How Do I Use Http Api Effectively

hi everybody any help is much appreciated, I want to know how I would use the http api effectively atm when I use http.get() I just get useless information

Please post your code.

Please also tell us what exactly you want to do.

What code. All he asked for is some advice on the HTTP API (though he could easily have found some on the Wiki). http.get (on success) returns a handle (that so called "useless information") which has two methods, .readAll and .close. readAll returns the response of the server, close closes the handle (it's highly advised to close the handle). Example:

local handle = http.get("http://google.com") -- handle is not a string, it's the http handle
print(handle.readAll()) -- .readAll returns the actual response
handle.close()

Read the HTTP API documentation on the Wiki; there's a much cleaner explanation than this.

LBPHacker, on 01 September 2013 - 05:21 AM said:

What code. All he asked for is some advice on the HTTP API (though he could easily have found some on the Wiki). http.get (on success) returns a handle (that so called "useless information") which has two methods, .readAll and .close. readAll returns the response of the server, close closes the handle (it's highly advised to close the handle). Example:

local handle = http.get("http://google.com") -- handle is not a string, it's the http handle
print(handle.readAll()) -- .readAll returns the actual response
handle.close()

Read the HTTP API documentation on the Wiki; there's a much cleaner explanation than this.

I wanted to know how he was using it, so I could tell him what he was doing wrong.

okay I used your code bit, and got a bunch of information how would I use this like pastebin does to get information I could possibly use

jay5476, on 01 September 2013 - 05:54 PM said:

okay I used your code bit, and got a bunch of information how would I use this like pastebin does to get information I could possibly use

Depends on what data you're trying to get and where you're getting it from. I'm guessing the "information" you get is HTML. Tell us what you're trying to do.

floppyjack, on 01 September 2013 - 05:04 AM said:

Please also tell us what exactly you want to do.

He wants to learn how the http api works

ZudoHackz, on 01 September 2013 - 05:54 AM said:

LBPHacker, on 01 September 2013 - 05:21 AM said:

What code. All he asked for is some advice on the HTTP API (though he could easily have found some on the Wiki). http.get (on success) returns a handle (that so called "useless information") which has two methods, .readAll and .close. readAll returns the response of the server, close closes the handle (it's highly advised to close the handle). Example:

local handle = http.get("http://google.com") -- handle is not a string, it's the http handle
print(handle.readAll()) -- .readAll returns the actual response
handle.close()

Read the HTTP API documentation on the Wiki; there's a much cleaner explanation than this.

I wanted to know how he was using it, so I could tell him what he was doing wrong.

He wasn't using it, he doesn't know how to use it, that's why he came here, to learn how to use it. You can only correct a mistake if someone makes one first, he never said he was having trouble with a program or that he had a program to begin with, he just wanted to learn how to use the api, presumably for programs that he might create in the future.

okay how would I do something like get the first 3 sites google gets for the search 'computer'

I believe Google blocks requests sent with a Java user agent, so you would be unable to do that. If you were able to do so with another site, you'd simply read through the returned page and pick out the relevant result URLs from the HMTL of the page.

so first I would have to read through what it returns where it returns and get it from that?
maybe if someone explained a bit how the 'pastebin program does it so efficently

Pastebin provides a URL to get just the raw text of the paste, no HTML code. The pastebin program uses that to get just the text of the program, nothing else. Search engines do not usually provide comparable features.

okay thanks