Differences between revisions 1 and 7 (spanning 6 versions)

XML-RPC

XML-RPC is a neat way to send messages across the Internet.

The neat thing about XML-RPC is that it transports native data structures- you can ship off lists, strings, dictionaries, and numbers.

You can [wiki:Wiki/XmlRpc read more about it over on C2,] or on [http://www.xmlrpc.com/ the XML-RPC home page.]

Sample Code

   1 import xmlrpclib
   2 
   3 XMLRPC_SERVER_URL = "http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/moinmoin/?action=xmlrpc"
   4 
   5 pythoninfo = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy( XMLRPC_SERVER_URL )
   6 allpages = pythoninfo.getAllPages() # this is the XML-RPC call
   7 
   8 print ", ".join( allpages )

This code calls the PythonInfo wiki, and receives the TitleIndex as a list.

Message Format

If you can communicate strings, you can do XML-RPC. You could even do it by e-mail!

Here's how to make your string:

   1 import xmlrpclib
   2 
   3 func_name = "foo"
   4 arg_1 = "robot"
   5 arg_2 = { "some":1, "dict":2 }
   6 arg_3 = [1,2,3,4,5]
   7 
   8 call_string = xmlrpclib.dumps( (arg_1,arg_2,arg_3,), func_name )

...resulting in the following call_string value:

<?xml version='1.0'?>
<methodCall>
<methodName>foo</methodName>
<params>
<param>
<value><string>robot</string></value>
</param>
<param>
<value><struct>
<member>
<name>dict</name>
<value><int>2</int></value>
</member>
<member>
<name>some</name>
<value><int>1</int></value>
</member>
</struct></value>
</param>
<param>
<value><array><data>
<value><int>1</int></value>
<value><int>2</int></value>
<value><int>3</int></value>
<value><int>4</int></value>
<value><int>5</int></value>
</data></array></value>
</param>
</params>
</methodCall>

...which can then be turned back into Python data:

   1 call_data = xmlrpclib.loads( call_string )

...which then builds:

(('robot', {'some': 1, 'dict': 2}, [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]), u'foo')

That is, the first item is the arguments tuple, and the second item is the name of the function.

The capabilities are described under "Convenience Functions" in [http://docs.python.org/lib/module-xmlrpclib.html the xmlrpclib documentation.]

-  ⇤ ← Revision 1 as of 2004-04-28 05:58:21 → 
  Size: 1322
  Editor: dsl254-010-130
  Comment: commited from SeaPIG with permission of author
+   ← Revision 7 as of 2005-12-15 00:06:36 → ⇥
  Size: 2618
  Editor: 72-17-255-66
  Comment: Noted that dumps/loads are documented in Python docs now.
-Deletions are marked like this.
+Additions are marked like this.
 Line 1:
-''The page contents below were copied with permission of author (BrianDorsey) from [http://www.seapig.org/DocXMLRPCServer SeaPig:DocXMLRPCServer]. I'd like to rework the page to fit the form of WorkingWithTime, RssLibraries, etc.,. See also: DocXmlRpcServer'' -- LionKimbro [[DateTime(2004-04-28T05:58:21Z)]]
+#pragma section-numbers off
= XML-RPC =
-Line 3:
+Line 4:
-XML-RPC makes calling remote functions incredibly easy.
+XML-RPC is a neat way to send messages across the Internet.
-Line 5:
+Line 6:
-From http://www.xml-rpc.com:
''It's a spec and a set of implementations that allow software running on disparate operating systems, running in different environments to make procedure calls over the Internet.
+The neat thing about XML-RPC is that it transports ''native data structures''- you can ship off lists, strings, dictionaries, and numbers.
 Line 8:
-It's remote procedure calling using HTTP as the transport and XML as the encoding. XML-RPC is designed to be as simple as possible, while allowing complex data structures to be transmitted, processed and returned.''
+You can [wiki:Wiki/XmlRpc read more about it over on C2,] or on [http://www.xmlrpc.com/ the XML-RPC home page.]
 Line 10:
-Here is a bit of sample code to call a procedure ''message'' (passing in the first argument) on a server listening on localhost, port 8000:
+== Sample Code ==
-Line 14:
+Line 13:
-# messageclient.py
+import xmlrpclib
-Line 16:
+Line 15:
-import xmlrpclib
import sys
+XMLRPC_SERVER_URL = "http://www.python.org/cgi-bin/moinmoin/?action=xmlrpc"
-Line 19:
+Line 17:
-if len(sys.argv) > 1:
    s = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy('http://localhost:8000')
    s.message(sys.argv[1])
+pythoninfo = xmlrpclib.ServerProxy( XMLRPC_SERVER_URL )
allpages = pythoninfo.getAllPages() # this is the XML-RPC call
-Line 23:
+Line 20:
+print ", ".join( allpages )
-Line 25:
+Line 23:
-(also, see [http://www.python.org/doc/current/lib/xmlrpc-client-example.html this example] and the [http://www.python.org/doc/current/lib/module-xmlrpclib.html xmlrpclib documentation])
+This code calls the PythonInfo wiki, and receives the TitleIndex as a list.
-Line 27:
+Line 25:
+== Message Format ==

If you can communicate strings, you can do XML-RPC. You could even do it by e-mail!

Here's how to make your string:

{{{
#!python
import xmlrpclib

func_name = "foo"
arg_1 = "robot"
arg_2 = { "some":1, "dict":2 }
arg_3 = [1,2,3,4,5]

call_string = xmlrpclib.dumps( (arg_1,arg_2,arg_3,), func_name )
}}}

...resulting in the following {{{call_string}}} value:

{{{
<?xml version='1.0'?>
<methodCall>
<methodName>foo</methodName>
<params>
<param>
<value><string>robot</string></value>
</param>
<param>
<value><struct>
<member>
<name>dict</name>
<value><int>2</int></value>
</member>
<member>
<name>some</name>
<value><int>1</int></value>
</member>
</struct></value>
</param>
<param>
<value><array><data>
<value><int>1</int></value>
<value><int>2</int></value>
<value><int>3</int></value>
<value><int>4</int></value>
<value><int>5</int></value>
</data></array></value>
</param>
</params>
</methodCall>
}}}

...which can then be turned ''back'' into Python data:

{{{
#!python
call_data = xmlrpclib.loads( call_string )
}}}

...which then builds:

{{{
(('robot', {'some': 1, 'dict': 2}, [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]), u'foo')
}}}

That is, the first item is the arguments tuple, and the second item is the name of the function.

The capabilities are described under "Convenience Functions" in [http://docs.python.org/lib/module-xmlrpclib.html the xmlrpclib documentation.]

== See Also ==

 * [http://docs.python.org/lib/xmlrpc-client-example.html official xmlrpclib example]
 * [http://docs.python.org/lib/module-xmlrpclib.html xmlrpclib documentation]
 * [http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/python/2001/01/17/xmlrpcserver.html XML-RPC: It Works Both Ways (onlamp.com)]
 * DocXmlRpcServer - class to help make an XML-RPC server
 * [http://effbot.org/zone/xmlrpc-cgi.htm Providing XML-RPC Services via CGI]

Page

User

XML-RPC

Sample Code

Message Format

See Also