HttpWebRequest.IfModifiedSince Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Net

Assembly:

System.Net.Requests.dll

Source:

HttpWebRequest.cs

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

public:
 property DateTime IfModifiedSince { DateTime get(); void set(DateTime value); };

public DateTime IfModifiedSince { get; set; }

member this.IfModifiedSince : DateTime with get, set

Public Property IfModifiedSince As DateTime

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.

// Create a new 'Uri' object with the mentioned string.
Uri^ myUri = gcnew Uri( "http://www.contoso.com" );
  
// Create a new 'HttpWebRequest' object with the above 'Uri' object.
HttpWebRequest^ myHttpWebRequest = dynamic_cast<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 = dynamic_cast<HttpWebResponse^>(myHttpWebRequest->GetResponse());
  Console::WriteLine( "Response headers \n {0}\n", myHttpWebResponse->Headers );
  Stream^ streamResponse = myHttpWebResponse->GetResponseStream();
  StreamReader^ streamRead = gcnew StreamReader( streamResponse );
  array<Char>^readBuff = gcnew array<Char>(256);
  int count = streamRead->Read( readBuff, 0, 256 );
  Console::WriteLine( "\nThe contents of Html Page are :  \n" );
  while ( count > 0 )
  {
    String^ outputData = gcnew String( readBuff,0,count );
    Console::Write( outputData );
    count = streamRead->Read( readBuff, 0, 256 );
  }
  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)
  {
    if ( ((HttpWebResponse ^)e->Response)->StatusCode == HttpStatusCode::NotModified)
      Console::WriteLine("\nThe page has not been modified since {0}", targetDate);
    else
      Console::WriteLine("\nUnexpected status code = {0}", ((HttpWebResponse ^)e->Response)->StatusCode);  
  }
  else
    Console::WriteLine("\nUnexpected Web Exception {0}" + e->Message); 
}

// 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);
            }
        }

' Create a new 'Uri' object with the mentioned string.
Dim myUri As New Uri("http://www.contoso.com")
' Create a new 'HttpWebRequest' object with the above 'Uri' object.
Dim myHttpWebRequest As HttpWebRequest = CType(WebRequest.Create(myUri), HttpWebRequest)
' Create a new 'DateTime' object.
Dim targetDate As DateTime = DateTime.Now
targetDate.AddDays(-7.0)
myHttpWebRequest.IfModifiedSince = targetDate

Try
  ' Assign the response object of 'HttpWebRequest' to a 'HttpWebResponse' variable.
  Dim myHttpWebResponse As HttpWebResponse = CType(myHttpWebRequest.GetResponse(), HttpWebResponse)
  Console.WriteLine("Response headers for recently modified page" + ControlChars.Cr + "{0}" + ControlChars.Cr, myHttpWebResponse.Headers)
  Dim streamResponse As Stream = myHttpWebResponse.GetResponseStream()
  Dim streamRead As New StreamReader(streamResponse)
  Dim readBuff(256) As [Char]
  Dim count As Integer = streamRead.Read(readBuff, 0, 256)
  Console.WriteLine(ControlChars.Cr + "The contents of Html Page are :  " + ControlChars.Cr)
  While count > 0
    Dim outputData As New [String](readBuff, 0, count)
    Console.Write(outputData)
    count = streamRead.Read(readBuff, 0, 256)
  End While

  ' Close the Stream object.
  streamResponse.Close()
  streamRead.Close()
  ' Release the HttpWebResponse Resource.
  myHttpWebResponse.Close()
  Console.WriteLine(ControlChars.Cr + "Press 'Enter' key to continue.................")
  Console.Read()
Catch e As WebException
  If e.Response IsNot Nothing
  
    If CType(e.Response,HttpWebResponse).StatusCode = HttpStatusCode.NotModified
      Console.WriteLine((ControlChars.Cr + "The page has not been modified since " + targetDate))
    Else
      Console.WriteLine(ControlChars.Cr + "Unexpected status code = " + Ctype(e.Response,HttpWebResponse).StatusCode)
    End If
  Else
    Console.WriteLine(ControlChars.Cr + "Unexpected Web Exception " + e.Message) 
  End If
End Try

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.