fightbulc / php_curl

Object-oriented CURL implementation for PHP

PHP_CURL

PHP_CURL is an object-oriented implementation of the PHP's functional CURL interface.

Basic Usage

Since PHP_CURL allows for method-chaining, the static init method is used to generate an instance of a CURL object (similar to curl_init).

<?php

$curl = CURL::init("http://reddit.com/r/php/.json");

?>

We can then set some CURL options:

<?php

$curl = CURL::init("http://www.reddit.com/r/php/.json")
            ->setReturnTransfer(TRUE);

?>

All set... functions return an instance of the current CURL object, so you are free to set as many of the options in a row as necessary before executing.

<?php

$curl = CURL::init("http://www.reddit.com/r/php/.json")
        ->setReturnTransfer(TRUE);

$response = $curl->execute():

?>

All of the functions are close matches to the CURLOPT_* alternatives.

Comparison to functional cURL

The basic example given in the PHP manual for functional cURL is as follows:

<?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);
?>

We can perform the same operation with PHP_CURL like so:

<?php

$fp = fopen("example_homepage.txt", "w");

CURL::init("http://www.example.com/")
    ->setFile($fp)
    ->setHeader(0)
    ->execute()
    ->close();

fclose($fp);

?>

There isn't much of a difference in terms of code-size or performance, however, the PHP_CURL approach is arguably more readible, and less repeatitive.

One major benefit to using this approach is that it enables us to take advantage of PHP editors with auto-completion, so setting multiple cURL options should be somewhat easier.

Issues

At present, there is no support for curl_multi.... Support for curl_multi... is coming soon.

Why do this?

I found that writing for CURL in PHP was repeatitive and cumbersome, and having a quick, object-oriented and more readable way of performing quick CURL tasks was something I've wanted for a while.

I don't claim to have done anything special here, nor do I propose that this should be used in any sort of production environment. It's quick and dirty, but it's working for me.

I strongly encoruage any sort of feedback, patches or contributions. I'd be more than happy to open up this project to more developers if there is any demand.

FAQ

Q. Why CURL::init() instead of new CURL()?

A. If you want to take advantage of method-chaining, use CURL::init, since PHP's constructors don't allow for things like (new Curl())->foo().

However, if you prefer to instanciate an object and then use that object, support for $foo = new CURL() is allowed. Both will work.

Q. Couldn't you have just done this with a single __call() wrapper, or use __get() and __set()?

This is true, however, a design decision was made to expand all the possible functions to get... and set... functions individually. This means that it's easier for a newcomer to the code to see clearly what methods are available. Not to mention that editors with auto-completion ability aren't often clever enough to discover magic method handling.

At the end of the day, whether it's handled using PHPDoc paramters and magic methods, or all methods are out there in plain sight, it doesn't make a difference either way, and I feel that if all methods are in plain sight, then there is little to no confusion as to what methods are available.