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I was wondering if there is some sort of generic way to make network calls with Java / Android, as I'm struggling with my current tactics. I'm currently trying this:

public static File synchronousConnection(String url, String requestMethod, byte[] requestData, Map<String, String> headers)
{
    File returnData = null;
    try
    {
        URL url = new URL(url);
        HttpURLConnection connection = (HttpURLConnection)url.openConnection();
        connection.setDoInput(true);
        connection.setDoOutput(true);
        connection.setRequestMethod(requestMethod);
        if(requestData != null && requestData.length > 0)connection.setRequestProperty("Content-Length", Integer.toString(requestData.length));
        if(headers != null)for(String key : headers.keySet())connection.setRequestProperty(key, headers.get(key));
        //connection.connect();

        if(requestData != null && requestData.length > 0)
        {
            DataOutputStream outputStream = new DataOutputStream(connection.getOutputStream());
            outputStream.write(requestData);

            outputStream.flush();
            outputStream.close();
        }

        //String response = inputStreamToString(url.openStream());
        //System.out.println("Response: " + response);

        int statusCode = connection.getResponseCode();

        connection.disconnect();

        System.out.println("Status code: " + statusCode);

        //returnData = response;
    }
    catch(IOException e)
    {
        System.out.println("IO Exception in connections\n" + e.getLocalizedMessage());
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    catch(Exception e)
    {
        System.out.println("Invalid information for network connection\n" + e.getLocalizedMessage());
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return returnData;
}

I have a fair bit of components commented out, as they seemed to interfere with the process or bring up issues, even though they were in other examples. As for inputStreamToString(InputStream), that is one of my methods to do just what it says.

Is there a generic way to a URL connection, given my input parameters to the function? Currently, I'm really struggling to get any connections to work and its odd to have to do things in a custom way for each request. Also, I can't seem to get any response data back from a POST request, even though my API does return a response body.

RileyE
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  • try using the HttpRequest wrapper that is provided in this answer: http://stackoverflow.com/a/2253280/507810 that simplifies the process of making http requests. – FoamyGuy Apr 17 '13 at 19:20
  • @FoamyGuy That looks amazing! However, is there a way to send PUT and DELETE? – RileyE Apr 17 '13 at 19:25
  • @FoamyGuy Also, from the looks of it, there doesn't seem to be a real standard way to perform network calls, right? – RileyE Apr 17 '13 at 19:27
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    @RileyE : What is a "standard" network request/call by your definition? There are very many network protocols and data encoding mechanisms...what are you trying to do that needs to be "standard"? – Squonk Apr 17 '13 at 19:47
  • @Squonk You are correct that there are many different protocol and data encoding mechanisms, however, if you take a look at my example method, it has all of that taken care of before even reaching the request. I'm looking for a way to make calls to a server given all variances in the parameters. I can do it easily enough in iOS and I was hoping to have a similar experience with Android. – RileyE Apr 17 '13 at 20:46

0 Answers0