Invalid JSON require Swift iOS - php

Question

I am developing a simple iOS Swift app. I want to make a log-in screen for my app that will connect to already existing user database in Wordpress. I found some PHP scripts and Swift code.
I am trying to post username and login, check it and return the result(isUser = true/false or 1/0)
Here is a PHP script
<?php
// Read request parameters
$username= $_REQUEST["username"];
$password = $_REQUEST["password"];
// Store values in an array
$returnValue = array("username"=>$username, "password"=>$password);
// Send back request in JSON format
echo json_encode($returnValue);
?>
and a Swift function
func getPHPJson() {
let urlPath: String = "LINK_TO_PHP_FILE?username=\(user)&password=\(pass)"
let url: NSURL = NSURL(string: urlPath)!
let request1: NSMutableURLRequest = NSMutableURLRequest(URL: url)
request1.HTTPMethod = "GET"
let queue:NSOperationQueue = NSOperationQueue()
NSURLConnection.sendAsynchronousRequest(request1, queue: queue, completionHandler:{ (response: NSURLResponse?, data: NSData?, error: NSError?) -> Void in
do
{
if let jsonResult = try NSJSONSerialization.JSONObjectWithData(data!, options: []) as? NSDictionary
{
print(jsonResult)
//print(jsonResult["isUser"] as! Bool)
let responseString = NSString(data: data!, encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding)
print("raw response: \(responseString!)")
}
} catch let error as NSError
{
print(error.localizedDescription)
print("error")
let responseString = NSString(data: data!, encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding)
print("raw response: \(responseString)")
}
})
}
it gives me a desired result.
OUTPUT
{
password = iosappusettest1;
username = iosappusettest;
}
raw response: {"username":"iosappusettest","password":"iosappusettest1"}
But when I add function to check if user is registered - I always get an invalid JSON
here is PHP function
function authentication ($user, $pass){
global $wp, $wp_rewrite, $wp_the_query, $wp_query;
if(empty($user) || empty($pass)){
return 0;
} else {
require_once('../wp-blog-header.php');
$status = 0;
$auth = wp_authenticate($user, $pass );
if( is_wp_error($auth) ) {
$status = 0;
} else {
$status = 1;
}
return $status;
}
}
I believe the problem is require_once function. In raw response I get a lot of html tags and other data that make my JSON invalid.
Is there any way to clear the page and output in the JSON only? echo "<script> document.documentElement.innerHTML = ''; </script>"; in PHP did't help me. maybe jQuery will help?
Maybe I can check if user is registered in another way?
Maybe I can store my result in a separate place or temp file?
Maybe I should wrap my data not in JSON but something else?
So I need to pass username and password to PHP, check it with authentication function(that uses require_once) and send back the $status to iOS Swift app ass variable.
Question is answered.
The problem was in WP plugin, that redirected all unlogined users from all the links in that domain, so when i called require_once('../wp-blog-header.php'); i was always redirected to main page and that was the reason for wrong JSON file with all the HTML markup.

Answer 1

Keep your response in pure JSON, and leave out any html tags as they are not needed by your ios end.