How Can I Send HTTP POST Data Using PHP's `file_get_contents()`?

HTTP POST Data Transmission using PHP's file_get_contents()

When attempting to fetch URL content using PHP's file_get_contents() function, specific URLs may necessitate data posting. To fulfill this need, one can utilize the stream_context parameter.

To construct the necessary stream context, employ the following steps:

1. Initialize Data: Define an array containing key-value pairs of data to post (e.g., ['var1' => 'some content']).
2. Assemble Parameters: Create an array with 'http' as a key, containing an array of options including 'method' (set to 'POST'), 'header' (specifying Content-Type), and 'content' (populated with the data array).
3. Establish Stream Context: Call stream_context_create() with the parameters array as an argument to generate the stream context.
4. Execute POST Request: Invoke file_get_contents() with the target URL, providing the stream context as the third argument. This initiates the HTTP POST request and retrieves the response.

Example Code:

$postData = http_build_query([
    'var1' => 'some content',
    'var2' => 'doh'
]);

$opts = ['http' =>
    ['method' => 'POST',
    'header' => 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded',
    'content' => $postData]
];

$context = stream_context_create($opts);

$result = file_get_contents('http://example.com/submit.php', false, $context);

By implementing these steps, you can effectively submit HTTP POST data using file_get_contents(). While curl offers more capabilities, PHP's streams provide a less well-known but equally powerful alternative for HTTP POST operations.

The above is the detailed content of How Can I Send HTTP POST Data Using PHP's `file_get_contents()`?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!