HttpRequest Class

Use the HttpRequest class to programmatically create HTTP requests like GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE.

Use the DOM Classes to parse XML content in the body of a request created by HttpRequest.

The HttpRequest class contains the following public methods:

Name	Arguments	Return Type	Description
`getBody`		String	Retrieves the body of this request.
`setBody`	String `body`	Void	Sets the contents of the body for this request. Limit: 6 MB. The HTTP request and response sizes are calculated as part of the total heap size. Therefore, don't exceed the 6 MB total heap size.
`getBodyAsBlob`		Blob	Retrieves the body of this request as a Blob.
`setBodyAsBlob`	Blob `body`	Void	Sets the contents of the body for this request using a Blob. Limit: 6 MB. The HTTP request and response sizes are calculated as part of the total heap size. Therefore, don't exceed the 6 MB total heap size.
`getBodyDocument`		`Dom.Document`	Retrieves the body of this request as a DOM document. Use it as a shortcut for: String xml = httpRequest.getBody(); Dom.Document domDoc = new Dom.Document(xml);
`setBodyDocument`	Dom.Document `document`	Void	Sets the contents of the body for this request. The contents represent a DOM document. Limit: 6 MB.
`getCompressed`		Boolean	If `true`, the request body is compressed, `false` otherwise.
`setCompressed`	Boolean `flag`	Void	If `true`, the data in the body is delivered to the endpoint in the gzip compressed format. If `false`, no compression format is used.
`getEndpoint`		String	Retrieves the URL for the endpoint of the external server for this request.
`setEndpoint`	String `endpoint`	Void	Sets the URL for the endpoint of the external server for this request.
`getHeader`	String `key`	String	Retrieves the contents of the request header.
`setHeader`	String `key` String `Value`	Void	Sets the contents of the request header. Limit 100 KB.
`getMethod`		String	Returns the type of method used by `HttpRequest`. For example: DELETE GET HEAD POST PUT TRACE
`setMethod`	String `method`		Sets the type of method to be used for the HTTP request. For example: DELETE GET HEAD POST PUT TRACE You can also use this method to set any required options.
`setClientCertificate`	String `clientCert` String `password`	Void	This method is deprecated. Use `setClientCertificateName` instead. If the server requires a client certificate for authentication, set the client certificate PKCS12 key store and password.
`setClientCertificateName`	String `certDevName`	Void	If the external service requires a client certificate for authentication, set the certificate name. See Using Certificates with HTTP Requests.
`setTimeout`	Integer `timeout`	Void	Sets the timeout in milliseconds for the request. This can be any value between 1 and 60,000 milliseconds.
`toString`		String	Returns a string containing the URL for the endpoint of the external server for this request and the method used, for example :`Endpoint=http://www.salesforcesampletest.org, Method=POST`

The following example illustrates how you can use an authorization header with a request, and handle the response:

public class AuthCallout {
 
   public void basicAuthCallout(){
     HttpRequest req = new HttpRequest();
     req.setEndpoint('http://www.yahoo.com');
     req.setMethod('GET');
     
     // Specify the required user name and password to access the endpoint 
    
     // As well as the header and header information 
    
 
     String username = 'myname';
     String password = 'mypwd';
  
     Blob headerValue = Blob.valueOf(username + ':' + password);
     String authorizationHeader = 'BASIC ' +
     EncodingUtil.base64Encode(headerValue);
     req.setHeader('Authorization', authorizationHeader);
   
     // Create a new http object to send the request object 
    
     // A response object is generated as a result of the request   
    
  
     Http http = new Http();
     HTTPResponse res = http.send(req);
     System.debug(res.getBody());
   }
}

Compression

If you need to compress the data you send, use setCompressed, as the following sample illustrates:

HttpRequest req = new HttpRequest();
req.setEndPoint('my_endpoint');
req.setCompressed(true);
req.setBody('some post body');

If a response comes back in compressed format, getBody automatically recognizes the format, uncompresses it, and returns the uncompressed value.