[RESOLVED] HTTP query

[LuxCoder]

Hi,

I have a http command to query the number of SMS left in my account. When i hit the following address in the address bar i get the result as 'Your balance is 642' in the web page.

http://www.mlmsms.in/balancecheck.ph...=your_password

I am using the following code to extract this information and use it in my project but somehow cannot figure out why i am not getting the result in 'Label19'. Please Help!

Dim url As New System.Uri("http://www.mlmsms.in/balancecheck.php?username=your_username&password=your_password")
            'Request for request
            Dim req As System.Net.WebRequest
            req = System.Net.WebRequest.Create(url)
            Dim resp As System.Net.WebResponse
            Try
                resp = req.GetResponse()
                Me.Label19.Text = resp.ToString
                resp.Close()

                req = Nothing
            Catch ex As Exception
                req = Nothing
            End Try

[gep13]

Hey,

The website that you are using puts your username and password in the QueryString?!?! I find that hard to believe?!? This would be a very insecure way to do things!!

Have you stepped through your code in the debugger? Are there any exceptions? If so, what are they?

Gary

[LuxCoder]

Hi,

Yes thats how the SMS service provider has given the syntax to query the remaining balance using http. All i want is to extract the result and convert it to string. There is no exception however i get " System.Net.HttpWebResponse" in label19.text.

How can i get the result in label19.text as the one in webpage?

[gep13]

Hey,

This is because ToString is returning the Type of the class you are using, not the contents of it. You are going to need to read the Stream information that has come down with the response.

Have a look at the link in my signature, Compressed HttpWebRequest, it is specifically for using a compressed request/response, but the code is the similar for what you are trying to do.

Hope that helps!

Gary

[LuxCoder]

Thanks GEP,

It works well but it seems to take lot of time even on my broadband connection.. is there a faster way to do this??

[gep13]

Hey,

Can you show the final code that you are using? Also, how long are we talking about here?

Does it take a long time if you browse to the url directly in your browser?

Gary

[LuxCoder]

i am using the following:

Public Function GetUrl(ByVal Url As String, ByVal PostData As String, ByVal GZip As Boolean) As String
        Dim Http As HttpWebRequest = WebRequest.Create(Url)
        If GZip = True Then
            Http.Headers.Add(HttpRequestHeader.AcceptEncoding, "gzip,deflate")
        End If
 
        If Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(PostData) Then
            Http.Method = "POST"
            Dim lbPostBuffer As Byte() = Encoding.Default.GetBytes(PostData)
 
            Http.ContentLength = lbPostBuffer.Length
 
            Using PostStream As Stream = Http.GetRequestStream()
                PostStream.Write(lbPostBuffer, 0, lbPostBuffer.Length)
            End Using
        End If
 
        Using WebResponse As HttpWebResponse = Http.GetResponse()
 
            Dim responseStream As Stream = WebResponse.GetResponseStream()
 
            If (WebResponse.ContentEncoding.ToLower().Contains("gzip")) Then
                responseStream = New GZipStream(responseStream, CompressionMode.Decompress)
            ElseIf (WebResponse.ContentEncoding.ToLower().Contains("deflate")) Then
                responseStream = New DeflateStream(responseStream, CompressionMode.Decompress)
            End If
 
            Dim reader As StreamReader = New StreamReader(responseStream, Encoding.Default)
 
            Dim html As String = reader.ReadToEnd()
 
            responseStream.Close()
            Return html
        End Using
 
    End Function

And for calling the result:

Private Sub Button7_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button7.Click
        Me.Button7.Text = GetUrl("http://www.mlmsms.in/balancecheck.php?username=username&password=password", String.Empty, True)
    End Sub

Something needs to be changed?

No, it doesn't take more than a second or two when using browser.

[gep13]

Hey,

Ok, so assuming the website isn't using compressed headers, try the following:

Me.Button7.Text = GetUrl("http://www.mlmsms.in/balancecheck.php?username=username&password=password", String.Empty, False)

Gary