PHP HTTP POST on Android device using HttpURLConnection - php

Question

Question:
So the problem is that this doesn't post to the online database hosted by goDaddy. So my question is why, and how do i fix it to have it post to it?
Issue:
The php page is not receiving the name value pairs being passed to it.
Edit:
Modified code on suggestion to use HttpURLConnection...
I've narrowed down the problem to it not retrieving the fbid.
As you can tell I’ve done a lot of my homework here... Here's my logcat of what is being set in the postthread class Here's my class that does the post:
07-02 16:41:45.108: I/PROJECTCARUSO(12308): response: {"posts":[null]}
HttpPostThread:
public class HttpPostThread extends Thread {
public static final int FAILURE = 0;
public static final int SUCCESS = 1;
private URL url;
ArrayList<NameValuePair> pairs;
public HttpPostThread(URL sERVICE_URL, ArrayList<NameValuePair> pairs, final Handler handler)
{
Log.i("PROJECTCARUSO", "Posting to URL: " + sERVICE_URL);
this.url =sERVICE_URL;
this.pairs = pairs;
if(pairs==null){
Log.i("PROJECTCARUSO", "URL parms were null");
this.pairs = new ArrayList<NameValuePair>();
}
}
#Override
public void run()
{
try {
HttpURLConnection conn;
String param="";
for (NameValuePair nvp : pairs) {
//you need to encode ONLY the values of the parameters
if (param == "") {
param=nvp.getName() + "=" + URLEncoder.encode(nvp.getValue(),"UTF-8");
} else {
param+= "&" + nvp.getName() + "=" + URLEncoder.encode(nvp.getValue(),"UTF-8");
}
}
Log.i("PROJECTCARUSO", "param: " + param.toString());
// Create connection
conn=(HttpURLConnection)url.openConnection();
//set the output to true, indicating you are outputting(uploading) POST data
conn.setDoOutput(true);
//once you set the output to true, you don't really need to set the request method to post, but I'm doing it anyway
conn.setRequestMethod("POST");
//Android documentation suggested that you set the length of the data you are sending to the server, BUT
// do NOT specify this length in the header by using conn.setRequestProperty("Content-Length", length);
//use this instead.
conn.setFixedLengthStreamingMode(param.getBytes().length);
conn.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
//send the POST out
PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(conn.getOutputStream());
out.print(param);
out.close();
//build the string to store the response text from the server
String response= "";
//start listening to the stream
Scanner inStream = new Scanner(conn.getInputStream());
//process the stream and store it in StringBuilder
while(inStream.hasNextLine())
response+=(inStream.nextLine());
Log.i("PROJECTCARUSO","response: " + response);
}
//catch some error
catch(MalformedURLException ex){
Log.i("PROJECTCARUSO", ex.toString());
}
// and some more
catch(IOException ex){
Log.i("PROJECTCARUSO", ex.toString());
}
}
public static boolean isNumeric(String str)
{
try
{
double d = Double.parseDouble(str);
}
catch(NumberFormatException nfe)
{
return false;
}
return true;
}
}
Here's the php:
<?php
//Make connection
$con = mysqli_connect('...','...','...') ;
//check connection
if (mysqli_connect_errno()) {
printf("Connect failed: %s\n", mysqli_connect_error());
exit();
}
//change db to andriodnfp db
mysqli_select_db($con, 'andriodnfp');
$table= 'USER';
$id=0;
$fbid = htmlspecialchars($_GET["fbid"]);
$social = htmlspecialchars($_GET["social"]);
$name = htmlspecialchars($_GET["name"]);
$name = !empty($name) ? "'$name'" : "NULL";
$fname = htmlspecialchars($_GET["fname"]);
$fname = !empty($fname) ? "'$fname'" : "NULL";
$username = htmlspecialchars($_GET["username"]);
$username = !empty($username) ? "'$username'" : "NULL";
$email = htmlspecialchars($_GET["email"]);
$email = !empty($email) ? "'$email'" : "NULL";
$picture = htmlspecialchars($_GET["picture"]);
$picture = !empty($picture) ? "'$picture'" : "NULL";
$other = htmlspecialchars($_GET["other"]);
$other = !empty($other) ? "'$other'" : "NULL";
if (!$fbid == '') {
if (!mysqli_query($con, 'INSERT INTO '.$table.' ( facebookID, social_outlet, Name, first_name, username, email, picture, significant_other) VALUES ("'.$fbid.'","'.$social.'","'.$name.'","'.$fname.'","'.$username.'","'.$email.'","'.$picture.'","'.$other.'")')) {
printf("Errormessage: %s\n", mysqli_error($con));
die();
} else {
$posts = array('auto_increment_id'=>mysqli_insert_id($con));
};
} else {
printf("Errormessage: %s\n", "Facebook ID was null");
printf("Errormessage: %s\n", $fbid );
printf("Errormessage: %s\n", $social);
printf("Errormessage: %s\n", $name);
printf("Errormessage: %s\n", $fname);
printf("Errormessage: %s\n", $username);
printf("Errormessage: %s\n", $email);
printf("Errormessage: %s\n", $picture);
printf("Errormessage: %s\n", $other);
die();
}
mysqli_close($con);
//$posts = array($json);
$posts = array($posts);
header('Content-type: application/json');
echo json_encode(array('posts'=>$posts));
?>
Apache logs:
166.147.72.174 - - [19/Jun/2013:16:47:41 -0700] "POST ...post.php? HTTP/1.1" 200 155 "-" "Apache-HttpClient/UNAVAILABLE (java 1.4)" 0 "x-httpd-php5-3" "/var/chroot/home/content/31/9124131/html/android/com.projectcaruso/naturalfamilyplaning/post.php" 195224
166.147.72.174 - - [19/Jun/2013:16:49:08 -0700] "POST ...post.php? HTTP/1.1" 200 155 "-" "Apache-HttpClient/UNAVAILABLE (java 1.4)" 0 "x-httpd-php5-3" "/var/chroot/home/content/31/9124131/html/android/com.projectcaruso/naturalfamilyplaning/post.php" 13848
166.147.72.174 - - [19/Jun/2013:16:50:57 -0700] "POST ...post.php? HTTP/1.1" 200 155 "-" "Apache-HttpClient/UNAVAILABLE (java 1.4)" 0 "x-httpd-php5-3" "/var/chroot/home/content/31/9124131/html/android/com.projectcaruso/naturalfamilyplaning/post.php" 17899
166.147.72.174 - - [19/Jun/2013:16:52:14 -0700] "POST ...post.php HTTP/1.1" 200 155 "-" "Apache-HttpClient/UNAVAILABLE (java 1.4)" 0 "x-httpd-php5-3" "/var/chroot/home/content/31/9124131/html/android/com.projectcaruso/naturalfamilyplaning/post.php" 12514
166.147.72.174 - - [19/Jun/2013:16:53:35 -0700] "POST ...post.php HTTP/1.1" 200 155 "-" "Apache-HttpClient/UNAVAILABLE (java 1.4)" 0 "x-httpd-php5-3" "/var/chroot/home/content/31/9124131/html/android/com.projectcaruso/naturalfamilyplaning/post.php" 15190
166.147.72.174 - - [19/Jun/2013:16:54:56 -0700] "POST ...post.php HTTP/1.1" 200 155 "-" "Apache-HttpClient/UNAVAILABLE (java 1.4)" 0 "x-httpd-php5-3" "/var/chroot/home/content/31/9124131/html/android/com.projectcaruso/naturalfamilyplaning/post.php" 14373
166.147.72.174 - - [19/Jun/2013:16:56:50 -0700] "POST ...post.php HTTP/1.1" 200 155 "-" "Apache-HttpClient/UNAVAILABLE (java 1.4)" 0 "x-httpd-php5-3" "/var/chroot/home/content/31/9124131/html/android/com.projectcaruso/naturalfamilyplaning/post.php" 12017
EDIT:
I even tried the java as so:
public void run() {
try {
HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
conn.setReadTimeout(10000);
conn.setConnectTimeout(15000);
conn.setRequestMethod("POST");
conn.setDoInput(true);
conn.setDoOutput(true);
List<NameValuePair> params = new ArrayList<NameValuePair>();
for (NameValuePair nvp : pairs) {
//you need to encode ONLY the values of the parameters
params.add(new BasicNameValuePair(nvp.getName(), nvp.getValue()));
Log.i("PROJECTCARUSO", "NVP: " + nvp.getName() + " - " + nvp.getValue());
}
OutputStream os = conn.getOutputStream();
BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(
new OutputStreamWriter(os, "UTF-8"));
writer.write(getQuery(params));
writer.close();
os.close();
conn.connect();
//build the string to store the response text from the server
String response= "";
//start listening to the stream
Scanner inStream = new Scanner(conn.getInputStream());
//process the stream and store it in StringBuilder
while(inStream.hasNextLine())
response+=(inStream.nextLine());
Log.i("PROJECTCARUSO","response: " + response);
} catch (ProtocolException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}
catch (IOException e) {
// TODO Auto-generated catch block
e.printStackTrace();
}

Answer 1

You have to use $_POST instead of $_GET everywhere.

Answer 2

Assuming your use of apache HttpClient as your DefaultClient.
You need more data about WIRE and HEADERs. Apache logger docs show you how to turn those loggers on. read the apache docs on logging
example below of what you will see ( u will know exactly what is going on between client and server).
Full logging in apache HttpClient:
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): >> "PUT /1/classes/Books/8NUX0YP5XK HTTP/1.1[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): >> "Content-Length: 375[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): >> "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): >> "Host: api.parse.com[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): >> "Connection: Keep-Alive[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): >> "X-Parse-Application-Id: 3[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): >> "X-Parse-REST-API-Key: kVl9[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): >> "[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): >> PUT /1/classes/Books/8NUX0YP5XK HTTP/1.1
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): >> Content-Length: 375
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): >> Host: api.parse.com
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): >> Connection: Keep-Alive
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): >> X-Parse-Application-Id: 3K
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): >> X-Parse-REST-API-Key: kVl5Z
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): >> "{"pages":{"__op":"Add","objects":[{"__type":"Pointer","ClassName":"TestVoiceObject","objectId":"bsKyc8mKV7"},{"__type":"Pointer","ClassName":"TestVoiceObject","objectId":"hehlqEUJw8"},{"__type":"Pointer","ClassName":"TestVoiceObject","objectId":"rtbhCb37tq"},{"__type":"Pointer","ClassName":"TestVoiceObject","objectId":"84zjWpJy6y"}]},"ACL":{"*":{"read":true,"write":true}}}"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "HTTP/1.1 200 OK[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "Access-Control-Request-Method: *[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "Cache-Control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:51:59 GMT[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "ETag: "172e8ee0c4828b5fce3303c078b8f2ad"[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "Server: nginx/1.2.2[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "Set-Cookie: _parse_session=BAh7BkkiD3d989bfe; domain=.parse.com; path=/; expires=Sat, 08-Apr-2023 19:51:59 GMT; secure; HttpOnly[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "Status: 200 OK[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "X-Runtime: 0.041462[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "X-UA-Compatible: IE=Edge,chrome=1[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "Content-Length: 500[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "Connection: keep-alive[\r][\n]"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.wire( 1175): << "[\r][\n]"
D/class ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.impl.conn.DefaultClientConnection( 1175): Receiving response: HTTP/1.1 200 OK
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): << HTTP/1.1 200 OK
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): << Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): << Access-Control-Request-Method: *
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): << Cache-Control: max-age=0, private, must-revalidate
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): << Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): << Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:51:59 GMT
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): << ETag: "172e8ee0c4828b5fce3303c078b8f2ad"
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): << Server: nginx/1.2.2
D/ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib.headers( 1175): << Set-Cookie: