Can fopen be used to open the URL - c

Question

Is fopen("tftp://1.1.1.1/file.txt","rb"); a valid statement? Can urls be opened using fopen in C programming?

Answer 1

No, but you can use libcurl, an example:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <curl/curl.h>
/*
* This is an example showing how to get a single file from an FTP server.
* It delays the actual destination file creation until the first write
* callback so that it won't create an empty file in case the remote file
* doesn't exist or something else fails.
*/
struct FtpFile {
const char *filename;
FILE *stream;
};
static size_t my_fwrite(void *buffer, size_t size, size_t nmemb, void *stream)
{
struct FtpFile *out=(struct FtpFile *)stream;
if(out && !out->stream) {
/* open file for writing */
out->stream=fopen(out->filename, "wb");
if(!out->stream)
return -1; /* failure, can't open file to write */
}
return fwrite(buffer, size, nmemb, out->stream);
}
int main(void)
{
CURL *curl;
CURLcode res;
struct FtpFile ftpfile={
"curl.tar.gz", /* name to store the file as if succesful */
NULL
};
curl_global_init(CURL_GLOBAL_DEFAULT);
curl = curl_easy_init();
if(curl) {
/*
* You better replace the URL with one that works!
*/
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL,
"ftp://ftp.example.com/pub/www/utilities/curl/curl-7.9.2.tar.gz");
/* Define our callback to get called when there's data to be written */
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, my_fwrite);
/* Set a pointer to our struct to pass to the callback */
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, &ftpfile);
/* Switch on full protocol/debug output */
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, 1L);
res = curl_easy_perform(curl);
/* always cleanup */
curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
if(CURLE_OK != res) {
/* we failed */
fprintf(stderr, "curl told us %d\n", res);
}
}
if(ftpfile.stream)
fclose(ftpfile.stream); /* close the local file */
curl_global_cleanup();
return 0;
}
Or (as pointed out by #Paul) you can pipe a process (E.g.: wget url) with popen:
#include <stdio.h>
FILE *popen(const char *command, const char *mode);
int pclose(FILE *stream);
int main(void)
{
/* wget -q = silent mode */
FILE *cmd = popen("wget -q -O - ftp://debian.org/debian-security/README.security", "r");
char result[1024];
while (fgets(result, sizeof(result), cmd) != NULL)
printf("%s", result);
pclose(cmd);
return 0;
}

Answer 2

The fopen in <stdio.h> doesn't do that.
However, nothing prevents someone from writing a function called fopen() that does something else.
FILE *popen(const char *command, const char *mode) can be used to spawn a process running an appropriate command line tool such as tftp or wget, and thereby accomplish this downloading of a remote resource into a file descriptor accessible from C code. The syntax for a popen() call is very similar to what you have shown. It is missing the program name for the download utility, though. A bare url or ftp address won't work for popen().
See:
fopen man page
popen man page
Also note:
The PHP language version of fopen() does open bare URLs. But PHP != C

Answer 3

It's not that easy as simply using fopen but it can be done.
You need to use libcurl. Take a look here.
From the site:
/*****************************************************************************
*
* This example requires libcurl 7.9.7 or later.
*/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#ifndef WIN32
#include <sys/time.h>
#endif
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <errno.h>
#include <curl/curl.h>
enum fcurl_type_e {
CFTYPE_NONE=0,
CFTYPE_FILE=1,
CFTYPE_CURL=2
};
struct fcurl_data
{
enum fcurl_type_e type; /* type of handle */
union {
CURL *curl;
FILE *file;
} handle; /* handle */
char *buffer; /* buffer to store cached data*/
size_t buffer_len; /* currently allocated buffers length */
size_t buffer_pos; /* end of data in buffer*/
int still_running; /* Is background url fetch still in progress */
};
typedef struct fcurl_data URL_FILE;
/* exported functions */
URL_FILE *url_fopen(const char *url,const char *operation);
int url_fclose(URL_FILE *file);
int url_feof(URL_FILE *file);
size_t url_fread(void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb, URL_FILE *file);
char * url_fgets(char *ptr, size_t size, URL_FILE *file);
void url_rewind(URL_FILE *file);
/* we use a global one for convenience */
CURLM *multi_handle;
/* curl calls this routine to get more data */
static size_t write_callback(char *buffer,
size_t size,
size_t nitems,
void *userp)
{
char *newbuff;
size_t rembuff;
URL_FILE *url = (URL_FILE *)userp;
size *= nitems;
rembuff=url->buffer_len - url->buffer_pos; /* remaining space in buffer */
if(size > rembuff) {
/* not enough space in buffer */
newbuff=realloc(url->buffer,url->buffer_len + (size - rembuff));
if(newbuff==NULL) {
fprintf(stderr,"callback buffer grow failed\n");
size=rembuff;
}
else {
/* realloc suceeded increase buffer size*/
url->buffer_len+=size - rembuff;
url->buffer=newbuff;
}
}
memcpy(&url->buffer[url->buffer_pos], buffer, size);
url->buffer_pos += size;
return size;
}
/* use to attempt to fill the read buffer up to requested number of bytes */
static int fill_buffer(URL_FILE *file, size_t want)
{
fd_set fdread;
fd_set fdwrite;
fd_set fdexcep;
struct timeval timeout;
int rc;
/* only attempt to fill buffer if transactions still running and buffer
* doesnt exceed required size already
*/
if((!file->still_running) || (file->buffer_pos > want))
return 0;
/* attempt to fill buffer */
do {
int maxfd = -1;
long curl_timeo = -1;
FD_ZERO(&fdread);
FD_ZERO(&fdwrite);
FD_ZERO(&fdexcep);
/* set a suitable timeout to fail on */
timeout.tv_sec = 60; /* 1 minute */
timeout.tv_usec = 0;
curl_multi_timeout(multi_handle, &curl_timeo);
if(curl_timeo >= 0) {
timeout.tv_sec = curl_timeo / 1000;
if(timeout.tv_sec > 1)
timeout.tv_sec = 1;
else
timeout.tv_usec = (curl_timeo % 1000) * 1000;
}
/* get file descriptors from the transfers */
curl_multi_fdset(multi_handle, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &maxfd);
/* In a real-world program you OF COURSE check the return code of the
function calls. On success, the value of maxfd is guaranteed to be
greater or equal than -1. We call select(maxfd + 1, ...), specially
in case of (maxfd == -1), we call select(0, ...), which is basically
equal to sleep. */
rc = select(maxfd+1, &fdread, &fdwrite, &fdexcep, &timeout);
switch(rc) {
case -1:
/* select error */
break;
case 0:
default:
/* timeout or readable/writable sockets */
curl_multi_perform(multi_handle, &file->still_running);
break;
}
} while(file->still_running && (file->buffer_pos < want));
return 1;
}
/* use to remove want bytes from the front of a files buffer */
static int use_buffer(URL_FILE *file,int want)
{
/* sort out buffer */
if((file->buffer_pos - want) <=0) {
/* ditch buffer - write will recreate */
if(file->buffer)
free(file->buffer);
file->buffer=NULL;
file->buffer_pos=0;
file->buffer_len=0;
}
else {
/* move rest down make it available for later */
memmove(file->buffer,
&file->buffer[want],
(file->buffer_pos - want));
file->buffer_pos -= want;
}
return 0;
}
URL_FILE *url_fopen(const char *url,const char *operation)
{
/* this code could check for URLs or types in the 'url' and
basicly use the real fopen() for standard files */
URL_FILE *file;
(void)operation;
file = malloc(sizeof(URL_FILE));
if(!file)
return NULL;
memset(file, 0, sizeof(URL_FILE));
if((file->handle.file=fopen(url,operation)))
file->type = CFTYPE_FILE; /* marked as URL */
else {
file->type = CFTYPE_CURL; /* marked as URL */
file->handle.curl = curl_easy_init();
curl_easy_setopt(file->handle.curl, CURLOPT_URL, url);
curl_easy_setopt(file->handle.curl, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, file);
curl_easy_setopt(file->handle.curl, CURLOPT_VERBOSE, 0L);
curl_easy_setopt(file->handle.curl, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, write_callback);
if(!multi_handle)
multi_handle = curl_multi_init();
curl_multi_add_handle(multi_handle, file->handle.curl);
/* lets start the fetch */
curl_multi_perform(multi_handle, &file->still_running);
if((file->buffer_pos == 0) && (!file->still_running)) {
/* if still_running is 0 now, we should return NULL */
/* make sure the easy handle is not in the multi handle anymore */
curl_multi_remove_handle(multi_handle, file->handle.curl);
/* cleanup */
curl_easy_cleanup(file->handle.curl);
free(file);
file = NULL;
}
}
return file;
}
int url_fclose(URL_FILE *file)
{
int ret=0;/* default is good return */
switch(file->type) {
case CFTYPE_FILE:
ret=fclose(file->handle.file); /* passthrough */
break;
case CFTYPE_CURL:
/* make sure the easy handle is not in the multi handle anymore */
curl_multi_remove_handle(multi_handle, file->handle.curl);
/* cleanup */
curl_easy_cleanup(file->handle.curl);
break;
default: /* unknown or supported type - oh dear */
ret=EOF;
errno=EBADF;
break;
}
if(file->buffer)
free(file->buffer);/* free any allocated buffer space */
free(file);
return ret;
}
int url_feof(URL_FILE *file)
{
int ret=0;
switch(file->type) {
case CFTYPE_FILE:
ret=feof(file->handle.file);
break;
case CFTYPE_CURL:
if((file->buffer_pos == 0) && (!file->still_running))
ret = 1;
break;
default: /* unknown or supported type - oh dear */
ret=-1;
errno=EBADF;
break;
}
return ret;
}
size_t url_fread(void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb, URL_FILE *file)
{
size_t want;
switch(file->type) {
case CFTYPE_FILE:
want=fread(ptr,size,nmemb,file->handle.file);
break;
case CFTYPE_CURL:
want = nmemb * size;
fill_buffer(file,want);
/* check if theres data in the buffer - if not fill_buffer()
* either errored or EOF */
if(!file->buffer_pos)
return 0;
/* ensure only available data is considered */
if(file->buffer_pos < want)
want = file->buffer_pos;
/* xfer data to caller */
memcpy(ptr, file->buffer, want);
use_buffer(file,want);
want = want / size; /* number of items */
break;
default: /* unknown or supported type - oh dear */
want=0;
errno=EBADF;
break;
}
return want;
}
char *url_fgets(char *ptr, size_t size, URL_FILE *file)
{
size_t want = size - 1;/* always need to leave room for zero termination */
size_t loop;
switch(file->type) {
case CFTYPE_FILE:
ptr = fgets(ptr,size,file->handle.file);
break;
case CFTYPE_CURL:
fill_buffer(file,want);
/* check if theres data in the buffer - if not fill either errored or
* EOF */
if(!file->buffer_pos)
return NULL;
/* ensure only available data is considered */
if(file->buffer_pos < want)
want = file->buffer_pos;
/*buffer contains data */
/* look for newline or eof */
for(loop=0;loop < want;loop++) {
if(file->buffer[loop] == '\n') {
want=loop+1;/* include newline */
break;
}
}
/* xfer data to caller */
memcpy(ptr, file->buffer, want);
ptr[want]=0;/* allways null terminate */
use_buffer(file,want);
break;
default: /* unknown or supported type - oh dear */
ptr=NULL;
errno=EBADF;
break;
}
return ptr;/*success */
}
void url_rewind(URL_FILE *file)
{
switch(file->type) {
case CFTYPE_FILE:
rewind(file->handle.file); /* passthrough */
break;
case CFTYPE_CURL:
/* halt transaction */
curl_multi_remove_handle(multi_handle, file->handle.curl);
/* restart */
curl_multi_add_handle(multi_handle, file->handle.curl);
/* ditch buffer - write will recreate - resets stream pos*/
if(file->buffer)
free(file->buffer);
file->buffer=NULL;
file->buffer_pos=0;
file->buffer_len=0;
break;
default: /* unknown or supported type - oh dear */
break;
}
}
/* Small main program to retrive from a url using fgets and fread saving the
* output to two test files (note the fgets method will corrupt binary files if
* they contain 0 chars */
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
URL_FILE *handle;
FILE *outf;
int nread;
char buffer[256];
const char *url;
if(argc < 2)
url="http://192.168.7.3/testfile";/* default to testurl */
else
url=argv[1];/* use passed url */
/* copy from url line by line with fgets */
outf=fopen("fgets.test","w+");
if(!outf) {
perror("couldn't open fgets output file\n");
return 1;
}
handle = url_fopen(url, "r");
if(!handle) {
printf("couldn't url_fopen() %s\n", url);
fclose(outf);
return 2;
}
while(!url_feof(handle)) {
url_fgets(buffer,sizeof(buffer),handle);
fwrite(buffer,1,strlen(buffer),outf);
}
url_fclose(handle);
fclose(outf);
/* Copy from url with fread */
outf=fopen("fread.test","w+");
if(!outf) {
perror("couldn't open fread output file\n");
return 1;
}
handle = url_fopen("testfile", "r");
if(!handle) {
printf("couldn't url_fopen() testfile\n");
fclose(outf);
return 2;
}
do {
nread = url_fread(buffer, 1,sizeof(buffer), handle);
fwrite(buffer,1,nread,outf);
} while(nread);
url_fclose(handle);
fclose(outf);
/* Test rewind */
outf=fopen("rewind.test","w+");
if(!outf) {
perror("couldn't open fread output file\n");
return 1;
}
handle = url_fopen("testfile", "r");
if(!handle) {
printf("couldn't url_fopen() testfile\n");
fclose(outf);
return 2;
}
nread = url_fread(buffer, 1,sizeof(buffer), handle);
fwrite(buffer,1,nread,outf);
url_rewind(handle);
buffer[0]='\n';
fwrite(buffer,1,1,outf);
nread = url_fread(buffer, 1,sizeof(buffer), handle);
fwrite(buffer,1,nread,outf);
url_fclose(handle);
fclose(outf);
return 0;/* all done */
}