Reading data from an open HTTP stream

Question

I am trying to use the .NET WebRequest/WebResponse classes to access the Twitter streaming API here \"http://stream.twitter.com/spritzer.json\".

I need to b

Answer 1

Just use WebClient. It is designed for simple cases like this where you don't need the full power of WebRequest.

System.Net.WebClient wc = new System.Net.WebClient();
Console.WriteLine(wc.DownloadString("http://stream.twitter.com/spritzer.json"));

Answer 2

I ended up using a TcpClient, which works fine. Would still be interested to know if this is possible with WebRequest/WebResponse though. Here is my code in case anybody is interested:

using (TcpClient client = new TcpClient())
{

    string requestString = "GET /spritzer.json HTTP/1.1\r\n";
    requestString += "Authorization: " + token + "\r\n";
    requestString += "Host: stream.twitter.com\r\n";
    requestString += "Connection: keep-alive\r\n";
    requestString += "\r\n";

    client.Connect("stream.twitter.com", 80);

    using (NetworkStream stream = client.GetStream())
    {
        // Send the request.
        StreamWriter writer = new StreamWriter(stream);
        writer.Write(requestString);
        writer.Flush();

        // Process the response.
        StreamReader rdr = new StreamReader(stream);

        while (!rdr.EndOfStream)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(rdr.ReadLine());
        }
    }
}

Answer 3

BeginGetResponse is the method you need. It allows you to read the response stream incrementally:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create("http://stream.twitter.com/spritzer.json");
        request.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("username", "password");
        request.BeginGetResponse(ar => 
        {
            var req = (WebRequest)ar.AsyncState;
            // TODO: Add exception handling: EndGetResponse could throw
            using (var response = req.EndGetResponse(ar))
            using (var reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()))
            {
                // This loop goes as long as twitter is streaming
                while (!reader.EndOfStream)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(reader.ReadLine());
                }
            }
        }, request);

        // Press Enter to stop program
        Console.ReadLine();
    }
}

Or if you feel more comfortable with WebClient (I personnally prefer it over WebRequest):

using (var client = new WebClient())
{
    client.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("username", "password");
    client.OpenReadCompleted += (sender, e) =>
    {
        using (var reader = new StreamReader(e.Result))
        {
            while (!reader.EndOfStream)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(reader.ReadLine());
            }
        }
    };
    client.OpenReadAsync(new Uri("http://stream.twitter.com/spritzer.json"));
}
Console.ReadLine();

Answer 4

Have you tried WebRequest.BeginGetRequestStream() ?

Or something like this:

HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create (http://www.twitter.com );
HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();
StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream()); 

string str = reader.ReadLine();
while(str != null)
{
   Console.WriteLine(str);
   str = reader.ReadLine();
}