No data received by Server

[BWHUGHE]

I am executing a POST operation to a server and the server is indicating (using a page that echo's back the data it received) that it did not receive any data. I want to be sure I am understanding and using the winhttp API's correctly. I followed the example code in the API explanations. My code is as follows:

hRequest = WinHttpOpenRequest( hConnect,
L"POST",
L"/secure/echo.asp",
NULL,
WINHTTP_NO_REFERER,
WINHTTP_DEFAULT_ACCEPT_TYPES,
WINHTTP_FLAG_SECURE );

if ( hRequest )
{
bResults = WinHttpSendRequest( hRequest,
WINHTTP_NO_ADDITIONAL_HEADERS,
0,
WINHTTP_NO_REQUEST_DATA,
0,
strlen( szCCData ),
0 );
if ( bResults )
{
bResults = WinHttpWriteData( hRequest,
szCCData,
strlen( szCCData ),
&dwBytesWritten );

I want to send the contents of szCCdata with the POST request. My understanding is that the contents of szCCData will be sent with WinHttpWriteData and not with the WinHttpSendRequest since I made the length of the optional data (dwOptionalData in API prototype) zero and the length of the data to be sent is greater than zero. I also tried changing the length of the optional data from 0 to strlen(szCCData) in the WinHttpSendRequest and commented out the WinHttpWriteData to see if the data would be sent just using the WinHttpSendRequest call (I don't know if that is correct) and I got the same result.

I have checked the data (szCCData) in memory before the calling the API's and the data is fine. I know I am connecting with the server because it is responding to my request but it indicates it received no data in the POST operation.

[Alex Ostapenko]

Hello, BWHUGHE!
You wrote on Tue, 27 Jul 2004 09:43:46 -0700:

If you are going to POST form data you SHOULD explicitly specify content
type header.

With best regards,
Alex Ostapenko,
Helicon Tech.

[BWHUGHE]

I don't know what form data is. My data is not coming from an http form or an http application it is coming directly from a credit card swipe reader. I am taking that data, formatting it and then posting it to an http server which will validate the credit card.
In talking with the service provider, my understanding is that I POST credit card data in an ASCII string in what looks like CSV format to a http server. However all their samples are browser based and I have no idea what is happening under the covers when the browser connects to the server. That is what I need to do using WinHttp. The only thing I know about http is what I have learned reading the WinHttp API information which to me is very confusing.

SAMPLE:
name="sjname" value="Jimmy SkipJack Test"
name="email" value="te...@skipjack.com"
name="Streetaddress" value="10549 Reading Rd" name="state" value="OH" name="city" value="Cincinnati"
name="zipcode" value="45241"
name="ordernumber" value="1"
name="accountnumber" value="4445999922225"
name="month" value="12"
name="year" value="04"
name="serialnumber" value="000594108441"
name="Transactionamount" value="1.00"
name="Orderstring" value="1~1~0.00~1~N~||"
name="shiptophone" value="8883688507"

[Frank Schwieterman [MSFT]]

If you haven't already, that dwBytesWritten is what you expect after
calling WinHttpWriteData.

Can you do the request with IE and WinHttp without using SSL? If so, you
can use a network sniffer to see the difference between what IE is doing and
what your application is doing with WinHttp. I have a thread at
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&c2coff=1&selm=OXPJMjAaDHA.1004%40TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl
(thread title: Re: How to "see" a POST from IE
) which discusses some network sniffers available. Netmon is what I prefer
but its not always available.

The data you have is similar to but not the same as what form data formats
I've seen in the past, so I don't have a recommendation for what
content-type to use. That may or may not be the issue, hopefully you can
get a network sniff going.

"BWHUGHE" <BWH...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:14114864-102B-40D0...@microsoft.com...

[BWHUGHE]

Problem solved, the format of the data I was sending incorrect. I changed the credit card data from CSV format to to "Form Submit" format (ordernumber=1&accountnumber=203465&month=12&year=2004) and it worked. Thanks to everyone who responded to my posts, they were very much appreciated.

Brian