The $_POST data is empty even though I'm getting a 200 response on the POST?

Question

I've got a PHP application that uses AngularJS for the client, FlightPHP for REST services, and PHP in the back end.

However, even though I'm issuing a POST with this code here:

$scope.registerUser = function() {
    $http({
        method: 'POST',
        url: '/user/register',
        data: $scope.user
    }).success(function(data) {
                if (data.result === undefined) {
                    setAjaxMessage(data, false);
                    return;
                }

                if (data.result === 0) {
                    setAjaxMessage(data.message, true);
                }
                else {
                    setAjaxMessage(data.message, false);
                }
            }).error(function(data) {
                setAjaxMessage(data, false);
            });
};

and I'm getting a successful POST message via Firefox with the Params -> Request payload tab set to this data:

{"displayname":"user1","email":"user1@gmail.com","password":"abc123"}

when I issue this server-side:

Flight::route('POST /user/register', function() {
    echo var_dump($_POST);
    return;

    // register the user
    require 'core/register.php';
});

I get this:

array (size=0)
  empty

What gives here? I've never had an issue with the $_POST data before. I have a feeling it has something to do with FlightPHP, but I can't put my finger on it. It's getting into the handler for the POST as you can see.

What exact output do you see for your `var_dump`? PS: `var_dump` outputs by itself, you don't need additional `echo` in front of it — zerkms, Oct 01 '13 at 00:00
@zerkms, sorry I messed up the post while I was editing. Please see my edit. — Mike Perrenoud, Oct 01 '13 at 00:01
What if you perform `var_dump($_POST);` in that framework's entry point as the first line? Before framework had a chance to drop it. — zerkms, Oct 01 '13 at 00:04
You wouldn't happen to be sending JSON instead of url encoded key value pairs? — Musa, Oct 01 '13 at 00:06
Maybe not a duplicate question but the last line of this answer is what you're after - http://stackoverflow.com/a/15711147/283366 — Phil, Oct 01 '13 at 00:12

Mike Brant · Answer 1 · 2016-01-18T15:57:33.347

7

You need to get your data from PHP's raw input if you are not posting a form-encoded query string (like is the case for raw JSON). Here is how you can read your JSON data into an appropriate PHP data structure:

$post_data = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'));

You should also explicitly set the Content-type header as follows:

$http({
    method: 'POST',
    url: '/user/register',
    data: $scope.user,
    headers: {'Content-Type': 'application/json'}
}).success(function(data) {
  // rest of your code

edited Jan 18 '16 at 15:57

answered Oct 01 '13 at 00:13

Mike Brant

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This worked for me! Coding php for 13 years and this is the first time I've come across this one. Thanks! – serialworm Oct 22 '13 at 20:20
When data are successfully sent, but $_POST is empty. I confirm that instead, json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input')) works like a charm. So thanks ! – Victor Attila Breelle Mar 04 '21 at 13:08

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 01 '13 at 00:18

2

Alright, this one is a bit funky. But it is because of FlightPHP. Normally, the answer provided by Mike Brant would be 100% correct! However, FlightPHP reads that input before I can, and according to the PHP documentation it can only be read once.

So, where does FlightPHP put it? Ha, now that's an odd one. They put it in a property named body, so I had to do this to grab those JSON values:

$vars = json_decode(Flight::request()->body, true);

The Flight::request()->body returns the JSON string. But then that needs decoded and turned into an associative array, so that's why I'm passing the true as the second parameter.

answered Oct 01 '13 at 00:18

Mike Perrenoud

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Thank you for this! I was stuck on this same problem and almost gave up. – izolate Jan 04 '14 at 17:48
1

@izolate, I'm glad I could be of assistance! – Mike Perrenoud Jan 04 '14 at 19:49
"according to the PHP documentation it can only be read once", do you have the reference? I am also confused by this problem. Thanks! – Nick Jan 11 '21 at 14:15

The $_POST data is empty even though I'm getting a 200 response on the POST?

2 Answers2