xmlrpc "getrecentposts" inconsistent with "getpost"

[kevbo]

In /wp-includes/class-wp-xmlrpc-server.php the return array for mw_getPost sets the postid as an int. For mw_getRecentPosts postid is cast as a string. (lines 1827 & 2810)

Rev [16508] first cast the int as string in response to ticket #15517. The reference given was an old MSDN article. However, the Blogger API actually says the post ID should be numerical, not a string.

(See Blogger API Post definition here: ​https://developers.google.com/blogger/docs/2.0/json/reference/posts#resource)

Suggestion: Remove the cast to string for postid.

(Clients which use XML-RPC calls likely (and logically) expect that the struct of the post should be the same. For example, the .NET library JoeBlogs expects that mw_getPost return a certain struct whereas mw_getRecentPosts would return an array of structs.)

[kevbo]

Remove postid casts to string

[maxcutler]

The linked Blogger API (JSON v2) is not the same API as the one that WordPress implements (XML-RPC v1, whose spec no longer seems to exist anywhere that I can find online). The metaWeblog ​API spec says that the ID should be a string.

In any case, I think it would definitely be inadvisable to change the type yet again and break clients that have been working since 3.1.

[kevbo]

Thanks for the API catch.

I can only ever find the post ID referred to as an integer, even in the metaWeblog API spec. See the link "response" here: ​http://xmlrpc.scripting.com/metaWeblogApi.html#requestAndResponse

<member>
	<name>postid</name>
	<value>
		<i4>1829</i4>
	</value>
</member>

In any case, I believe that both getPost and getRecentPosts should return the same array sub-types, don't you? Actually, the blogger implementation (blogger_getPost and blogger_getRecentPosts) returns a post ID as string for both functions. However, the metaWeblog doesn't (mw_getPost is int, mw_getRecentPosts is string.)

My client broke when I updated from a pre 3.1 WordPress install to the most recent one. Smart client developers will hopefully catch and cast the XML-RPC response; mine didn't. I think that some clients may break, but that shouldn't prevent us from being consistent in the code.

(BTW, I'm now unsure if it's actually since 3.1. I'll investigate.)

[markoheijnen]

First of all that are two different API's and the implementation is different. Also clients should try to use the wp.* methods.

That said we really can’t change it because things will break. At least from my experience with iOS development.