How do I programmatically request a URL in ASP.NET?

Question

I would like the server to call a URL (an ashx page) programmatically and store the response as a string. Using HttpWebRequest doesn't seem like it will work properly because I do not want to redirect the client there.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Inside the ashx you should use Response.Redirect:

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Response.Redirect("http://www.stackoverflow.com/");

or:

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Server.Transfer("a path to a page on the same server");

At your page you can do a:

• Response.Redirect
• Server.Trasfer
• Add a Postbackurl attribute to your button
• Use a simple hyperlink

Answer 2

First, you need to define what you mean by "call":

• Should the user's browser navigate to a specific URL? use Response.Redirect()

• Should the output of your ASP.Net page include the contents of another URL? Use an iframe

• Do you want your code to retrieve the contents of another URL and process it? Use WebRequest.Create(), but be aware that the request is issues by the IIS user by default.

I thought HttpWebRequest was the "easy" way, though. What's so bad about it?

Answer 3

Response.Redirect("SomeURL");

Answer 4

There is no way to receive a response without sending a request. Use HttpWebRequest, or the simplified WebClient class.

Answer 5

You may wanna use a socket. Buts thats sounds insane. You can use the XMLHttpRequest object, you know MSXML2.XMLHttpRequest, buts thats insane again. Wht do u mean by the "not sending byte info" part...

Answer 6

If I understood you want to call another page and get the response back as string, if so, you can use WebClient class.

Exemple:

var myWebClient = new WebClient();
string resultStr = myWebCliente.DownloadString("http://www.google.com");