NAME

WWW - No-nonsense, simple HTTPS client with JSON decoder

SYNOPSIS

use WWW;

# Just GET content (will return Failure on failure):
say get 'https://httpbin.org/get?foo=42&bar=x', :SomeHeader<Value>;

# GET and decode received data as JSON:
say jget('https://httpbin.org/get?foo=42&bar=x')<args><foo>;

# POST content (query args are OK; pass form as named args)
say post 'https://httpbin.org/post?foo=42&bar=x', :some<form>, :42args;

# And if you need headers, pass them inside a positional Hash:
say post 'https://httpbin.org/post?foo=42&bar=x', %(:Some<Custom-Header>),
    :some<form>, :42args;

# Same POST as above + decode response as JSON
say jpost('https://httpbin.org/post', :some<form-arg>)<form><some>;

# Also can post() or jpost() POST body directly as Str:D; headers passed as named args:
say jpost(
    "http://httpbin.org/post",
    to-json({:42a, :foo<meows>}),
    :Authorization<Zofmeister>
).<json><foo>;

Import more HTTP methods using :extras

use WWW :extras;

say jdelete 'https://httpbin.org/delete';
say jput    'https://httpbin.org/put';

DESCRIPTION

Exports a handful of routines to fetch data from online resources using HTTP verbs and optionally decode the responses as JSON.

The module will set the User-Agent header to Rakudo WWW, unless you specify that header.

INSTALLATION

On some operating systems you'll need libssl installed:

sudo apt-get install libssl-dev

Then just install the module with the module manager:

zef install WWW

TESTING

To run the full test suite, set ONLINE_TESTING environmental variable to 1

ONLINE_TESTING=1 zef install WWW

EXPORTED ROUTINES

:DEFAULT export tag

These routines get exported by default:

get

sub get($url where URI:D|Str:D, *%headers --> Str:D);

say get 'https://httpbin.org/get?foo=42&bar=x';

Takes either a Str or a URI. Returns Failure if request fails or does not return a successful HTTP code. Returns Str with the data on success. Takes headers as named arguments.

jget

say jget 'https://httpbin.org/get?foo=42&bar=x';

Same as get() except will also decode the response as JSON and return resultant data structure.

post

multi post($url where URI:D|Str:D, *%form --> Str:D);
multi post($url where URI:D|Str:D, %headers, *%form --> Str:D);
multi post($url where URI:D|Str:D, Str:D $form-body, *%headers --> Str:D);

say post 'https://httpbin.org/post?meow=moo', :72foo, :bar<♵>;
say post 'https://httpbin.org/post?meow=moo',
    %(Content-type => 'application/json'), :72foo, :bar<♵>;

Takes either a Str or a URI, followed by an optional Hash with HTTP headers to send. Form POST parameters can be included as named arguments. It's fine to also include query arguments in the URL itself. Returns Failure if request fails or does not return a successful HTTP code. Returns Str with the data on success.

To send POST body directly, pass it as Str:D positional arg. In this calling form, the headers are sent as named args.

jpost

multi jpost($url where URI:D|Str:D, *%form);
multi jpost($url where URI:D|Str:D, %headers, *%form);
multi jpost($url where URI:D|Str:D, Str:D $form-body, *%headers);

say jpost 'https://httpbin.org/post?meow=moo', :72foo, :bar<♵>;
say jpost 'https://httpbin.org/post?meow=moo',
    %(Content-type => 'application/json'), :72foo, :bar<♵>;

Same as post() except will also decode the response as JSON and return resultant data structure.

head

say head 'https://httpbin.org/get?foo=42&bar=x';

Same as get, except it does not actually download the content, just the head.

:extras Export Tag

These routines get exported in addition to the :DEFAULT exports, when :extras export tag is requested:

use WWW :extras;

put

multi put($url where URI:D|Str:D, *%form --> Str:D);
multi put($url where URI:D|Str:D, %headers, *%form --> Str:D);
multi put($url where URI:D|Str:D, Str:D $form-body, *%headers --> Str:D);

say put 'https://httpbin.org/put?meow=moo', :72foo, :bar<♵>;
say put 'https://httpbin.org/put?meow=moo',
    %(Content-type => 'application/json'), :72foo, :bar<♵>;

Takes either a Str or a URI, followed by an optional Hash with HTTP headers to send. Form PUT parameters can be included as named arguments. It's fine to also include query arguments in the URL itself. Returns Failure if request fails or does not return a successful HTTP code. Returns Str with the data on success.

To send PUT body directly, pass it as Str:D positional arg. In this calling form, the headers are sent as named args.

jput

multi jput($url where URI:D|Str:D, *%form --> Str:D);
multi jput($url where URI:D|Str:D, %headers, *%form --> Str:D);
multi jput($url where URI:D|Str:D, Str:D $form-body, *%headers --> Str:D);

say jput 'https://httpbin.org/put?meow=moo', :72foo, :bar<♵>;
say jput 'https://httpbin.org/put?meow=moo',
    %(Content-type => 'application/json'), :72foo, :bar<♵>;

Same as put() except will also decode the response as JSON and return resultant data structure.

delete

sub delete($url where URI:D|Str:D, *%headers --> Str:D);

say delete 'https://httpbin.org/get?foo=42&bar=x';

Performs HTTP DELETE request. Takes either a Str or a URI. Returns Failure if request fails or does not return a successful HTTP code. Returns Str with the data on success; if response for a 204 No Content, returns an empty string. Takes headers as named arguments.

jdelete

say jdelete 'https://httpbin.org/get?foo=42&bar=x';

Same as delete() except will also decode the response as JSON and return resultant data structure.

You probably want to use delete() instead, as DELETE requests can get return no content, causing JSON parse failures.

LIMITATIONS

Due to nuances of upstream code, currently any non-RFC-conformant URL will be rejected; you have to ensure it's proper manually. Patches welcome.

SEE ALSO

• LWP::Simple

• HTTP::UserAgent

REPOSITORY

Fork this module on GitHub: https://github.com/raku-community-modules/WWW

BUGS

To report bugs or request features, please use https://github.com/raku-community-modules/WWW/issues

ORIGINAL AUTHOR

Zoffix Znet (http://perl6.party/)

Now maintained by the Raku community as part of the Raku community modules

LICENSE

You can use and distribute this module under the terms of the The Artistic License 2.0. See the LICENSE file included in this distribution for complete details.

The META6.json file of this distribution may be distributed and modified without restrictions or attribution.