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.NET Framework Class Library
WebClient Class

Updated: November 2007

Provides common methods for sending data to and receiving data from a resource identified by a URI.

Namespace:  System.Net
Assembly:  System (in System.dll)

Visual Basic (Declaration)
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public Class WebClient _
    Inherits Component
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim instance As WebClient
C#
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public class WebClient : Component
Visual C++
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)]
public ref class WebClient : public Component
J#
/** @attribute ComVisibleAttribute(true) */
public class WebClient extends Component
JScript
public class WebClient extends Component

The WebClient class provides common methods for sending data to or receiving data from any local, intranet, or Internet resource identified by a URI.

The WebClient class uses the WebRequest class to provide access to resources. WebClient instances can access data with any WebRequest descendant registered with the WebRequest..::.RegisterPrefix method.

Note:

By default, the .NET Framework supports URIs that begin with http:, https:, ftp:, and file: scheme identifiers.

The following table describes WebClient methods for uploading data to a resource.

Method

Description

OpenWrite

Retrieves a Stream used to send data to the resource.

OpenWriteAsync

Retrieves a Stream used to send data to the resource, without blocking the calling thread.

UploadData

Sends a byte array to the resource and returns a Byte array containing any response.

UploadDataAsync

Sends a Byte array to the resource, without blocking the calling thread.

UploadFile

Sends a local file to the resource and returns a Byte array containing any response.

UploadFileAsync

Sends a local file to the resource, without blocking the calling thread.

UploadValues

Sends a NameValueCollection to the resource and returns a Byte array containing any response.

UploadValuesAsync

Sends a NameValueCollection to the resource and returns a Byte array containing any response, without blocking the calling thread.

UploadString

Sends a String to the resource, without blocking the calling thread.

UploadStringAsync

Sends a String to the resource, without blocking the calling thread.

The following table describes WebClient methods for downloading data from a resource.

Method

Description

OpenRead

Returns the data from a resource as a Stream.

OpenReadAsync

Returns the data from a resource, without blocking the calling thread.

DownloadData

Downloads data from a resource and returns a Byte array.

DownloadDataAsync

Downloads data from a resource and returns a Byte array, without blocking the calling thread.

DownloadFile

Downloads data from a resource to a local file.

DownloadFileAsync

Downloads data from a resource to a local file, without blocking the calling thread.

DownloadString

Downloads a String from a resource and returns a String.

DownloadStringAsync

Downloads a String from a resource, without blocking the calling thread.

You can use the CancelAsync method to cancel asynchronous operations that have not completed.

A WebClient instance does not send optional HTTP headers by default. If your request requires an optional header, you must add the header to the Headers collection. For example, to retain queries in the response, you must add a user-agent header. Also, servers may return 500 (Internal Server Error) if the user agent header is missing.

AllowAutoRedirect is set to true in WebClient instances.

Notes to Inheritors:

Derived classes should call the base class implementation of WebClient to ensure the derived class works as expected.

The following code example takes the URI of a resource, retrieves it, and displays the response.

Visual Basic
Imports System
Imports System.Net
Imports System.IO



Public Class Test

    Public Shared Sub Main(args() As String)
        If args Is Nothing OrElse args.Length = 0 Then
            Throw New ApplicationException("Specify the URI of the resource to retrieve.")
        End If
        Dim client As New WebClient()

        ' Add a user agent header in case the 
        ' requested URI contains a query.
        client.Headers.Add("user-agent", "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.2; .NET CLR 1.0.3705;)")

        Dim data As Stream = client.OpenRead(args(0))
        Dim reader As New StreamReader(data)
        Dim s As String = reader.ReadToEnd()
        Console.WriteLine(s)
        data.Close()
        reader.Close()
    End Sub 'Main
End Class 'Test
C#
using System;
using System.Net;
using System.IO;

public class Test
{
    public static void Main (string[] args)
    {
        if (args == null || args.Length == 0)
        {
            throw new ApplicationException ("Specify the URI of the resource to retrieve.");
        }
        WebClient client = new WebClient ();

        // Add a user agent header in case the 
        // requested URI contains a query.

        client.Headers.Add ("user-agent", "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.2; .NET CLR 1.0.3705;)");

        Stream data = client.OpenRead (args[0]);
        StreamReader reader = new StreamReader (data);
        string s = reader.ReadToEnd ();
        Console.WriteLine (s);
        data.Close ();
        reader.Close ();
    }
}
Visual C++
#using <System.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Net;
using namespace System::IO;
int main()
{
   array<String^>^args = Environment::GetCommandLineArgs();
   if ( args == nullptr || args->Length == 1 )
   {
      throw gcnew ApplicationException( "Specify the URI of the resource to retrieve." );
   }

   WebClient^ client = gcnew WebClient;

   // Add a user agent header in case the 
   // requested URI contains a query.
   client->Headers->Add( "user-agent", "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.2; .NET CLR 1.0.3705;)" );
   Stream^ data = client->OpenRead( args[ 1 ] );
   StreamReader^ reader = gcnew StreamReader( data );
   String^ s = reader->ReadToEnd();
   Console::WriteLine( s );
   data->Close();
   reader->Close();
}
  • WebPermission 

    to access the requested URI or any URI that the request is redirected to. Associated enumeration: Connect.

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0, 1.1, 1.0
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