Android HttpUrlConnection setting POST method

Question

I need HttpUrlConnection to use POST method but it's not playing nice.

connection = (HttpURLConnection) link.openConnection();
connection.setRequestMethod("POST");
...

In the debugger:

on the first line I see connection = null as expected
second line I can see connection.method = "GET" as expected
further on I see connection.method = "GET" which is not expected

How can I get HttpUrlConnection to use POST ?

Solution

If you open a HttpUrlconnection on the "HTTPS" protocol, the connection permanently overrides the connection to "GET".

Via "HTTP" the connection will allow "POST" method if it is manually set.

If you're using HTTPS, you should use HttpsURLConnection: http://developer.android.com/reference/javax/net/ssl/HttpsURLConnection.html — Daniel Nugent, Feb 08 '16 at 22:06
There are multiple connections made throughout the app, some http some https, hence why this bug was a bit of a mess to chase down. — Jacksonkr, Feb 08 '16 at 22:15

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 04 '19 at 20:05

Try it:

public static String executePostHttpRequest(final String path, Map<String, String> params) throws ClientProtocolException, IOException {
    String result = null;
    HttpURLConnection urlConnection = null;
    try {
        String postData = getQuery(params);
        byte[] postDataBytes = postData.getBytes("UTF-8");

        URL url = new URL(path);
        urlConnection = (HttpURLConnection) url.openConnection();
        urlConnection.setConnectTimeout(30000);
        urlConnection.setReadTimeout(30000);
        urlConnection.setRequestMethod("POST");
        urlConnection.setDoOutput(true);
        urlConnection.setRequestProperty("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"); 
        urlConnection.setRequestProperty("charset", "UTF-8");
        urlConnection.setRequestProperty("Content-Length", Integer.toString(postDataBytes.length));

        OutputStream out = urlConnection.getOutputStream();
        out.write(postDataBytes);
        out.close();
        result = readStream(urlConnection.getInputStream());
    } finally {
        if (urlConnection != null) {
            urlConnection.disconnect();
        }
    }
    return result;
}

Where:

private static String getQuery(Map<String, String> params) throws UnsupportedEncodingException{
    StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder(); 
    boolean haveData = params != null && params.size() > 0;
    if (haveData) {
        boolean first = true;
        for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : params.entrySet()){
            String value = entry.getValue();
            if (value != null) {
                if (first) {
                     first = false;
                } else {
                     result.append("&");
                }
                result.append(URLEncoder.encode(entry.getKey(), "UTF-8"));
                result.append("=");
                result.append(URLEncoder.encode(value, "UTF-8"));
            }
        }
    }
    return result.toString();
}

P.S. I didn't move hard-coded strings to constants for better understanding.

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

1

Solution

If you open a HttpUrlconnection on the "HTTPS" protocol, the connection permanently overrides the connection to "GET".

Via "HTTP" the connection will allow "POST" method if it is manually set.

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

1
1

answered Feb 10 '16 at 20:40

Jacksonkr

31,583
39
180
284

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 08 '16 at 19:35

public void postData() {
// Create a new HttpClient and Post Header
HttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient();
HttpPost httppost = new HttpPost("http://www.yoursite.com/script.php");

try {
    // Add your data
    List<NameValuePair> nameValuePairs = new ArrayList<NameValuePair>(2);
    nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("id", "12345"));
    nameValuePairs.add(new BasicNameValuePair("stringdata", "Hi"));
    httppost.setEntity(new UrlEncodedFormEntity(nameValuePairs));

    // Execute HTTP Post Request
    HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(httppost);

} catch (ClientProtocolException e) {
    // TODO Auto-generated catch block
} catch (IOException e) {
    // TODO Auto-generated catch block
}

}

`HttpClient` is what used to be in this app but everything has been moved over due to a TLS 1.2 complication, hence why I'm working with `HttpUrlConnection` — Jacksonkr, Feb 08 '16 at 19:39
https://www.numetriclabz.com/android-post-and-get-request-using-httpurlconnection/ — Nidhin Prathap, Feb 08 '16 at 19:43

Android HttpUrlConnection setting POST method

Solution

3 Answers3

Solution