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HttpWebRequest/Response in a Nutshell - Part 2 - Extending the Web

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30 Mar 2007CPOL 37K   26   3
After Part 1 - The basics - We will try to extend our application.

Introduction

Ok, now that we've created our HttpWebRequest/Response program, we're going to extend that with XML (eXtensible Markup Language).

Why XML?

Because XML is becoming (if it isn't already) the (web)standard for exchanging data. As developers, we'd like to know how it works, isn't it? :)

Anyhow, this time we're going to create a little RSS reader (command line).

Using the Code

Ok, first, if you don't know about HttpWebRequest/Response yet, visit part 1.
So, we'll start off with some code:

C#
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Net;
using System.Xml;
using System.IO;

namespace RSS_reader
{
    class MainClass
    {
        
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            if (args.Length < 1 || args.Length > 1)
            {
                Console.Write(string.Format
		("Usage: {0} RSS-site{1}Example: {0} 
		http://www.codeproject.com/webservices/articlerss.aspx?cat=1",
                  "RSS-reader.exe",
                  Environment.NewLine));
                return;
            } else {
                HttpWebRequest WebReq = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(args[0]);
                WebReq.Method = "GET";
                HttpWebResponse WebResp = (HttpWebResponse)WebReq.GetResponse();
                if (WebResp.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.OK)
                {
                    Stream Answer = WebResp.GetResponseStream();
                    XmlTextReader response = new XmlTextReader(Answer);
                    while (response.Read())
                    {
                        switch (response.NodeType)
                        {
                            case XmlNodeType.Element:
                                if (response.Name == "title" ||
                                    response.Name == "description" ||
                                    response.Name == "link" ||
                                    response.Name == "author")
                                {
                                    string t = response.Name;
                                    response.Read();
                                    Console.WriteLine(string.Format("{0}: {1}", 
					t, response.Value));
                                }
                                
                                break;
                        }
                    }
                    response.Close();
                } else
                {
                    Console.Write(string.Format("Error, wrong statuscode: {0}", 
				WebResp.StatusCode.ToString()));
                }
                Console.Read();
            }
        }
    }
}

Ok, I admit, it's VERY basic, but it kind of shows how it's easy to implement XML in your HTTP-oriented program. I'll be extending this article soon though.

History

  • 31-03-2007 01:00 (local time - Belgium) Started writing document
  • 31-03-2007 01:33 (local time - Belgium) Stopped writing document, this is v0.1

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Belgium Belgium
Started coding at age of 12 (approx.) started out with pascal, went to Delphi, and from Delphi to BC++ (all in one year), did several years with BC++, and later on started to learn some html, php, mysql... Now more into C#, python, php.
Current age: 17

Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionWhat about posting XML data? Pin
Tom Wright25-Sep-08 9:22
Tom Wright25-Sep-08 9:22 
GeneralBroken link to Part 1 Pin
Peter Mortensen16-Apr-08 23:12
Peter Mortensen16-Apr-08 23:12 
GeneralRe: Broken link to Part 1 Pin
Peter Mortensen16-Apr-08 23:15
Peter Mortensen16-Apr-08 23:15 

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