Detailed Description
The QHttp class provides an implementation of the HTTP protocol.
This class provides two different interfaces: one is the
QNetworkProtocol interface that allows you to use HTTP through the
QUrlOperator abstraction. The other is a direct interface to HTTP
that allows you to have more control over the requests and that
allows you to access the response header fields.
Don't mix the two interfaces, since the behavior is not
well-defined.
If you want to use QHttp with the QNetworkProtocol interface, you
do not use it directly, but rather through a QUrlOperator, for
example:
QUrlOperator op( "http://www.trolltech.com" );
op.get( "index.html" );
This code will only work if the QHttp class is registered; to
register the class, you must call qInitNetworkProtocols() before
using a QUrlOperator with HTTP.
The QNetworkProtocol interface for HTTP only supports the
operations operationGet() and operationPut(), i.e.
QUrlOperator::get() and QUrlOperator::put(), if you use it with a
QUrlOperator.
The rest of this descrption describes the direct interface to
HTTP.
The class works asynchronously, so there are no blocking
functions. If an operation cannot be executed immediately, the
function will still return straight away and the operation will be
scheduled for later execution. The results of scheduled operations
are reported via signals. This approach depends on the event loop
being in operation.
The operations that can be scheduled (they are called "requests"
in the rest of the documentation) are the following: setHost(),
get(), post(), head() and request().
All of these requests return a unique identifier that allows you
to keep track of the request that is currently executed. When the
execution of a request starts, the requestStarted() signal with
the identifier is emitted and when the request is finished, the
requestFinished() signal is emitted with the identifier and a bool
that indicates if the request finished with an error.
To make an HTTP request you must set up suitable HTTP headers. The
following example demonstrates, how to request the main HTML page
from the Trolltech home page (i.e. the URL
http://www.trolltech.com/index.html):
QHttpRequestHeader header( "GET", "/index.html" );
header.setValue( "Host", "www.trolltech.com" );
http->setHost( "www.trolltech.com" );
http->request( header );
For the common HTTP requests GET, POST and HEAD, QHttp
provides the convenience functions get(), post() and head(). They
already use a reasonable header and if you don't have to set
special header fields, they are easier to use. The above example
can also be written as:
http->setHost( "www.trolltech.com" ); // id == 1
http->get( "/index.html" ); // id == 2
For this example the following sequence of signals is emitted
(with small variations, depending on network traffic, etc.):
requestStarted( 1 )
requestFinished( 1, FALSE )
requestStarted( 2 )
stateChanged( Connecting )
stateChanged( Sending )
dataSendProgress( 77, 77 )
stateChanged( Reading )
responseHeaderReceived( responseheader )
dataReadProgress( 5388, 0 )
readyRead( responseheader )
dataReadProgress( 18300, 0 )
readyRead( responseheader )
stateChanged( Connected )
requestFinished( 2, FALSE )
done( FALSE )
stateChanged( Closing )
stateChanged( Unconnected )
The dataSendProgress() and dataReadProgress() signals in the above
example are useful if you want to show a progressbar to inform the user about the progress of the
download. The second argument is the total size of data. In
certain cases it is not possible to know the total amount in
advance, in which case the second argument is 0. (If you connect
to a QProgressBar a total of 0 results in a busy indicator.)
When the response header is read, it is reported with the
responseHeaderReceived() signal.
The readyRead() signal tells you that there is data ready to be
read. The amount of data can then be queried with the
bytesAvailable() function and it can be read with the readBlock()
or readAll() functions.
If an error occurs during the execution of one of the commands in
a sequence of commands, all the pending commands (i.e. scheduled,
but not yet executed commands) are cleared and no signals are
emitted for them.
For example, if you have the following sequence of reqeusts
http->setHost( "www.foo.bar" ); // id == 1
http->get( "/index.html" ); // id == 2
http->post( "register.html", data ); // id == 3
and the get() request fails because the host lookup fails, then
the post() request is never executed and the signals would look
like this:
requestStarted( 1 )
requestFinished( 1, FALSE )
requestStarted( 2 )
stateChanged( HostLookup )
requestFinished( 2, TRUE )
done( TRUE )
stateChanged( Unconnected )
You can then get details about the error with the error() and
errorString() functions. Note that only unexpected behaviour, like
network failure is considered as an error. If the server response
contains an error status, like a 404 response, this is reported as
a normal response case. So you should always check the status code of the
response header.
The functions currentId() and currentRequest() provide more
information about the currently executing request.
The functions hasPendingRequests() and clearPendingRequests()
allow you to query and clear the list of pending requests.
See also Qt Network Documentation, QNetworkProtocol, QUrlOperator, QFtp, and Input/Output and Networking.
Member Type Documentation
QHttp::Error
This enum identifies the error that occurred.
- QHttp::NoError - No error occurred.
- QHttp::HostNotFound - The host name lookup failed.
- QHttp::ConnectionRefused - The server refused the connection.
- QHttp::UnexpectedClose - The server closed the connection unexpectedly.
- QHttp::InvalidResponseHeader - The server sent an invalid response header.
- QHttp::WrongContentLength - The client could not read the content correctly
because an error with respect to the content length occurred.
- QHttp::Aborted - The request was aborted with abort().
- QHttp::UnknownError - An error other than those specified above
occurred.
See also error().
QHttp::State
This enum is used to specify the state the client is in:
- QHttp::Unconnected - There is no connection to the host.
- QHttp::HostLookup - A host name lookup is in progress.
- QHttp::Connecting - An attempt to connect to the host is in progress.
- QHttp::Sending - The client is sending its request to the server.
- QHttp::Reading - The client's request has been sent and the client
is reading the server's response.
- QHttp::Connected - The connection to the host is open, but the client is
neither sending a request, nor waiting for a response.
- QHttp::Closing - The connection is closing down, but is not yet
closed. (The state will be Unconnected when the connection is
closed.)
See also stateChanged() and state().
Member Function Documentation
QHttp::QHttp ()
Constructs a QHttp object.
QHttp::QHttp ( QObject * parent, const char * name = 0 )
Constructs a QHttp object. The parameters parent and name
are passed on to the QObject constructor.
QHttp::QHttp ( const QString & hostname, Q_UINT16 port = 80, QObject * parent = 0, const char * name = 0 )
Constructs a QHttp object. Subsequent requests are done by
connecting to the server hostname on port port. The
parameters parent and name are passed on to the QObject
constructor.
See also setHost().
QHttp::~QHttp () [virtual]
Destroys the QHttp object. If there is an open connection, it is
closed.
void QHttp::abort () [slot]
Aborts the current request and deletes all scheduled requests.
For the current request, the requestFinished() signal with the error argument TRUE is emitted. For all other requests that are
affected by the abort(), no signals are emitted.
Since this slot also deletes the scheduled requests, there are no
requests left and the done() signal is emitted (with the error
argument TRUE).
See also clearPendingRequests().
Q_ULONG QHttp::bytesAvailable () const
Returns the number of bytes that can be read from the response
content at the moment.
See also get(), post(), request(), readyRead(), readBlock(), and readAll().
void QHttp::clearPendingRequests ()
Deletes all pending requests from the list of scheduled requests.
This does not affect the request that is being executed. If
you want to stop this this as well, use abort().
See also hasPendingRequests() and abort().
int QHttp::closeConnection ()
Closes the connection; this is useful if you have a keep-alive
connection and want to close it.
For the requests issued with get(), post() and head(), QHttp sets
the connection to be keep-alive. You can also do this using the
header you pass to the request() function. QHttp only closes the
connection to the HTTP server if the response header requires it
to do so.
The function does not block and returns immediately. The request
is scheduled, and its execution is performed asynchronously. The
function returns a unique identifier which is passed by
requestStarted() and requestFinished().
When the request is started the requestStarted() signal is
emitted. When it is finished the requestFinished() signal is
emitted.
If you want to close the connection immediately, you have to use
abort() instead.
See also stateChanged(), abort(), requestStarted(), requestFinished(), and done().
QIODevice * QHttp::currentDestinationDevice () const
Returns the QIODevice pointer that is used as to store the data of the HTTP
request being executed. If there is no current request or if the request
does not store the data to an IO device, this function returns 0.
This function can be used to delete the QIODevice in the slot connected to
the requestFinished() signal.
See also get(), post(), and request().
int QHttp::currentId () const
Returns the identifier of the HTTP request being executed or 0 if
there is no request being executed (i.e. they've all finished).
See also currentRequest().
Returns the request header of the HTTP request being executed. If
the request is one issued by setHost() or closeConnection(), it
returns an invalid request header, i.e.
QHttpRequestHeader::isValid() returns FALSE.
See also currentId().
QIODevice * QHttp::currentSourceDevice () const
Returns the QIODevice pointer that is used as the data source of the HTTP
request being executed. If there is no current request or if the request
does not use an IO device as the data source, this function returns 0.
This function can be used to delete the QIODevice in the slot connected to
the requestFinished() signal.
See also currentDestinationDevice(), post(), and request().
void QHttp::dataReadProgress ( int done, int total ) [signal]
This signal is emitted when this object reads data from a HTTP
server to indicate the current progress of the download.
done is the amount of data that has already arrived and total is the total amount of data. It is possible that the total
amount of data that should be transferred cannot be determined, in
which case total is 0.(If you connect to a QProgressBar, the
progress bar shows a busy indicator if the total is 0).
Warning: done and total are not necessarily the size in
bytes, since for large files these values might need to be
"scaled" to avoid overflow.
See also dataSendProgress(), get(), post(), request(), and QProgressBar::progress.
void QHttp::dataSendProgress ( int done, int total ) [signal]
This signal is emitted when this object sends data to a HTTP
server to inform it about the progress of the upload.
done is the amount of data that has already arrived and total is the total amount of data. It is possible that the total
amount of data that should be transferred cannot be determined, in
which case total is 0.(If you connect to a QProgressBar, the
progress bar shows a busy indicator if the total is 0).
Warning: done and total are not necessarily the size in
bytes, since for large files these values might need to be
"scaled" to avoid overflow.
See also dataReadProgress(), post(), request(), and QProgressBar::progress.
void QHttp::done ( bool error ) [signal]
This signal is emitted when the last pending request has finished;
(it is emitted after the last request's requestFinished() signal).
error is TRUE if an error occurred during the processing;
otherwise error is FALSE.
See also requestFinished(), error(), and errorString().
Error QHttp::error () const
Returns the last error that occurred. This is useful to find out
what happened when receiving a requestFinished() or a done()
signal with the error argument TRUE.
If you start a new request, the error status is reset to NoError.
QString QHttp::errorString () const
Returns a human-readable description of the last error that
occurred. This is useful to present a error message to the user
when receiving a requestFinished() or a done() signal with the error argument TRUE.
int QHttp::get ( const QString & path, QIODevice * to = 0 )
Sends a get request for path to the server set by setHost() or
as specified in the constructor.
path must be an absolute path like /index.html or an
absolute URI like http://www.trolltech.com/index.html.
If the IO device to is 0 the readyRead() signal is emitted
every time new content data is available to read.
If the IO device to is not 0, the content data of the response
is written directly to the device. Make sure that the to
pointer is valid for the duration of the operation (it is safe to
delete it when the requestFinished() signal is emitted).
The function does not block and returns immediately. The request
is scheduled, and its execution is performed asynchronously. The
function returns a unique identifier which is passed by
requestStarted() and requestFinished().
When the request is started the requestStarted() signal is
emitted. When it is finished the requestFinished() signal is
emitted.
See also setHost(), post(), head(), request(), requestStarted(), requestFinished(), and done().
bool QHttp::hasPendingRequests () const
Returns TRUE if there are any requests scheduled that have not yet
been executed; otherwise returns FALSE.
The request that is being executed is not considered as a
scheduled request.
See also clearPendingRequests(), currentId(), and currentRequest().
int QHttp::head ( const QString & path )
Sends a header request for path to the server set by setHost()
or as specified in the constructor.
path must be an absolute path like /index.html or an
absolute URI like http://www.trolltech.com/index.html.
The function does not block and returns immediately. The request
is scheduled, and its execution is performed asynchronously. The
function returns a unique identifier which is passed by
requestStarted() and requestFinished().
When the request is started the requestStarted() signal is
emitted. When it is finished the requestFinished() signal is
emitted.
See also setHost(), get(), post(), request(), requestStarted(), requestFinished(), and done().
int QHttp::post ( const QString & path, QIODevice * data, QIODevice * to = 0 )
Sends a post request for path to the server set by setHost() or
as specified in the constructor.
path must be an absolute path like /index.html or an
absolute URI like http://www.trolltech.com/index.html.
The incoming data comes via the data IO device.
If the IO device to is 0 the readyRead() signal is emitted
every time new content data is available to read.
If the IO device to is not 0, the content data of the response
is written directly to the device. Make sure that the to
pointer is valid for the duration of the operation (it is safe to
delete it when the requestFinished() signal is emitted).
The function does not block and returns immediately. The request
is scheduled, and its execution is performed asynchronously. The
function returns a unique identifier which is passed by
requestStarted() and requestFinished().
When the request is started the requestStarted() signal is
emitted. When it is finished the requestFinished() signal is
emitted.
See also setHost(), get(), head(), request(), requestStarted(), requestFinished(), and done().
int QHttp::post ( const QString & path, const QByteArray & data, QIODevice * to = 0 )
This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It behaves essentially like the above function.
data is used as the content data of the HTTP request.
Reads all the bytes from the response content and returns them.
See also get(), post(), request(), readyRead(), bytesAvailable(), and readBlock().
Q_LONG QHttp::readBlock ( char * data, Q_ULONG maxlen )
Reads maxlen bytes from the response content into data and
returns the number of bytes read. Returns -1 if an error occurred.
See also get(), post(), request(), readyRead(), bytesAvailable(), and readAll().
void QHttp::readyRead ( const QHttpResponseHeader & resp ) [signal]
This signal is emitted when there is new response data to read.
If you specified a device in the request where the data should be
written to, then this signal is not emitted; instead the data
is written directly to the device.
The response header is passed in resp.
You can read the data with the readAll() or readBlock() functions
This signal is useful if you want to process the data in chunks as
soon as it becomes available. If you are only interested in the
complete data, just connect to the requestFinished() signal and
read the data then instead.
See also get(), post(), request(), readAll(), readBlock(), and bytesAvailable().
Sends a request to the server set by setHost() or as specified in
the constructor. Uses the header as the HTTP request header.
You are responsible for setting up a header that is appropriate
for your request.
The incoming data comes via the data IO device.
If the IO device to is 0 the readyRead() signal is emitted
every time new content data is available to read.
If the IO device to is not 0, the content data of the response
is written directly to the device. Make sure that the to
pointer is valid for the duration of the operation (it is safe to
delete it when the requestFinished() signal is emitted).
The function does not block and returns immediately. The request
is scheduled, and its execution is performed asynchronously. The
function returns a unique identifier which is passed by
requestStarted() and requestFinished().
When the request is started the requestStarted() signal is
emitted. When it is finished the requestFinished() signal is
emitted.
See also setHost(), get(), post(), head(), requestStarted(), requestFinished(), and done().
This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It behaves essentially like the above function.
data is used as the content data of the HTTP request.
void QHttp::requestFinished ( int id, bool error ) [signal]
This signal is emitted when processing the request identified by
id has finished. error is TRUE if an error occurred during
the processing; otherwise error is FALSE.
See also requestStarted(), done(), error(), and errorString().
void QHttp::requestStarted ( int id ) [signal]
This signal is emitted when processing the request identified by
id starts.
See also requestFinished() and done().
void
This signal is emitted when the HTTP header of a server response
is available. The header is passed in resp.
See also get(), post(), head(), request(), and readyRead().
int QHttp::setHost ( const QString & hostname, Q_UINT16 port = 80 )
Sets the HTTP server that is used for requests to hostname on
port port.
The function does not block and returns immediately. The request
is scheduled, and its execution is performed asynchronously. The
function returns a unique identifier which is passed by
requestStarted() and requestFinished().
When the request is started the requestStarted() signal is
emitted. When it is finished the requestFinished() signal is
emitted.
See also get(), post(), head(), request(), requestStarted(), requestFinished(), and done().
State QHttp::state () const
Returns the current state of the object. When the state changes,
the stateChanged() signal is emitted.
See also State and stateChanged().
void QHttp::stateChanged ( int state ) [signal]
This signal is emitted when the state of the QHttp object changes.
The argument state is the new state of the connection; it is
one of the State values.
This usually happens when a request is started, but it can also
happen when the server closes the connection or when a call to
closeConnection() succeeded.
See also get(), post(), head(), request(), closeConnection(), state(), and State.
This file is part of the Qt toolkit.
Copyright © 1995-2003
Trolltech. All Rights Reserved.
