Looking at paypal API - What is cURL? - php

Question

I've been looking at several examples of utilizing paypal's API to develop a simple script to be able to use it to checkout, and in each one I keep running across cURL, and I really don't understand it at all. Is it just different PHP functions from a library, or something all together different? More importantly, can I copy and paste cURL commands into my document and it will work, or do I need to download something to get it work on my local server and shared hosting server where my live site will go? Lastly, where can I go to learn this? I've done some searching but haven't found any solid material on it. I really appreciate any help.

Answer 1

A basic understanding of cURL example from PHP Manual
<?php
$ch = curl_init("http://www.example.com/");
$fp = fopen("example_homepage.txt", "w");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FILE, $fp);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);
curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
fclose($fp);
?>
PHP Manual
cURL with PayPal API . [Found it on the internet]
<?php
$ch = curl_init();
$clientId = "myId";
$secret = "mySecret";
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/oauth2/token");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, false);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $clientId.":".$secret);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, "grant_type=client_credentials");
$result = curl_exec($ch);
if(empty($result))die("Error: No response.");
else
{
$json = json_decode($result);
print_r($json->access_token);
}
curl_close($ch);
?>

Answer 2

You can use a simple form to the checkout. To use via cURL you need to enable cURL and use it in your PHP code.
The following is the simple way.
<form action="https://paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">
<input type="hidden" name="business" value="sandy_1314264698_biz#gmail.com ">
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick-subscriptions">
<input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="sand bag">
<input type="hidden" name="item_number" value="1234">
<input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="USD">
<input type="hidden" name="notify_url" value="http://abc.com/xyz.php">
<input type="hidden" name="return" value="http://google.com">
<!-- Display the payment button. -->
<input type="image" name="submit" border="0" src="btn_subscribe_LG.gif" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online">
<img alt="" border="0" width="1" height="1" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" >