How to make an HTTP request to an HTTP-based service in C#

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A minimalist explanation as follows.

1. Create the HTTP Web Request

Create the WebRequest object from the from the Universal Resource Identifier (URI) you supply eg

const string Url = "http://www.microsoft.com";
var webRequest = WebRequest.Create(Url);

2. Send the HTTP request and wait for the response

var responseStream = webRequest.GetResponse().GetResponseStream();

3. Create a StreamReader object

The StreamReader object is used to read back the text characters from the HTTP response:

I use the ‘using’ statement as a convenient means of ensure the object is subsequently disposed.

using(var streamReader = new StreamReader(responseStream))
{
   // Return next available character or -1 if there are no characters to be read
   while (streamReader.Peek() > -1)
   {
      Console.WriteLine(streamReader.ReadLine());
   }               
}

Complete code listing:

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;

namespace GetRequest
{
   internal class Program
   {
      private static void Main(string[] args)
      {
         // Create the http request
         const string Url = "http://www.microsoft.com";
         var webRequest = WebRequest.Create(Url);

         // Send the http request and wait for the response
         var responseStream = webRequest.GetResponse().GetResponseStream();

         // Displays the response stream text
         if (responseStream != null)
         {
            using(var streamReader = new StreamReader(responseStream))
            {
               // Return next available character or -1 if there are no characters to be read
               while (streamReader.Peek() > -1)
               {
                  Console.WriteLine(streamReader.ReadLine());
               }
            }
         }

         Console.ReadLine();
      }
   }
}

Giving the following console output:

httprequest1

4. Using timeouts

To do this set the Timeout property on the WebRequest object. To demonstrate I have set this value deliberately low, not giving the web request the chance to get the HTTP reponse:

webRequest.Timeout = 1;

Example implementation:

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;

namespace GetRequest
{
   internal class Program
   {
      private static void Main(string[] args)
      {
         // Create the http request
         const string Url = "http://www.microsoft.com";
         var webRequest = WebRequest.Create(Url);
         webRequest.Timeout = 1;

         try
         {
            // Send the http request and wait for the response
            var responseStream = webRequest.GetResponse().GetResponseStream();

            // Displays the response stream text
            if (responseStream != null)
            {
               using(var streamReader = new StreamReader(responseStream))
               {
                  // Return next available character or -1 if there are no characters to be read
                  while (streamReader.Peek() > -1)
                  {
                     Console.WriteLine(streamReader.ReadLine());
                  }
               }
            }

            Console.ReadLine();
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
            Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
         }
      }
   }
}

Giving the following output:

httprequest2