Windows API Reference

WinINet Functions

The WinINet API provides high-level access to the Internet for client applications. It handles the complexities of protocols like HTTP, FTP, and Gopher.

• InternetOpen

  Initializes an application's use of the WinINet API.

• InternetConnect

  Establishes a connection to a specified Internet server.

• HttpOpenRequest

  Creates an HTTP request handle.

• HttpSendRequest

  Sends the HTTP request to the server.

• InternetReadFile

  Reads data from the specified Internet resource.

• InternetCloseHandle

  Closes an opened Internet handle.

Here's a basic C++ example demonstrating how to fetch content from a URL using WinINet:

#include <windows.h>
#include <wininet.h>
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    HINTERNET hInternet = InternetOpen(L"MyWinINetClient", INTERNET_OPEN_TYPE_DIRECT, NULL, NULL, 0);
    if (!hInternet) {
        std::cerr << "Failed to initialize WinINet." << std::endl;
        return 1;
    }

    HINTERNET hUrl = InternetOpenUrl(hInternet, L"http://www.example.com", NULL, 0, INTERNET_FLAG_HYPERL, NULL);
    if (!hUrl) {
        std::cerr << "Failed to open URL." << std::endl;
        InternetCloseHandle(hInternet);
        return 1;
    }

    char buffer[1024];
    DWORD bytesRead;
    while (InternetReadFile(hUrl, buffer, sizeof(buffer) - 1, &bytesRead) && bytesRead > 0) {
        buffer[bytesRead] = '\0';
        std::cout << buffer;
    }

    InternetCloseHandle(hUrl);
    InternetCloseHandle(hInternet);
    std::cout << std::endl;
    return 0;
}
            

• Winsock Programming
• HTTP Client APIs