CodeProject, Ionic

Posting data from Ionic app to PHP server

TL;DR

This is the simplest example which shows how to POST data from an Ionic app to a PHP server.

The tutorial covering the Ionic version 2 can be found here. The tutorial covering the Ionic version 3 can be found here.

Quickstart

To see it in action:

    1. Clone the finished project from Github
    2. Run ionic serve
  1. You should see something like this:
    ionic_phpDemo

If you want to make it work from your server:

  1. Clone the finished project from Github
  2. Upload the PHP/api.php file to your server
  3. In the www/js/app.js file adjust the link variable to point to your server
  4. Run ionic serve

Step by step on how to create this yourself from scratch

  1. Create a new blank Ionic project with: 
    ionic start ionicServerSendTest blank
  2. Copy the following code (you’ll already have the .run() part, the .controller() part is novelty here) in www/js/app.js file: 
    // Ionic Starter App

// angular.module is a global place for creating, registering and retrieving Angular modules
// 'starter' is the name of this angular module example (also set in a <body> attribute in index.html)
// the 2nd parameter is an array of 'requires'
angular.module('starter', ['ionic'])

.run(function($ionicPlatform) {
    $ionicPlatform.ready(function() {
        // Hide the accessory bar by default (remove this to show the accessory bar above the keyboard
        // for form inputs)
        if (window.cordova && window.cordova.plugins.Keyboard) {
            cordova.plugins.Keyboard.hideKeyboardAccessoryBar(true);
        }
        if (window.StatusBar) {
            StatusBar.styleDefault();
        }
    });
})

.controller('AppCtrl', function($scope, $http) {
    $scope.data = {};

    $scope.submit = function(){
        var link = 'http://nikola-breznjak.com/_testings/ionicPHP/api.php';

        $http.post(link, {username : $scope.data.username}).then(function (res){
            $scope.response = res.data;
        });
    };
});
  3. On your server, create a api.php file with the following content: 
    <?php
    //http://stackoverflow.com/questions/18382740/cors-not-working-php
    if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_ORIGIN'])) {
        header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: {$_SERVER['HTTP_ORIGIN']}");
        header('Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true');
        header('Access-Control-Max-Age: 86400');    // cache for 1 day
    }

    // Access-Control headers are received during OPTIONS requests
    if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'OPTIONS') {

        if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_ACCESS_CONTROL_REQUEST_METHOD']))
            header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, POST, OPTIONS");         

        if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_ACCESS_CONTROL_REQUEST_HEADERS']))
            header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers:        {$_SERVER['HTTP_ACCESS_CONTROL_REQUEST_HEADERS']}");

        exit(0);
    }


    //http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15485354/angular-http-post-to-php-and-undefined
    $postdata = file_get_contents("php://input");
    if (isset($postdata)) {
        $request = json_decode($postdata);
        $username = $request->username;

        if ($username != "") {
            echo "Server returns: " . $username;
        }
        else {
            echo "Empty username parameter!";
        }
    }
    else {
        echo "Not called properly with username parameter!";
    }
?>

    As you can see from the code, the first part is explained in detail in this StackOverflow question, and it basically solves the CORS issue that you would otherwise run into.

    The second part, explained in detail in this StackOverflow question,  deals with the way you POST data from Ionic (basically an AngularJS app) to your PHP server. The gist is that AngularJS POSTs by default in a JSON format, and thus you have to json_decode  the data that comes to your PHP server.

  4. In www/js/app.js file adjust the link variable to point to the file on your server
  5. In www/index.html file copy the following content: 
    <!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <meta charset="utf-8">
        <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no, width=device-width">
        <title></title>
        <link href="lib/ionic/css/ionic.css" rel="stylesheet">
        <link href="css/style.css" rel="stylesheet">
        <!-- IF using Sass (run gulp sass first), then uncomment below and remove the CSS includes above
        <link href="css/ionic.app.css" rel="stylesheet">
        -->
        <!-- ionic/angularjs js -->
        <script src="lib/ionic/js/ionic.bundle.js"></script>
        <!-- cordova script (this will be a 404 during development) -->
        <script src="cordova.js"></script>
        <!-- your app's js -->
        <script src="js/app.js"></script>
    </head>
    <body ng-app="starter" ng-controller="AppCtrl">
        <ion-pane>
            <ion-header-bar class="bar-stable">
                <h1 class="title">Ionic Blank Starter</h1>
            </ion-header-bar>

            <ion-content padding="true">
                <form ng-submit="submit()">
                    <label class="item item-input item-stacked-label">
                        <span class="input-label">Username</span>
                        <input type="text" name="username" placeholder="enter username" ng-model="data.username">
                    </label>

                    <input class="button button-block button-positive" type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit to server">                    
                </form>

                <div class="card">
                    <div class="item item-text-wrap">
                        Response: <b ng-bind="response"></b>
                    </div>
                </div>
            </ion-content>
        </ion-pane>
    </body>
</html>

    Here you basically created a form with an username input field and with a submit button. Using AngularJS ng-submit you’re saying that once the submit button is clicked AngularJS should handle it within the submit() function which you defined in app.js file before. Input username uses  the ng-model to bind to the variable on the $scope so that you can then use it in your submit() function.

  6. Run ionic serve  from the root directory of your Ionic app (I’m sure you know this, but just in case that’s where the folders like www, plugins, scss reside).
Written by Nikola Brežnjak