Phil Sturgeon's REST server, Codeigniter3, error messages no return on PUT

Question

I am using Phil Sturgeon's REST server, CI3 and POSTMAN for debugging. I send a PUT with below info, however, I am not receiving the error messages expected.

Here is my form_validation.php:

<?php if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');

$config = array(
  'student_put' => array(
    array('field' => 'email_address', 'label' => 'email_address', 'rules' => 'trim|required|valid_email'),
    array('field' => 'password', 'label' => 'password', 'rules' => 'trim|required|min_length[8]|max_length[16]'),
    array('field' => 'first_name', 'label' => 'first_name', 'rules' => 'trim|required|max_length[50]'),
    array('field' => 'last_name', 'label' => 'last_name', 'rules' => 'trim|required|max_length[50]'),
    array('field' => 'phone_number', 'label' => 'phone_number', 'rules' => 'trim|required|alpha_dash'),
  )
);

?>

Here is my method in my controller Api.php:

function student_put(){
    $this->form_validation->set_data($this->put());
    // these are the rules set in config/form_validation.php
    if ($this->form_validation->run('student_put') != FALSE) {
        die('good data');
    } else { 
        $this->response( 
            array(
                'status'=> 'failure', 
                'message'=> $this->form_validation->get_errors_as_array(),
                ), 
            REST_Controller::HTTP_BAD_REQUEST  
        );
    }
}

This is in my libraries folder as MY_Form_validation.php:

<?php

class MY_Form_validation extends CI_Form_validation {

  function __construct($rules = array()) {
      parent::__construct($rules);
      $this->ci =& get_instance();
  }

  public function get_errors_as_array() {
      return $this->_error_array;
  }

  public function get_config_rules() {
      return $this->_config_rules;
  }

  public function get_field_names($form) {
      $field_names = array();
      $rules = $this->get_config_rules();
      $rules = $rules[$form];
      foreach ($rules as $index=> $info) {
          $field_names[] = $info['field'];
      }
      return $field_names;
  }
}

When I put following in POSTMAN:

X-API-KEY          123456
first_name         test
email_address      abc

This is the result I get:

{
  "status": "failure",
  "message": []
}

But I should be getting the validation errors.

As debugging steps, I have confirmed: - no auth errors - the form_validation.php is being read - if I change:

'message'=> $this->form_validation->get_errors_as_array(),

to

'message'=> 'test',

the postman returns:

{
"status": "failure",
"message": "test"
}

Any help very much appreciated.

Answer 1

you must read this link,

http://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/working-with-restful-services-in-codeigniter-2--net-8814

if you use apikey, you must set

    $config['rest_auth'] = 'basic'
    $config['rest_enable_keys'] = TRUE;

also make a table in database for storing api key

CREATE TABLE `keys` (
    `id` INT(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
    `user_id` INT(11) NOT NULL,
    `key` VARCHAR(40) NOT NULL,
    `level` INT(2) NOT NULL,
    `ignore_limits` TINYINT(1) NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
    `is_private_key` TINYINT(1)  NOT NULL DEFAULT '0',
    `ip_addresses` TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULL,
    `date_created` INT(11) NOT NULL,
    PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8;

insert into that database minimum 1 row, the important column only key, it is the apikey

the apikey must contains 40 digits alphanumeric for security reasons

and again, you must read documentation, and the rest.php in application/config

    $config['rest_valid_logins'] = ['admin' => '1234'];

that login is set by default, so you must insert that login in your header of client request, etc

    http_user           'admin'
    http_pass           '1234'
    X-API-KEY           '123456'
    first_name          test
    email_address       abc

if that header not work, try this

    http_user           'admin'
    http_pass           '1234'
    api_name            'X-API-KEY'
    api_key             '123456'
    first_name          test
    email_address       abc

if you have try request like this before with your

    $config['rest_auth'] = FALSE

actually you not yet securing your api webservice

Answer 2

I was placing the PUT variables in the Headers tab within POSTman.

Only the X-API-KEY belongs in the request header. The rest of the data (e.g. email_address, first_name, etc) should be passed in the request body (e.g. from within the Body tab of POSTman).

All works correctly now.