Quickstart: Check spelling with the Bing Spell Check REST API and PHP

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Warning

On October 30, 2020, the Bing Search APIs moved from Azure AI services to Bing Search Services. This documentation is provided for reference only. For updated documentation, see the Bing search API documentation. For instructions on creating new Azure resources for Bing search, see Create a Bing Search resource through the Azure Marketplace.

Use this quickstart to make your first call to the Bing Spell Check REST API. This simple PHP application sends a request to the API and returns a list of suggested corrections.

Although this application is written in PHP, the API is a RESTful Web service compatible with most programming languages.

Prerequisites

Create an Azure resource

Start using the Bing Spell Check API by creating one of the following Azure resources:

Bing Spell Check resource

  • Available through the Azure portal until you delete the resource.
  • Use the free pricing tier to try the service, and upgrade later to a paid tier for production.
  • The Bing Spell Check API is also offered in some tiers of the Bing Search v7 resource.

Multi-service resource

  • Available through the Azure portal until you delete the resource.
  • Use the same key and endpoint for your applications, across multiple Azure AI services.

Get Bing Spell Check REST API results

  1. Create a new PHP project in your favorite IDE.

  2. Add the code provided below.

  3. Replace the subscriptionKey value with an access key valid for your subscription.

  4. You can use the global endpoint in the following code, or use the custom subdomain endpoint displayed in the Azure portal for your resource.

  5. Run the program.

    <?php

// NOTE: Be sure to uncomment the following line in your php.ini file.
// ;extension=php_openssl.dll

// These properties are used for optional headers (see below).
// define("CLIENT_ID", "<Client ID from Previous Response Goes Here>");
// define("CLIENT_IP", "999.999.999.999");
// define("CLIENT_LOCATION", "+90.0000000000000;long: 00.0000000000000;re:100.000000000000");

$host = 'https://api.cognitive.microsoft.com';
$path = '/bing/v7.0/spellcheck?';
$params = 'mkt=en-us&mode=proof';

$input = "Hollo, wrld!";

$data = array (
  'text' => urlencode ($input)
);

// NOTE: Replace this example key with a valid subscription key.
$key = 'ENTER KEY HERE';

// The following headers are optional, but it is recommended
// that they are treated as required. These headers will assist the service
// with returning more accurate results.
//'X-Search-Location' => CLIENT_LOCATION
//'X-MSEdge-ClientID' => CLIENT_ID
//'X-MSEdge-ClientIP' => CLIENT_IP

$headers = "Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded\r\n" .
  "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: $key\r\n";

// NOTE: Use the key 'http' even if you are making an HTTPS request. See:
// https://php.net/manual/en/function.stream-context-create.php
$options = array (
    'http' => array (
        'header' => $headers,
        'method' => 'POST',
        'content' => http_build_query ($data)
    )
);
$context  = stream_context_create ($options);
$result = file_get_contents ($host . $path . $params, false, $context);

if ($result === FALSE) {
    /* Handle error */
}

$json = json_encode(json_decode($result), JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE | JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
echo $json;
?>

Run the application

Run your application by starting a web server and navigating to your file.

Example JSON response

A successful response is returned in JSON, as shown in the following example:

{
   "_type": "SpellCheck",
   "flaggedTokens": [
      {
         "offset": 0,
         "token": "Hollo",
         "type": "UnknownToken",
         "suggestions": [
            {
               "suggestion": "Hello",
               "score": 0.9115257530801
            },
            {
               "suggestion": "Hollow",
               "score": 0.858039839213461
            },
            {
               "suggestion": "Hallo",
               "score": 0.597385084464481
            }
         ]
      },
      {
         "offset": 7,
         "token": "wrld",
         "type": "UnknownToken",
         "suggestions": [
            {
               "suggestion": "world",
               "score": 0.9115257530801
            }
         ]
      }
   ]
}

Next steps

Create a single-page web app