Qt/C++ - Lesson 035. Downloading files via HTTP with QNetworkAccessManager

http, скачивание файла, Qt, QNetworkAccessManager

To work with a network other than using QTcpSocket or QUdpSocket classes can use QNetworkAccessManager. This class provides the functionality to send requests across a network and get answers and easy to work with the HTTP protocol.

Therefore I propose to write an application that will allow download xml-file from the website and write it to a file on your PC.

Application logic is as follows:

1. Download file;
2. Write it on a local drive at the following path C:/example/file.xml;
3. Read the recorded file and display the data in QTextEdit.

Project structure for work with HTTP

The project structure is as follows:

• DownloadHttp.pro - the profile of the project;
• main.cpp - the main file of the application;
• widget.h - header file of the application window;
• widget.cpp - file source code of the application window;
• downloader.h - class header file for downloading the file;
• doqnloader.cpp - class source code file to download the file.

DownloadHttp.pro and main.cpp

main.cpp is created by default and is not modified, whereas in the file DownloadHttp.pro need to connect network module.

#-------------------------------------------------
#
# Project created by QtCreator 2015-12-13T21:02:32
#
#-------------------------------------------------

QT       += core gui network

greaterThan(QT_MAJOR_VERSION, 4): QT += widgets

TARGET = DownloadHttp
TEMPLATE = app


SOURCES += main.cpp\
        widget.cpp \
    downloader.cpp

HEADERS  += widget.h \
    downloader.h

FORMS    += widget.ui

widget.ui

The application window is a button, pressing which will be the launch of download data from a website and a QTextEdit, which will put the data from a saved file.

widget.h

The header file of the application window. In it we connect Downloader class header file, which will be responsible for data download from the website and save it to a file. Naturally we declare an object of this class Downloader . Also available ad slots signatures for reading data from the saved at the end of downloading the file.

#ifndef WIDGET_H
#define WIDGET_H

#include <QWidget>
#include <QFile>

#include <downloader.h>

namespace Ui {
class Widget;
}

class Widget : public QWidget
{
    Q_OBJECT

public:
    explicit Widget(QWidget *parent = 0);
    ~Widget();

private slots:
    void readFile();

private:
    Ui::Widget *ui;
    Downloader *downloader;
};

#endif // WIDGET_H

widget.cpp

In the source code, there are two connections of signals to the slots. Connect One is responsible for processing pressing, and the second for reading data from the file at the end of the file download.

#include "widget.h"
#include "ui_widget.h"

Widget::Widget(QWidget *parent) :
    QWidget(parent),
    ui(new Ui::Widget)
{
    ui->setupUi(this);

    downloader = new Downloader(); 

    connect(ui->pushButton, &QPushButton::clicked, downloader, &Downloader::getData);
    connect(downloader, &Downloader::onReady, this, &Widget::readFile);

}

Widget::~Widget()
{
    delete ui;
}

void Widget::readFile()
{
    QFile file("C:/example/file.xml");
    if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadOnly)) 
            return; 
    ui->textEdit->setText(file.readAll());
}

donwloader.h

In it we declare an instance of QNetworkAccesManager, as well as methods for initializing the request to the site's URL and the processing of the response.

#ifndef DOWNLOADER_H
#define DOWNLOADER_H

#include <QObject>
#include <QNetworkAccessManager>
#include <QNetworkRequest>
#include <QNetworkReply>
#include <QFile>
#include <QUrl>
#include <QDebug>

class Downloader : public QObject
{
    Q_OBJECT
public:
    explicit Downloader(QObject *parent = 0);

signals:
    void onReady();

public slots:
    void getData();     
    void onResult(QNetworkReply *reply);    

private:
    QNetworkAccessManager *manager; 
};

#endif // DOWNLOADER_H

downloader.cpp

ATTENTION !!! - Check the availability of the URL from the example before running the application, not to bang your head against the wall, if the site is simply not available. And it is better to replace the URL, to which you want to reach. And perhaps it makes sense to change the file extension to txt.

#include "downloader.h"

Downloader::Downloader(QObject *parent) : QObject(parent)
{
    // Initialize manager ...
    manager = new QNetworkAccessManager();
    // ... and connect the signal to the handler 
    connect(manager, &QNetworkAccessManager::finished, this, &Downloader::onResult);
}

void Downloader::getData()
{
    QUrl url("http://www.mtbank.by/currxml.php"); 
    QNetworkRequest request;    
    request.setUrl(url);        
    manager->get(request);      
}

void Downloader::onResult(QNetworkReply *reply)
{
    // If an error occurs in the process of obtaining data
    if(reply->error()){
        // We inform about it and show the error information
        qDebug() << "ERROR";
        qDebug() << reply->errorString();
    } else {
        // Otherwise we create an object file for use with
        QFile *file = new QFile("C:/example/file.xml");
        // Create a file, or open it to overwrite ...
        if(file->open(QFile::WriteOnly)){
            file->write(reply->readAll());  // ... and write all the information from the page file
            file->close();                  // close file
        qDebug() << "Downloading is completed";
        emit onReady(); // Sends a signal to the completion of the receipt of the file
        }
    }
}

Result

As a result, you get an application that get data from a page of the site and displays in a QTextEdit, as shown in the following figure. Demonstration application is available in the video tutorial.

Link to the project download in zip-archive: downloadhttp.zip

Video