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Extract XML File from a Server with the HTTP Library

In this article, we will create an HTTP request to extract a file from a server without an identification system using the AIMMS HTTP library.

We’ll use an example XML file from W3Schools.

Definitions

An HTTP request is used to communicate with servers. The following information is needed for the request:

  • Method : The action you want the server to do. The most common methods are:

    • GET (obtaining an object)

    • POST (sending an object to the server)

    • DELETE (deleting an object from the server)

  • URL : The address of the server where the request should be addressed.

  • Headers : The headers are specification of the request. For example, specifying the type of file you want from the server. You can find a list of possible Headers for your request in this Wikipedia article.

  • Body (optional) : Used to store data you want to send to the server, for example in a POST method request.

Extracting the XML file from the server

At the end of this tutorial, we’ll have the required XML file.

After installing the HTTP library, the procedure we’ll use follows these steps:

  1. Create the HTTP request

  2. Specify headers

  3. Set SP_OutputFile

  4. Invoke the request

The code should look like this:

 1SP_requestURL:="https://www.w3schools.com/xml/simple.xml";
 2SP_OutputFile:="Output.xml";
 3
 4!Create the request and set the URL
 5web::request_create(SP_requestId);
 6web::request_setURL(SP_requestId,SP_requestURL );
 7web::request_setMethod(SP_requestId, "GET");
 8
 9!header
10web::request_getHeaders(SP_requestId, SP_HttpHeaders();
11SP_HttpHeaders(['Accept'] := "application/xml";
12web::request_setHeaders(SP_requestId, SP_HttpHeaders();
13
14!Set the Output file and invoke the request.
15web::request_setResponseBody(SP_requestId, 'File', SP_OutputFile);
16!invoke method
17web::request_invoke(SP_requestId,P_responseCode);

Let’s break down the process in more detail.

Installing the HTTP Library

Our first step will be to install the HTTP library in AIMMS.

  1. From the menu, go to File > Library Manager

  2. Click Add library from repository

  3. Select HTTPClient.

Creating the request

Before we create our HTTP request, we will need some parameters to store information about the request.

Create three string parameters :SP_requestURL, SP_requestId, and SP_OutputFile.

Once these objects are created, we can start coding the following in a procedure.

1!SP_requestURL will define the aim of the request and SP_OutputFile the answer file's destination.
2SP_requestURL:="https://www.w3schools.com/xml/simple.xml";
3SP_OutputFile:="Output.xml";
4web::request_create(SP_requestId);
5web::request_setURL(SP_requestId,SP_requestURL);
6web::request_setMethod(SP_requestId, "GET");

The request_create function creates a request and gives it an identification number which is stored in SP_requestId. Then, set the URL for the request using request_setURL and the request method to GET using request_setMethod.

Specifying headers

If you want to specify headers in your request, you can create a string parameter SP_HttpHeaders( indexed over web::httpHeader.

StringParameter SP_HttpHeaders( {
    IndexDomain: web::httpHeader;
}

Using the request_getHeaders procedure, we can extract the default settings for this request and store them in SP_HttpHeaders.

web::request_getHeaders(SP_requestId, SP_HttpHeaders);

The web::HttpHeader index contains the following elements:

  • Accept specifies the file format we want from the server. If not specified, it accepts every kind of data.

  • Accept-Encoding indicates to the server what kind of compression you support. In AIMMS, it should always be “identity” (default value) which means that no compression is allowed.

  • Authorization contains identification information required to connect to the server. The identification can also be done through a parameter in the URL address, depending on the server security.

  • Cache-Control specifies directives for caching mechanisms in both requests and responses.

  • Content-Length indicates the size of the request body sent to the server in bytes.

  • Content-Type indicates the real type of the resource sent in the request body.

  • Transfer-Encoding tells about the form of encoding used to safely transfer the answer body to the user.

  • Location is an answer Header and shouldn’t be specified. In case of redirection, store the URL where the request must be redirected.

For this example we’ll set Accept to XML in order to show the process.

Now that we have access to these headers, we need to change their values and set them back to the request.

1SP_HttpHeaders(['Accept'] := "application/xml";
2web::request_setHeaders(SP_requestId, SP_HttpHeaders();

Here, we tell the server we only want XML files.

Setting the SP_OutputFile

web::request_setResponseBody(SP_requestId, 'File', SP_OutputFile);

The request_setResponseBody second argument can either be 'File' (to get the response body) or 'None' (to ignore the response body). The response body represents the data the server gives in response to your request. Use this method to specify where the data should be stored.

When you send a request to a server, it gives you back an answer containing a status code. Here, this code is stored in a parameter called P_responseCode.

Note

Learn more about these status codes at REST API Tutorial (external link).

Invoking the request

We’re finally ready to send our request using the web::request_invoke procedure.

web::request_invoke(SP_requestId,P_responseCode);

Congratulations, you should now have your XML file stored as output.xml in the project folder!

If you now want to link the XML data with AIMMS, please follow the tutorial Extract Data from an XML File .

Example project

You can download the example AIMMS project below:

References