How to Access the Network using ASP.NET
(aka. HTTP using ASP.NET)
by Eng. Samer Nazzal
As a web developer you need to grab the HTML content of the Web
page. The WebResponse and WebRequest Abstract classes, that
provided by the .NET Framework, can be used for accessing
information over the Network (Internet). Instances for the
WebRequest and WebResponse classes must be created via the
WebRequest class and the GetResponse() method of the WebRequest
class.
The System.Net namespace, which contains the WebResponse and
WebRequest classes that we'll be using. The System.IO namespace
is also used because we will be using the Stream and StreamReader
classes to access the response HTML.
To grab the HTML at the URL specified by the user, we need to
make an HTTP request to the URL using the WebRequest class.
1: 'Create a WebRequest
2: Dim wrRequest As WebRequest
3: wrRequest = WebRequest.Create(txtURL.Text)
On line 3, a variable of type WebRequest is created. On line 3,
this variable is instantiated, assigned to the WebRequest instance
returned by the Create method of the WebRequest.
Then we need to grab the response stream from the Web request
we just made; the WebResponse class handles this.
4: 'Get the Response from the Request
5: Dim wrResponse As WebResponse = wrRequest.GetResponse()
On line 5 a WebResponse variable is created and assigned to
the WebResponse object returned by the GetResponse() method
of the WebRequest class.
The WebRequest and WebResponse classes both have a Headers
property, which represents an instance of the WebHeaders
class. Through this property, a developer can programmatically
send request headers and iterate through the response headers.
6: 'Display the Request headers
7: LBLHTML.Text = "<b>Request Header</b><br>"
8: Dim strHeader As String
9: For Each strHeader In wrRequest.Headers
10: LBLHTML.Text += strHeader + "--" + _
11: wrRequest.Headers(strHeader) + "<br>"
12: Next
13: 'Display the Response headers
14: LBLHTML.Text += "<p><b>Response Header</b><br>"
15: For Each strHeader In wrResponse.Headers
16: LBLHTML.Text += strHeader + "--" + _
17: wrResponse.Headers(strHeader) + "<br>"
18: Next
On lines 6 through 12, the request headers are displayed using
a foreach loop. On lines 13 through 18, the response headers
are displayed in a similar fashion.
Next, we need to pick out the content from the WebResponse
variable wrResponse . The WebResponse class contains a
GetResponseStream() method, which returns a Stream object
that contains the HTML returned by the URL specified by the
WebRequest instance.
19: 'Read the Response into a stream and output the stream
20: Dim objStream As Stream = wrResponse.GetResponseStream()
21: Dim objStreamReader As StreamReader = New StreamReader(objStream)
22: LBLHTML.Text += objStreamReader.ReadToEnd()
On line 20, a Stream instance is created, objStream, and is
assigned to the Stream instance returned by the
GetResponseStream() method. To read the contents of this Stream,
we must use the StreamReader class. On line 21, a StreamReader
class is instantiated, passing the objStream variable to the
constructor. Finally, the complete contents of the Stream are
displayed on line 22 via the ReadToEnd() method of the
StreamReader object.
The Output will be:
The HTML Code:
<%@ Page Language="vb" AutoEventWireup="false"
Codebehind="SimpleIE.aspx.vb" Inherits="Articles.SimpleIE"%>
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML dir="ltr">
<HEAD>
<title>WebForm2</title>
<meta content="Microsoft Visual Studio.NET 7.0" name="GENERATOR">
<meta content="Visual Basic 7.0" name="CODE_LANGUAGE">
<meta content="JavaScript" name="vs_defaultClientScript">
</HEAD>
<body MS_POSITIONING="GridLayout">
<form id="Form1" method="post" runat="server">
<TABLE id="Table1" dir="ltr" style="Z-INDEX: 105; LEFT: 2px;
WIDTH: 731px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 2px; HEIGHT: 15px"
cellSpacing="1" cellPadding="1" width="731" align="left"
border="1">
<TR>
<TD style="HEIGHT: 3px" bgColor="ivory">
<asp:Label id="LBLAddress"
runat="server">Address</asp:Label></TD>
<TD style="WIDTH: 526px; HEIGHT: 3px" bgColor="ivory">
<asp:TextBox id="txtURL" runat="server"
Width="525px"></asp:TextBox></TD>
<TD style="HEIGHT: 3px" bgColor="ivory">
<asp:Button id="BTNSubmit" runat="server" Width="131px"
Text="Go .." Height="24px"></asp:Button></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD style="HEIGHT: 3px" colSpan="3">
<asp:Label id="LBLHTML" runat="server"
Width="721px" Height="9px"
BackColor="Transparent">Label</asp:Label></TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
</form>
</body>
</HTML>
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The Code-Behind "SimpleIE.aspx.vb":
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Net
Public Class SimpleIE
Inherits System.Web.UI.Page
Protected WithEvents txtURL As System.Web.UI.WebControls.TextBox
Protected WithEvents LBLAddress As System.Web.UI.WebControls.Label
Protected WithEvents BTNSubmit As System.Web.UI.WebControls.Button
Protected WithEvents LBLHTML As System.Web.UI.WebControls.Label
#Region " Web Form Designer Generated Code "
'This call is required by the Web Form Designer.
<System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()>
Private Sub InitializeComponent()
End Sub
Private Sub Page_Init(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Init
'CODEGEN: This method call is required by the Web Form Designer
'Do not modify it using the code editor.
InitializeComponent()
End Sub
#End Region
Private Sub BTNSubmit_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object,
ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BTNSubmit.Click
'Create a WebRequest
Dim wrRequest As WebRequest
wrRequest = WebRequest.Create(txtURL.Text)
'Get the Response from the Request
Dim wrResponse As WebResponse = wrRequest.GetResponse()
'Display the Request headers
LBLHTML.Text = "<b>Request Header</b><br>"
Dim strHeader As String
For Each strHeader In wrRequest.Headers
LBLHTML.Text += strHeader + "--" _
+ wrRequest.Headers(strHeader) + "<br>"
Next
'Display the Response headers
LBLHTML.Text += "<p><b>Response Header</b><br>"
For Each strHeader In wrResponse.Headers
LBLHTML.Text += strHeader + "--" _
+ wrResponse.Headers(strHeader) + "<br>"
Next
'Read the Response into a stream and output the stream
Dim objStream As Stream = wrResponse.GetResponseStream()
Dim objStreamReader As StreamReader = New StreamReader(objStream)
LBLHTML.Text += objStreamReader.ReadToEnd()
End Sub
End Class
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Related Info
- ASP.NET HTTP Request Sample
- Classic ASP HTTP Request Sample
- Quick Tip: Cache HTTP Requests
