# Frontier::RPC2 - phpMan

## NAME
    [Frontier::RPC2] - encode/decode RPC2 format XML

## SYNOPSIS
     use [Frontier::RPC2];

     $coder = [Frontier::RPC2]->new;

     $xml_string = $coder->encode_call($method, @args);
     $xml_string = $coder->encode_response($result);
     $xml_string = $coder->encode_fault($code, $message);

     $call = $coder->decode($xml_string);

     $response_xml = $coder->serve($request_xml, $methods);

     $boolean_object = $coder->boolean($boolean);
     $date_time_object = $coder->date_time($date_time);
     $base64_object = $coder->base64($base64);
     $int_object = $coder->[int(42)];
     $float_object = $coder->float(3.14159);
     $string_object = $coder->string("Foo");

## DESCRIPTION
    *[Frontier::RPC2]* encodes and decodes XML RPC calls.

    $coder = [Frontier::RPC2]->new( *OPTIONS* )
        Create a new encoder/decoder. The following option is supported:

        encoding
            The XML encoding to be specified in the XML declaration of
            encoded RPC requests or responses. Decoded results may have a
            different encoding specified; [XML::Parser] will convert decoded
            data to UTF-8. The default encoding is none, which uses XML
            1.0's default of UTF-8. For example:

             $server = [Frontier::RPC2]->new( 'encoding' => 'ISO-8859-1' );

        use_objects
            If set to a non-zero value will convert incoming <i4>, <float>,
            and <string> values to objects instead of scalars. See int(),
            float(), and string() below for more details.

    $xml_string = $coder->encode_call($method, @args)
        `"encode_call"' converts a method name and it's arguments into an
        RPC2 `"methodCall"' element, returning the XML fragment.

    $xml_string = $coder->encode_response($result)
        `"encode_response"' converts the return value of a procedure into an
        RPC2 `"methodResponse"' element containing the result, returning the
        XML fragment.

    $xml_string = $coder->encode_fault($code, $message)
        `"encode_fault"' converts a fault code and message into an RPC2
        `"methodResponse"' element containing a `"fault"' element, returning
        the XML fragment.

    $call = $coder->decode($xml_string)
        `"decode"' converts an XML string containing an RPC2 `"methodCall"'
        or `"methodResponse"' element into a hash containing three members,
        `"type"', `"value"', and `"method_name"'. `"type"' is one of
        `"call"', `"response"', or `"fault"'. `"value"' is array containing
        the parameters or result of the RPC. For a `"call"' type, `"value"'
        contains call's parameters and `"method_name"' contains the method
        being called. For a `"response"' type, the `"value"' array contains
        call's result. For a `"fault"' type, the `"value"' array contains a
        hash with the two members `"faultCode"' and `"faultMessage"'.

    $response_xml = $coder->serve($request_xml, $methods)
        `"serve"' decodes `$request_xml', looks up the called method name in
        the `$methods' hash and calls it, and then encodes and returns the
        response as XML.

    $boolean_object = $coder->boolean($boolean);
    $date_time_object = $coder->date_time($date_time);
    $base64_object = $coder->base64($base64);
        These methods create and return XML-RPC-specific datatypes that can
        be passed to the encoder. The decoder may also return these
        datatypes. The corresponding package names (for use with `"ref()"',
        for example) are `"[Frontier::RPC2::Boolean]"',
        `"[Frontier::RPC2::DateTime::ISO8601]"', and
        `"[Frontier::RPC2::Base64]"'.

        You can change and retrieve the value of boolean, date/time, and
        base64 data using the `"value"' method of those objects, i.e.:

          $boolean = $boolean_object->value;

          $boolean_object->[value(1)];

        Note: `"base64()"' does *not* encode or decode base64 data for you,
        you must use [MIME::Base64] or similar module for that.

    $int_object = $coder->[int(42)];
    $float_object = $coder->float(3.14159);
    $string_object = $coder->string("Foo");
        By default, you may pass ordinary Perl values (scalars) to be
        encoded. RPC2 automatically converts them to XML-RPC types if they
        look like an integer, float, or as a string. This assumption causes
        problems when you want to pass a string that looks like "0096", RPC2
        will convert that to an <i4> because it looks like an integer. With
        these methods, you could now create a string object like this:

          $part_num = $coder->string("0096");

        and be confident that it will be passed as an XML-RPC string. You
        can change and retrieve values from objects using value() as
        described above.

## SEE ALSO
    [perl(1)], Frontier::[Daemon(3)], Frontier::[Client(3)]

    <<http://www.scripting.com/frontier5/xml/code/rpc.html>>

## AUTHOR
    Ken MacLeod <<ken@bitsko.slc.ut.us>>