curl/docs/libcurl/libcurl-easy.3

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.TH libcurl 3 "19 Sep 2014" "libcurl" "libcurl easy interface"
.SH NAME
libcurl-easy \- easy interface overview
.SH DESCRIPTION
When using libcurl's "easy" interface you init your session and get a handle
(often referred to as an "easy handle"), which you use as input to the easy
interface functions you use. Use \fIcurl_easy_init(3)\fP to get the handle.

You continue by setting all the options you want in the upcoming transfer, the
most important among them is the URL itself (you can't transfer anything
without a specified URL as you may have figured out yourself). You might want
to set some callbacks as well that will be called from the library when data
is available etc. \fIcurl_easy_setopt(3)\fP is used for all this.

\fICURLOPT_URL(3)\fP is only option you really must set, as otherwise there
can be no transfer. Another commonly used option is \fICURLOPT_VERBOSE(3)\fP
that will help you see what libcurl is doing under the hood, very useful when
debugging for example. The \fIcurl_easy_setopt(3)\fP man page has a full index
of the over 200 available options.

If you at any point would like to blank all previously set options for a
single easy handle, you can call \fIcurl_easy_reset(3)\fP and you can also
make a clone of an easy handle (with all its set options) using
\fIcurl_easy_duphandle(3)\fP.

When all is setup, you tell libcurl to perform the transfer using
\fIcurl_easy_perform(3)\fP.  It will then do the entire operation and won't
return until it is done (successfully or not).

After the transfer has been made, you can set new options and make another
transfer, or if you're done, cleanup the session by calling
\fIcurl_easy_cleanup(3)\fP. If you want persistent connections, you don't
cleanup immediately, but instead run ahead and perform other transfers using
the same easy handle.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR curl_easy_init "(3)," curl_easy_cleanup "(3)," curl_easy_setopt "(3), "
.BR libcurl-errors "(3), " libcurl-multi "(3), " libcurl "(3) "