Tue, Jun 15,199 9; by Dave Winer)
Update DW 6/30/03
Update DW 10/16/99
Update DW 1/21/99
The XML-RPC protocol described in this specification implements UserLand Frontier 5.1.
For non-technical instructions, visit XML-RPC for Newbies.
The document provides all the information required to implement the XML-RPC.
Preface
XML-RPC is an Internet-based remote function call protocol.
XML-RPC messages are all HTTP-POST requests. XML of the main part of the request. The returned results after execution by the server are also in XML format.
Function call parameters can be scalars, numbers, strings, dates, and so on, or hybrid records and Struct.
Request style
Below is an example of a XML-RPC request:
POST/RPC2 http/ 1.0
User-Agent: Frontier/5.1.2 (WinNT)
Host: betty.userland.com
Content-Type: text/xml
Content-length: 181
<? Xml version = "1.0"?>
<MethodCall>
<MethodName> examples. getStateName </methodName>
<Params>
<Param>
<Value> <i4> 41 </i4> </value>
</Param>
</Params>
</MethodCall>
About request headers
The URI format of the first row is not specific. It can be empty, and if the server only processes XML-RPC requests, it can even be a simple slash. However, if the server provides other HTTP requests in addition to the XML-RPC, the URI can help us direct the request to a specific XML-RPC service.
User-Agent and Host are required.
The value of Content-Type must be text/xml.
Content-Length must be specified and must be a correct value.
Valid format
XML-RPC has the same valid format as XML and is a <methodCall> Structure.
<MethodCall> a <methodName> sub-element with a value of struct must be included to indicate the called method. This character must comply with the following requirements: uppercase/lowercase letters, numbers 0-9, underlines, dots, colons, and diagonal lines. As for how to explain this string, it will be determined by the server side.
