XMLRPC showing -32601 error (using PHP)

Question

I have the following code...

<?php
include("lib/xmlrpc.inc");

$email='whatever@hotmail.com';

$c=new xmlrpc_client("/register/index.php", "ws.myserver.com", 80);
$f=new xmlrpcmsg('existsEmail', array(new xmlrpcval($email, "base64")));
print "<pre>" . htmlentities($f->serialize( )) . "</pre>";

$r=$c->send($f);
$v=$r->value( );

if (!$r->faultCode( )) {
    print "Email is". $email . " is " .
          $v->scalarval( ) . "<br />";
          print "<hr />I got this value back<br /><pre>" .
          htmlentities($r->serialize( )). "</pre><hr />\n";
} else {
    print "Fault: ";
    print "Code: " . $r->faultCode( ) .
    " Reason '" .$r->faultString( )."'<br />";
}

?>

I need to consume the WebService located at http://ws.myserver.com/register/index.php.

I pass the email as a parameter and then the XMLRPC.inc library will encode it using base64.

I've got a good XML request shown below:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<methodCall>
<methodName>existsEmail</methodName>
<params>
<param>
<value><base64>dnJvZHJpZ3VlekBpY2NrLm5ldC5jbw==</base64></value>
</param>
</params>
</methodCall>

BUUUT, when I tried to get a response from the server I've to the following error

Fault: Code: -32601 Reason 'server error. requested method not found'

Any ideas? I'm getting crazy about how to call the existsEmail method from my PHP code...I'm sure it is there but I don't know if I'm missing something..

Answer 1

You are getting an error message (Specification for Fault Code Interoperability, version 20010516) from the XMLRPC endpoint you're communicating with.

It is a defined error code:

-32601 ---> server error. requested method not found

The RPC method you requested was not found by the server. Contact the support of the service you consume to get a list of all available methods. If that method should be available, contact the support and discuss the issue with them.

You asked in comment:

Is there any way [to] verify which methods are available?

That depends on the service. XMLRPC on sourceforge has a suggestion of defined methods you can call to list information about the functions available:

XML-RPC Introspection

• system.listMethods
• system.methodSignature
• system.methodHelp

You can try if it works with your service, too. AFAIK those are common, I wrapped up a quick example, you find the full code below. See the output below the code as well.

$path = 'http://xmlrpc-c.sourceforge.net/api/sample.php';

printf("\n XMLRPC Service Discovery\n\n for: '%s'\n\n", $path);

$discovery = new Discovery($path);
$methods = $discovery->getMethods();

printf(" Method Summary:\n ===============\n", count($methods));
foreach ($methods as $i => $method)
{
    printf(" %'.-2d %s\n", $i + 1, $method->getName());
}

printf("\n Method Details (%d):\n ===================\n", count($methods));
foreach ($methods as $i => $method)
{
    printf("  %'.-2d %s\n", $i + 1, $method->getName());
    printf("\n       %s\n", $method);
    printf("\n%s\n\n", preg_replace('/^/um', '     ', wordwrap($method->getHelp(), 46)));
}

Output:

 XMLRPC Service Discovery

 for: 'http://xmlrpc-c.sourceforge.net/api/sample.php'

 Method Summary:
 ===============
 1. debug.authInfo
 2. sample.add
 3. sample.sumAndDifference
 4. system.listMethods
 5. system.methodHelp
 6. system.methodSignature

 Method Details (6):
 ===================
  1. debug.authInfo

       <struct> debug.authInfo

     Report any HTTP authentication in use

  2. sample.add

       <int> sample.add (<int>, <int>)

     Add two numbers

  3. sample.sumAndDifference

       <struct> sample.sumAndDifference (<int>, <int>)

     Add and subtract two numbers

  4. system.listMethods

       <array> system.listMethods (<string>)

     This method lists all the methods that the
     XML-RPC server knows how to dispatch

  5. system.methodHelp

       <string> system.methodHelp (<string>)

     Returns help text if defined for the method
     passed, otherwise returns an empty string

  6. system.methodSignature

       <array> system.methodSignature (<string>)

     Returns an array of known signatures (an array
     of arrays) for the method name passed. If no
     signatures are known, returns a none-array
     (test for type != array to detect missing
     signature)

You can find the sourcecode here: XMLRPC Discovery Service