http - A HTTP/1.1 client

This module provides the API to a HTTP/1.1 client according to RFC 2616, however this early version is somewhat limited for instance caching is not supported.

Note:

Here follows type definitions that are used more than once in this module.

boolean() = true | false

string() = list of ASCII characters

request_id() = ref()

Here follows type definitions that are related to the HTTP protocol. For more information about the HTTP protocol see rfc 2616

 method() = head | get | put | post | trace | options | delete

 request() - {url(), headers()} |
      {url(), headers(), content_type(), body()}

 url() = string() - Syntax according to the URI definition in rfc 2396, ex: "http://www.erlang.org"

 status_line() =
      {http_version(), status_code(), reason_phrase()}

 http_version() = string() ex: "HTTP/1.1"

 status_code() = integer()

 reason_phrase() = string()

 content_type() = string()

 headers() = [{field(), value()}]

 field() = string()

 value() = string()

 body() = string() | binary()

Here follows some type definitions relevant when using https. for details ssl(3)

 ssl_options() =
      {verify, code()} | {depth, depth()} | {certfile, path()}
      | {keyfile, path()} | {password, string()} | {cacertfile, path()}
      | {ciphers, string()}

cancel_request(RequestId) -> ok

Types

RequestId = request_id() - A unique identifier as returned by request/4

Cancels an asynchronous HTTP-request.

request(Url) -> {ok, Result} | {error, Reason}

Types

Url = url()

Result = {status_line(), headers(), body()} | {status_code(), body()} | request_id()

Reason = term()

Equivalent to http:request(get, {Url, []}, [], []).

request(Method, Request, HTTPOptions, Options) -> {ok, Result} | {error, Reason}

Types

Method = method()

Request - request()

HTTPOptions - [HttpOption]

HTTPOption - {timeout, integer()} | {ssl, ssl_options()} | {autoredirect, boolean()}

autoredirect - is true by default e.i. the client will automaticly retrive the information from the new URI and return that as the result instead of a 30X-result code. Note that for some 30X-result codes automatic redirect is not allowed in these cases the 30X-result will always be returned.

Options - [option()]

Option - {sync, boolean()} | {body_format, body_format()} | {full_result, boolean()}

The request function will be synchronous and return a full http response by default.

body_format() = string() | binary()

The body_format options is only valid for the syncronus request and the defult is string, when making an asynchronous request the body will always be received as a binary.

Result = {status_line(), headers(), body()} | {status_code(), body()} | request_id()

Reason = term()

Sends a HTTP-request. The function can be both syncronus and asynchronous in the later case the function will return {ok, RequestId} and later on a message will be sent to the calling process on the format {http, {RequestId, Result}} or {http, {RequestId, {error, Reason}}}.

set_options(Options) -> ok

Types

Options = [Option]

Option = {proxy, {Proxy, NoProxy}} | {max_sessions, MaxSessions} | {max_pipeline_length, MaxPipeline} | {pipeline_timeout, PipelineTimeout} | {cookies | CookieMode} | {ipv6, Ipv6Mode}

Proxy = {Hostname, Port}

Hostname = string()

ex: "localhost" or "foo.bar.se"

Port = integer()

ex: 8080

NoProxy = [NoProxyDesc]

NoProxyDesc = DomainDesc | HostName | IPDesc

DomainDesc = "*.Domain"

ex: "*.ericsson.se"

IpDesc = string()

ex: "134.138" or "[FEDC:BA98" (all IP-adresses starting with 134.138 or FEDC:BA98), "66.35.250.150" or "[2010:836B:4179::836B:4179]" (a compleat IP-address).

MaxSessions = integer()

Maximum number of persistent connections to a host.Default is 2.

MaxPipeline = integer()

Maximum number of outstanding requests on the same connection to a host. Default is 2.

PipelineTimeout = integer()

If a persistant connection is idle longer than the pipeline_timeout the client will close the connection. Default is 0. The server may also have a such a time out but you should not count on it!

CookieMode = enabled | disabled | verify

Default is disabled. If Cookies are enabled all valid cookies will automaticly be saved in the client managers cookie database. If the option verify is used the function http:verify_cookie/2 has to be called for the cookie to be saved.

ipv6Mode = enabled | disabled

By default enabled. This should normally be what you want. When it is enabled you can use both ipv4 and ipv6. The option is here to provide a workaround for buggy ipv6 stacks to ensure that ipv4 will always work.

Sets options to be used for subsequent requests. Later implementations may support user profiles, but currently these are global settings for all clients running on the same erlang node.

Note:

RFC 2616, ssl(3)

Ingela Anderton Andin - support@erlang.ericsson.se