HTTP Request
Sends an HTTP request to a server, returning the requested information.
Command availability: IBM Robotic Process Automation as a Service and IBM RPA on premises
Script syntax
IBM RPA's proprietary script language has a syntax similar to other programming languages. The script syntax defines the command's syntax in the script file. You can work with this syntax in RPA Studio's Script mode.
httpRequest --verb(Nullable<HttpVerb>) --url(String) [--headers(StringDictionary<String>)] [--username(String)] [--password(String)] --formatter(Nullable<HttpFormatter>) [--contentheaders(StringDictionary<String>)] --file(String) [--source(String)] [--data(String)] [--encoding(Nullable<EncodingType>)] [--mediatype(String)] [--cookiecontainer(CookieContainer)] [--proxy(ProxyVariant)] --noproxy(Boolean) [--timeout(TimeSpan)] (Boolean)=success (String)=value (Numeric)=statusCode (String)=reasonPhrase (StringDictionary<String>)=headers (StringDictionary<String>)=contentHeaders
Input parameters
The following table displays the list of input parameters available in this command. In the table, you can see the parameter name when working in RPA Studio's Script mode and its Designer mode equivalent label.
| Designer mode label | Script mode name | Required | Accepted variable types | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Method | verb |
Required |
HttpVerb |
The HTTP request method. See the verb parameter options. |
| URL | url |
Required |
Text |
The request target URL. |
| Headers | headers |
Optional |
String Dictionary<Text> |
The request headers used to provide additional information about the request content. |
| User Name | username |
Optional |
Text |
Network credential user. |
| Password | password |
Optional |
Text |
Network credential password. |
| Formatter | formatter |
Required when Method is post, put, patch |
HttpFormatter |
The text format. See the formatter parameter options. |
| Content Headers | contentheaders |
Optional |
String Dictionary<Text> |
Headers of body content with information pertinent to the request. |
| File | file |
Required when the Formatter parameter is enabled |
Text |
File to be sent. |
| Body | source |
Optional |
Text, Http Content |
Formatted text to be sent in the body of the request. |
| Parameters | data |
Optional |
Text |
Parameters to be sent in the body of the request. |
| Encoding | encoding |
Optional |
EncodingType |
The text encoding. See the encoding parameter options. |
| Media Type | mediatype |
Optional |
Text |
Media type of the text. |
| Cookie Container | cookiecontainer |
Optional |
Cookie Container |
The cookie container is used to store the request's cookies, which can be used in subsequent requests. See the cookiecontainer parameter for more details. |
| Proxy | proxy |
Optional |
Proxy |
Proxy used on the request. |
| Ignore Global Proxy Configuration | noproxy |
Required |
Boolean |
Enable to ignore the proxy set in the IBM RPA installation or in the Configuration > Proxy page. |
| Timeout | timeout |
Optional |
Time Span, Number, Text |
Maximum response time. The default time is 5 seconds. |
verb parameter options
The following table displays the options available for the verb input parameter. The table shows the options available when working in Script mode and the equivalent label in the Designer mode.
| Designer mode label | Script mode name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Get | Get |
Returns any information that is identified in the requested URL. You can also specify the following conditions in the request header. - If-Modified-Since - If-Unmodified-Since - If-Match - If-None-Match - If-Range |
| Delete | Delete |
Requests the origin server to delete the resource identified by the URL.Requests the origin server to delete the resource identified by the URL. Responses for this method cannot be cached. If the request is cached and the URL identifies one or more cached entities simultaneously, these entities become obsolete. Keep in mind that this action can be interrupted by the server. |
| Head | Head |
Retrieves information similarly to the Get method, but it only receives meta-information that can be stored instead of the message body. The response metadata are identical to those obtained by using the Get method. |
| Options | Options |
Requests information about communication options for the target server. |
| Patch | Patch |
Applies partial modifications to a resource on the target server. |
| Post | Post |
Sends data to the target server. |
| Put | Put |
Creates or replaces a resource on the target server. |
formatter parameter options
The following table displays the options available for the formatter input parameter. The table shows the options available when working in Script mode and the equivalent label in the Designer mode.
| Designer mode label | Script mode name |
|---|---|
| Operating System Default | Default |
| UTF8 | UTF8 |
| UTF7 | UTF7 |
| UTF32 | UTF32 |
| Unicode | Unicode |
| ASCII | ASCII |
| Big Endian Unicode | BigEndianUnicode |
| Automatic | Auto |
encoding parameter options
The following table displays the options available for the enconding input parameter. The table shows the options available when working in Script mode and the equivalent label in the Designer mode.
| Designer mode label | Script mode name |
|---|---|
| Bytes | Bytes |
| Form URL encoded | FormUrlEncoded |
| Instance | Instance |
| Json | Json |
| Text | Text |
| XML | XML |
Output parameters
| Designer mode label | Script mode name | Accepted variable types | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Success | success | Boolean |
Returns true if the request is successfully submitted and false otherwise. |
| Response | value | Text |
The request response content. |
| Status Code | statusCode | Number |
HTTP response status codes indicate whether a specific HTTP request has been successfully completed. See the HTTP responses for more details. |
| Reason Phrase | reasonPhrase | Text |
Short description of the status code. |
| Headers | headers | String Dictionary<Text> |
Response header, with information pertinent to the request in question. |
| Content Headers | contentHeaders | String Dictionary<Text> |
HTTP content headers as defined in RFC 2616 🡥. |
HTTP responses
The following table displays the responses to the HTTP request:
| Response code | Description |
|---|---|
| 100 | Information responses. |
| 200 | Sucessful responses. |
| 300 | Redirection messages. |
| 400 | Request errors. |
| 500 | Errors on the server. |
Example
The following code example demonstrates how to make an HTTP request to a fake API using the GET Method and logging the response in the IBM RPA Studio console using the Log Message (logMessage)
command.
defVar --name success --type Boolean
defVar --name response --type String
defVar --name statusCode --type Numeric
defVar --name reason --type String
defVar --name headers --type StringDictionary --innertype String
defVar --name contentHeaders --type StringDictionary --innertype String
httpRequest --verb "Get" --url "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts" --cookiecontainer success=success response=value statusCode=statusCode reason=reasonPhrase headers=headers contentHeaders=contentHeaders
logMessage --message "Success: ${success}\r\n\r\nResponse: ${response}\r\n\r\nStatus: ${statusCode}\r\n\r\nReason Phrase: ${reason}\r\n\r\nHeader: ${headers}\r\n\r\nContent headers: ${contentHeaders}" --type "Info"
Limitations
The Body parameter only accepts HTTP content variables in cases where the Formatter parameter is set to Instance.