response.md

Handling HTTP Responses

Upon performing an HTTP request using the Requests library, a Response struct is returned, encapsulating all vital information from the HTTP response. This includes the status code, headers, and the response body.

Table of Contents

1. Accessing Basic Response Information
2. Examining Headers and Cookies
3. Content Handling
4. Parsing Response Body
5. Storing Response Content
6. Evaluating Response Success

Accessing Basic Response Information

The Response struct provides several methods to access basic information about the HTTP response:

• StatusCode and Status: Obtain the HTTP status code and the corresponding status message.

  statusCode := response.StatusCode()
  status := response.Status()

• Header: Retrieve headers from the response.

  contentType := response.Header().Get("Content-Type")

• Cookies: Access the cookies provided in the response.

  cookies := response.Cookies()
  for _, cookie := range cookies {
      fmt.Printf("Cookie: %s Value: %s\n", cookie.Name, cookie.Value)
  }

• Body and String: Get the response body either as raw bytes or a string.

  bodyBytes := response.Body()
  bodyString := response.String()

Examining Headers and Cookies

Headers and cookies are essential for many HTTP interactions, and the Response struct simplifies their access:

• Use Header() for reading response headers.
• Use Cookies() to fetch cookies set by the server.

Content Handling

The Response struct offers methods to facilitate handling of different content types:

• ContentType: Determine the Content-Type of the response.

  if response.ContentType() == "application/json" {
      fmt.Println("Received JSON content")
  }

• IsJSON, IsXML, IsYAML: Check if the content type matches specific formats.

  if response.IsJSON() {
      fmt.Println("Content is of type JSON")
  }

Parsing Response Body

By leveraging the Scan, ScanJSON, ScanXML, and ScanYAML methods, you can effortlessly decode responses based on the Content-Type.

JSON Responses

Given a JSON response, you can unmarshal it directly into a Go struct using either the specific ScanJSON method or the generic Scan method, which automatically detects the content type:

var jsonData struct {
    Name string `json:"name"`
    Age  int    `json:"age"`
}

// Unmarshal using ScanJSON
if err := response.ScanJSON(&jsonData); err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Error unmarshaling JSON: %v", err)
}

// Alternatively, unmarshal using Scan
if err := response.Scan(&jsonData); err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Error unmarshaling response: %v", err)
}

XML Responses

For XML responses, use ScanXML or Scan to decode into a Go struct. Here's an example assuming the response contains XML data:

var xmlData struct {
    Name string `xml:"name"`
    Age  int    `xml:"age"`
}

// Unmarshal using ScanXML
if err := response.ScanXML(&xmlData); err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Error unmarshaling XML: %v", err)
}

// Alternatively, unmarshal using Scan
if err := response.Scan(&xmlData); err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Error unmarshaling response: %v", err)
}

YAML Responses

YAML content is similarly straightforward to handle. The ScanYAML or Scan method decodes the YAML response into the specified Go struct:

var yamlData struct {
    Name string `yaml:"name"`
    Age  int    `yaml:"age"`
}

// Unmarshal using ScanYAML
if err := response.ScanYAML(&yamlData); err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Error unmarshaling YAML: %v", err)
}

// Alternatively, unmarshal using Scan
if err := response.Scan(&yamlData); err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Error unmarshaling response: %v", err)
}

Storing Response Content

For saving the response body to a file or streaming it to an io.Writer:

• Save: Write the response body to a designated location.

  // Save response to a file
  if err := response.Save("downloaded_file.txt"); err != nil {
      log.Fatalf("Failed to save file: %v", err)
  }

Evaluating Response Success

To assess whether the HTTP request was successful:

• IsSuccess: Check if the status code signifies a successful response.

  if response.IsSuccess() {
      fmt.Println("The request succeeded.")
  }