HTTP GET and POST requests with Ruby

Here is the method I needed to add the POST request to:

01	def email_to_friend

02	...other code...

03	# now, do the dirty work

04	require 'net/http'

05	# get the url that we need to post to

06	url = URI.parse('http://www.url.com/subscribe')

07	# build the params string

08	post_args1 = { 'email' => params[:email] }

09	# send the request

10	resp, data = Net::HTTP.post_form(url, post_args1)

11

end

The post_form method returns a Net::HTTPResponse object and an entity body string (in Ruby 1.8, it only returns the Net::HTTPResponse object). You can also use the post method.

Similarly, you can perform a GET request on a URL like so:

1	require 'net/http'

2	result = Net::HTTP.get(URI.parse('http://www.site.com/about.html'))

3

# or

4	result = Net::HTTP.get(URI.parse('http://www.site.com'), '/about.html')

The get method returns a String.

That's simple enough, right?

Posted in: Programming,Rails