How to use PayPal Express Payments (PHP) - php

Question

I am using the PayPal PHP SDK found here: https://github.com/paypal/Checkout-PHP-SDK
And I am somewhat puzzled in terms of how to complete the process.
On the outset this seems quite simple:
Setup your credentials
Create the Order
Check the result, and re-direct to approval link
User makes a payment and is sent to the SUCCESS link that you would have set.
i.e. http://example.com/pay/complete/paypal?token=8UK32254ES097084V&PayerID=SEQNPLB2JR9LY
And this is where things get a bit shakey.
Conveniently, a token and a PayerID is returned.
And according to the documentation, you now need to "Capturing the Order" and the following code is provided:
use PayPalCheckoutSdk\Orders\OrdersCaptureRequest;
// Here, OrdersCaptureRequest() creates a POST request to /v2/checkout/orders
// $response->result->id gives the orderId of the order created above
$request = new OrdersCaptureRequest("APPROVED-ORDER-ID");
$request->prefer('return=representation');
try {
// Call API with your client and get a response for your call
$response = $client->execute($request);
// If call returns body in response, you can get the deserialized version from the result attribute of the response
print_r($response);
}catch (HttpException $ex) {
echo $ex->statusCode;
print_r($ex->getMessage());
}
What is confusing is that the OrdersCaptureRequest requires an "APPROVED-ORDER-ID"
But all that has been returned is a "token" and a "PayerID".
So my question is, what is this APPROVED-ORDER-ID, and where do I get it?
Thank you!

Answer 1

what is this APPROVED-ORDER-ID, and where do I get it
At that moment, sourced from token= . It should correspond to an Order Id you received in the response to your step 2 ("Create the Order")
For step 3, it is better to use no redirects whatsoever. Instead, implement this front-end UI, which offers a far superior in-context experience that keeps your site loaded in the background: https://developer.paypal.com/demo/checkout/#/pattern/server
There is no reason for a modern website to be redirecting unnecessarily