HTTP::Lite(3pm) 					User Contributed Perl Documentation					   HTTP::Lite(3pm)

NAME

       HTTP::Lite - Lightweight HTTP implementation

SYNOPSIS

	   use HTTP::Lite;
	   $http = HTTP::Lite->new;
	   $req = $http->request("http://www.cpan.org/")
	       or die "Unable to get document: $!";
	   print $http->body();

DESCRIPTION

	   HTTP::Lite is a stand-alone lightweight HTTP/1.1 implementation
	   for perl.  It is not intended as a replacement for the
	   fully-features LWP module.  Instead, it is intended for use in
	   situations where it is desirable to install the minimal number of
	   modules to achieve HTTP support, or where LWP is not a good
	   candidate due to CPU overhead, such as slower processors.
	   HTTP::Lite is also significantly faster than LWP.

	   HTTP::Lite is ideal for CGI (or mod_perl) programs or for bundling
	   for redistribution with larger packages where only HTTP GET and
	   POST functionality are necessary.

	   HTTP::Lite supports basic POST and GET operations only.  As of
	   0.2.1, HTTP::Lite supports HTTP/1.1 and is compliant with the Host
	   header, necessary for name based virtual hosting.  Additionally,
	   HTTP::Lite now supports Proxies.

	   As of 2.0.0 HTTP::Lite now supports a callback to allow processing
	   of request data as it arrives.  This is useful for handling very
	   large files without consuming memory.

	   If you require more functionality, such as FTP or HTTPS, please
	   see libwwwperl (LWP).  LWP is a significantly better and more
	   comprehensive package than HTTP::Lite, and should be used instead
	   of HTTP::Lite whenever possible.

CONSTRUCTOR

       new This is the constructor for HTTP::Lite.  It presently takes no arguments.  A future version of HTTP::Lite might accept parameters.

METHODS

       request ( $url, $data_callback, $cbargs )
	   Initiates a request to the specified URL.

	   Returns undef if an I/O error is encountered, otherwise the HTTP status code will be returned.  200 series status codes represent
	   success, 300 represent temporary errors, 400 represent permanent errors, and 500 represent server errors.

	   See http://www.w3.org/Protocols/HTTP/HTRESP.html for detailled information about HTTP status codes.

	   The $data_callback parameter, if used, is a way to filter the data as it is received or to handle large transfers.  It must be a
	   function reference, and will be passed: a reference to the instance of the http request making the callback, a reference to the current
	   block of data about to be added to the body, and the $cbargs parameter (which may be anything).  It must return either a reference to
	   the data to add to the body of the document, or undef.

	   If set_callback is used, $data_callback and $cbargs are not used.  $cbargs may be either a scalar or a reference.

	   The data_callback is called as:
	     &$data_callback( $self, $dataref, $cbargs )

	   An example use to save a document to file is:

	     # Write the data to the filehandle $cbargs
	     sub savetofile {
	       my ($self,$phase,$dataref,$cbargs) = @_;
	       print $cbargs $$dataref;
	       return undef;
	     }

	     $url = "$testpath/bigbinary.dat";
	     open OUT, '>','bigbinary.dat';
	     $res = $http->request($url, &savetofile, OUT);
	     close OUT;

       set_callback ( $functionref, $dataref )
	   At various stages of the request, callbacks may be used to modify the behaviour or to monitor the status of the request.  These work
	   like the $data_callback parameter to request(), but are more verstaile.  Using set_callback disables $data_callback in request()

	   The callbacks are called as:
	     callback ( $self, $phase, $dataref, $cbargs )

	   The current phases are:

	     connect - connection has been established and headers are being
		       transmitted.

	     content-length - return value is used as the content-length.  If undef,
		       and prepare_post() was used, the content length is
		       calculated.

	     done-headers - all headers have been sent

	     content - return value is used as content and is sent to client.  Return
		       undef to use the internal content defined by prepare_post().

	     content-done - content has been successfuly transmitted.

	     data - A block of data has been received.	The data is referenced by
		       $dataref.  The return value is dereferenced and replaces the
		       content passed in.  Return undef to avoid using memory for large
		       documents.

	     done - Request is done.

       prepare_post ( $hashref )
	   Takes a reference to a hashed array of post form variables to upload.  Create the HTTP body and sets the method to POST.

       http11_mode ( 0 | 1 )
	   Turns on or off HTTP/1.1 support.  This is off by default due to broken HTTP/1.1 servers.  Use 1 to enable HTTP/1.1 support.

       add_req_header ( $header, $value )
       get_req_header ( $header )
       delete_req_header ( $header )
	   Add, Delete, or a HTTP header(s) for the request.  These functions allow you to override any header.  Presently, Host, User-Agent,
	   Content-Type, Accept, and Connection are pre-defined by the HTTP::Lite module.  You may not override Host, Connection, or Accept.

	   To provide (proxy) authentication or authorization, you would use:

	       use HTTP::Lite;
	       use MIME::Base64;
	       $http = HTTP::Lite->new;
	       $encoded = encode_base64('username:password');
	       $http->add_req_header("Authorization", $encoded);

	   NOTE: The present implementation limits you to one instance of each header.

       body
	   Returns the body of the document retured by the remote server.

       headers_array
	   Returns an array of the HTTP headers returned by the remote server.

       headers_string
	   Returns a string representation of the HTTP headers returned by the remote server.

       get_header ( $header )
	   Returns an array of values for the requested header.

	   NOTE: HTTP requests are not limited to a single instance of each header.  As a result, there may be more than one entry for every
	   header.

       protocol
	   Returns the HTTP protocol identifier, as reported by the remote server.  This will generally be either HTTP/1.0 or HTTP/1.1.

       proxy ( $proxy_server )
	   The URL or hostname of the proxy to use for the next request.

       status
	   Returns the HTTP status code returned by the server.  This is also reported as the return value of request().

       status_message
	   Returns the textual description of the status code as returned by the server.  The status string is not required to adhere to any
	   particular format, although most HTTP servers use a standard set of descriptions.

       reset
	   You must call this prior to re-using an HTTP::Lite handle, otherwise the results are undefined.

       local_addr ( $ip )
	   Explicity select the local IP address.  0.0.0.0 (default) lets the system choose.

       local_port ( $port )
	   Explicity select the local port.  0 (default and recommended) lets the system choose.

       method ( $method )
	   Explicity set the method.  Using prepare_post or reset overrides this setting.  Usual choices are GET, POST, PUT, HEAD

EXAMPLES

	   # Get and print out the headers and body of the CPAN homepage
	   use HTTP::Lite;
	   $http = HTTP::Lite->new;
	   $req = $http->request("http://www.cpan.org/")
	       or die "Unable to get document: $!";
	   die "Request failed ($req): ".$http->status_message()
	     if $req ne "200";
	   @headers = $http->headers_array();
	   $body = $http->body();
	   foreach $header (@headers)
	   {
	     print "$header$CRLF";
	   }
	   print "$CRLF";
	   print "$body$CRLF";

	   # POST a query to the dejanews USENET search engine
	   use HTTP::Lite;
	   $http = HTTP::Lite->new;
	   %vars = (
		    "QRY" => "perl",
		    "ST" => "MS",
		    "svcclass" => "dncurrent",
		    "DBS" => "2"
		   );
	   $http->prepare_post(\%vars);
	   $req = $http->request("http://www.deja.com/dnquery.xp")
	     or die "Unable to get document: $!";
	   print "req: $req
";
	   print $http->body();

UNIMPLEMENTED

	   - FTP
	   - HTTPS (SSL)
	   - Authenitcation/Authorizaton/Proxy-Authorization
	     are not directly supported, and require MIME::Base64.
	   - Redirects (Location) are not automatically followed
	   - multipart/form-data POSTs are not directly supported (necessary
	     for File uploads).

BUGS

	   Some broken HTTP/1.1 servers send incorrect chunk sizes
	   when transferring files.  HTTP/1.1 mode is now disabled by
	   default.

AUTHOR

       Roy Hooper <rhooper@thetoybox.org>

SEE ALSO

       LWP RFC 2068 - HTTP/1.1 -http://www.w3.org/

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2000-2002 Roy Hooper.  All rights reserved.

       Some parts copyright 2009 - 2010 Adam Kennedy.

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

perl v5.12.3							    2010-12-14							   HTTP::Lite(3pm)