HttpWebRequest.Connection Property

Definition

Gets or sets the value of the Connection HTTP header.

public string? Connection { get; set; }
public string Connection { get; set; }

Property Value

The value of the Connection HTTP header. The default value is null.

Exceptions

The value of Connection is set to Keep-alive or Close.

Examples

The following code example uses the Connection property to set the value of the Connection HTTP Header.


class HttpWebRequest_Connection
{
  static void Main()
  {
    try
    {

      // Create a new HttpWebRequest object.Make sure that
      // a default proxy is set if you are behind a firewall.
      HttpWebRequest myHttpWebRequest1 =
        (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://www.contoso.com");

      myHttpWebRequest1.KeepAlive=false;
      // Assign the response object of HttpWebRequest to a HttpWebResponse variable.
      HttpWebResponse myHttpWebResponse1 =
        (HttpWebResponse)myHttpWebRequest1.GetResponse();

      Console.WriteLine("\nThe HTTP request Headers for the first request are: \n{0}",myHttpWebRequest1.Headers);
      Console.WriteLine("Press Enter Key to Continue..........");
      Console.Read();

      Stream streamResponse=myHttpWebResponse1.GetResponseStream();
      StreamReader streamRead = new StreamReader( streamResponse );
      Char[] readBuff = new Char[256];
      int count = streamRead.Read( readBuff, 0, 256 );
      Console.WriteLine("The contents of the Html page are.......\n");
      while (count > 0)
      {
        String outputData = new String(readBuff, 0, count);
        Console.Write(outputData);
        count = streamRead.Read(readBuff, 0, 256);
      }
      Console.WriteLine();
      // Close the Stream object.
      streamResponse.Close();
      streamRead.Close();
      // Release the resources held by response object.
      myHttpWebResponse1.Close();
      // Create a new HttpWebRequest object for the specified Uri.
      HttpWebRequest myHttpWebRequest2 =
        (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://www.contoso.com");
      myHttpWebRequest2.Connection="Close";
      // Assign the response object of 'HttpWebRequest' to a 'HttpWebResponse' variable.
      HttpWebResponse myHttpWebResponse2 =
        (HttpWebResponse)myHttpWebRequest2.GetResponse();
      // Release the resources held by response object.
      myHttpWebResponse2.Close();
      Console.WriteLine("\nThe Http RequestHeaders are \n{0}",myHttpWebRequest2.Headers);
      Console.WriteLine("\nPress 'Enter' Key to Continue.........");
      Console.Read();
    }
    catch(ArgumentException e)
    {
      Console.WriteLine("\nThe second HttpWebRequest object has raised an Argument Exception as 'Connection' Property is set to 'Close'");
      Console.WriteLine("\n{0}",e.Message);
    }
    catch(WebException e)
    {
      Console.WriteLine("WebException raised!");
      Console.WriteLine("\n{0}",e.Message);
      Console.WriteLine("\n{0}",e.Status);
    }
    catch(Exception e)
    {
      Console.WriteLine("Exception raised!");
      Console.WriteLine("Source :{0} " , e.Source);
      Console.WriteLine("Message :{0} " , e.Message);
    }
  }
}

Remarks

Caution

WebRequest, HttpWebRequest, ServicePoint, and WebClient are obsolete, and you shouldn't use them for new development. Use HttpClient instead.

The request sends the Connection property to the Internet resource as the Connection HTTP header. If the value of the KeepAlive property is true, the value "Keep-alive" is appended to the end of the Connection header.

To clear the Connection HTTP header, set the Connection property to null.

Changing the Connection property after the request has been started by calling the GetRequestStream, BeginGetRequestStream, GetResponse, or BeginGetResponse method throws an InvalidOperationException.

Note

The value for this property is stored in WebHeaderCollection. If WebHeaderCollection is set, the property value is lost.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 2.0, 2.1