curl_formadd - add a section to a multipart/formdata HTTP POST
#include <curl/curl.h> CURLFORMcode curl_formadd(struct curl_httppost **firstitem, struct curl_httppost **lastitem, ...);
curl_formadd(3) libcurl Manual curl_formadd(3)
NAME
curl_formadd - add a section to a multipart/formdata HTTP POST
SYNOPSIS
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLFORMcode curl_formadd(struct curl_httppost **firstitem,
struct curl_httppost **lastitem, ...);
DESCRIPTION
This function is deprecated. Do not use. See curl_mime_init(3) instead.
curl_formadd() is used to append sections when building a multi-
part/formdata HTTP POST (sometimes referred to as RFC2388-style posts).
Append one section at a time until you have added all the sections you
want included and then you pass the firstitem pointer as parameter to
CURLOPT_HTTPPOST(3). lastitem is set after each curl_formadd(3) call
and on repeated invokes it should be left as set to allow repeated
invokes to find the end of the list faster.
After the lastitem pointer follow the real arguments.
The pointers firstitem and lastitem should both be pointing to NULL in
the first call to this function. All list-data will be allocated by the
function itself. You must call curl_formfree(3) on the firstitem after
the form post has been done to free the resources.
Using POST with HTTP 1.1 implies the use of a "Expect: 100-continue"
header. You can disable this header with CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER(3) as
usual.
First, there are some basics you need to understand about multi-
part/formdata posts. Each part consists of at least a NAME and a CON-
TENTS part. If the part is made for file upload, there are also a
stored CONTENT-TYPE and a FILENAME. Below, we will discuss what
options you use to set these properties in the parts you want to add to
your post.
The options listed first are for making normal parts. The options from
CURLFORM_FILE through CURLFORM_BUFFERLENGTH are for file upload parts.
OPTIONS
CURLFORM_COPYNAME
followed by a string which provides the name of this part.
libcurl copies the string so your application does not need to
keep it around after this function call. If the name is not NUL-
terminated, you must set its length with CURLFORM_NAMELENGTH.
The name is not allowed to contain zero-valued bytes. The copied
data will be freed by curl_formfree(3).
CURLFORM_PTRNAME
followed by a string which provides the name of this part.
libcurl will use the pointer and refer to the data in your
application, so you must make sure it remains until curl no
longer needs it. If the name is not NUL-terminated, you must set
its length with CURLFORM_NAMELENGTH. The name is not allowed to
contain zero-valued bytes.
CURLFORM_COPYCONTENTS
followed by a pointer to the contents of this part, the actual
data to send away. libcurl copies the provided data, so your
application does not need to keep it around after this function
call. If the data is not null terminated, or if you would like
it to contain zero bytes, you must set the length of the name
with CURLFORM_CONTENTSLENGTH. The copied data will be freed by
curl_formfree(3).
CURLFORM_PTRCONTENTS
followed by a pointer to the contents of this part, the actual
data to send away. libcurl will use the pointer and refer to the
data in your application, so you must make sure it remains until
curl no longer needs it. If the data is not NUL-terminated, or
if you would like it to contain zero bytes, you must set its
length with CURLFORM_CONTENTSLENGTH.
CURLFORM_CONTENTLEN
followed by a curl_off_t value giving the length of the con-
tents. Note that for CURLFORM_STREAM contents, this option is
mandatory.
If you pass a 0 (zero) for this option, libcurl will instead do
a strlen() on the contents to figure out the size. If you really
want to send a zero byte content then you must make sure
strlen() on the data pointer returns zero.
(Option added in 7.46.0)
CURLFORM_CONTENTSLENGTH
(This option is deprecated. Use CURLFORM_CONTENTLEN instead!)
followed by a long giving the length of the contents. Note that
for CURLFORM_STREAM contents, this option is mandatory.
If you pass a 0 (zero) for this option, libcurl will instead do
a strlen() on the contents to figure out the size. If you really
want to send a zero byte content then you must make sure
strlen() on the data pointer returns zero.
CURLFORM_FILECONTENT
followed by a filename, causes that file to be read and its con-
tents used as data in this part. This part does not automati-
cally become a file upload part simply because its data was read
from a file.
The specified file needs to kept around until the associated
transfer is done.
CURLFORM_FILE
followed by a filename, makes this part a file upload part. It
sets the filename field to the basename of the provided file-
name, it reads the contents of the file and passes them as data
and sets the content-type if the given file match one of the
internally known file extensions. For CURLFORM_FILE the user may
send one or more files in one part by providing multiple CURL-
FORM_FILE arguments each followed by the filename (and each
CURLFORM_FILE is allowed to have a CURLFORM_CONTENTTYPE).
The given upload file has to exist in its full in the file sys-
tem already when the upload starts, as libcurl needs to read the
correct file size beforehand.
The specified file needs to kept around until the associated
transfer is done.
CURLFORM_CONTENTTYPE
is used in combination with CURLFORM_FILE. Followed by a pointer
to a string which provides the content-type for this part, pos-
sibly instead of an internally chosen one.
CURLFORM_FILENAME
is used in combination with CURLFORM_FILE. Followed by a pointer
to a string, it tells libcurl to use the given string as the
filename in the file upload part instead of the actual file
name.
CURLFORM_BUFFER
is used for custom file upload parts without use of CURL-
FORM_FILE. It tells libcurl that the file contents are already
present in a buffer. The parameter is a string which provides
the filename field in the content header.
CURLFORM_BUFFERPTR
is used in combination with CURLFORM_BUFFER. The parameter is a
pointer to the buffer to be uploaded. This buffer must not be
freed until after curl_easy_cleanup(3) is called. You must also
use CURLFORM_BUFFERLENGTH to set the number of bytes in the buf-
fer.
CURLFORM_BUFFERLENGTH
is used in combination with CURLFORM_BUFFER. The parameter is a
long which gives the length of the buffer.
CURLFORM_STREAM
Tells libcurl to use the CURLOPT_READFUNCTION(3) callback to get
data. The parameter you pass to CURLFORM_STREAM is the pointer
passed on to the read callback's fourth argument. If you want
the part to look like a file upload one, set the CURLFORM_FILE-
NAME parameter as well. Note that when using CURLFORM_STREAM,
CURLFORM_CONTENTSLENGTH must also be set with the total expected
length of the part unless the formpost is sent chunked encoded.
(Option added in libcurl 7.18.2)
CURLFORM_ARRAY
Another possibility to send options to curl_formadd() is the
CURLFORM_ARRAY option, that passes a struct curl_forms array
pointer as its value. Each curl_forms structure element has a
CURLformoption and a char pointer. The final element in the
array must be a CURLFORM_END. All available options can be used
in an array, except the CURLFORM_ARRAY option itself. The last
argument in such an array must always be CURLFORM_END.
CURLFORM_CONTENTHEADER
specifies extra headers for the form POST section. This takes a
curl_slist prepared in the usual way using curl_slist_append and
appends the list of headers to those libcurl automatically gen-
erates. The list must exist while the POST occurs, if you free
it before the post completes you may experience problems.
When you have passed the HttpPost pointer to curl_easy_setopt(3)
(using the CURLOPT_HTTPPOST(3) option), you must not free the
list until after you have called curl_easy_cleanup(3) for the
curl handle.
See example below.
EXAMPLE
struct curl_httppost* post = NULL;
struct curl_httppost* last = NULL;
char namebuffer[] = "name buffer";
long namelength = strlen(namebuffer);
char buffer[] = "test buffer";
char htmlbuffer[] = "<HTML>test buffer</HTML>";
long htmlbufferlength = strlen(htmlbuffer);
struct curl_forms forms[3];
char file1[] = "my-face.jpg";
char file2[] = "your-face.jpg";
/* add null character into htmlbuffer, to demonstrate that
transfers of buffers containing null characters actually work
*/
htmlbuffer[8] = '\0';
/* Add simple name/content section */
curl_formadd(&post, &last, CURLFORM_COPYNAME, "name",
CURLFORM_COPYCONTENTS, "content", CURLFORM_END);
/* Add simple name/content/contenttype section */
curl_formadd(&post, &last, CURLFORM_COPYNAME, "htmlcode",
CURLFORM_COPYCONTENTS, "<HTML></HTML>",
CURLFORM_CONTENTTYPE, "text/html", CURLFORM_END);
/* Add name/ptrcontent section */
curl_formadd(&post, &last, CURLFORM_COPYNAME, "name_for_ptrcontent",
CURLFORM_PTRCONTENTS, buffer, CURLFORM_END);
/* Add ptrname/ptrcontent section */
curl_formadd(&post, &last, CURLFORM_PTRNAME, namebuffer,
CURLFORM_PTRCONTENTS, buffer, CURLFORM_NAMELENGTH,
namelength, CURLFORM_END);
/* Add name/ptrcontent/contenttype section */
curl_formadd(&post, &last, CURLFORM_COPYNAME, "html_code_with_hole",
CURLFORM_PTRCONTENTS, htmlbuffer,
CURLFORM_CONTENTSLENGTH, htmlbufferlength,
CURLFORM_CONTENTTYPE, "text/html", CURLFORM_END);
/* Add simple file section */
curl_formadd(&post, &last, CURLFORM_COPYNAME, "picture",
CURLFORM_FILE, "my-face.jpg", CURLFORM_END);
/* Add file/contenttype section */
curl_formadd(&post, &last, CURLFORM_COPYNAME, "picture",
CURLFORM_FILE, "my-face.jpg",
CURLFORM_CONTENTTYPE, "image/jpeg", CURLFORM_END);
/* Add two file section */
curl_formadd(&post, &last, CURLFORM_COPYNAME, "pictures",
CURLFORM_FILE, "my-face.jpg",
CURLFORM_FILE, "your-face.jpg", CURLFORM_END);
/* Add two file section using CURLFORM_ARRAY */
forms[0].option = CURLFORM_FILE;
forms[0].value = file1;
forms[1].option = CURLFORM_FILE;
forms[1].value = file2;
forms[2].option = CURLFORM_END;
/* Add a buffer to upload */
curl_formadd(&post, &last,
CURLFORM_COPYNAME, "name",
CURLFORM_BUFFER, "data",
CURLFORM_BUFFERPTR, record,
CURLFORM_BUFFERLENGTH, record_length,
CURLFORM_END);
/* no option needed for the end marker */
curl_formadd(&post, &last, CURLFORM_COPYNAME, "pictures",
CURLFORM_ARRAY, forms, CURLFORM_END);
/* Add the content of a file as a normal post text value */
curl_formadd(&post, &last, CURLFORM_COPYNAME, "filecontent",
CURLFORM_FILECONTENT, ".bashrc", CURLFORM_END);
/* Set the form info */
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTPPOST, post);
AVAILABILITY
Deprecated in 7.56.0. Before this release, field names were allowed to
contain zero-valued bytes. The pseudo-filename "-" to read stdin is
discouraged although still supported, but data is not read before being
actually sent: the effective data size can then not be automatically
determined, resulting in a chunked encoding transfer. Backslashes and
double quotes in field and file names are now escaped before transmis-
sion.
RETURN VALUE
0 means everything was ok, non-zero means an error occurred correspond-
ing to a CURL_FORMADD_* constant defined in <curl/curl.h>
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+---------------+------------------+
|ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+---------------+------------------+
|Availability | web/curl |
+---------------+------------------+
|Stability | Uncommitted |
+---------------+------------------+
SEE ALSO
curl_easy_setopt(3), curl_formfree(3), curl_mime_init(3)
NOTES
Source code for open source software components in Oracle Solaris can
be found at https://www.oracle.com/downloads/opensource/solaris-source-
code-downloads.html.
This software was built from source available at
https://github.com/oracle/solaris-userland. The original community
source was downloaded from https://curl.se/down-
load/curl-7.83.1.tar.bz2.
Further information about this software can be found on the open source
community website at http://curl.haxx.se/.
libcurl 7.83.1 November 26, 2021 curl_formadd(3)