Download File (getfile)

Makes a standard HTTP request and return the contents as Murex-aware data type for passing along Murex pipelines.

Description

Fetches a resource from a URL - setting stdout data-type

Usage

getfile url -> <stdout>

Examples

getfile google.com 

Detail

This simply fetches a resource (via HTTP GET request) from a URL and returns the byte stream to stdout. It will set stdout's data-type based on MIME defined in the Content-Type HTTP header.

It is recommended that you only use this command if you're pipelining the output (eg writing to file or passing on to another function). If you just want to render the output to the terminal then use open which has hooks for smart terminal rendering.

As A Method

Running get, post or getfile as a method will transmit the contents of stdin as part of the body of the HTTP request. When run as a method the Content-Type HTTP header will automatically be set to the default MIME for the data type from stdin.

This is defined in config, pre-defined by sensible defaults from each murex data type. For example:

» config get shell default-mimes -> [json]
application/json

You can override this at the global level via shell default-mimes, or at the local level via http headers:

config set http headers %{
    api.example.com: {
        Content-Type: application/foobar
    }
}

Configurable options

getfile has a number of behavioral options which can be configured via Murex's standard config tool:

config -> [ http ]

To change a default, for example the user agent string:

config set http user-agent "bob"
getfile google.com

This enables sane, repeatable and readable defaults. Read the documents on config for more details about it's usage and the rational behind the command.

See Also

• Get Request (get): Makes a standard HTTP request and returns the result as a JSON object
• Open File (open): Open a file with a preferred handler
• Post Request (post): HTTP POST request with a JSON-parsable return
• Shell Configuration And Settings (config): Query or define Murex runtime settings

---

This document was generated from builtins/core/httpclient/get_doc.yaml.