Using variable for HTTP request headers with Perl - perl

I am trying to write a function to create HTTP requests (POST and GET mostly) in Perl. I am keeping everything generic by using variables so that I don't have to worry about the type of request, the payload, headers, etc, however HTTP::Request->header() doesn't seem to like my variable:
my($req_type, $headers, $endpoint, $args, $request, $jsonfile) = #_;
my $ua = LWP::UserAgent->new;
my $req = HTTP::Request->new($req_type => $endpoint);
$req->content_type('application/json');
foreach (#$headers) {
$req->push_header($_);
}
$req->content($args);
$req->content($request);
print "request : ".$req->as_string;
I tried a few different approches, and using push_header got me the closest, but I realize it may not be the best solution. I think it might have something to do with single quotes getting passed in:
#headers = "'x-auth-token' => '$_token'";
I can post more of the code if it is helpful. I'm hoping some Perl guru will know exactly what I'm doing wrong. I'm sure it's something to do with the format of the string I'm passing in.

#headers = "'x-auth-token' => '$_token'";
The header function expects to be passed two arguments. The header name and the header value.
You are passing it one argument: a string containing a fragment of Perl code.
You need to format your data more sensibly.
my %headers = (
"x-auth-token" => $_token;
);
and
foreach my $header_name (keys %headers) {
$req->push_header($header_name => $headers{$header_name});
}

Related

Method to parse request_uri header from decoded JSON in Perl

Ok, so here is what we are doing. We are viewing a json request/response string.
Code snippet (assuming relevant modules been used):
if( open( my $json_file, $filename ))
{
my $json = JSON->new;
my $data = $json->decode(<$json_file>);
close( json_file );
$request_uri = $data->{'input'}{'Headers'}{'REQUEST_URI'};
}
So $request_uri looks something like
/user/12345?param1=4&param2=9956
Whilst I could use regex or whatever to extract data out of there, I am sure this is a common situation and there should be a method to parse this particular REST into its parts and then extract them out. I do not see this in the REST manual which seems to be more about constructing requests.
Use the URI module.
my $request_uri = URI->new( $data->{'input'}{'Headers'}{'REQUEST_URI'} );
my $path = $request_uri->path;
my $query = $request_uri->query;
# etc

WWW::Mechanize text field issue

I'm trying to submit a form by post method using WWW::Mechanize perl module.
use WWW::Mechanize;
my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new();
...
$mech->get($url);
...
my $response = $mech->submit_form(
form_name => $name,
fields => {
$field_name => $field_value
},
button => 'Button'
);
$field_name is generally speaking a text field (though the type is not specified explicitly in the form), which has a preset value.
$field_name => $field_value in $mech->submit_form on whatever reason does not replace the value, instead $field_value is added into the form after the original value:
{submitted_field_value} = {original_value},{provided_value}
How to replace {original_value} with {provided_value} in the form to be submitted ?
What happens if you add this single line to your code before calling $mech->submit_form():
$mech->field( $name, [$field_value], 1 );
This makes sure that the first value is added, or overwritten if it already exists.
1 is the number parameter (or position index)
See the documentation of WWW::Mechanize:
$mech->field( $name, \#values, $number )
Given the name of a field, set its value to the value specified. [...]
The optional $number parameter is used to distinguish between two
fields with the same name. The fields are numbered from 1.
It's important to remember WWW::Mechanize is better thought of as a 'headless browser' as opposed to say LWP or curl, which only handle all the fiddly bits of http requests for you. Mech keeps its state as you do things.
You'll need to get the form by using $mech->forms or something similar (its best to decide from the documentation. I mean there so many ways to do it.), and then set the input field you want to change, using the field methods.
I guess the basic way to do this comes out as so:
$mech->form_name($name);
$mech->field($field_name, $field_value);
my $response = $mech->click('Button');
Should work. I believe it will also work if you get the field and directly use that (ie my $field = $mech->form_name($name); then use $field methods instead of $mech.
I managed to make it working at my will. Thanks Timbus and knb for your suggestions. Though my case may not be completely general (I know the preset value) but I'd share what I've found (by trails & errors).
my $mech = WWW::Mechanize->new();
$mech->get($url);
$mech->form_name( $name );
my $fields = $mech->form_name($name);
foreach my $k ( #{$fields->{inputs}}){
if ($k->{value} eq $default_value){
$k->{value}=$field_value;
}
}
my $response = $mech->click('Button_name');

Having problem setting parameters for LWP::UserAgent

my %parameters = (
key => 'value'
);
my $response = $ua->get('http://example.com/i', %parameters);
I'm trying to get content of http://example.com/i?key=value,but after debugging I found the %parameters are stored in http headers instead of url parameters.
What's wrong in my code?
Though perldoc tells me that :
$ua->get( $url , $field_name => $value, ... )
But it should also work if I put those parameters in a %parameters,right?
The additional parameters to get are HTTP headers. For GET requests, arguments are included in the URL itself, URLencoded. You can use the URI module to create the appropriate URLs including GET variables, or construct them yourself (probably using URI::Escape to urlencode the values).
e.g.:
my %parameters = (
key => 'value'
);
my $url = URI->new("http://example.com/i");
$url->query_form(%parameters);
my $response = $ua->get($url);
From the fine manual:
$ua->get( $url )
$ua->get( $url , $field_name => $value, ... )
This method will dispatch a GET request on the given $url. Further arguments can be given to initialize the headers of the request.
Emphasis mine. You're misreading the documentation, the extra parameters for get() are HTTP header fields, not CGI parameters. If you want to include some CGI parameters then you'll have to add them to the URI yourself (preferably with URI).

Adding authHeader to Perl SOAP::Lite request

I am having some trouble creating a request to this WSDL that works; it requires authHeaders and I am not having much luck adding them. This is what I am trying:
# make proxy for the service
my $soap = SOAP::Lite->service($wsdl);
# add fault hanlder
$soap->on_fault(
sub { # SOAP fault handler
my $soap = shift;
my $res = shift;
# Map faults to exceptions
if(ref($res) eq '') {
die($res);
}
else {
die($res->faultstring);
}
return new SOAP::SOM;
}
);
# authentication request headers
my #headers = (
SOAP::Header->name('user')->value('myemail#whatever.com')->uri($apins),
SOAP::Header->name('password')->value('mypassword')->uri($apins),
SOAP::Header->name('appName')->value('TestApp')->uri($apins),
SOAP::Header->name('appVersion')->value('0.02')->uri($apins)
);
# request method
print $soap->getCompanyInfo('NB', #headers);
The response I get when doing this is:
String value expected instead of SOAP::Header reference
The method I am requesting has two string parameters, both optional. And suggestions?
I was able to get help form the SOAP::Lite mailing list. If I want to pass my own headers, I have to use the call method instead of the actually method name.
# create header for requests
my $authHeader = SOAP::Header->name("xsd:authHeader" =>
\SOAP::Header->value(
SOAP::Header->name('xsd:user')->value($s7user)->type(''),
SOAP::Header->name('xsd:password')->value($s7pass)->type(''),
SOAP::Header->name('xsd:appName')->value('TestApp')->type(''),
SOAP::Header->name('xsd:appVersion')->value('0.03')->type('')
));
# create data to pass as method paramaters
my $params = SOAP::Data->name('ns:email')->value($s7user)->type('');
# request method
$soap->call('checkLogin', $params, $authHeader);
In order to use the call method, you will need to define a proxy (endpoint) on your soap object. Hope this is helpful for someone else down the road.

How do I pass a variable into a URL in a Perl script?

How do I pass a variable into a URL in a Perl script?
I am trying to pass the variables in an array to url. For some reason it is not working. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. The code roughly looks like this:
#coins = qw(Quarter Dime Nickel);
foreach (#coins) {
my $req = HTTP::Request->new(POST =>'https://url/$coins.com');
}
This does not work as $coins does not switch to Quarter,Dime,Nickel respectively.
What am I doing wrong?
First, variables do not interpolate in single quoted strings:
my $req = HTTP::Request->new(POST => "https://url/$coins.com");
Second, there is no variable $coins defined anywhere:
foreach my $coin (#coins) {
my $req = HTTP::Request->new(POST => "https://url/$coin.com");
}
Also, make sure to use strict and warnings.
You should also invest some time into learning Perl properly.
Use
'https://url/' . $_ . '.com'
Instead of your
'https://url/$coins.com'