RESTful services with jQuery, PHP and the Slim Framework, 2011 in JQuery, PHP, REST
NOTE: This is the PHP version of this article and its companion app. A Java version is available here.
I have been looking for a lightweight framework to build a RESTful API in PHP. There are a number of good options out there: Slim, Epiphany, Tonic, Recess, and Frapi to name a few. They all seem like good frameworks. In the end, I chose Slim for this project for two main reasons:
It’s very lightweight and focused on REST and nothing else.
It supports all the HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE), which was a key requirement for my application.
This article (and its companion app) provides an example of building a complete RESTful API using the different HTTP methods:
GET to retrieve and search data
POST to add data
PUT to update data
DELETE to delete data
The application used as an example for this article is a Wine Cellar app. You can search for wines, add a wine to your cellar, update and delete wines.
The REST API consists of the following methods:
Method URL Action
GET /api/wines Retrieve all wines
GET /api/wines/search/Chateau Search for wines with ‘Chateau’ in their name
GET /api/wines/10 Retrieve wine with id == 10
POST /api/wines Add a new wine
PUT /api/wines/10 Update wine with id == 10
DELETE /api/wines/10 Delete wine with id == 10
Implementing the API with Slim
Slim makes it easy to implement this API in PHP:
$app->get(‘/wines/:id’, ‘getWine’);
$app->get(‘/wines/search/:query’, ‘findByName’);
$app->post(‘/wines’, ‘addWine’);
$app->put(‘/wines/:id’, ‘updateWine’);
$app->delete(‘/wines/:id’, ‘deleteWine’);
$app->run();
function getWines() {
$sql = “select * FROM wine ORDER BY name”;
try {
$db = getConnection();
$stmt = $db->query($sql);
$wines = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_OBJ);
$db = null;
echo ‘{“wine”: ‘ . json_encode($wines) . ‘}’;
} catch(PDOException $e) {
echo ‘{“error”:{“text”:’. $e->getMessage() .’}}’;
}
}
function getWine($id) {
$sql = “SELECT * FROM wine WHERE id=:id”;
try {
$db = getConnection();
$stmt = $db->prepare($sql);
$stmt->bindParam(“id”, $id);
$stmt->execute();
$wine = $stmt->fetchObject();
$db = null;
echo json_encode($wine);
} catch(PDOException $e) {
echo ‘{“error”:{“text”:’. $e->getMessage() .’}}’;
}
}
function addWine() {
$request = Slim::getInstance()->request();
$wine = json_decode($request->getBody());
$sql = “INSERT INTO wine (name, grapes, country, region, year, description) VALUES (:name, :grapes, :country, :region, :year, :description)”;
try {
$db = getConnection();
$stmt = $db->prepare($sql);
$stmt->bindParam(“name”, $wine->name);
$stmt->bindParam(“grapes”, $wine->grapes);
$stmt->bindParam(“country”, $wine->country);
$stmt->bindParam(“region”, $wine->region);
$stmt->bindParam(“year”, $wine->year);
$stmt->bindParam(“description”, $wine->description);
$stmt->execute();
$wine->id = $db->lastInsertId();
$db = null;
echo json_encode($wine);
} catch(PDOException $e) {
echo ‘{“error”:{“text”:’. $e->getMessage() .’}}’;
}
}
function updateWine($id) {
$request = Slim::getInstance()->request();
$body = $request->getBody();
$wine = json_decode($body);
$sql = “UPDATE wine SET name=:name, grapes=:grapes, country=:country, region=:region, year=:year, description=:description WHERE id=:id”;
try {
$db = getConnection();
$stmt = $db->prepare($sql);
$stmt->bindParam(“name”, $wine->name);
$stmt->bindParam(“grapes”, $wine->grapes);
$stmt->bindParam(“country”, $wine->country);
$stmt->bindParam(“region”, $wine->region);
$stmt->bindParam(“year”, $wine->year);
$stmt->bindParam(“description”, $wine->description);
$stmt->bindParam(“id”, $id);
$stmt->execute();
$db = null;
echo json_encode($wine);
} catch(PDOException $e) {
echo ‘{“error”:{“text”:’. $e->getMessage() .’}}’;
}
}
function deleteWine($id) {
$sql = “DELETE FROM wine WHERE id=:id”;
try {
$db = getConnection();
$stmt = $db->prepare($sql);
$stmt->bindParam(“id”, $id);
$stmt->execute();
$db = null;
} catch(PDOException $e) {
echo ‘{“error”:{“text”:’. $e->getMessage() .’}}’;
}
}
function findByName($query) {
$sql = “SELECT * FROM wine WHERE UPPER(name) LIKE :query ORDER BY name”;
try {
$db = getConnection();
$stmt = $db->prepare($sql);
$query = “%”.$query.”%”;
$stmt->bindParam(“query”, $query);
$stmt->execute();
$wines = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_OBJ);
$db = null;
echo ‘{“wine”: ‘ . json_encode($wines) . ‘}’;
} catch(PDOException $e) {
echo ‘{“error”:{“text”:’. $e->getMessage() .’}}’;
}
}
function getConnection() {
$dbhost=”127.0.0.1″;
$dbuser=”root”;
$dbpass=””;
$dbname=”cellar”;
$dbh = new PDO(“mysql:host=$dbhost;dbname=$dbname”, $dbuser, $dbpass);
$dbh->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
return $dbh;
}
?>
function findAll() { $.ajax({ type: 'GET', url: rootURL, dataType: "json", // data type of response success: renderList });}function findByName(searchKey) { $.ajax({ type: 'GET', url: rootURL + '/search/' + searchKey, dataType: "json", success: renderList });}function findById(id) { $.ajax({ type: 'GET', url: rootURL + '/' + id, dataType: "json", success: function(data){ $('#btnDelete').show(); renderDetails(data); } });}function addWine() { console.log('addWine'); $.ajax({ type: 'POST', contentType: 'application/json', url: rootURL, dataType: "json", data: formToJSON(), success: function(data, textStatus, jqXHR){ alert('Wine created successfully'); $('#btnDelete').show(); $('#wineId').val(data.id); }, error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown){ alert('addWine error: ' + textStatus); } });}function updateWine() { $.ajax({ type: 'PUT', contentType: 'application/json', url: rootURL + '/' + $('#wineId').val(), dataType: "json", data: formToJSON(), success: function(data, textStatus, jqXHR){ alert('Wine updated successfully'); }, error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown){ alert('updateWine error: ' + textStatus); } });}function deleteWine() { console.log('deleteWine'); $.ajax({ type: 'DELETE', url: rootURL + '/' + $('#wineId').val(), success: function(data, textStatus, jqXHR){ alert('Wine deleted successfully'); }, error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown){ alert('deleteWine error'); } });}// Helper function to serialize all the form fields into a JSON stringfunction formToJSON() { return JSON.stringify({ "id": $('#id').val(), "name": $('#name').val(), "grapes": $('#grapes').val(), "country": $('#country').val(), "region": $('#region').val(), "year": $('#year').val(), "description": $('#description').val() });}
Kasirajan Murugan 