> Using the XML-RPC Server

XML-RPC is "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. 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." To use this service, you need to: open an account or login to this site. Configure your XML-RPC client using the information below. All methods on the server require that you give your user login and password (MD5 encoded) as strings in the first two parameters. At this time, there are three methods configured on the server (see samples below): hpe.getSource : retrieve the meta data AND list of news items for a given source. To find an ID for a source, use the source browsing page. hpe.getSourceInfo : retrieve the meta data for a given source. hpe.getSourceItems : retrieve the list of news items for a given source. hpe.searchSources : search for sources which contain a string in their name. hpe.createUser : creates a new user. This site uses the PHP implementation of XML-RPC client and server by useFull Inc. To test the output, use this page.

Host	www.newsisfree.com
Port	80
Path	/RPC

This RPC interface is part Premium Export Service (if you've just opened an account, it's available freely for the first 30 days, it will be disable if you don't sign up before). By using it, you aggree to comply with the Terms of Service.

> Search for sources

This method searchs the database for news sources with name or description containing a substring:

First two parameters are your user id and password respectively;
Second parameter is the string to look for;

Sample code:


<?
/*

HPE - News Portal Engine
Copyright (C) 2000-2003 Mike Krus

This program is free software; it is distributed in the hope 
that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without 
even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS 
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  

READ LICENSE.TXT IN THE BASE DIRECTORY FOR INFORMATION 
ABOUT REDISTRIBUTING THIS SOURCE CODE

*/

$c = new xmlrpc_client("/RPC", "www.newsisfree.com", 80); 

$f = new xmlrpcmsg('hpe.searchSources',
                   array(
                            new xmlrpcval($login),
                            new xmlrpcval(md5($password)),
                            new xmlrpcval("CNN"),
                            new xmlrpcval("en"),
                            new xmlrpcval(31, 'int')
                          )
                  );

echo "<P>Sending Request:<br/>\n<pre>" . htmlentities($f->serialize()) . "</pre></p>\n";

$r = $c->send($f);
$v = $r->value();


if (!$r->faultCode())
{
    $data = xmlrpc_decode($v);
    $n = count($data);
    print "Found " . count($data) . " source(s) matching string 'BBC'"; 
    if($n)
    {
        print("<UL>");
        for($i=0; $i<$n; $i++)
            print("<LI> <A HREF=" . $data[$i]["info"] . ">" . $data[$i]["name"] . "</A>");
        print("</UL>");
    }
}
else
{
    print "Error Code: " . $r->faultCode() . " Reason '" .$r->faultString()."'<BR>";
}

?>

This method returns an array with all the found sources. Each entry is itself an array which contains 3 named elements: "name": the name of source; "id": the ID, which can be used to get the content of the source; "info": an URL to a page on this site describing the source.