Web-page data into the application
You can replicate the request the website makes to get a list of relevant numbers. The following code might be a good start.
var httpRequest = (HttpWebRequest) WebRequest.Create("<url>");
httpRequest.Method = "POST";
httpRequest.Accept = "application/json";
string postData = "{<json payload>}";
using (var streamWriter = new StreamWriter(httpRequest.GetRequestStream())) {
streamWriter.Write(postData);
}
var httpResponse = (HttpWebResponse) httpRequest.GetResponse();
string result;
using (var streamReader = new StreamReader(httpResponse.GetResponseStream())) {
result = streamReader.ReadToEnd();
}
Console.WriteLine(result);
Now, for the <url> and <json payload> values:
Open the web inspector in your browser.
Go to the Network tab.
Set it so Fetch/XHR/AJAX requests are shown.
Refresh the page.
Look for a request that you want to replicate.
Copy the request URL.
Copy the Payload (JSON data, to use it in your code you'll have to add a \ before every ")
Side note: The owner of the website you are making automated requests to might not be very happy about your tool, and you/it might be blocked if it makes too many requests in a short time.
I have an Infopath Form Template on Sharepoint, I want to add a button there so when the user clicks on it, it will POST an string to the following Web API. The following web API is tested and returns an excel file as shown:
I want to Post the FileName of the excel file using post request and it is important for me the request method to be POST type. and then the user will download a file with the specified 'FileName'.
Actually i want to use post method because at the next stage i will send the content of the excel file too.
Important Note: I only can use .Net FrameWork 3.5 because this is the only framework supported in InfoPath Form Templates.
[HttpPost]
public HttpResponseMessage Post([FromBody]string FileName)
{
string reqBook = "c:\somefile.xlsx";
//converting Excel(xlsx) file into bytes array
var dataBytes = File.ReadAllBytes(reqBook);
//adding bytes to memory stream
var dataStream = new MemoryStream(dataBytes);
HttpResponseMessage httpResponseMessage = Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK);
httpResponseMessage.Content = new StreamContent(dataStream);
httpResponseMessage.Content.Headers.ContentDisposition = new System.Net.Http.Headers.ContentDispositionHeaderValue("attachment");
httpResponseMessage.Content.Headers.ContentDisposition.FileName = FileName;
httpResponseMessage.Content.Headers.ContentType = new System.Net.Http.Headers.MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/octet-stream");
return httpResponseMessage;
}
When you perform the HttpPost on the client side, you will want to read the HttpResponseStream to get the byte data of the response stream.
Once you have the response stream data, you can then deserialize it to the type of object in C# you want, or you could alternatively just write it to the disk as
File.WriteAllBytes("someexcel.xlsx",data);
An easy way to do it would be with the HttpClient class.
HttpClient client = new HttpClient();
var response = client.PostAsync("", null).Result;
var content = response.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync().Result;
File.WriteAllBytes("excel.xlsx", content);
Just fill in the PostAsync bit with the Url and the content you wish to post.
I am using .Result to keep everything synchronous - but you can use 'await' if you prefer.
If you are working with HttpWebRequests - then the process becomes more complicated, as you need to manage the streams yourself.
The HttpClient will manage and handle it all for you - so I recommend it, unless there is something special it needs to do that it currently does not.
Due to your .Net 3.5 requirement:
private static HttpWebResponse MakeRequest(string url, string postArgument)
{
HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(url);
request.Method = "POST";
request.ContentType = "multipart/form-data;";
Stream stream = request.GetRequestStream();
string result = string.Format("arg1={0}", postArgument);
byte[] value = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(result);
stream.Write(value, 0, value.Length);
stream.Close();
return (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();
}
You can then do:
var response = MakeRequest("http://mywebsite.com/ProcessExcel", "accounts.xlsx");
And then do
Stream objStream = response .GetResponseStream();
BinaryReader breader = new BinaryReader(objStream);
byte[] data= breader.ReadBytes((int)webresponse.ContentLength);
File.WriteAllBytes("excel.xlsx",data);
I want to make an Http Post and get response from Windows Phone App...Here is how I would have done it in ASP.net.
string strUrl = "http://.....";
WebRequest request = HttpWebRequest.Create(strUrl);
HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();
Stream s = (Stream)response.GetResponseStream();
StreamReader readStream = new StreamReader( s );
string dataString = readStream.ReadToEnd();
response.Close();
s.Close();
readStream.Close();
But I cannot do this as it gives an error that GetResponse method cannot be Used in Silverlight Project. What is an alternative to this and how do I do it?
Most methods that cause blocking behaviour have been eliminated from the WP/Silverlight APIs (the idea here is not to give the developer any opportunity to inadvertently lock up the UI).
Synchronous IO falls into this category.
You need to rewrite your method using async methods:
public async Task<SomeReturnType> MyMethod()
{
//...
HttpWebResponse response =
(HttpWebResponse)(await request.GetResponseAsync());
//...
}
I POST to website's JSON-response URL using WebBrowser.Navigate().
All goes well, including the webBrowser1_DocumentCompleted() event handler being called.
But instead of getting a "quiet" response (e.g. webBrowser1.Document) that I can handle programmatically, I receive a File Download dialog box:
If I click the Save button and later examine the file, it contains exactly the JSON response that I expect.
But I want the program capture this JSON response in-code, without displaying that dialog and having to click the Save button.
How do I capture JSON response using WebBrowser control?
Note: before posting this question I searched SO and all I found was a similar question for which the accepted answer doesn't really explain how to do this (I'm already handling webBrowser1_DocumentCompleted). Any tips?
Update: All my searches so far yielded nothing in regard to using WebBrowser control to fetch JSON responses. Perhaps I am approaching this completely wrong? What am I missing?
Don't use WebBrowser for JSON communication. Use WebRequest instead:
//
// EXAMPLE OF LOGIN REQUEST
//
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Net;
using System.IO;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Create a request using a URL that can receive a post.
WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create("http://getting-started.postaffiliatepro.com/scripts/server.php");
// Set the Method property of the request to POST.
request.Method = "POST";
// Create POST data and convert it to a byte array.
//WRITE JSON DATA TO VARIABLE D
string postData = "D={\"requests\":[{\"C\":\"Gpf_Auth_Service\", \"M\":\"authenticate\", \"fields\":[[\"name\",\"value\"],[\"Id\",\"\"],[\"username\",\"user#example.com\"],[\"password\",\"ab9ce908\"],[\"rememberMe\",\"Y\"],[\"language\",\"en-US\"],[\"roleType\",\"M\"]]}], \"C\":\"Gpf_Rpc_Server\", \"M\":\"run\"}";
byte[] byteArray = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(postData);
// Set the ContentType property of the WebRequest.
request.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
// Set the ContentLength property of the WebRequest.
request.ContentLength = byteArray.Length;
// Get the request stream.
Stream dataStream = request.GetRequestStream();
// Write the data to the request stream.
dataStream.Write(byteArray, 0, byteArray.Length);
// Close the Stream object.
dataStream.Close();
// Get the response.
WebResponse response = request.GetResponse();
// Display the status.
// Console.WriteLine(((HttpWebResponse)response).StatusDescription);
// Get the stream containing content returned by the server.
dataStream = response.GetResponseStream();
// Open the stream using a StreamReader for easy access.
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(dataStream);
// Read the content.
string responseFromServer = reader.ReadToEnd();
// Display the content.
Console.WriteLine(responseFromServer);
// Clean up the streams.
reader.Close();
dataStream.Close();
response.Close();
}
}
}
You can find more details in this C# .NET communication with API article and this thread.
I have the same problem as Scatmoi but I can't use a web request due to login requirements. I tried to modify the answer above to see if I could get the login authentication to pass but no luck.
-UPDATE-
I just found the solution that will work for me. See the following link for more info but just in case I have pasted the answer here. http://www.codeproject.com/Tips/216175/View-JSON-in-Internet-Explorer
Need to view JSON responses in IE?
1.Open Notepad and paste the following:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00;
; Tell IE 7,8,9,10 to open JSON documents in the browser on Windows XP and later.
; 25336920-03F9-11cf-8FD0-00AA00686F13 is the CLSID for the "Browse in place" .
;
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MIME\Database\Content Type\application/json]
"CLSID"="{25336920-03F9-11cf-8FD0-00AA00686F13}"
"Encoding"=hex:08,00,00,00
2.Save document as IE-Json.reg and then run it.
Note: This has been tested on Windows XP and Windows 7 using IE 7, 8, 9, 10.
Above solution was missing two things, and below code should work in every situation:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
;
; Tell IE to open JSON documents in the browser.
; 25336920-03F9-11cf-8FD0-00AA00686F13 is the CLSID for the "Browse in place" .
;
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MIME\Database\Content Type\application/json]
"CLSID"="{25336920-03F9-11cf-8FD0-00AA00686F13}"
"Encoding"=hex:08,00,00,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MIME\Database\Content Type\application/x-json]
"CLSID"="{25336920-03F9-11cf-8FD0-00AA00686F13}"
"Encoding"=hex:08,00,00,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MIME\Database\Content Type\text/json]
"CLSID"="{25336920-03F9-11cf-8FD0-00AA00686F13}"
"Encoding"=hex:08,00,00,00
Just save it file json.reg, and run to modify your registry.
As a extention to gadildafissh's and Tomasz Maj's awnser, this can be done programmatically.
There is only one drawback, this has to be done with administrator privileges.
My example is for a 32 bit application on a 64 bit device.
private bool SetRegistery()
{
try
{
using (var hklm = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.ClassesRoot, RegistryView.Registry64))
{
using (RegistryKey key = hklm.OpenSubKey(#"MIME\Database\Content Type\application/json", true))
{
if (key != null)
{
key.SetValue("CLSID", "{25336920-03F9-11cf-8FD0-00AA00686F13}");
key.SetValue("Encoding", new byte[] { 0x80, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00 });
}
}
}
return true;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
return false;
}
Although i can grasp the concepts of the .Net framework and windows apps, i want to create an app that will involve me simulating website clicks and getting data/response times from that page. I have not had any experience with web yet as im only a junior, could someone explain to me (in english!!) the basic concepts or with examples, the different ways and classes that could help me communicate with a website?
what do you want to do?
send a request and grab the response in a String so you can process?
HttpWebRequest and HttpWebResponse will work
if you need to connect through TCP/IP, FTP or other than HTTP then you need to use a more generic method
WebRequest and WebResponse
All the 4 methods above are in System.Net Namespace
If you want to build a Service in the web side that you can consume, then today and in .NET please choose and work with WCF (RESTfull style).
hope it helps you finding your way :)
as an example using the HttpWebRequest and HttpWebResponse, maybe some code will help you understand better.
case: send a response to a URL and get the response, it's like clicking in the URL and grab all the HTML code that will be there after the click:
private void btnSendRequest_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
textBox1.Text = "";
try
{
String queryString = "user=myUser&pwd=myPassword&tel=+123456798&msg=My message";
byte[] requestByte = Encoding.Default.GetBytes(queryString);
// build our request
WebRequest webRequest = WebRequest.Create("http://www.sendFreeSMS.com/");
webRequest.Method = "POST";
webRequest.ContentType = "application/xml";
webRequest.ContentLength = requestByte.Length;
// create our stram to send
Stream webDataStream = webRequest.GetRequestStream();
webDataStream.Write(requestByte, 0, requestByte.Length);
// get the response from our stream
WebResponse webResponse = webRequest.GetResponse();
webDataStream = webResponse.GetResponseStream();
// convert the result into a String
StreamReader webResponseSReader = new StreamReader(webDataStream);
String responseFromServer = webResponseSReader.ReadToEnd().Replace("\n", "").Replace("\t", "");
// close everything
webResponseSReader.Close();
webResponse.Close();
webDataStream.Close();
// You now have the HTML in the responseFromServer variable, use it :)
textBox1.Text = responseFromServer;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
textBox1.Text = ex.Message;
}
}
The code does not work cause the URL is fictitious, but you get the idea. :)
You could use the System.Net.WebClient class of the .NET Framework. See the MSDN documentation here.
Simple example:
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.IO;
public class Test
{
public static void Main (string[] args)
{
if (args == null || args.Length == 0)
{
throw new ApplicationException ("Specify the URI of the resource to retrieve.");
}
WebClient client = new WebClient ();
// Add a user agent header in case the
// requested URI contains a query.
client.Headers.Add ("user-agent", "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.2; .NET CLR 1.0.3705;)");
Stream data = client.OpenRead (args[0]);
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader (data);
string s = reader.ReadToEnd ();
Console.WriteLine (s);
data.Close ();
reader.Close ();
}
}
There are other useful methods of the WebClient, which allow developers to download and save resources from a specified URI.
The DownloadFile() method for example will download and save a resource to a local file. The UploadFile() method uploads and saves a resource to a specified URI.
UPDATE:
WebClient is simpler to use than WebRequest. Normally you could stick to using just WebClient unless you need to manipulate requests/responses in an advanced way. See this article where both are used: http://odetocode.com/Articles/162.aspx