从REST API Server程序返回特定值到客户端 - PHP

Question

I have an application which goes like this -

Host A asks Host B if a file exists in Host B or not. So, A requests a REST API call to B. Now B should send back reply (it can be thru status codes) to A, after checking for the which is sent as the argument thru URL from A to B.

I am new to the REST API concept. I am clear of how A sends request to B but, can anyone tell me how B returns the value to A.

Thanks

Answer 1

There is nothing special about REST responses. They are regular HTTP responses. A REST service could respond with HTML page, XML or JSPN document, or a simple string value. Either way is valid.

In your scenario, service A is a client to service B. A issues REST request (HTTP GET let's say),B accepts it and responds with putting a value in a response body (you choose the format), the A consumes the response body from B and does whatever it needs to do with it.

This is a very rough example:

A:

<?php
$response_from_b = file_get_contents('http://www.b.com/file/some-file-on-b.ext');
// do whatever you need with $response_from_b
?>

B:

<?php
$file_path = parse($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']); // parse is your own function to get what you want form URI
$native_response = file_exists($file_path); // your own function
$response = decorate($native_response); // your own function
echo $response;
?>