HttpRequest VB.NET WinRT Reference Documentation

HttpRequest

Current Version: 9.5.0.90

Represents a complete HTTP request.

Object Creation

Dim obj As New Chilkat.HttpRequest()

Properties

Boundary
Boundary As String
Introduced in version 9.5.0.49

Sets an explicit boundary string to be used in multipart/form-data requests. If no Boundary is set, then a boundary string is automaticaly generated as needed during the sending of a request.

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Charset
Charset As String

Controls the character encoding used for HTTP request parameters for POST requests. The default value is the ANSI charset of the computer. The charset should match the charset expected by the form target.

The "charset" attribute is only included in the Content-Type header of the request if the SendCharset property is set to True.

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ContentType
ContentType As String

The ContentType property sets the "Content-Type" header field, and identifies the content-type of the HTTP request body. Common values are:

application/x-www-form-urlencoded
multipart/form-data
application/json
application/xml
If ContentType is set equal to the empty string, then no Content-Type header is included in the HTTP request.

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DebugLogFilePath
DebugLogFilePath As String

If set to a file path, causes each Chilkat method or property call to automatically append it's LastErrorText to the specified log file. The information is appended such that if a hang or crash occurs, it is possible to see the context in which the problem occurred, as well as a history of all Chilkat calls up to the point of the problem. The VerboseLogging property can be set to provide more detailed information.

This property is typically used for debugging the rare cases where a Chilkat method call hangs or generates an exception that halts program execution (i.e. crashes). A hang or crash should generally never happen. The typical causes of a hang are:

  1. a timeout related property was set to 0 to explicitly indicate that an infinite timeout is desired,
  2. the hang is actually a hang within an event callback (i.e. it is a hang within the application code), or
  3. there is an internal problem (bug) in the Chilkat code that causes the hang.

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EntireHeader
EntireHeader As String

Composes and returns the entire MIME header of the HTTP request.

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HttpVerb
HttpVerb As String

The HttpVerb property should be set to the name of the HTTP method that appears on the "start line" of an HTTP request, such as GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc. It is also possible to use the various WebDav verbs such as PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, MKCOL, COPY, MOVE, LOCK, UNLOCK, etc. In general, the HttpVerb may be set to anything, even custom verbs recognized by a custom server-side app.

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HttpVersion
HttpVersion As String

The HTTP version in the request header. Defaults to "1.1".

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LastErrorHtml
LastErrorHtml As String (ReadOnly)

Provides information in HTML format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.

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LastErrorText
LastErrorText As String (ReadOnly)

Provides information in plain-text format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.

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LastErrorXml
LastErrorXml As String (ReadOnly)

Provides information in XML format about the last method/property called. If a method call returns a value indicating failure, or behaves unexpectedly, examine this property to get more information.

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LastMethodSuccess
LastMethodSuccess As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.52

Indicate whether the last method call succeeded or failed. A value of True indicates success, a value of False indicates failure. This property is automatically set for method calls. It is not modified by property accesses. The property is automatically set to indicate success for the following types of method calls:

  • Any method that returns a string.
  • Any method returning a Chilkat object, binary bytes, or a date/time.
  • Any method returning a standard boolean status value where success = True and failure = False.
  • Any method returning an integer where failure is defined by a return value less than zero.

Note: Methods that do not fit the above requirements will always set this property equal to True. For example, a method that returns no value (such as a "void" in C++) will technically always succeed.

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NumHeaderFields
NumHeaderFields As Integer (ReadOnly)

Returns the number of request header fields.

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NumParams
NumParams As Integer (ReadOnly)

Returns the number of query parameters.

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Path
Path As String

The path of the resource requested. A path of "/" indicates the default document of a domain.

Explaining the Parts of a URL

http://example.com:8042/over/there?name=ferret#nose
\__/   \______________/\_________/ \________/ \__/
 |           |            |            |        |
scheme   domain+port     path        query   fragment

This property should be set to the path part of the URL. You may also include the query part in this property value. If the Content-Type of the request is NOT application/x-www-form-urlencoded, then you would definitely want to include query parameters in the path. If the Content-Type of the request IS application/x-www-form-urlencoded, the query parameters are passed in the body of the request. It is also possible to pass some query parameters via the path, and some in the body of a application/x-www-form-urlencoded request, but you shouldn't include the same parameter in both places. You would never need to include the fragment part. The fragment is nothing more than an instruction for a browser to automatically navigate to a particular location in the HTML page (assuming the request returns HTML, otherwise a fragment makes no sense).

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SendCharset
SendCharset As Boolean

Controls whether the charset is explicitly included in the content-type header field of the HTTP POST request. The default value of this property is False.

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VerboseLogging
VerboseLogging As Boolean

If set to True, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is False. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.

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Version
Version As String (ReadOnly)

Version of the component/library, such as "9.5.0.63"

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Methods

AddBdForUpload
Function AddBdForUpload(ByVal name As String, ByVal remoteFilename As String, ByVal byteData As BinData, ByVal contentType As String) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.76

Adds a file to an upload request where the contents of the file come from byteData.

name is an arbitrary name. (In HTML, it is the form field name of the input tag.)
remoteFilename is the name of the file to be created on the HTTP server.
byteData contains the bytes to be uploaded.
contentType contains is the value of the Content-Type header. An empty string may be passed to allow Chilkat to automatically determine the Content-Type based on the filename extension.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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AddBytesForUpload
Function AddBytesForUpload(ByVal name As String, ByVal remoteFileName As String, ByVal byteData As Byte()) As Boolean

Adds a file to an upload request where the contents of the file come from an in-memory byte array. To create a file upload request, set the ContentType property = "multipart/form-data" and then call AddBytesForUpload, AddStringForUpload, or AddFileForUpload for each file to be uploaded.

name is an arbitrary name. (In HTML, it is the form field name of the input tag.)
remoteFileName is the name of the file to be created on the HTTP server.
byteData contains the contents (bytes) to be uploaded.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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AddBytesForUpload2
Function AddBytesForUpload2(ByVal name As String, ByVal remoteFileName As String, ByVal byteData As Byte(), ByVal contentType As String) As Boolean

Same as AddBytesForUpload, but allows the Content-Type header field to be directly specified. (Otherwise, the Content-Type header is automatically determined based on the remoteFileName's file extension.)

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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AddFileForUpload
Function AddFileForUpload(ByVal name As String, ByVal filePath As String) As Boolean

Adds a file to an upload request. To create a file upload request, set the ContentType property = "multipart/form-data" and then call AddFileForUpload, AddBytesForUpload, or AddStringForUpload for each file to be uploaded. This method does not read the file into memory. When the upload occurs, the data is streamed directly from the file, thus allowing for very large files to be uploaded without consuming large amounts of memory.

name is an arbitrary name. (In HTML, it is the form field name of the input tag.)
filePath is the path to an existing file in the local filesystem.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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AddFileForUpload2
Function AddFileForUpload2(ByVal name As String, ByVal filePath As String, ByVal contentType As String) As Boolean

Same as AddFileForUpload, but allows the Content-Type header field to be directly specified. (Otherwise, the Content-Type header is automatically determined based on the file extension.)

name is an arbitrary name. (In HTML, it is the form field name of the input tag.)
filePath is the path to an existing file in the local filesystem.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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AddHeader
Sub AddHeader(ByVal name As String, ByVal value As String)

Adds a request header to the HTTP request. If a header having the same field name is already present, this method replaces it.

Note: Never explicitly set the Content-Length header field. Chilkat will automatically compute the correct length and add the Content-Length header to all POST, PUT, or any other request where the Content-Length needs to be specified. (GET requests always have a 0 length body, and therefore never need a Content-Length header field.)

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AddMwsSignature
Function AddMwsSignature(ByVal domain As String, ByVal mwsSecretKey As String) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.66

Computes the Amazon MWS signature using the mwsSecretKey and adds the "Signature" parameter to the request. This method should be called for all Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) HTTP requests. It should be called after all request parameters have been added.

Important: The Chilkat v9.5.0.75 release accidentally breaks Amazon MWS (not AWS) authentication. If you need MWS with 9.5.0.75, send email to support@chilkatsoft.com for a hotfix, or revert back to v9.5.0.73, or update to a version after 9.5.0.75.

The domain should be the domain of the request, such as one of the following:

  • mws.amazonservices.com
  • mws-eu.amazonservices.com
  • mws.amazonservices.in
  • mws.amazonservices.com.cn
  • mws.amazonservices.jp

Note: This method automatically adds or replaces the existing Timestamp parameter to the current system date/time.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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AddParam
Sub AddParam(ByVal name As String, ByVal value As String)

Adds a request query parameter (name/value pair) to the HTTP request. The name and value strings passed to this method should not be URL encoded.

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AddStringForUpload
Function AddStringForUpload(ByVal name As String, ByVal filename As String, ByVal strData As String, ByVal charset As String) As Boolean

Same as AddFileForUpload, but the upload data comes from an in-memory string instead of a file.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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AddStringForUpload2
Function AddStringForUpload2(ByVal name As String, ByVal filename As String, ByVal strData As String, ByVal charset As String, ByVal contentType As String) As Boolean

Same as AddStringForUpload, but allows the Content-Type header field to be directly specified. (Otherwise, the Content-Type header is automatically determined based on the filename's file extension.)

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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AddSubHeader
Function AddSubHeader(ByVal index As Integer, ByVal name As String, ByVal value As String) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.55

Adds a request header to the Nth sub-header of the HTTP request. If a header having the same field name is already present, this method replaces it.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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GenerateRequestFile
Function GenerateRequestFile(ByVal path As String) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.64

The same as GenerateRequestText, except the generated request is written to the file specified by path.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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GenerateRequestText
Function GenerateRequestText() As String

Returns the request text that would be sent if Http.SynchronousRequest was called.

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetHeaderField
Function GetHeaderField(ByVal name As String) As String

Returns the value of a request header field.

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetHeaderName
Function GetHeaderName(ByVal index As Integer) As String

Returns the Nth request header field name. Indexing begins at 0, and the number of request header fields is specified by the NumHeaderFields property.

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetHeaderValue
Function GetHeaderValue(ByVal index As Integer) As String

Returns the Nth request header field value. Indexing begins at 0, and the number of request header fields is specified by the NumHeaderFields property.

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetParam
Function GetParam(ByVal name As String) As String

Returns a request query parameter value by name.

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetParamName
Function GetParamName(ByVal index As Integer) As String

Returns the Nth request query parameter field name. Indexing begins at 0, and the number of request query parameter fields is specified by the NumParams property.

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetParamValue
Function GetParamValue(ByVal index As Integer) As String

Returns the Nth request query parameter field value. Indexing begins at 0, and the number of request query parameter fields is specified by the NumParams property.

Returns Nothing on failure

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GetUrlEncodedParams
Function GetUrlEncodedParams() As String

Returns the request parameters in URL encoded form (i.e. in the exact form that would be sent if the ContentType property was application/x-www-form-urlencoded). For example, if a request has two params: param1="abc 123" and param2="abc-123", then GetUrlEncodedParams would return "abc+123

Returns Nothing on failure

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LoadBodyFromBd
Function LoadBodyFromBd(ByVal requestBody As BinData) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Uses the contents of the requestBody as the HTTP request body.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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LoadBodyFromBytes
Function LoadBodyFromBytes(ByVal byteData As Byte()) As Boolean

The HTTP protocol is such that all HTTP requests are MIME. For non-multipart requests, this method may be called to set the MIME body of the HTTP request to the exact contents of the byteData.
Note: A non-multipart HTTP request consists of (1) the HTTP start line, (2) MIME header fields, and (3) the MIME body. This method sets the MIME body.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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LoadBodyFromFile
Function LoadBodyFromFile(ByVal filePath As String) As Boolean

The HTTP protocol is such that all HTTP requests are MIME. For non-multipart requests, this method may be called to set the MIME body of the HTTP request to the exact contents of filePath.
Note: A non-multipart HTTP request consists of (1) the HTTP start line, (2) MIME header fields, and (3) the MIME body. This method sets the MIME body.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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LoadBodyFromSb
Function LoadBodyFromSb(ByVal requestBody As StringBuilder, ByVal charset As String) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.67

Uses the contents of the requestBody as the HTTP request body. The charset indicates the binary representation of the string, such as "utf-8", "utf-16", "iso-8859-*", "windows-125*", etc. Any of the character encodings supported at the link below are valid.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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LoadBodyFromString
Function LoadBodyFromString(ByVal bodyStr As String, ByVal charset As String) As Boolean

The HTTP protocol is such that all HTTP requests are MIME. For non-multipart requests, this method may be called to set the MIME body of the HTTP request to the exact contents of bodyStr.
Note: A non-multipart HTTP request consists of (1) the HTTP start line, (2) MIME header fields, and (3) the MIME body. This method sets the MIME body.

charset indicates the charset, such as "utf-8" or "iso-8859-1", to be used. The HTTP body will contain the bodyStr converted to this character encoding.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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RemoveAllParams
Sub RemoveAllParams()

Removes all request parameters.

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RemoveHeader
Function RemoveHeader(ByVal name As String) As Boolean

Removes all occurrences of a HTTP request header field. Always returns True.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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RemoveParam
Sub RemoveParam(ByVal name As String)

Removes a single HTTP request parameter by name.

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SetFromUrl
Sub SetFromUrl(ByVal url As String)

Parses a URL and sets the Path and query parameters (NumParams, GetParam, GetParamName, GetParamValue).

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StreamBodyFromFile
Function StreamBodyFromFile(ByVal filePath As String) As Boolean

Useful for sending HTTP requests where the body is a very large file. For example, to send an XML HttpRequest containing a very large XML document, one would set the HttpVerb = "POST", the ContentType = "text/xml", and then call StreamBodyFromFile to indicate that the XML body of the request is to be streamed directly from a file. When the HTTP request is actually sent, the body is streamed directly from the file, and thus the file never needs to be loaded in its entirety in memory.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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StreamChunkFromFile
Function StreamChunkFromFile(ByVal path As String, ByVal offset As String, ByVal numBytes As String) As Boolean
Introduced in version 9.5.0.55

This method is the same as StreamBodyFromFile, but allows for an offset and number of bytes to be specified. The offset and numBytes are integers passed as strings.

Returns True for success, False for failure.

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