Whitepages.com API CodeIgniter Library

Background

This CodeIgniter library provides a way to utilize the Whitepages.com API for retrieving data from their servers. Using this library you can fetch & receive request from the API in XML or JSON.

Getting Started

Unzip the contents of the file, and copy the files in the application/ folder. The following files are included:

I have included a demo controller and views so you can the basic idea how this works. I have extended

You need to load the library by using:

$this->load->library('whitepages_lib');

You will need to initalize some variables to pass to the library to configure itself.

$config['whitepages_api_key'] = 'yourAPIkey';    //(REQUIRED) Enter your API key emailed to you $config['whitepages_response_type'] = 'XML';     //(Optional) Default: XML, set to 'json' for JSON data $config['whitepages_api_url'] = 'http://api.whitepages.com'    //(Optional) Defaults to the same $this->whitepages_lib->initialize($config);    //Pass parameters to library

Setting preferences in a config file

If you prefer not to set preferences using the above method, you can instead put them into a config file. Simply create a new file called whitepages.php, add the $config array in that file. Then save the file in: config/whitepages.php and it will be used automatically. You will NOT need to use the $this->whitepages_lib->initialize function if you save your preferences in a config file.

Methods

Each of the four methods available in the API are named the same in the library which are find_person, find_business, reverse_phone, and reverse_address. You will need to pass an associative array of fields to each method.

$info = array('lastname' => 'Last Name', 'firstname' => 'First Name');
$data['xml'] = $this->whitepages_lib->find_person($info);

The library will return the XML returned from the server unless you have overridden the response type to return JSON.

Find Person Method

The table below displays the available fields you can pass to the library for your search.

Parameter Required? Notes Example
firstname no   firstname=robert
lastname yes  Note: you must send either lastname or name field lastname=johnson
name yes  Note: you must send either lastname or name field name="bill%20johnson"
house no The house parameter is the house number house=400
street no the street parameter is the street name, including any directional prefix or suffix street=maple%20st
city no   city=seattle
state no USPS two-character abbreviation state=wa
zip no will accept 5 digit ZIP Code or 9 digit ZIP+4 zip=98101
areacode no   areacode=206
metro no Whether to expand the search to the metro area. The default value is 0 (false) which means searches are not expanded to metro area by default. metro=1

Usage

$info = array('lastname' => 'Last Name', 'firstname' => 'First Name');
$data['xml'] = $this->whitepages_lib->find_person($info);

Find Business Method

The table below displays the available fields you can pass to the library for your search.

arameter Required? Notes Example
businessname yes  Note: you must send businessname or category businessname=a1%20pizza
category yes  Note: you must send businessname or category category=pizza
house no The house parameter is the house number house=400
street no the street parameter is the street name, including any directional prefix or suffix street=maple%20st
city no   city=seattle
state no USPS two-character abbreviation state=wa
zip no will accept 5 digit ZIP Code or 9 digit ZIP+4 zip=98101
areacode no   areacode=206
metro no Whether to expand the search to the metro area. The default value is 0 (false) which means searches are not expanded to metro area by default. metro=1

Usage

$info = array('businessname' => 'Business Name', 'zip' => '90120');
$data['xml'] = $this->whitepages_lib->find_business($info);

Reverse Address Method

The table below displays the available fields you can pass to the library for your search.

Parameter Required? Notes Example
house No Can take a range, in the form [start-end] house=2468 house=[100-210]
apt No   apt=2a
street Yes   street=maple%20st
city No   city=seattle
state See remarks   state=wa
zip See remarks   zip=98101
areacode See remarks   areacode=206

Usage

$info = array('street' => 'Main Street', 'house' => '123);
$data['xml'] = $this->whitepages_lib->reverse_address($info);

Reverse Phone Method

The table below displays the available fields you can pass to the library for your search.

Parameter Required? Notes Example
phone yes Can be 7 or 10 digits (non-numeric characters stripped automatically) phone=2069730000
state Yes if phone is 7 digits USPS two-character abbreviations only state=WA

Usage

$info = array('phone' => '555-555-5555');
$data['xml'] = $this->whitepages_lib->reverse_phone($info);