RESTful response how to return JSON instead of XML in Yii2?

Question

The problem is that responses from RESTful server in Yii2 come back as XML, and I need them to be in JSON format.

I was following the guide from Yii2, the controller looks the same, the model is kind of different, it is connected to a database (the model was previously copied from a default model in an advanced template), and web config is also the same like the guide.

Just to clarify any doubts, here is the code:

UserController.php

<?php
namespace app\controllers;

use yii\rest\ActiveController;

class UserController extends ActiveController
{
    public $modelClass = 'app\models\User';
}

web.php ($config)

$config = [
    'id' => 'basic',
    'basePath' => dirname(__DIR__),
    'bootstrap' => ['log'],
    'components' => [
        'request' => [
            // !!! insert a secret key in the following (if it is empty) - this is required by cookie validation
            'cookieValidationKey' => 'WgkzlqvStTfGXY-ToFlQIJRDMX4LUQtY',
            'parsers'=>[
                'application/json'=>'yii\web\JsonParser'
            ]
        ],
        'cache' => [
            'class' => 'yii\caching\FileCache',
        ],
        'user' => [
            'identityClass' => 'app\models\User',
            'enableAutoLogin' => true,
        ],
        'urlManager' => [
            'enablePrettyUrl' => true,
            'enableStrictParsing' => true,
            'showScriptName' => false,
            'rules' => [
                ['class' => 'yii\rest\UrlRule', 'controller' => 'user'],
            ],
        ],
        'errorHandler' => [
            'errorAction' => 'site/error',
        ],
        'mailer' => [
            'class' => 'yii\swiftmailer\Mailer',
            // send all mails to a file by default. You have to set
            // 'useFileTransport' to false and configure a transport
            // for the mailer to send real emails.
            'useFileTransport' => true,
        ],
        'log' => [
            'traceLevel' => YII_DEBUG ? 3 : 0,
            'targets' => [
                [
                    'class' => 'yii\log\FileTarget',
                    'levels' => ['error', 'warning'],
                ],
            ],
        ],
        'db' => require(__DIR__ . '/db.php'),
    ],
    'params' => $params,
];

I tried settings in the config component:

response=>[
    'format'=>yii\web\Response::FORMAT_JSON
]

...but it still responds with XML. What do I do to make it respond with JSON?

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 24 '20 at 06:38

8

You can set it initially on call like below:

\Yii::$app->response->format = \yii\web\Response::FORMAT_JSON;

For example:

public function actionView($id) {\
  Yii::$app - > response - > format = \yii\ web\ Response::FORMAT_JSON;
  $user = \app\ models\ User::find($id);
  return $user;
}

You can also use ContentNegotiator filter in your class behaviors like below:

/**
 * @inheritdoc
 */
public function behaviors() {
  return [
    [
      'class' => \yii\ filters\ ContentNegotiator::className(),
      'only' => ['index', 'view'],
      'formats' => [
        'application/json' => \yii\ web\ Response::FORMAT_JSON,
      ],
    ],
  ];
}

edited Mar 24 '20 at 06:38

Stephan T.

4,914
3
15
32

answered Nov 10 '15 at 21:41

Ali MasudianPour

13,704
3
57
61

2

But is there a way to set this globally? Rather than adding this in each controller? – Oscar Reyes Nov 10 '15 at 22:09
@nosthertus Take a look http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27180059/execute-my-code-before-any-action-of-any-controller – Ali MasudianPour Nov 10 '15 at 22:16
i tried your method through controllers and it works, but i tried what your referenced post shows and it doesn't work, it would still response as xml, you can see the code here: http://pastebin.com/PawqVx7X – Oscar Reyes Nov 11 '15 at 00:06

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 07 '17 at 12:07

1

Just set the Response's format in your application configuration:

'components' => [
    ... // config
    'response' => [
        'format' => \yii\web\Response::FORMAT_JSON
    ],
    ... // config
]

answered Nov 07 '17 at 12:07

Dmitry Nevzorov

435
6
14

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 29 '20 at 13:58

Another way would be to derive the custom response class and set format based on data type.

class Response extends \yii\web\Response
{
    protected function prepare()
    {
        if (is_object($this->data) || is_array($this->data)) {
            $this->format = self::FORMAT_JSON;
        }
        return parent::prepare();
    }
}

Then register this type in the configuration file.

'response' => [
    'class' => 'app\components\Response',
]

RESTful response how to return JSON instead of XML in Yii2?

3 Answers3

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