HttpWebRequest.IfModifiedSince Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Net

Assemblies:

netstandard.dll, System.Net.Requests.dll

Source:

HttpWebRequest.cs

Gets or sets the value of the If-Modified-Since HTTP header.

C#

public DateTime IfModifiedSince { get; set; }

Property Value

DateTime

A DateTime that contains the contents of the If-Modified-Since HTTP header.

Examples

The following code example checks the IfModifiedSince property.

C#

// Create a new 'Uri' object with the mentioned string.
Uri myUri =new Uri("http://www.contoso.com");			
// Create a new 'HttpWebRequest' object with the above 'Uri' object.
HttpWebRequest myHttpWebRequest= (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(myUri);

// Create a new 'DateTime' object.
DateTime targetDate = DateTime.Now;
// Set a target date of a week ago
targetDate.AddDays(-7.0);
myHttpWebRequest.IfModifiedSince = targetDate;

try
{
  // Assign the response object of 'HttpWebRequest' to a 'HttpWebResponse' variable.
  HttpWebResponse myHttpWebResponse=(HttpWebResponse)myHttpWebRequest.GetResponse();
  Console.WriteLine("Response headers for recently modified page\n{0}\n",myHttpWebResponse.Headers);
  Stream streamResponse=myHttpWebResponse.GetResponseStream();
  StreamReader streamRead = new StreamReader( streamResponse );
  Char[] readBuff = new Char[256];
  int count = streamRead.Read( readBuff, 0, 256 );
  Console.WriteLine("\nThe contents of Html Page are :  \n");	

  while (count > 0)
  {
    String outputData = new String(readBuff, 0, count);
    Console.Write(outputData);
    count = streamRead.Read(readBuff, 0, 256);
  }
  // Close the Stream object.
  streamResponse.Close();
  streamRead.Close();
  // Release the HttpWebResponse Resource.
  myHttpWebResponse.Close();
            
  Console.WriteLine("\nPress 'Enter' key to continue.................");	
  Console.Read();
}
catch(WebException e)
{
  if (e.Response != null)
  {
    if ( ((HttpWebResponse)e.Response).StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.NotModified)
      Console.WriteLine("\nThe page has not been modified since "+targetDate);
    else
      Console.WriteLine("\nUnexpected status code = " + ((HttpWebResponse)e.Response).StatusCode);
  }
  else
            {
                Console.WriteLine("\nUnexpected Web Exception " + e.Message);
            }
        }

Remarks

Caution

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

If the If-Modified-Since header is null, then the return value will be set to DateTime.MinValue.

The IfModifiedSince property is a standard System.DateTime object and can contain a System.DateTimeKind field of DateTimeKind.Local, DateTimeKind.Utc, or DateTimeKind.Unspecified. Any kind of time can be set when using the IfModifiedSince property. If DateTimeKind.Unspecified is set or retrieved, the IfModifiedSince property is assumed to be DateTimeKind.Local (local time).

The classes in the System.Net namespace always write it out the IfModifiedSince property on the wire during transmission in standard form using GMT (Utc) format.

If the IfModifiedSince property is set to DateTime.MinValue, then the If-Modified-Since HTTP header is removed from the Headers property and the WebHeaderCollection.

If the IfModifiedSince property is DateTime.MinValue, this indicates that the If-Modified-Since HTTP header is not included in the Headers property and the WebHeaderCollection.

Note

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

If the IfModifiedSince property is set and 304 (Not Modified) status code is returned, then a System.Net.WebException will be thrown by the BeginGetResponse, GetResponse, and EndGetResponse methods.

Applies to