Question

I am attempting to load HTML code using C++ and wininet.h instrumentation in Visual Studio 2010 Express. To create the URL String, I write the following:

HINTERNET hConnect =::InternetConnect(
    hInternet, 
    _T("stackoverflow.com"), 
    INTERNET_DEFAULT_HTTP_PORT, 
    NULL, 
    NULL, 
    IINTERNET_SERVICE_HTTP, 
    0, 
    1u
);

The program works well when the URL is just a domain with no path or protocol, but when I change the URL from stackoverflow.com to http://stackoverflow.com/questions, suddenly my code doesn’t work any longer.

HttpSendRequest(hRequest, NULL, 0, NULL, 0) simply returns false.

I have tried a number of different variations on my parameters and have scoured Google, but I am just plain stuck. Can anyone provide some insight?

Answer 1

The documentation for InternetConnect tells me that it is used to establish an FTP or HTTP connection to a server – not to download a URL.

As such, the lpszServerName parameter is documented as:

Pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the host name of an Internet server. Alternately, the string can contain the IP number of the site, in ASCII dotted-decimal format (for example, 11.0.1.45).

So you must use a server’s host name or IP address and cannot use a URL, hence why it doesn’t work when you do.

The path part of your URL (/questions) should be used as the lpszObjectName parameter of a HttpOpenRequest call (docs) that you make using the hConnect returned by your InternetConnect call.