IWinHttpRequest::Send method

Article
01/07/2021

The Send method sends an HTTP request to an HTTP server.

Syntax

HRESULT Send(
  [in, optional] VARIANT Body
);

Parameters

Body [in, optional]: Data to be sent to the server.

Return value

The return value is S_OK on success or an error value otherwise.

Remarks

The request to be sent was defined in a prior call to the Open method. The calling application can provide data to be sent to the server through the Body parameter. If the HTTP verb of the object's Open is "GET", this method sends the request without Body, even if it is provided by the calling application.

Note

For Windows XP and Windows 2000, see the Run-Time Requirements section of the WinHttp start page.

Examples

The following example shows how to open an HTTP connection, send an HTTP request, and read the response text.

#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <objbase.h>

#include "httprequest.h"

#pragma comment(lib, "ole32.lib")
#pragma comment(lib, "oleaut32.lib")

// IID for IWinHttpRequest.
const IID IID_IWinHttpRequest =
{
  0x06f29373,
  0x5c5a,
  0x4b54,
  {0xb0, 0x25, 0x6e, 0xf1, 0xbf, 0x8a, 0xbf, 0x0e}
};

int main()
{
    // variable for return value
    HRESULT    hr;

    // initialize COM
    hr = CoInitialize( NULL );

    IWinHttpRequest *  pIWinHttpRequest = NULL;

    BSTR            bstrResponse = NULL;
    VARIANT         varFalse;
    VARIANT         varEmpty;

    CLSID           clsid;

    VariantInit(&varFalse);
    V_VT(&varFalse)   = VT_BOOL;
    V_BOOL(&varFalse) = VARIANT_FALSE;

    VariantInit(&varEmpty);
    V_VT(&varEmpty) = VT_ERROR;

    hr = CLSIDFromProgID(L"WinHttp.WinHttpRequest.5.1", &clsid);

    if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
    {
        hr = CoCreateInstance(clsid, NULL,
                              CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
                              IID_IWinHttpRequest,
                              (void **)&pIWinHttpRequest);
    }
    if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
    {    // Open WinHttpRequest.
        BSTR bstrMethod  = SysAllocString(L"GET");
        BSTR bstrUrl = SysAllocString(L"https://microsoft.com");
        hr = pIWinHttpRequest->Open(bstrMethod, bstrUrl, varFalse);
        SysFreeString(bstrMethod);
        SysFreeString(bstrUrl);
    }
    if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
    {    // Send Request.
        hr = pIWinHttpRequest->Send(varEmpty);
    }
    if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
    {    // Get Response text.
        hr = pIWinHttpRequest->get_ResponseText(&bstrResponse);
    }

    // Print response to console.
    wprintf(L"%.256s",bstrResponse);

    // Release memory.
    if (pIWinHttpRequest)
        pIWinHttpRequest->Release();
    if (bstrResponse)
        SysFreeString(bstrResponse);

    CoUninitialize();
    return 0;
}

The following scripting example shows how to open an HTTP connection, send an HTTP request, and read the response text.

// Instantiate a WinHttpRequest object.
var WinHttpReq = new ActiveXObject("WinHttp.WinHttpRequest.5.1");

// Initialize an HTTP request.  
WinHttpReq.Open("GET", "https://www.microsoft.com", false);

// Send the HTTP request.
WinHttpReq.Send(); 

// Display the response text.
WScript.Echo( WinHttpReq.ResponseText);

The following scripting example shows how to post data to an HTTP server.

// Instantiate a WinHttpRequest object.
var WinHttpReq = new ActiveXObject("WinHttp.WinHttpRequest.5.1");

// Initialize an HTTP request.  
WinHttpReq.Open("PUT", "https://postserver/newdoc.htm", false);

// Post data to the HTTP server.
WinHttpReq.Send("Post data");

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows XP, Windows 2000 Professional with SP3 [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Server with SP3 [desktop apps only]
Redistributable	WinHTTP 5.0 and Internet Explorer 5.01 or later on Windows XP and Windows 2000.
IDL	HttpRequest.idl
Library	Winhttp.lib
DLL	Winhttp.dll