ASIHTTPRequest POST splits up header + data?

Question

I am using ASIHTTPRequest to POST data to a remote server on iPhone 4.2.1. When I make the following post request to our server, I get a 400 response (I removed the IP address):

   NSString dataString = @"data1=00&data2=00&data3=00";

   ASIHTTPRequest *request = [ASIHTTPRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:[NSString stringWithFormat:<ipremoved>]]];
   [request appendPostData:[dataString dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
   [request setRequestMethod:@"POST"];
   [request addRequestHeader:@"User-Agent" value:@"iphone app"];
   [request addRequestHeader:@"Content-Type" value:@"application/octet-stream"];
   request.delegate = self;
   [request startAsynchronous];

When I send the same data using curl, I receive a 200 response:

    curl -H "User-Agent: iphone app" -H "Accept:" -H "Content-Type:application/octet-stream" --data-ascii "data1=00&data2=00&data3=00" --location <ipremoved> -v

My colleague is stating that, in the failure case, the ASIHTTPRequest requires two socket reads: one for the header and one for the data. Apparently the server is not presently equipped to parse this correctly, so I am trying to work around it.

If I setup a proxy between iPhone and my Mac and run Paros (to see packets), the problem goes away. Paros combine the header and data so that it is all acquired by the server in a single socket read.

I've tried a few things suggested in other posts including disabling persistent connections, but I am not having any luck. I've also tried doing a ASIHTTPFormRequest, but the server does not like the generated data format.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

JosephH JosephH · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-15T12:14:38

"My colleague is stating that, in the failure case, the ASIHTTPRequest requires two socket reads: one for the header and one for the data. Apparently the server is not presently equipped to parse this correctly, so I am trying to work around it."

Do you know this for a fact, or is it guesswork? Such a HTTP server would be very broken, and would cause all sorts of random problems.

Have you looked at what Paros is receiving and what it is sending? It is possible it is fixing up an error in the request by chance, and if it is you can fix the request up in the same way.

ASIHTTPRequest POST splits up header + data?

1 Answers