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authorLoïc Hoguin <[email protected]>2014-06-02 23:09:43 +0200
committerLoïc Hoguin <[email protected]>2014-06-02 23:09:43 +0200
commit0c379256423f9db3b1a280b686baa0b965a4c739 (patch)
treee40a3425d9cea40eb3577239a66c7ad5f916b886 /guide/req_body.md
parent1ad3aae4d5459ee991805d16a3837e1da2ba96ff (diff)
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Add request body reading options
The options were added to allow developers to fix timeout issues when reading large bodies. It is also a cleaner and easier to extend interface. This commit deprecates the functions init_stream, stream_body and skip_body which are no longer needed. They will be removed in 1.0. The body function can now take an additional argument that is a list of options. The body_qs, part and part_body functions can too and simply pass this argument down to the body call. There are options for disabling the automatic continue reply, setting a maximum length to be returned (soft limit), setting the read length and read timeout, and setting the transfer and content decode functions. The return value of the body and body_qs have changed slightly. The body function now works similarly to the part_body function, in that it returns either an ok or a more tuple depending on whether there is additional data to be read. The body_qs function can return a badlength tuple if the body is too big. The default size has been increased from 16KB to 64KB. The default read length and timeout have been tweaked and vary depending on the function called. The body function will now adequately process chunked bodies, which means that the body_qs function will too. But this means that the behavior has changed slightly and your code should be tested properly when updating your code. The body and body_qs still accept a length as first argument for compatibility purpose with older code. Note that this form is deprecated and will be removed in 1.0. The part and part_body function, being new and never having been in a release yet, have this form completely removed in this commit. Again, while most code should work as-is, you should make sure that it actually does before pushing this to production.
Diffstat (limited to 'guide/req_body.md')
-rw-r--r--guide/req_body.md145
1 files changed, 71 insertions, 74 deletions
diff --git a/guide/req_body.md b/guide/req_body.md
index d573505..5e07fbe 100644
--- a/guide/req_body.md
+++ b/guide/req_body.md
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@ Cowboy will not attempt to read the body until you do.
If handler execution ends without reading it, Cowboy
will simply skip it.
+Cowboy provides different ways to read the request body.
+You can read it directly, stream it, but also read and
+parse in a single call for form urlencoded formats or
+multipart. All of these except multipart are covered in
+this chapter. Multipart is covered later on in the guide.
+
Check for request body
----------------------
@@ -46,124 +52,115 @@ chunked bodies by using the stream functions.
Reading the body
----------------
-If a content-length header was sent with the request,
-you can read the whole body directly.
+You can read the whole body directly in one call.
``` erlang
{ok, Body, Req2} = cowboy_req:body(Req).
```
-If no content-length header is available, Cowboy will
-return the `{error, chunked}` tuple. You will need to
-stream the request body instead.
-
-By default, Cowboy will reject all body sizes above 8MB,
-to prevent an attacker from needlessly filling up memory.
-You can override this limit however.
+By default, Cowboy will attempt to read up to a
+size of 8MB. You can override this limit as needed.
``` erlang
-{ok, Body, Req2} = cowboy_req:body(100000000, Req).
+{ok, Body, Req2} = cowboy_req:body(Req, [{length, 100000000}]).
```
You can also disable it.
``` erlang
-{ok, Body, Req2} = cowboy_req:body(infinity, Req).
+{ok, Body, Req2} = cowboy_req:body(Req, [{length, infinity}]).
```
It is recommended that you do not disable it for public
facing websites.
-Reading a body sent from an HTML form
--------------------------------------
+If the body is larger than the limit, then Cowboy will return
+a `more` tuple instead, allowing you to stream it if you
+would like to.
-You can directly obtain a list of key/value pairs if the
-body was sent using the application/x-www-form-urlencoded
-content-type.
+Streaming the body
+------------------
-``` erlang
-{ok, KeyValues, Req2} = cowboy_req:body_qs(Req).
-```
+You can stream the request body by chunks.
-You can then retrieve an individual value from that list.
+Cowboy returns a `more` tuple when there is more body to
+be read, and an `ok` tuple for the last chunk. This allows
+you to loop over all chunks.
``` erlang
-{_, Lang} = lists:keyfind(lang, 1, KeyValues).
+body_to_console(Req) ->
+ case cowboy_req:body(Req) of
+ {ok, Data, Req2} ->
+ io:format("~s", [Data]),
+ Req2;
+ {more, Data, Req2} ->
+ io:format("~s", [Data]),
+ body_to_console(Req2)
+ end.
```
-You should not attempt to match on the list as the order
-of the values is undefined.
+You can of course set the `length` option to configure the
+size of chunks.
-By default Cowboy will reject bodies with a size above
-16KB when using this function. You can override this limit.
+Rate of data transmission
+-------------------------
-``` erlang
-{ok, KeyValues, Req2} = cowboy_req:body_qs(500000, Req).
-```
+You can control the rate of data transmission by setting
+options when calling body functions. This applies not only
+to the functions described in this chapter, but also to
+the multipart functions.
-You can also disable it by passing the atom `infinity`,
-although it is not recommended.
+The `read_length` option defines the maximum amount of data
+to be received from the socket at once, in bytes.
-Streaming the body
-------------------
+The `read_timeout` option defines the time Cowboy waits
+before that amount is received, in milliseconds.
-You can stream the request body by chunks.
+Transfer and content decoding
+-----------------------------
-``` erlang
-{ok, Chunk, Req2} = cowboy_req:stream_body(Req).
-```
+Cowboy will by default decode the chunked transfer-encoding
+if any. It will not decode any content-encoding by default.
-By default, Cowboy will attempt to read chunks of up to
-1MB in size. The chunks returned by this function will
-often be smaller, however. You can also change this limit.
+The first time you call a body function you can set the
+`transfer_decode` and `content_decode` options. If the body
+was already started being read these options are simply
+ignored.
+
+The following example shows how to set both options.
``` erlang
-{ok, Chunk, Req2} = cowboy_req:stream_body(500000, Req).
+{ok, Req2} = cowboy_req:body(Req, [
+ {transfer_decode, fun transfer_decode/2, TransferState},
+ {content_decode, fun content_decode/1}
+]).
```
-When Cowboy finishes reading the body, any subsequent call
-will return `{done, Req2}`. You can thus write a recursive
-function to read the whole body and perform an action on
-all chunks, for example printing them to the console.
+Reading a form urlencoded body
+------------------------------
+
+You can directly obtain a list of key/value pairs if the
+body was sent using the application/x-www-form-urlencoded
+content-type.
``` erlang
-body_to_console(Req) ->
- case cowboy_req:stream_body(Req) of
- {ok, Chunk, Req2} ->
- io:format("~s", [Chunk]),
- body_to_console(Req2);
- {done, Req2} ->
- Req2
- end.
+{ok, KeyValues, Req2} = cowboy_req:body_qs(Req).
```
-Advanced streaming
-------------------
-
-Cowboy will by default decode the chunked transfer-encoding
-if any. It will not decode any content-encoding by default.
-
-Before starting to stream, you can configure the functions
-that will be used for decoding both transfer-encoding and
-content-encoding.
+You can then retrieve an individual value from that list.
``` erlang
-{ok, Req2} = cowboy_req:init_stream(fun transfer_decode/2,
- TransferStartState, fun content_decode/1, Req).
+{_, Lang} = lists:keyfind(lang, 1, KeyValues).
```
-Note that you do not need to call this function generally,
-as Cowboy will happily initialize the stream on its own.
-
-Skipping the body
------------------
+You should not attempt to match on the list as the order
+of the values is undefined.
-If you do not need the body, or if you started streaming
-the body but do not need the rest of it, you can skip it.
+By default Cowboy will reject bodies with a size above
+64KB when using this function. You can override this limit
+by setting the `length` option.
``` erlang
-{ok, Req2} = cowboy_req:skip_body(Req).
+{ok, KeyValues, Req2} = cowboy_req:body_qs(Req,
+ [{length, 2000000}]).
```
-
-You do not have to call this function though, as Cowboy will
-do it automatically when handler execution ends.