Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Uncompress gzip compressed http response

I'm using php's file_get_contents() function to do a HTTP request. To save bandwidth I decided to add the "Accept-Encoding: gzip" header using stream_context_create().



Obviously, file_get_contents() outputs a gzip encoded string so I'm using gzuncompress() to decode the encoded string but I get an error with data passed as argument.



[...] PHP Warning: gzuncompress(): data error in /path/to/phpscript.php on line 26


I know there is another function able to decompress gzipped data gzdecode() but it isn't included in my PHP version (maybe it is only available on SVN).



I know that cUrl decodes gzip stream on the fly (without any problem) but someone suggested me to use file_get_contents() instead of cUrl.



Do you know any other way to decompress gzipped data in PHP or why gzuncompress() outputs a Warning? It is absurd that gzuncompress() doesn't work as expected.



Notes:
The problem is certainly about PHP: the HTTP request is made to Tumblr API that give a well-encoded response.





1 comment:

  1. gzuncompress won't work for the gzip encoding. It's the decompression function for the .Z archives.

    The manual lists a few workarounds for the missing gzdecode()#82930, or just use the one from upgradephp, or the gzopen temp file workaround.

    Another option would be forcing the deflate encoding with the Accept-Encoding: header and then using gzinflate() for decompression.

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