Http Body Decoder Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Setup

Install the package via Composer:

composer require boson-php/http-body-decoder

First Use Case: Decoding Request Bodies in Laravel Middleware

Register the decoder in your middleware to parse incoming request bodies:

use Boson\HttpBodyDecoder\Decoder;
use Boson\HttpBodyDecoder\DecoderFactory;

public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
    $decoder = DecoderFactory::create();
    $decoder->decode($request->getContent());

    // Now access parsed data via $request->attributes
    return $next($request);
}

Key Entry Points

• DecoderFactory: Creates decoders for JSON, form data, or multipart.
• Decoder: Core interface for parsing raw request bodies.
• Request extension: Automatically attaches parsed data to Laravel's Request object.

Implementation Patterns

Workflow: Handling Incoming Requests

1. Middleware Integration:

   // app/Http/Middleware/DecodeBody.php
   public function handle($request, Closure $next)
   {
       $decoder = DecoderFactory::create();
       $decoder->decode($request->getContent());
   
       // Attach parsed data to request attributes
       $request->attributes->set('parsed_body', $decoder->getParsedData());
   
       return $next($request);
   }
   

   Register in app/Http/Kernel.php:

   protected $middleware = [
       \App\Http\Middleware\DecodeBody::class,
   ];
   

2. Controller Access:

   public function store(Request $request)
   {
       $parsedData = $request->attributes->get('parsed_body');
       // Use $parsedData directly
   }
   

Integration Tips

• PSR-7 Adapters: Works seamlessly with frameworks like Symfony or Slim.
• Custom Decoders: Extend Decoder for domain-specific formats (e.g., XML).
• Validation: Chain with Laravel's ValidatesRequests to validate parsed data:

  public function update(Request $request)
  {
      $this->validate($request, [
          'parsed_body.field' => 'required|string',
      ]);
  }
  

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

• Double Parsing: Avoid calling decode() multiple times on the same raw body.
• Memory Usage: Large multipart files may consume significant memory; stream processing is recommended.
• Content-Type Mismatch: Ensure Content-Type headers match the decoder type (e.g., application/json for JSON).

Debugging

• Log Raw Data: Temporarily log $request->getContent() to verify input.
• Decoder Errors: Check DecoderException for malformed input (e.g., invalid JSON).

Extension Points

• Custom Decoders: Implement Boson\HttpBodyDecoder\DecoderInterface for new formats:

  class CustomDecoder implements DecoderInterface
  {
      public function decode(string $body): void
      {
          // Custom logic
      }
  }
  

• Factory Extensions: Override DecoderFactory to inject custom decoders:

  DecoderFactory::addDecoder('custom', CustomDecoder::class);
  

• Laravel Service Provider: Bind the factory to Laravel's container for DI:

  $this->app->bind(DecoderFactory::class, function () {
      return DecoderFactory::create();
  });
  

Configuration Quirks

• Default Decoder: Uses application/json by default; explicitly set Content-Type for other formats.
• Multipart Limits: Configure PHP’s upload_max_filesize and post_max_size for large file uploads.