this a HEAD method request?

Returns bool

isPost

isPost()

Is this a POST method request?

Returns bool

isPut

isPut()

Is this a PUT method request?

Returns bool

isDelete

isDelete()

Is this a DELETE method request?

Returns bool

isTrace

isTrace()

Is this a TRACE method request?

Returns bool

isConnect

isConnect()

Is this a CONNECT method request?

Returns bool

isPatch

isPatch()

Is this a PATCH method request?

Returns bool

isXmlHttpRequest

isXmlHttpRequest()

Is this a Javascript XMLHttpRequest?

Returns bool

isFlashRequest

isFlashRequest()

Is this a Flash request?

Returns bool

renderRequestLine

renderRequestLine()

Return the formatted request line (first line) for this HTTP request.

Returns string

toString

toString()

Returns string

__toString

__toString()

Allow PHP casting of this object.

Returns string

Examples

Generating a Request object from a string

use Zend\Http\Request;

$string = "GET /foo HTTP/1.1\r\n\r\nSome Content";
$request = Request::fromString($string);

$request->getMethod();    // returns Request::METHOD_GET
$request->getUri();       // returns Zend\Uri\Http object
$request->getUriString(); // returns '/foo'
$request->getVersion();   // returns Request::VERSION_11 or '1.1'
$request->getContent();   // returns 'Some Content'

Retrieving and setting headers

use Zend\Http\Request;
use Zend\Http\Header\Cookie;

$request = new Request();
$request->getHeaders()->get('Content-Type'); // return content type
$request->getHeaders()->addHeader(new Cookie(array('foo' => 'bar')));
foreach ($request->getHeaders() as $header) {
    echo $header->getFieldName() . ' with value ' . $header->getFieldValue();
}

Retrieving and setting GET and POST values

use Zend\Http\Request;

$request = new Request();

// getPost() and getQuery() both return, by default, a Parameters object, which extends ArrayObject
$request->getPost()->foo = 'Foo value';
$request->getQuery()->bar = 'Bar value';
$request->getPost('foo'); // returns 'Foo value'
$request->getQuery()->offsetGet('bar'); // returns 'Bar value'

Generating a formatted HTTP Request from a Request object

use Zend\Http\Request;

$request = new Request();
$request->setMethod(Request::METHOD_POST);
$request->setUri('/foo');
$request->getHeaders()->addHeaders(array(
    'HeaderField1' => 'header-field-value1',
    'HeaderField2' => 'header-field-value2',
));
$request->getPost()->set('foo', 'bar');
$request->setContent($request->getPost()->toString());
echo $request->toString();

/** Will produce:
POST /foo HTTP/1.1
HeaderField1: header-field-value1
HeaderField2: header-field-value2

foo=bar
*/