REST API partially working - PHP - php

Question

I'm trying to create a basic REST style API with PHP and I'm having a strange issue. When I visit one of my pages (viewinput.php) through the URL /rest/viewinput.php the page loads fine. When I try through /rest/viewinput I get a "page not found" error.
So, here's the code that determines the type of request and where to send it. This is found on my server.php page
//in server.php
public function serve() {
$uri = $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
$method = $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'];
$paths = explode('/', $this->paths($uri));
array_shift($paths); //
$resource = array_shift($paths);
if ($resource == 'rest') {
$page = array_shift($paths);
if (empty($page)) {
$this->handle_base($method);
} else {
$this->handle_page($method, $page);
}
}
else {
// We only handle resources under 'clients'
header('HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found');
}
}
Since it is a GET method with a determined page name, it will be passed to this function
//in server.php
private function handle_page($method, $page) {
switch($method) {
case 'GET':
if($page == "viewinput"){ //I have both viewinput.php and viewinput just to check both. Only viewinput.php works
$this->display_info();
}
if($page == "viewinput.php"){
$this->display_info();
}
default:
header('HTTP/1.1 405 Method Not Allowed');
header('Allow: GET, PUT, DELETE');
break;
}
}
From here it is then sent to
//in server.php
function display_info(){
$view = new ViewInputs();
$view->view(); //this function is on viewinput.php
}
So, when I visit /rest/viewinput.php the view function displays properly. When I visit /rest/viewinput I get a "broken link" error.
I followed a tutorial online for a REST server Found Here and it works just fine.
The following is in my httpd.conf file
Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^/.* rest/server.php
This is my viewinput.php file. I believe that it's working correctly (when page loads, the serve function on server.php should run.
<?
include_once 'server.php';
class ViewInputs{
function view(){
$sql = mysql_query("select * from entry");
?>
<table>
<th>ID</th>
<th>Text</th>
<col width="200">
<col width="150">
<?
while ($result = mysql_fetch_array($sql)){
?>
<tr><td><? echo $result['id']." "; ?></td><td><? echo $result['text']; ?></td></tr>
<?
}
?> </table> <?
}
}
$server = new server();
$server->serve();
?>
From httpd.conf. I may be wrong, but I believe this is how to allow a .htaccess file
DocumentRoot "C:/xampp/htdocs/rest"
<Directory />
Options FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride ALL
Order deny, allow
Deny from none
</Directory>
<Files ".ht*">
Require all ALLOW
</Files>

Answer 1

Your rewrite rule is not written correctly. What is happening is that when you go to rest/viewinput.php that file actually exists so it is able to run. When you go to rest/viewinput that file doesn't exist. You can check your rewrite rule by going to http://martinmelin.se/rewrite-rule-tester/ you will see your rewrite rule is no good.
The point of doing this is so that you don't have a veiwinput.php file, everything should be sent directly to the server.php file. Most likely the rewrite rule you want is something like this:
RewriteRule rest/* rest/server.php
If you want to actually go to viewinput.php there is no point in having a rewrite rule at all, just get rid of it.
If you want rest/viewinput to be treated as rest/viewinput.php then use this:
RewriteRule ^rest/([a-z]+) rest/$1.php