[SOLVED] Retrieving remote data using PHP?

[EdgeWalker]

(Note: If there is a name for what I'm trying to do, please tell me - I am having trouble Googling for help on my own because this is very new territory for me.)

 

I have a WAMP server on a machine that, itself, also has internet access via another NIC.  For reasons beyond my control, no other machine on the LAN has internet access.  What I want to do is be able to retrieve and parse things from external sites and serve them in the local web pages.  For example, our local system has UPS tracking data for shipments in it, and I can easily make a page that redirects to the UPS tracking page given a tracking number, but what I actually need to do is have my WAMP server go grab the results of a GET action and then return something I can show people on the LAN that do not otherwise have internet access.

 

I'm not sure if I'm being clear, but any direct help (or suggestion for a useful reference) is appreciated.

[flyhoney]

Can you just set that machine up as a proxy?

[will35010]

I would look into clarkconnect. That's the only thing that I know of that is close to what you want. 

[EdgeWalker]

Can you just set that machine up as a proxy?

 

I considered that, but it's kind of a major overkill for what I want to do.  Something like PHPProxy would work, if I took the time to figure it out, but the other users will *never* need to actually browse the internet.  I will just need to grab bits of page here and there for them for special uses.

[EdgeWalker]

I would look into clarkconnect. That's the only thing that I know of that is close to what you want. 

 

If I wanted to set something like that up, it would be great.  Actually, we already have that capability, but my bosses really don't want any direct access to the Internet by anyone but me.  I am still trying to think up some solution that avoids that possibility.  So far the only thing I've thought of is setting up a php based proxy server, which is far more complex than my needs.

 

Suggestions so far appreciated, though.

[EdgeWalker]

Ok, I don't actually have the *final* solution, but I have a model of a working solution, in case anyone else ends up needing help with this.

 

The solution *IS* to set up a proxy server, and just go ahead and use AJAX techniques, sending all the AJAX requests through the proxy.  Don't know why I didn't think of that.

 

If you don't use the proxy in any other way, it should be pretty easy to keep people off the net, at least if they're not super clever at injection and whatnot.