How to Auto Post to a Form

soma56 · June 10, 2010

I've been reading up on auto posting to forms and decided to give it a shot. From what I understand there are four elements to every form:

Handler
Data Fields
Method
Trigger

I understand what each of these are and I created a very simple form as I found a tutorial on how to create the auto posting feature:

<?PHP

include("LIB_http.php");

$action = "myspecialpage.php";      // Address of form handler
$method= "POST";                                    // POST method
$ref = "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.2.3) Gecko/20100401 Firefox/3.6.3";  // Referer variable
$data_array['login'] = "mylogin";                      // Username
$data_array['password'] = "mypassword";                         // Password
$response = http($target=$action, $ref, $method, $data_array, EXCL_HEAD);

?>

From what I know if a form doesn't have a defined 'action' then the handler is the same page. Mine doesn't seem to work - I tried accessing a page after the script process only to be led back to the original log in page.

LIB_http.php

<?php                                                 
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------
# LIB_http                                                              
#                                                                       
# F U N C T I O N S                                                     
#                                                                       
# http_get()                                                            
#    Fetches a file from the Internet with the HTTP protocol            
# http_header()                                                         
#    Same as http_get(), but only returns HTTP header instead of        
#    the normal file contents                                           
# http_get_form()                                                       
#    Submits a form with the GET method                                 
# http_get_form_withheader()                                            
#    Same as http_get_form(), but only returns HTTP header instead of   
#    the normal file contents                                           
# http_post_form()                                                      
#    Submits a form with the POST method                                
# http_post_withheader()                                                
#    Same as http_post_form(), but only returns HTTP header instead of  
#    the normal file contents                                           
# http_header()                                                         
#                                                                       
# http()                                                                
#   A common routine called by all of the previously described          
#   functions. You should always use one of the other wrappers for this 
#   routine and not call it directly.                                   
#                                                                       
#-----------------------------------------------------------------------
# R E T U R N E D   D A T A                                             
# All of these routines return a three dimensional array defined as     
# follows:	    												        
#    $return_array['FILE']   = Contents of fetched file, will also      
#                              include the HTTP header if requested    
#    $return_array['STATUS'] = CURL generated status of transfer        
#    $return_array['ERROR']  = CURL generated error status              
########################################################################

/***********************************************************************
Webbot defaults (scope = global)                                       
----------------------------------------------------------------------*/
# Define how your webbot will appear in server logs
define("WEBBOT_NAME", "Test Webbot");

# Length of time cURL will wait for a response (seconds)
define("CURL_TIMEOUT", 25);

# Location of your cookie file. (Must be fully resolved local address)
define("COOKIE_FILE", "c:\cookie.txt");

# DEFINE METHOD CONSTANTS
define("HEAD", "HEAD");
define("GET",  "GET");
define("POST", "POST");

# DEFINE HEADER INCLUSION
define("EXCL_HEAD", FALSE);
define("INCL_HEAD", TRUE);

/***********************************************************************
User interfaces         	                                            
-------------------------------------------------------------			
*/

/***********************************************************************
function http_get($target, $ref)                                        
-------------------------------------------------------------           
DESCRIPTION:                                                            
        Downloads an ASCII file without the http header                 
INPUT:                                                                  
        $target       The target file (to download)                     
        $ref          The server referer variable                       
OUTPUT:                                                                 
        $return_array['FILE']   = Contents of fetched file, will also   
                                 include the HTTP header if requested   
        $return_array['STATUS'] = CURL generated status of transfer     
        $return_array['ERROR']  = CURL generated error status           
***********************************************************************/
function http_get($target, $ref)
    {
    return http($target, $ref, $method="GET", $data_array="", EXCL_HEAD);
    }

/***********************************************************************
http_get_withheader($target, $ref)                                      
-------------------------------------------------------------           
DESCRIPTION:                                                            
        Downloads an ASCII file with the http header                    
INPUT:                                                                  
        $target       The target file (to download)                     
        $ref          The server referer variable                       
OUTPUT:                                                                 
        $return_array['FILE']   = Contents of fetched file, will also   
                                 include the HTTP header if requested   
        $return_array['STATUS'] = CURL generated status of transfer     
        $return_array['ERROR']  = CURL generated error status           
***********************************************************************/
function http_get_withheader($target, $ref)
    {
    return http($target, $ref, $method="GET", $data_array="", INCL_HEAD);
    }

/***********************************************************************
http_get_form($target, $ref, $data_array)                               
-------------------------------------------------------------           
DESCRIPTION:                                                            
        Submits a form with the GET method and downloads the page       
        (without a http header) referenced by the form's ACTION variable
INPUT:                                                                  
        $target       The target file (to download)                     
        $ref          The server referer variable                       
        $data_array   An array that defines the form variables          
                      (See "Webbots, Spiders, and Screen Scrapers" for  
                      more information about $data_array)               
OUTPUT:                                                                 
        $return_array['FILE']   = Contents of fetched file, will also   
                                 include the HTTP header if requested   
        $return_array['STATUS'] = CURL generated status of transfer     
        $return_array['ERROR']  = CURL generated error status           
***********************************************************************/
function http_get_form($target, $ref, $data_array)
    {
    return http($target, $ref, $method="GET", $data_array, EXCL_HEAD);
    }

/***********************************************************************
http_get_form_withheader($target, $ref, $data_array)                    
-------------------------------------------------------------           
DESCRIPTION:                                                            
        Submits a form with the GET method and downloads the page       
        (with http header) referenced by the form's ACTION variable     
INPUT:                                                                  
        $target       The target file (to download)                     
        $ref          The server referer variable                       
        $data_array   An array that defines the form variables          
                      (See "Webbots, Spiders, and Screen Scrapers" for  
                      more information about $data_array)               
OUTPUT:                                                                 
        $return_array['FILE']   = Contents of fetched file, will also   
                                 include the HTTP header if requested   
        $return_array['STATUS'] = CURL generated status of transfer     
        $return_array['ERROR']  = CURL generated error status           
***********************************************************************/
function http_get_form_withheader($target, $ref, $data_array)
    {
    return http($target, $ref, $method="GET", $data_array, INCL_HEAD);
    }

/***********************************************************************
http_post_form($target, $ref, $data_array)                              
-------------------------------------------------------------           
DESCRIPTION:                                                            
        Submits a form with the POST method and downloads the page      
        (without http header) referenced by the form's ACTION variable  
INPUT:                                                                  
        $target       The target file (to download)                     
        $ref          The server referer variable                       
        $data_array   An array that defines the form variables          
                      (See "Webbots, Spiders, and Screen Scrapers" for  
                      more information about $data_array)               
OUTPUT:                                                                 
        $return_array['FILE']   = Contents of fetched file, will also   
                                 include the HTTP header if requested   
        $return_array['STATUS'] = CURL generated status of transfer     
        $return_array['ERROR']  = CURL generated error status           
***********************************************************************/
function http_post_form($target, $ref, $data_array)
    {
    return http($target, $ref, $method="POST", $data_array, EXCL_HEAD);
    }

function http_post_withheader($target, $ref, $data_array)
    {
    return http($target, $ref, $method="POST", $data_array, INCL_HEAD);
    }

function http_header($target, $ref)
    {
    return http($target, $ref, $method="HEAD", $data_array="", INCL_HEAD);
    }

/***********************************************************************
http($url, $ref, $method, $data_array, $incl_head)                      
-------------------------------------------------------------			
DESCRIPTION:															
This function returns a web page (HTML only) for a web page through	
the execution of a simple HTTP GET request.							
All HTTP redirects are automatically followed.						
                                                                        
    IT IS BEST TO USE ONE THE EARLIER DEFINED USER INTERFACES           
    FOR THIS FUNCTION                                                   
                                                                        
INPUTS:																	
$target      Address of the target web site		 					
$ref		 Address of the target web site's referrer				
$method		 Defines request HTTP method; HEAD, GET or POST         
$data_array	 A keyed array, containing query string                 
$incl_head	 TRUE  = include http header                            
                 FALSE = don't include http header                      
                                                                        
RETURNS:																
    $return_array['FILE']   = Contents of fetched file, will also       
                              include the HTTP header if requested      
    $return_array['STATUS'] = CURL generated status of transfer         
    $return_array['ERROR']  = CURL generated error status               
***********************************************************************/
function http($target, $ref, $method, $data_array, $incl_head)
{
    # Initialize PHP/CURL handle
$ch = curl_init();

    # Prcess data, if presented
    if(is_array($data_array))
        {
    # Convert data array into a query string (ie animal=dog&sport=baseball)
        foreach ($data_array as $key => $value) 
            {
            if(strlen(trim($value))>0)
                $temp_string[] = $key . "=" . urlencode($value);
            else
                $temp_string[] = $key;
            }
        $query_string = join('&', $temp_string);
        }
        
    # HEAD method configuration
    if($method == HEAD)
        {
    	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, TRUE);                // No http head
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_NOBODY, TRUE);                // Return body
        }
    else
        {
        # GET method configuration
        if($method == GET)
            {
            if(isset($query_string))
                $target = $target . "?" . $query_string;
            curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPGET, TRUE); 
            curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_POST, FALSE); 
            }
        # POST method configuration
        if($method == POST)
            {
            if(isset($query_string))
                curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $query_string);
            curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_POST, TRUE); 
            curl_setopt ($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPGET, FALSE); 
            }
    	curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, $incl_head);   // Include head as needed
    curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_NOBODY, FALSE);        // Return body
        }
        
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR, COOKIE_FILE);   // Cookie management.
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE, COOKIE_FILE);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, CURL_TIMEOUT);    // Timeout
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_USERAGENT, WEBBOT_NAME);   // Webbot name
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $target);             // Target site
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_REFERER, $ref);            // Referer value
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, FALSE);           // Minimize logs
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, FALSE);    // No certificate
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, TRUE);     // Follow redirects
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS, 4);             // Limit redirections to four
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, TRUE);     // Return in string
    
    # Create return array
    $return_array['FILE']   = curl_exec($ch); 
    $return_array['STATUS'] = curl_getinfo($ch);
    $return_array['ERROR']  = curl_error($ch);
    
    # Close PHP/CURL handle
  	curl_close($ch);
    
    # Return results
  	return $return_array;
    }
?>

If anyone see's any obvious errors that they would care to point out then I would greatly appreciate it.

lemmin · June 10, 2010

Edit: Sorry, after I thought about that, it didn't make any sense. Give me a second to post a better answer.

lemmin · June 10, 2010

Ok, What I was trying to explain was that you can actually do this just using fsock. It has been awhile since I have done it, but it should be something like this:

$host = "localhost";
$action = "myspecialpage.php";      // Address of form handler
$method= "POST";                                    // POST method
$args = 'login=mylogin&password=mypassword';

$f = fsockopen($host, 80);
$out = "$method $action HTTP/1.1\r\n";
$out .= "HOST: $host\r\n";
$out .= "Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n";
$out .= "Content-length: " . strlen($args) . "\r\n";
$out .= "Connection: Close\r\n\r\n";
$out .= $args;

fwrite($out);

while (!feof($f))
   echo fgets($f);
   
fclose($f);

I havn't tested it so the headers might be incorrect, but the idea should work.

soma56 · June 10, 2010

Thank you Lemmin! I will review and post my results.

soma56 · June 10, 2010

Received a few errors if anyone cares to entertain my little dilemma:

Warning: fsockopen() [function.fsockopen]: unable to connect...

(Unable to find the socket transport "http" - did you forget to enable it when you configured PHP?)

Warning: Wrong parameter count for fwrite() 

And a hundreds of lines of the following: 

Warning: feof(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in

lemmin · June 14, 2010

Don't use 'http' in your $host string and pass the fsock resource to the fwrite function (that was my mistake).

fwrite($f, $out);

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