Advanced Usage

• PhantomJS command line options
• Custom PhantomJS scripts
• Writing a custom script
• Using custom request parameters in your script
• Loading your script

PhantomJS command line options

The PhantomJS API contains a range of command line options that can be passed when executing the PhantomJS executable. These can also be passed in via the client before a request:

    <?php

    use JonnyW\PhantomJs\Client;
    
    $client = Client::getInstance();
    $client->addOption('--load-images=true');
    $client->addOption('--ignore-ssl-errors=true');
    
    $request  = $client->getMessageFactory()->createRequest('http://google.com');
    $response = $client->getMessageFactory()->createResponse();

    $client->send($request, $response);

You can also set a path to a JSON configuration file that contains multiple PhantomJS options:

    <?php

    use JonnyW\PhantomJs\Client;
    
    $client = Client::getInstance();
    $client->addOption('--config=/path/to/config.json');
    
    $request  = $client->getMessageFactory()->createRequest('http://google.com');
    $response = $client->getMessageFactory()->createResponse();

    $client->send($request, $response);

See the PhantomJS Documentation for a full list of command line options.

Custom PhantomJS scripts

In most instances you shouldn’t need to worry about the javascript files that run the PHP PhantomJS library but there may be times when you want to execute your own custom PhantomJS scripts through the client. This can be easily achieved by using the built in script loader.

Script files or ‘procedures’ as they are referred to in the application are closely mapped to requests. When you create a default request instance, you are essentially running the default javascript procedure that comes bundled with the application. When you create a capture request you are running the capture procedure.

    <?php

    use JonnyW\PhantomJs\Client;
    
    $client->getMessageFactory()->createRequest(); // ~/Resources/procedures/default.proc
    $client->getMessageFactory()->createCaptureRequest(); // ~/Resources/procedures/capture.proc

Writing a custom script

The first step in creating your script is to create a procedure file somewhere. For the purpose of this guide we will refer to it as my_procedure.proc but in reality it can be called anything you like. The only requirement is that the file extension must be .proc.

Create the file somewhere and make sure it can be read by your application. Make a note of the path to the directory where your file is created as you will need this when loading your script which is explained later in this guide.

    
    #bash
    
    $ touch my_procedure.proc
    $ chmod 755 my_procedure.proc
    

Next open your procedure file in your text editor and write your PhantomJS script. The PhantomJS documentation has more detailed information on writing custom scripts.

    
    
    
    // my_procedure.proc

    var page  = require('webpage').create();
    
    page.open ('{{ request.getUrl() }}', '{{ request.getMethod() }}', '{{ request.getBody() }}', function (status) {
         
        // It is important that you exit PhantomJS
        // when your script has run or when you
        // encounter an error
        phantom.exit(1);
    });
    
    ...
    
    
    

Important

Make sure that phantom.exit(1); is always called after your script has run or if you encounter an error. This requires you to take care when handling PhantomJS errors to ensure that you exit the PhantomJS script, whether the script was successfully executed or not. If you do not call phantom.exit(1); then PhantomJS will continue to run until your PHP script times out. If you find that your custom script is hanging then this is most likely the cause.

It is a good practice to create a global error handler in your script that exits PhantomJS:

    
    
    
    // my_procedure.proc

    phantom.onError = function(msg, trace) {
  
        phantom.exit(1);
    };
    
    ...
    
    
    

Using custom request parameters in your script

Before a procedure is executed by the application it is parsed through a template parser. The PHP PhantomJS library uses the popular Twig templating engine. This gives you access to all the Twig niceness which you can use in your custom scripts.

You may have noticed in the example above that we have used some Twig template tags referencing a request object e.g. {{ request.getUrl() }}. This is in fact the PHP request instance that you created and passed to the client when sending your request, which is injected into the Twig template parser. As a result you gain full access to all the data contained within the request instance, via the data accessor methods.

A default request instance contains the following accessors:

A capture request contains a few additional ones:

If you would like to inject additional data into your script through custom accessors, simply extend the request class with your own:

    <?php

    use JonnyW\PhantomJs\Message\Request;
    
    class CustomRequest extends Request
    {
    
        public function getSomething()
        {
            return 'Something!';
        }
    }

Now you will be able to access the data in your custom script when using your custom request:

    
    
    
    // my_procedure.proc

    var something = '{{ request.getSomething() }}'; // Get something
    
    ...
    
    
    

And to use your custom request simply create a new instance of it and pass it to the client:

    <?php

    use JonnyW\PhantomJs\Client;
    
    $client = Client::getInstance();
    
    $response = $client->getMessageFactory()->createResponse();
    
    $request  = new CustomRequest();
    $request->setMethod('GET');
    $request->setUrl('http://www.google.com');
    
    $client->send($request, $response);

Loading your script

Now that you have your custom script and you’ve added your custom request parameters, you may be wondering how to tell the client to actually load your script. This is done by creating a procedure loader and telling it where to find your script files.

The service container has a factory that makes creating a new procedure loader easy:

    <?php
    
    use JonnyW\PhantomJs\Client;
    use JonnyW\PhantomJs\DependencyInjection\ServiceContainer;
    
    $location = '/path/to/your/procedure/directory';
    
    $serviceContainer = ServiceContainer::getInstance();
    
    $procedureLoader = $serviceContainer->get('procedure_loader_factory')
        ->createProcedureLoader($location);
        
    ...

The client contains a chain procedure loader which lets you set multiple loaders at the same time. Ultimately this means that you can load your custom scripts while still maintaining the ability to load the default scripts if you choose.

Now add your procedure loader to the chain loader:

    <?php

    ...
    
    $client = Client::getInstance();
    $client->getProcedureLoader()->addLoader($procedureLoader);
    
    ...

The last thing you need to do is to tell the request which script you want to load for that request. This is done by setting the request type to the name of your procedure file, minus the extension:

    <?php

    ...
    
   $request = $client->getMessageFactory()->createRequest();
   $request->setType('my_procedure');
    
    ...

Or if you are using a custom request as outlined in the custom request parameters section, you can implement a getType() method which returns the name of your procedure, eliminating the need to set the request type for each request:

<?php

    use JonnyW\PhantomJs\Message\Request;
    
    class CustomRequest extends Request
    {
    
        public function getType()
        {
            return 'my_procedure';
        }
    }

Below is a full example for clarity:

    <?php
    
    use JonnyW\PhantomJs\Client;
    use JonnyW\PhantomJs\DependencyInjection\ServiceContainer;
    
    $location = '/path/to/your/procedure/directory';
    
    $serviceContainer = ServiceContainer::getInstance();
    
    $procedureLoader = $serviceContainer->get('procedure_loader_factory')
        ->createProcedureLoader($location);
        
    $client = Client::getInstance();
    $client->getProcedureLoader()->addLoader($procedureLoader);
    
    $request = $client->getMessageFactory()->createRequest();
    $request->setType('my_procedure');
    
    $response = $client->getMessageFactory()->createResponse();
    
    $client->send($request, $response);

Troubleshooting

If you find that your script isn’t running or that you are receiving a status of ‘0’ back in the response, chances are you have a syntax error in you script. It pays to turn debugging on in the client $client->debug(true) which will then give you access to some log information through $client->getLog().

See more detailed information about troubleshooting.