.NET Framework Class Library
WebClient..::.DownloadString Method (String)

Downloads the requested resource as a String. The resource to download is specified as a String containing the URI.

Namespace:  System.Net
Assembly:  System (in System.dll)
Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)
Public Function DownloadString ( _
    address As String _
) As String
Visual Basic (Usage)
Dim instance As WebClient
Dim address As String
Dim returnValue As String

returnValue = instance.DownloadString(address)
C#
public string DownloadString(
    string address
)
Visual C++
public:
String^ DownloadString(
    String^ address
)
JScript
public function DownloadString(
    address : String
) : String

Parameters

address
Type: System..::.String
A String containing the URI to download.

Return Value

Type: System..::.String
A String containing the requested resource.
Exceptions

ExceptionCondition
WebException

The URI formed by combining BaseAddress and address is invalid.

-or-

An error occurred while downloading the resource.

NotSupportedException

The method has been called simultaneously on multiple threads.

Remarks

This method retrieves the specified resource. After it downloads the resource, the method uses the encoding specified in the Encoding property to convert the resource to a String. This method blocks while downloading the resource. To download a resource and continue executing while waiting for the server's response, use one of the DownloadStringAsync methods.

If the BaseAddress property is not an empty string ("") and address does not contain an absolute URI, address must be a relative URI that is combined with BaseAddress to form the absolute URI of the requested data. If the QueryString property is not an empty string, it is appended to address.

This method uses the RETR command to download an FTP resource. For an HTTP resource, the GET method is used.

NoteNote:

This member outputs trace information when you enable network tracing in your application. For more information, see Network Tracing.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates calling this method.

Visual Basic
        Public Shared Sub DownloadString(ByVal address As String)

            Dim client As WebClient = New WebClient()
            Dim reply As String = client.DownloadString(address)

            Console.WriteLine(reply)
        End Sub


C#
public static void DownloadString (string address)
{
    WebClient client = new WebClient ();
    string reply = client.DownloadString (address);

    Console.WriteLine (reply);
}

Visual C++
void DownloadString( String^ address )
{
   WebClient^ client = gcnew WebClient;
   String^ reply = client->DownloadString( address );
   Console::WriteLine( reply );
}


CPP_OLD
void DownloadString (String* address)
{
    WebClient* client = new WebClient ();
    String* reply = client->DownloadString (address);

    Console::WriteLine (reply);
}
Platforms

Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 3.5, 3.0, 2.0
See Also

Reference

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