http from the command line

[kosi]

Does anybody know the syntax for performing an http get or http post request from the command line? Thanks.

[Twey]

Which command line? Using what program? With what data?

The general format for a minimal GET request is:

GET /path/to/resource HTTP/1.1
Host: www.example.com
Connection: close
<blank line>

[mburt]

I think the OP wants to access information similarly to the way AJAX does from a server... just a guess, though.

[ItsMeOnly]

telnet yourserver.com 80
GET /

Just a thought

[Twey]

That request lacks the HTTP version and the Host header, which is vital for HTTP/1.1. A correct GET request should look as mine does above (although the Connection header isn't vital).

[kosi]

Which command line? Using what program? With what data?

My apologies if I was too vague. I'm using php. I know that php has a function class that does this, but it's not bundled on my server, so I thought I'd use shell scripting on the command line with the exec() function. I need to send name-value pairs to another server using the POST method and with no form. I also need to get name-value pairs back from that server, but I'm assuming this is as simple as "extract($_POST);".

[Twey]

You'll need to write a basic HTTP client using fsockopen().

[mburt]

Wouldn't exec() work fine?

[Twey]

Well yes, but fsockopen() would be simpler, and more likely to work.

[kosi]

Well yes, but fsockopen() would be simpler, and more likely to work.

I don't really know what this means . . .

edit: I'm sorry, I'm being vague again. What i meant to say is that I dont understand the documentation at php.net.