GET via URLConnection?

[marc spoon]

Hi all!
is it possible to send a GET or HEAD request via URLConnection?
(plz don�t tell me to use a socket ;-))
i tried the following code, but i don�t get any response from the Server. Can someone plz help?

URL url;
URLConnection conn;
String s = "http://blabla.com", filename = "/index.html", line;
InputStream sin;
BufferedReader fromServer;
OutputStream sout;
PrintWriter toServer;
try
{
url = new URL(s);
conn = url.openConnection();
conn.setDoInput(true);
conn.setDoOutput(true);
sin = conn.getInputStream();
fromServer = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(sin));
sout = conn.getOutputStream();
toServer = new PrintWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(sout));
toServer.print("HEAD " + filename + " HTTP/1.0\n\n");
toServer.flush();
while(true)
{
line = fromServer.readLine();
System.out.println(line);
}
} catch (IOException ioe) {}

[Peter den Haan]

No. The URLConnection encapsulates the protocol and will make the request for you. You are trying to use it as if it were a Socket so.
The javadoc for URLConnection outlines the steps taken in setting up a connection:

• The connection object is created by invoking the openConnection method on a URL.
• The setup parameters and general request properties are manipulated.
• The actual connection to the remote object is made, using the connect method.
• The remote object becomes available. The header fields and the contents of the remote object can be accessed.
What you want to do is manipulate the URLConnection's request parameters in the second step. To do this, first cast the connection to a HttpURLConnection. By default, a HttpURLConnection will use a GET request. If you call setDoOutput(true), it defaults to a POST request. You can invoke other methods by calling setRequestMethod(String) - supported are GET POST HEAD OPTIONS PUT DELETE and TRACE. The actual file you request is determined by the URL - I don't think you can start with a "http://blabla.com" URL and add a filename separately later as you're trying to do.
Once you've set up the request, simply connect() and get the input and/or output streams, or call getContent() for a higher-level representation of the response (using content handlers).
- Peter
[This message has been edited by Peter den Haan (edited December 15, 2001).]

[marc spoon]

muchas gracias Peter!