NAME

       ne_request_create, ne_request_dispatch, ne_request_destroy - low-level HTTP request
       handling

SYNOPSIS

       #include <ne_request.h>

       ne_request *ne_request_create(ne_session *session, const char *method, const char *path);

       int ne_request_dispatch(ne_request *req);

       void ne_request_destroy(ne_request *req);

DESCRIPTION

       The ne_request object represents an HTTP request and the associated response. The
       ne_request_create function creates a new request object for the given session. The target
       resource for the request is identified by the path, and the method to be performed on that
       resource via the method parameter.

       The path string used must conform to the abs_path definition given in RFC2396, with an
       optional "?query" part, and must be URI-escaped by the caller (for instance, using
       ne_path_escape). If the string comes from an untrusted source, failure to perform
       URI-escaping results in a security vulnerability.

       To dispatch a request, and process the response, the ne_request_dispatch function can be
       used. An alternative is to use the (more complex, but more flexible) combination of the
       ne_begin_request, ne_end_request, and ne_read_response_block functions; see
       ne_begin_request.

       To add extra headers in the request, the functions ne_add_request_header and
       ne_print_request_header can be used. To include a message body with the request, one of
       the functions ne_set_request_body_buffer, ne_set_request_body_fd, or
       ne_set_request_body_provider can be used.

       The return value of ne_request_dispatch indicates merely whether the request was sent and
       the response read successfully. To discover the result of the operation, ne_get_status,
       along with any processing of the response headers and message body.

       A request can only be dispatched once: calling ne_request_dispatch more than once on a
       single ne_request object produces undefined behaviour. Once all processing associated with
       the request object is complete, use the ne_request_destroy function to destroy the
       resources associated with it. Any subsequent use of the request object produces undefined
       behaviour.

       If a request is being using a non-idempotent method such as POST, the
       NE_REQFLAG_IDEMPOTENT flag should be disabled; see ne_set_request_flag.

RETURN VALUE

       The ne_request_create function returns a pointer to a request object (and never NULL).

       The ne_request_dispatch function returns zero if the request was dispatched successfully,
       and a non-zero error code otherwise.

ERRORS

       NE_ERROR
           Request failed (see session error string)

       NE_LOOKUP
           The DNS lookup for the server (or proxy server) failed.

       NE_AUTH
           Authentication failed on the server.

       NE_PROXYAUTH
           Authentication failed on the proxy server.

       NE_CONNECT
           A connection to the server could not be established.

       NE_TIMEOUT
           A timeout occurred while waiting for the server to respond.

EXAMPLE

       An example of applying a MKCOL operation to the resource at the location
       http://www.example.com/foo/bar/:

           ne_session *sess = ne_session_create("http", "www.example.com", 80);
           ne_request *req = ne_request_create(sess, "MKCOL", "/foo/bar/");
           if (ne_request_dispatch(req)) {
              printf("Request failed: %s\n", ne_get_error(sess));
           }
           ne_request_destroy(req);

SEE ALSO

       ne_get_error, ne_set_error, ne_get_status, ne_add_request_header,
       ne_set_request_body_buffer, ne_set_request_flag.

AUTHOR

       Joe Orton <neon@lists.manyfish.co.uk>
           Author.

COPYRIGHT