Visual Basic .NET HTTP Get and HTTP Post Sample Source Code

Network Component provides an easy-to-use development interface to a variety of IP protocols. By using Network Component, you can very easily create or enhance applications with network features.

Network Component features the following: DNS, FTP, HTTP, HTTPs, ICMP Ping, IP-to-Country, MSN, NTP, RSH, SCP, SFTP, SNMP v1/v2c (Get, GetNext, Set), SNMP Traps, SNMP MIB, SSH, TCP, Telnet, TFTP, UDP, Telnet, Wake-On-LAN and more.

Network Component can be well integrated into any development platform that supports ActiveX objects.

The most important functions of the Http object are:

Connect - connect to the (remote) HTTP web server on port 80 or any alternate port; optionally, use proxy credentials to use a proxy server; optionally, specify a web account and password for password protected web sites
Disconnect - to diconnect after a connect call;
ReadData - read all data from a web page;
WriteData - write data to a web page.

Step 1: Download and install the Network Component

Download Network Component from the ActiveXperts Download Site and start the installation. The installation guides you through the installation process.

Step 2: Create a new Visual Basic .NET Project

Launch Microsoft Visual Studio (for instance 'Microsoft Visual Studio 2008') from the Start menu. Choose 'New' from the 'File' menu and click on 'Project'. In the 'New Project' dialog, select a Visual Studio template (for instance: 'Console Application'). Select a name for the application (for instance: 'DemoApp') and a name for the solution (for instance: 'DemoSolution'). Also, select the directory where you want to store the project (for instance: 'C:\MyProjects):

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

Step 3: Refer to the Network Component Library and create the objects

Now that a new project has been created, you must add a reference to the Network Component in the project to be able to use the the Network Component object. To do so, choose 'Add Reference...' from the 'Project' menu. In the 'Add Reference' dialog that pops up, select the 'COM' tab and select the 'Network Component 4.4 Type Library' as shown in the following picture:

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

Click 'OK' to close the 'Add Reference' dialog.

On top of your code, type the following line to use the Network Component namespace:

Imports AxNetwork

In your Main function, declare and create the following object:

Public m_objHttp As Http

m_objHttp = New Http()

Appendix: Full source code

Imports System.IO
Imports AxNetwork

Module HttpProgram

  Sub Main()
    Dim objHttp As HttpEx = New AxNetwork.HttpEx
    Dim strURL As String = ""
    Dim strData As String = ""

    ' A license key is required to unlock this component after the trial period has expired.
    ' Call 'Activate' with a valid license key as its first parameter. Second parameter determines whether to save the license key permanently 
    ' to the registry (True, so you need to call Activate only once), or not to store the key permanently (False, so you need to call Activate
    ' every time the component is created). For details, see manual, chapter "Product Activation".
    '
    ' objHttp.Activate("XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX", False)
    '

    ' Display component information
    Console.WriteLine("ActiveXperts Network Component {0}{1}Build: {2}{3}Module: {4}{5}License Status: {6}{7}License Key: {8}{9}", objHttp.Version, Environment.NewLine, objHttp.Build, Environment.NewLine, objHttp.Module, Environment.NewLine, objHttp.LicenseStatus, Environment.NewLine, objHttp.LicenseKey, Environment.NewLine)

    ' Set Logfile (optional, for debugging purposes)
    objHttp.LogFile = Path.GetTempPath() + "Http.log"
    Console.WriteLine("Log file used: {0}{1}", objHttp.LogFile, Environment.NewLine)

    strURL = ReadInput("Enter a URL. Leave it blank to use an ActiveXperts URL:", "www.activexperts.com/products")
    Console.WriteLine("URL: " & strURL)

    ' OPTIONAL: settings for proxy server
    ' objHttp.ProxyServer	= "dell04:8080"
    ' objHttp.ProxyAccount	= "proxyaccount"
    ' objHttp.ProxyPassword = "topsecret"

    ' OPTIONAL: settings for password protected web sites
    ' objHttp.WebAccount	= "webaccount"
    ' objHttp.WebPassword	= "Secret"

    strData = objHttp.Head(strURL)
    Console.WriteLine("Head, result: " & objHttp.LastError.ToString() & " (" & objHttp.GetErrorDescription(objHttp.LastError) & ")")
    If (objHttp.LastError = 0) Then
        Console.WriteLine("Header: " & strData)
    End If

    Console.WriteLine("Ready.")
    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(5000) ' Sleep for 5 seconds before exit	

  End Sub


  Private Function ReadInput(ByVal strTitle As String, ByVal strDefault As String) As String

    Dim strInput As String = ""

    Console.WriteLine(strTitle)
    Console.Write("  > ")
    strInput = Console.ReadLine()
    If (strInput = "") Then
        strInput = strDefault
    End If
    ReadInput = strInput
  End Function

End Module

You can download the complete samples here. There are many other working Network Component scripts on our site and shipped with the product.

NOTE: Demo Projects are created with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008

The Network Component project ships with a set of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET samples, including samples for Microsoft Visual C# .NET. The projects are created with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008.

Users with a later version of Microsoft Visual Studio can open such a project. The Visual Studio Conversion Wizard will guide you through the process of converting the project to the version used.

Contact Info

ActiveXperts Network Component