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authorLoïc Hoguin <[email protected]>2014-07-06 13:10:35 +0200
committerLoïc Hoguin <[email protected]>2014-07-06 13:10:35 +0200
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+::: Multipart requests
+
+You can read and parse multipart messages using the
+Req object directly.
+
+Cowboy defines two functions that allows you to get
+information about each part and read their contents.
+
+:: Checking the content-type
+
+While there is a variety of multipart messages, the
+most common on the Web is `multipart/form-data`. It's
+the type of message being sent when an HTML form
+allows uploading files.
+
+You can quickly figure out if a multipart message
+has been sent by parsing the `content-type` header.
+
+``` erlang
+{ok, {<<"multipart">>, <<"form-data">>, _}, Req2}
+ = cowboy_req:parse_header(<<"content-type">>, Req).
+```
+
+:: Reading a multipart message
+
+To read a message you have to iterate over all its
+parts. Then, for each part, you can inspect its headers
+and read its body.
+
+``` erlang
+multipart(Req) ->
+ case cowboy_req:part(Req) of
+ {ok, _Headers, Req2} ->
+ {ok, _Body, Req3} = cowboy_req:part_body(Req2),
+ multipart(Req3);
+ {done, Req2} ->
+ Req2
+ end.
+```
+
+Parts do not have a size limit. When a part body is
+too big, Cowboy will return what it read so far and
+allow you to continue if you wish to do so.
+
+The function `cow_multipart:form_data/1` can be used
+to quickly obtain information about a part from a
+`multipart/form-data` message. This function will
+tell you if the part is for a normal field or if it
+is a file being uploaded.
+
+This can be used for example to allow large part bodies
+for files but crash when a normal field is too large.
+
+``` erlang
+multipart(Req) ->
+ case cowboy_req:part(Req) of
+ {ok, Headers, Req2} ->
+ Req4 = case cow_multipart:form_data(Headers) of
+ {data, _FieldName} ->
+ {ok, _Body, Req3} = cowboy_req:part_body(Req2),
+ Req3;
+ {file, _FieldName, _Filename, _CType, _CTransferEncoding} ->
+ stream_file(Req2)
+ end,
+ multipart(Req4);
+ {done, Req2} ->
+ Req2
+ end.
+
+stream_file(Req) ->
+ case cowboy_req:part_body(Req) of
+ {ok, _Body, Req2} ->
+ Req2;
+ {more, _Body, Req2} ->
+ stream_file(Req2)
+ end.
+```
+
+By default the body chunk Cowboy will return is limited
+to 8MB. This can of course be overriden. Both functions
+can take a second argument, the same list of options that
+will be passed to `cowboy_req:body/2` function.
+
+:: Skipping unwanted parts
+
+If you do not want to read a part's body, you can skip it.
+Skipping is easy. If you do not call the function to read
+the part's body, Cowboy will automatically skip it when
+you request the next part.
+
+The following snippet reads all part headers and skips
+all bodies:
+
+``` erlang
+multipart(Req) ->
+ case cowboy_req:part(Req) of
+ {ok, _Headers, Req2} ->
+ multipart(Req2);
+ {done, Req2} ->
+ Req2
+ end.
+```
+
+Similarly, if you start reading the body and it ends up
+being too big, you can simply continue with the next part,
+Cowboy will automatically skip what remains.
+
+Note that the skipping rate may not be adequate for your
+application. If you observe poor performance when skipping,
+you might want to consider manually skipping by calling
+the `cowboy_req:part_body/1` function directly.
+
+And if you started reading the message but decide that you
+do not need the remaining parts, you can simply stop reading
+entirely and Cowboy will automatically figure out what to do.