I need to add post data to a link and then post to it via visual basic. Here is a little example of what I am trying to do.

Let’s say I have a job with the following info

name : job name 1

department: administrative

description: some description here, could be very long

hours: part time

pay: 10$/hr

This is the link to add a new job

https://example.com/action=new

I need to add URL-encoded information like this.

po_name=job%20name%201&desc=some%20description%20here,%20could%20be%20very%20long&dept=administrative&part_time=yes&salary=10$/hr

All of that is post data. I really have no idea where to start on this and need to be pointed in the right direction. Can anyone help me out? Thanks,

Hi,

Use the following method,

String encodedURL = HttpServerUtility.HtmlEncode( url )

More info here and here

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the encode method. What about adding POST data? I need to assign post variables and their values, do you know how to do that?

mandrews1234:

Thanks for the encode method. What about adding POST data? I need to assign post variables and their values, do you know how to do that?

Hi,

To send values via POST mode to a website, we need to use WebRequest Class. Please have a try on the demo below. It should help you with the task.

Dim postData As String = "job%20name%201&desc=some%20description%20here,%20could%20be%20very%20long&dept=administrative&part_time=yes&salary=10$/hr"
postData = Server.UrlDecode(postData)

Dim encoding = New ASCIIEncoding
Dim data As Byte() = encoding.GetBytes(postData)

Dim myRequest As Net.WebRequest = Net.WebRequest.Create("")

With myRequest
    .Method = "POST"
    .ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
    .ContentLength = data.Length
End With

Dim newStream As IO.Stream = myRequest.GetRequestStream()
newStream.Write(data, 0, data.Length)
newStream.Close()

Dim myResponse As Net.WebResponse = CType(myRequest.GetResponse, Net.WebResponse)

Dim reader As IO.StreamReader = New IO.StreamReader(myResponse.GetResponseStream(), Text.Encoding.Default)
Dim content As String = reader.ReadToEnd()

Please refer to this link for more information about WebResponse class: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/debx8sh9.aspx

Best Regards,
Shengqing Yang

Thanks for all of your responses. In case someone else comes across this, here is a simple quick and dirty example.

Dim myWebClient As New System.Net.WebClient()

myWebClient.Headers.Add("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded")

Dim postQuery As Byte() = System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes("action=login&username=marcel&password=password")
Dim theResponse As Byte() = myWebClient.UploadData("http://www.webmasterworld.com/login.cgi", "POST", postQuery )

Response.Write(System.Text.Encoding.ASCII.GetString(theResponse)) 

That will acutally log you into that site, provided you give proper credentials
Note: I need to credit http://www.webmasterworld.com/microsoft_asp_net/4017629.htm

If anyone ever can't find an answer on here (which doesn't happen very oftent) I would recommend that site also. I usually post to both to get a fast response. Thanks,