WebClient Constructor

Definition

Namespace:

System.Net

Assembly:

System.Net.WebClient.dll

Source:

WebClient.cs

Caution

WebRequest, HttpWebRequest, ServicePoint, and WebClient are obsolete. Use HttpClient instead.

Initializes a new instance of the WebClient class.

public:
 WebClient();

[System.Obsolete("WebRequest, HttpWebRequest, ServicePoint, and WebClient are obsolete. Use HttpClient instead.", DiagnosticId="SYSLIB0014", UrlFormat="https://aka.ms/dotnet-warnings/{0}")]
public WebClient ();

Public Sub New ()

Attributes

ObsoleteAttribute

Examples

The following code example creates a WebClient instance and then uses it to download data from a server and display it on the system console, to download data from a server and write it to a file, and to upload form values to a server and receive the response.

try
{
   // Download the data to a buffer.
   WebClient^ client = gcnew WebClient;

   array<Byte>^ pageData = client->DownloadData( "http://www.contoso.com" );
   String^ pageHtml = Encoding::ASCII->GetString( pageData );
   Console::WriteLine( pageHtml );
   
   // Download the data to a file.
   client->DownloadFile( "http://www.contoso.com", "page.htm" );
   
   // Upload some form post values.
   NameValueCollection^ form = gcnew NameValueCollection;
   form->Add( "MyName", "MyValue" );
   array<Byte>^ responseData = client->UploadValues( "http://www.contoso.com/form.aspx", form );
}
catch ( WebException^ webEx ) 
{
   Console::WriteLine( webEx->ToString() );
   if ( webEx->Status == WebExceptionStatus::ConnectFailure )
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "Are you behind a firewall?  If so, go through the proxy server." );
   }
}

try {
    
// Download the data to a buffer.
    WebClient client = new WebClient();

Byte[] pageData = client.DownloadData("http://www.contoso.com");
string pageHtml = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(pageData);
Console.WriteLine(pageHtml);

// Download the data to a file.
        client.DownloadFile("http://www.contoso.com", "page.htm");

// Upload some form post values.
NameValueCollection form = new NameValueCollection();		
form.Add("MyName", "MyValue");		
Byte[] responseData = client.UploadValues("http://www.contoso.com/form.aspx", form);		
}
catch (WebException webEx) {
    Console.WriteLine(webEx.ToString());
    if(webEx.Status == WebExceptionStatus.ConnectFailure) {
        Console.WriteLine("Are you behind a firewall?  If so, go through the proxy server.");
    }
}

Public Shared Sub Main()


    Try
        Dim client As New WebClient()
        Dim pageData As [Byte]() = client.DownloadData("http://www.contoso.com")
        Dim pageHtml As String = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(pageData)

        ' Download the data to a buffer.
        Console.WriteLine(pageHtml)
        
        ' Download the data to a file.
        client.DownloadFile("http://www.contoso.com", "page.htm")
        
        
        ' Upload some form post values.
        dim form as New NameValueCollection()
           form.Add("MyName", "MyValue")  

           ' Note that you need to replace "http://localhost/somefile.aspx" with the name of 
           ' a file that is available to your computer.
           Dim responseData As [Byte]() = client.UploadValues("http://www.contoso.com/form.aspx", form)      
        Console.WriteLine(Encoding.ASCII.GetString(responseData))
    
    Catch webEx As WebException
        if webEx.Status = WebExceptionStatus.ConnectFailure then
           Console.WriteLine("Are you behind a firewall?  If so, go through the proxy server.")
        end if
        Console.Write(webEx.ToString())
    End Try
    

End Sub

Remarks

The parameterless constructor creates a new instance of the WebClient class. The default HTTP method is GET. The default FTP method is RETR. The default Encoding is Default. The default value of AllowAutoRedirect is true.