Server shows empty body when using POST addJSONObjectBody

[paulpv]

Symptoms: When POSTing a valid JSONObject (89 characters deserialized) to an Ubuntu Apache Slim PHP (http://www.slimframework.com, https://github.com/slimphp/Slim) server, both Stetho and AnalyticsListener say that 89 bytes was sent, but the server sees only an empty/null body. When I make what I believe to be the exact same request using Volley the server responds just fine as expected. (I have yet to get Stetho to work w/ Volley, so I cannot confirm how identical the request is or isn't)

I believe that my code is pretty straightforward:

public String requestJSONObject(
        final String tag,
        @NonNull
        Uri uri,
        HashMap<String, String> bodyParameterMap)
{
    JSONObject jsonObjectBody;
    if (bodyParameterMap == null)
    {
        jsonObjectBody = null;
    }
    else
    {
        jsonObjectBody = new JSONObject();
        for (Entry<String, String> entry : bodyParameterMap.entrySet())
        {
            String key = entry.getKey();
            String value = entry.getValue();
            try
            {
                jsonObjectBody.put(key, value);
            }
            catch (JSONException e)
            {
                // ignore
            }
        }
    }

    ANRequest request = AndroidNetworking.post(uri.toString())
            .setTag(tag)
            .addHeaders("User-Agent", mUserAgent)
            .addHeaders("APP-ID", mAppId)
            .addHeaders("Debug", "true")
            .addJSONObjectBody(jsonObjectBody)
            .build();

    request.setAnalyticsListener(new AnalyticsListener()
    {
        @Override
        public void onReceived(long timeTakenInMillis, long bytesSent, long bytesReceived, boolean isFromCache)
        {
            Log.e(TAG, " timeTakenInMillis : " + timeTakenInMillis);
            Log.e(TAG, " bytesSent : " + bytesSent);
            Log.e(TAG, " bytesReceived : " + bytesReceived);
            Log.e(TAG, " isFromCache : " + isFromCache);
        }
    });

    request.getAsOkHttpResponseAndJSONObject(new OkHttpResponseAndJSONObjectRequestListener()
    {
        @Override
        public void onResponse(Response okHttpResponse, JSONObject response)
        {
            Log.i(TAG, "requestJSONObject(tag=" + tag + ") onResponse: response=" + response);
            //...
        }

        @Override
        public void onError(ANError anError)
        {
            Log.w(TAG, "requestJSONObject(tag=" + tag + ") onError: anError=" + Utils.toString(anError));
            //...
        }
    });

    return tag;
}

Usage:

Uri uri = Uri.parse("http://api.redacted.com")
    .buildUpon()
    .appendPath("oauth2")
    .appendPath("token")
    .build();
HashMap<String, String> postBodyParameters = new HashMap<>();
postBodyParameters.put("grant_type", "refresh_token");
postBodyParameters.put("refresh_token", refreshToken);
requestJSONObject("mytag", uri, postBodyParameters);

Stetho sniff:

Request URL:http://api.redacted.com/oauth2/token
Request Method:POST
Status Code:400 Bad Request
Request Headers:
Accept-Encoding:gzip
Connection:Keep-Alive
Content-Encoding:gzip
Content-Length:95
Content-Type:application/json; charset=utf-8
Host:api.redacted.com
APP-ID:redacted
User-Agent:Dalvik/2.1.0 (Linux; U; Android 5.1.1; Nexus 5 Build/LMY48B); com.redacted.testapp 1.0
Request Payload:
{"refresh_token":"redacted","grant_type":"refresh_token"}
Response Headers:
Cache-Control:no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0
Connection:close
Content-Length:101
Content-Type:application/json; charset=utf-8
Date:Tue, 08 Nov 2016 22:34:26 GMT
Expires:Thu, 19 Nov 1981 08:52:00 GMT
OkHttp-Received-Millis:1478644376230
OkHttp-Sent-Millis:1478644375903
Pragma:no-cache
Server:Apache/2.4.7 (Ubuntu)
Set-Cookie:PHPSESSID=au8iauf08b2i3qnu4nbrd40ts6; path=/
X-Powered-By:PHP/5.5.9-1ubuntu4.20
Response Payload:
{"error":[{"message":"Post body is empty.","transaction_id":"redacted"}]}{"post_body":null}

(I had my web developer output to the response the post body that he read.)

Any idea why AN doesn't work, but Volley does?

[paulpv]

FYI, here is my working Volley code:

mRequestQueue.add(new JsonObjectRequest(uri.toString(), jsonObjectBody, new Listener<JSONObject>()
{
    @Override
    public void onResponse(JSONObject response)
    {
        Log.i(TAG, "requestJSONObject(tag=" + tag + ") onResponse: response=" + response);
        //...
    }
}, new ErrorListener()
{
    @Override
    public void onErrorResponse(VolleyError error)
    {
        Log.w(TAG, "requestJSONObject(tag=" + tag + ") onError: error=" + error);
        //...
    }
})
{
    @Override
    public String getBodyContentType()
    {
        return "application/json; charset=utf-8";
    }

    @Override
    public Map<String, String> getHeaders()
            throws AuthFailureError
    {
        Map<String, String> headers = super.getHeaders();
        if (headers == null || headers.equals(Collections.emptyMap()))
        {
            headers = new HashMap<>();
        }

        headers.put("User-Agent", mUserAgent);
        headers.put("APP-ID", mAppId);
        headers.put("Debug", "true");

        return headers;
    }
});

[amitshekhariitbhu]

I just created the same situation to test it.

API - which require both and in JSONObject. otherwise it send error with error body as bad parameter

When I make request it is working perfectly. Still trying to figure out the problem you are facing.

        JSONObject jsonObject = new JSONObject();
        try {
            jsonObject.put("firstname", "Amit");
//            jsonObject.put("lastname", "Shekhar");
        } catch (JSONException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        AndroidNetworking.post("https://fierce-cove-29863.herokuapp.com/createAnUser")
                .addJSONObjectBody(jsonObject)
                .setTag(this)
                .setPriority(Priority.LOW)
                .build()
                .getAsOkHttpResponseAndJSONObject(new OkHttpResponseAndJSONObjectRequestListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onResponse(Response okHttpResponse, JSONObject response) {

                    }

                    @Override
                    public void onError(ANError error) {

                    }
                });

Thanks Amit Shekhar

[paulpv]

Thanks for the response. Can you clarify your statement? What causes "otherwise it send error with error body as bad parameter", or is everything "it is working perfectly"?

[amitshekhariitbhu]

When I make request with correct data, it is giving me in onResponse method

 jsonObject.put("firstname", "Amit");
 jsonObject.put("lastname", "Shekhar");

When I make request with wrong data, it is giving me in onError method with errorBody as {"error":"bad parameter"}

 jsonObject.put("firstname", "Amit");
// not setting lastname.

[paulpv]

That sounds to me like a server side logic choice that is probably by design. What happens if you post a single field using Volley? I still can't figure out why Volley works, but AN doesn't. :/

[paulpv]

Today's investigation is leading me to believe that the problem I am seeing is related to the GzipRequestInterceptor.

OkHttpClient.Builder builder = new OkHttpClient.Builder();
//builder.addInterceptor(new GzipRequestInterceptor());
if (BuildConfig.DEBUG)
{
    builder.addNetworkInterceptor(new StethoInterceptor());
}
OkHttpClient httpClient = builder.build();
AndroidNetworking.initialize(applicationContext, httpClient);

When I comment out the GzipRequestInterceptor line, my server logic seems to work. I can confirm that my server used to be set up to accept gzip encoding, but from looking at the headers in my first entry above, the server isn't responding w/ gzip, so perhaps it got disabled. I will confirm w/ my web dev as soon as he recovers from last night's US election...

[paulpv]

Yup! The problem is with adding GzipRequestInterceptor when a server have gzip enabled. gzip capabilities need to be tested as supported on the server before enabled. Which begs a general question, which may end up being an okhttp question: How should this negotiation be tested and enabled on a per-server basis?