[JS] getting contents from a http request

Roy:

but I need to pass this as part of my Javascript, so as far as I can see I need to encapsulate into an Applescript curl command:

No, that is not a requirement.

The other approach is to use the Socket object and execute the raw HTTP query using the Socket TCP interface. The Javascript tools guide gives an example of an HTTP GET. You might find it easier, but you might not. YMMV.

It seems clear you have not opened Terminal and tested the curl line you have constructed, that would have been an excellent first debugging step. It should be quite clear what the problem is. Ampersands are special characters to the shell and must be quoted when passed to the shell. Unfortunately you quoting may be eaten by AppleScript, so you may need to use not only \& but perhaps \\& or \\\&. Try testing it with do shell script "echo http://testing?foo\&bar" and see what you get.

The other approach is to use the Socket object and execute the raw HTTP query using the Socket TCP interface. The Javascript tools guide gives an example of an HTTP GET. You might find it easier, but you might not. YMMV.

Addendum: It is certainly more portable, as shelling out to curl via Applescript won't work under WIndows (for more than one reason). It might also be faster. Certainly fewer fork()s.

I did try the curl in a terminal window yesterday, but didn't get the result I was wanting.  I have tried escaping with one, two and three back slashes, but the terminal result seems to stit out 3 lines of results that are split by the "&" sign.

[1]   Exit 127                http://10.1.1.234/login/SearchService?SERVICE_REQUEST_TYPE=38

[2]-  Done                    SERVICE_REQUEST_USERID=11

[3]+  Done                    SERVICE_REQUEST_ASSETID=13444

Show me what you actually tried!

Here is what I see:

$ echo http://testing?foo&bar&baz
[22] 6703
[23] 6704
http://testing?foo
-bash: bar: command not found
-bash: baz: command not found
[22]   Done                    echo http://testing?foo
[23]   Exit 127                bar
$ echo http://testing?foo\&bar\&baz
http://testing?foo&bar&baz
$ 

The output you supplied is consistent with not quoting the &, but you said that you tried it.

Show us what you did.

However, there is a larger concern:

I am working with an api accepts a url containing a server address, a user id, a user password and returns a status.

I have been sorely remiss in my answer -- user input is involved here? Then you have to worry about quoting the user input! What if the user input contains pass`rm -rf /`word? Then your hard drive will be deleted (well, ok, only files you have write permission on) if this executes, unless you quote the backticks. and there are scores of shell metacharacters to worry about. Passing user input to the shell is a very ba didea,i it's quite easy to generate security concerns. (Though you'll have some with the Socket object too, I guess, but not as severe).

This gets worse with two level of quoting (applescript).

I typically use this function, not designed for security, to address some quoting issues from Javascript to Applescript via shell:

function shell(cmd) {
        var
                rv,
                call ='do shell script "'+
                        cmd.replace(/\\/g,"\\\\").replace(/"/g,'\\"')+
                        '"';

        try {
                rv = app.doScript(call,
                        ScriptLanguage.APPLESCRIPT_LANGUAGE);
        } catch(e0) {
                rv = e0+"\n"+(rv?"":rv);
        }
        return rv;
}

But again, it's not designed to fix user input issues, merely to avoid backslash and double-quote issues in Applescript.

I will look into the socket option, as that has always been a prefered way being cross-platform.

great. Though it sounds like you're having trouble with it?

Answered in your other thead: Re: Getting data from SQL database.

Please don't post the same question twice.