How to add parameters to a HTTP GET request in Android?

Question

I have a HTTP GET request that I am attempting to send. I tried adding the parameters to this request by first creating a BasicHttpParams object and adding the parameters to that object, then calling setParams( basicHttpParms ) on my HttpGet object. This method fails. But if I manually add my parameters to my URL (i.e. append ?param1=value1&param2=value2) it succeeds.

I know I'm missing something here and any help would be greatly appreciated.

For a GET request, the second method is the correct way to add parameters. I expect the first approach is for POST methods. — James Black
– James Black, Commented Jun 2, 2010 at 15:56

Brian Griffey · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-12 00:15:49Z

227

I use a List of NameValuePair and URLEncodedUtils to create the url string I want.

protected String addLocationToUrl(String url){
    if(!url.endsWith("?"))
        url += "?";

    List<NameValuePair> params = new LinkedList<NameValuePair>();

    if (lat != 0.0 && lon != 0.0){
        params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("lat", String.valueOf(lat)));
        params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("lon", String.valueOf(lon)));
    }

    if (address != null && address.getPostalCode() != null)
        params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("postalCode", address.getPostalCode()));
    if (address != null && address.getCountryCode() != null)
        params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("country",address.getCountryCode()));

    params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("user", agent.uniqueId));

    String paramString = URLEncodedUtils.format(params, "utf-8");

    url += paramString;
    return url;
}

edited Dec 12, 2014 at 0:15

answered Jan 11, 2011 at 17:31

Brian Griffey

4,7491 gold badge27 silver badges26 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

7 Comments

groomsy Over a year ago

I agree. I've gone back and changed this as this method makes sense for larger amounts of parameters. The first accepted answer still works fine, but can be confusing for large sets of parameters.

Yog Guru Over a year ago

@Brian Griffey Thanks for good Solution. but i have little different format to pass parameter, Can anyone help me to pass this parameter..? How to pass parameter in this case? data = '{ "credential": { "accesToken": "668f514678c7e7f5e71a07044935d94c", "ACK": "cf3bb509623a8e8fc032a08098d9f7b3" }, "restIn": { "userId": 4, "listId": 5613 } } ;

qris Over a year ago

The other answer is much shorter and simpler for simple cases. It's not wrong, and worth considering.

Vihaan Verma Over a year ago

List<NameValuePair> is deprecated in android api level 22

Vihaan Verma Over a year ago

@SimonMeier : use Uri.Builder() . See the answer below.

|

Flimm · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-29 17:39:37Z

99

To build uri with get parameters, Uri.Builder provides a more effective way.

Uri uri = new Uri.Builder()
    .scheme("http")
    .authority("foo.com")
    .path("someservlet")
    .appendQueryParameter("param1", foo)
    .appendQueryParameter("param2", bar)
    .build();

edited Jul 29, 2016 at 17:39

Flimm

154k49 gold badges282 silver badges295 bronze badges

answered Oct 20, 2010 at 3:37

9re

2,44828 silver badges27 bronze badges

4 Comments

siamii Over a year ago

Also cant handle file parameters

dvd Over a year ago

@bizso09 "file parameters" do you mean query and fragment? They are both settable by the builder. Have a look at this for URI terminology, it helped me a lot developer.android.com/reference/java/net/URI.html

Piotr Over a year ago

how to remove query parameter? how to change value of existing query parameter?

9re Over a year ago

there's a clear method developer.android.com/reference/android/net/…. to modify, assume that you have a list of queries, update the value in the list, clearQuery() and then call appendQueryParameter in the loop of the list. but why not create the new one every time on demand?

n1ckolas · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-05 17:19:08Z

As of HttpComponents 4.2+ there is a new class URIBuilder, which provides convenient way for generating URIs.

You can use either create URI directly from String URL:

List<NameValuePair> listOfParameters = ...;

URI uri = new URIBuilder("http://example.com:8080/path/to/resource?mandatoryParam=someValue")
    .addParameter("firstParam", firstVal)
    .addParameter("secondParam", secondVal)
    .addParameters(listOfParameters)
    .build();

Otherwise, you can specify all parameters explicitly:

URI uri = new URIBuilder()
    .setScheme("http")
    .setHost("example.com")
    .setPort(8080)
    .setPath("/path/to/resource")
    .addParameter("mandatoryParam", "someValue")
    .addParameter("firstParam", firstVal)
    .addParameter("secondParam", secondVal)
    .addParameters(listOfParameters)
    .build();

Once you have created URI object, then you just simply need to create HttpGet object and perform it:

//create GET request
HttpGet httpGet = new HttpGet(uri);
//perform request
httpClient.execute(httpGet ...//additional parameters, handle response etc.

skaffman · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-24 18:12:37Z

29

The method

setParams()

like

httpget.getParams().setParameter("http.socket.timeout", new Integer(5000));

only adds HttpProtocol parameters.

To execute the httpGet you should append your parameters to the url manually

HttpGet myGet = new HttpGet("http://foo.com/someservlet?param1=foo&param2=bar");

or use the post request the difference between get and post requests are explained here, if you are interested

edited Jan 24, 2011 at 18:12

skaffman

405k96 gold badges825 silver badges775 bronze badges

answered Jun 2, 2010 at 16:03

n3utrino

2,4014 gold badges23 silver badges32 bronze badges

1 Comment

groomsy Over a year ago

Thank you for your help. I thought there might be a more effective way of adding parameters to GET requests.

siamii · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-30 21:42:42Z

8

List<NameValuePair> params = new ArrayList<NameValuePair>();
params.add(new BasicNameValuePair("param1","value1");

String query = URLEncodedUtils.format(params, "utf-8");

URI url = URIUtils.createURI(scheme, userInfo, authority, port, path, query, fragment); //can be null
HttpGet httpGet = new HttpGet(url);

URI javadoc

Note: url = new URI(...) is buggy

edited Dec 30, 2011 at 21:42

answered Jul 31, 2011 at 18:26

siamii

24.2k29 gold badges98 silver badges146 bronze badges

Comments

Yorty Ruiz · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-27 21:44:23Z

6

    HttpClient client = new DefaultHttpClient();

    Uri.Builder builder = Uri.parse(url).buildUpon();

    for (String name : params.keySet()) {
        builder.appendQueryParameter(name, params.get(name).toString());
    }

    url = builder.build().toString();
    HttpGet request = new HttpGet(url);
    HttpResponse response = client.execute(request);
    return EntityUtils.toString(response.getEntity(), "UTF-8");

answered Oct 27, 2014 at 21:44

Yorty Ruiz

811 silver badge2 bronze badges

Comments

Beno · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-23 17:42:59Z

If you have constant URL I recommend use simplified http-request built on apache http.

You can build your client as following:

private filan static HttpRequest<YourResponseType> httpRequest = 
                   HttpRequestBuilder.createGet(yourUri,YourResponseType)
                   .build();

public void send(){
    ResponseHendler<YourResponseType> rh = 
         httpRequest.execute(param1, value1, param2, value2);

    handler.ifSuccess(this::whenSuccess).otherwise(this::whenNotSuccess);
}

public void whenSuccess(ResponseHendler<YourResponseType> rh){
     rh.ifHasContent(content -> // your code);
}

public void whenSuccess(ResponseHendler<YourResponseType> rh){
   LOGGER.error("Status code: " + rh.getStatusCode() + ", Error msg: " + rh.getErrorText());
}

Note: There are many useful methods to manipulate your response.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to add parameters to a HTTP GET request in Android?

7 Answers 7

7 Comments

4 Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Comments

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

7 Answers 7

7 Comments

4 Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Comments

Linked

Related