Making GET requests using PHP - php

Question

I am trying to make a simple GET request to the yesmail api, i have the url which i can paste directly in the browser and it displays the correct information, and also if i add the following code as shown in the brief documentation in the Firefox RESTClient i get the correct response:
GET https://services.yesmail.com/enterprise/subscribers?email=karina#email.co.uk HTTP/1.1
Accept-Encoding: gzip,deflate
User-Agent: Jakarta Commons-HttpClient/3.1
Authorization: Basic xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Host: services.yesmail.com
However, when trying to connect using CURL, i am getting nothing, no HTTP response at all and just a blank page. I am not sure what i am doing wrong? This is what i have:
$url = "https://services.yesmail.com/enterprise/subscribers?email=karina#email.co.uk";
$header[] = "Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate";
$header[] = "User Agent: Jakarta Commons-HttpClient/3.1";
$header[] = "Authorization: Basic xxxxxxxxxxxxx";
$header[] = "Host: services.yesmail.com";
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $header );
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, 'xxxxx:xxxxxxxxxx');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST, 'GET');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url );
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
$response = (curl_exec($ch));
print_r($response);
curl_close($ch);
Am i wrong in thinking that the information i put in to the RESTClient goes into the headers in CURL? This is the first time i have been working with API's so any help appreciated.
update
When using the function file_get_contents i get the correct response(which for the GET method is just a URL with my unique subscriber number):
$context = stream_context_create(array(
'http' => array(
'header' => "Authorization: Basic " . base64_encode("*******:********")
)
));
$data = file_get_contents('https://services.yesmail.com/enterprise/subscribers?email=karina#email.co.uk', false, $context);
echo $data;
However i really want to get the CURL method working as i will want to be able to add a subscriber.

Answer 1

I actually work at Yesmail so I may be able to help you out here.
Give the following code a try (be sure to replace the your-auth-here text with your base64 encoded authentication info and to set the appropriate URL in $ym_api_url)
<?php
// Set the HTTP headers needed for this API call.
$http_headers = array(
"Authorization: Basic your-auth-here",
"Accept: application/json",
"Connection: close", // Disable Keep-Alive
"Expect:" // Disable "100 Continue" server response
);
// URL Endpoint of the API to be called.
$ym_api_url = 'https://services.yesmail.com/enterprise/subscribers?email=karina#email.co.uk';
$curl_hdl = curl_init();
$curl_options = array(
CURLOPT_VERBOSE => 1, // Verbose mode for diagnostics
CURLOPT_HEADER => TRUE, // Include the header in the output.
CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => $http_headers, // HTTP headers to set
CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH => CURLAUTH_BASIC, // Use basic authentication.
CURLOPT_PROTOCOLS => CURLPROTO_HTTPS, // Bitmask of protocols libcurl may use in this transfer
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => TRUE, // Return result as return value of curl_exec()
CURLOPT_URL => $ym_api_url, // URL to POST data to
);
curl_setopt_array($curl_hdl, $curl_options);
// Make the API call
$response = curl_exec($curl_hdl);
// Get the http response code
$http_response_code = curl_getinfo($curl_hdl, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
curl_close($curl_hdl);
echo PHP_EOL . "INFO: HTTP Response Code was: " . $http_response_code . PHP_EOL;
if ( $response === false )
{
echo PHP_EOL . "ERROR: curl_exec() has failed." . PHP_EOL;
}
else
{
echo PHP_EOL . "INFO: Response Follows..." . PHP_EOL;
echo PHP_EOL . $response;
}
?>
The CURLOPT_VERBOSE => 1 option will output additional diagnostic info. Note any issues there to see if that points to a specific problem. Once you have the issue(s) worked out you can remove or disable those options.
Also, remember you can always contact your Yesmail Account Manager and request assistance.

Answer 2

So you get the $response, but don't do anything with it.
There is no line in your code which is expected to display anything.
Update: I see you updated your question.
A very important rule: always check the return value of API calls.
curl_exec() signals an error by returning FALSE, if that's the case, check it with curl_error($ch).