quvi-object(7)
==============
NAME
----
quvi-object - Overview of the libquvi quvi-object
DESCRIPTION
-----------
'quvi-object' is a collection of libquvi functions provided for the
linkman:libquvi-scripts[7]. These functions vary from HTTP functions to
cryptographic functions. All of the 'quvi-object' functions are
implemented in C.
NOTE: The 'quvi-object' should not be confused with the
linkman:quvi-modules[7] which are a selection of importable
modules implemented in Lua. These modules are intended to be
loaded ('require') from the linkman:libquvi-scripts[7].
OPTIONS
-------
Each of the quvi-object functions may be passed a dictionary defining
the additional option properties. The following options are supported by
all of the functions:
qoo_croak_if_error=<boolean>::
By default the library terminates the process if an error occurs. By
setting this option to 'false', it will register the error and
continues execution, leaving the error handling for the script to
determine. See also "RETURN VALUES".
The 'qoo' prefix is short for 'quvi object option'. The functions will
ignore any unknown options, e.g. the crypto functions would ignore the
HTTP options.
NOTE: The options have been defined in the 'quvi/const' of
the linkman:quvi-modules[7]
Crypto
~~~~~~
These options are specific to the quvi.crypto.* functions of the
quvi-object.
qoo_crypto_algorithm=<value>::
Specifies the algorithm that should be used. The 'value' is expected to
be a string, e.g. 'sha1' or 'aes256'.
qoo_crypto_cipher_flags=<value>::
Specifies the cipher flags (bit OR'd, see
linkman:quvi-modules-3rdparty[7] for 'bit operations') to be used with
the cipher. These values are identical to those defined by libgcrypt.
See the 'quvi/const' of the linkman:quvi-modules[7] for a complete
list of the available cipher flags.
qoo_crypto_cipher_mode=<value>::
Specifies the cipher mode to be used. These are identical to the
values defined by libgcrypt. See the 'quvi/const' of the
linkman:quvi-modules[7] for a complete list of the available cipher
modes.
qoo_crypto_cipher_key=<value>::
Used to specify the cipher key. It should be noted that the 'key' is
expected to be passed in hexadecimal form. See 'quvi/hex' of the
linkman:quvi-modules[7] for the conversion functions.
+
NOTE: The key derivation is left for the script to do
+
NOTE: The key is not a pass{word,phrase}
+
See also:
http://www.di-mgt.com.au/cryptokeys.html#passwordpassphraseandkey
HTTP
~~~~
These options are specific to the quvi.http.* functions of the
quvi-object.
qoo_fetch_from_charset=<charset>::
Instructs the library to convert from this charset to UTF-8. Using this
option may be required with the websites that use a specific (non-UTF8)
encoding.
+
The purpose of this option is to make sure that the data is encoded to
unicode (UTF-8) before any of it is parsed and returned to the
application using libquvi.
+
By default, libquvi converts the data which is in the encoding used for
the strings by the C runtime in the current locale into UTF-8. IF this
fails, and the 'from charset' option is set, the library will then try
to convert to UTF-8 using the 'from charset' value.
qoo_http_cookie_mode=<value>::
Modify the cookie settings for the libcurl session handle. This
feature wraps the cookie features provided by
linkman:libcurl_easy_setopt[3]. See the 'quvi/const' of the
linkman:quvi-modules[7] for a complete list of the available cookie
modes.
+
See also linkman:libcurl-tutorial[3] which covers the use of cookies
with the library in greater detail.
RETURN VALUES
-------------
Each quvi-object function will return a dictionary containing the
following values:
error_message::
The error message, or an empty value.
quvi_code::
The code returned by the library. See also 'quvi/const'
of linkman:quvi-modules[7].
Refer to the function documentation for the information about the additional
values returned in the dictionary.
FUNCTIONS
---------
Base64
~~~~~~
quvi.base64.encode(<plaintext>[,qoo])::
Encode the 'plaintext' to base64 format. The 'plaintext' is expected
to be passed in hexadecimal form. See 'quvi/hex' of the
linkman:quvi-modules[7] for the conversion functions.
+
The second argument ('qoo') is expected to be a dictionary of
additional 'quvi object options', if defined at all.
+
The function will return the 'base64' value in the dictionary.
quvi.base64.decode(<base64>)::
Decode the 'base64' value to plaintext.
+
The function will return the 'plaintext' value in the dictionary.
The value is returned in hexadecimal form.
Crypto
~~~~~~
The crypto facility of the quvi-object wraps the libgcrypt symmetric
cryptography and the hash (message digest) functions.
NOTE: The availability of the algorithms is determined by libgcrypt, and
how it was built
quvi.crypto.encrypt(<plaintext>, <qoo>)::
Encrypt the 'plaintext'. The 'plaintext' is expected to be passed in
hexadecimal form. See 'quvi/hex' of the linkman:quvi-modules[7] for
the conversion functions.
+
The second argument ('qoo') is expected to be a dictionary containing
the cipher options.
+
The function will return the 'ciphertext' value in the dictionary.
The value is returned in hexadecimal form.
quvi.crypto.decrypt(<ciphertext>, <qoo>)::
Decrypt the 'ciphertext'. The 'ciphertext' is expected to be passed in
hexadecimal form. See 'quvi/hex' of the linkman:quvi-modules[7] for
the conversion functions.
+
The second argument ('qoo') is expected to be a dictionary containing
the cipher options.
+
The function will return the 'plaintext' value in the dictionary.
This value is returned in hexadecimal form.
quvi.crypto.hash(<value>, <qoo>)::
Generate a hash from the 'value'. The 'value' is expected to be passed
in hexadecimal format. See 'quvi/hex' of the linkman:quvi-modules[7]
for the conversion functions.
+
The second argument ('qoo') is expected to be a dictionary containing
the hash options, e.g. the algorithm that should be used.
+
The function will return the 'digest' value in the dictionary.
The value is returned in hexadecimal form.
HTTP
~~~~
The HTTP functions will return 'response_code' along the other "RETURN
VALUES", and the values specific to the HTTP function.
quvi.http.cookie(<VALUE>,<qoo>)::
Modify the libcurl session handle cookie settings that libquvi
currently uses.
+
The second argument ('qoo') is expected to be a dictionary containing
the cookie options, e.g. the cookie mode that should be used.
+
The complete list of the available cookie modes can be found in the
'quvi/const' module of the linkman:quvi-modules[7]. The mode names are
named after their equivalent CURLOPT_COOKIE{SESSION,FILE,LIST,JAR}
variable names. For a description of each option, see
linkman:libcurl_easy_setopt[3].
+
This function will not return any additional values in the dictionary.
NOTE: libquvi will ignore any calls to quvi.http.cookie unless
QUVI_OPTION_ALLOW_COOKIES is QUVI_TRUE
NOTE: libcurl will parse the received cookies and use them in the
subsequent HTTP requests only if libquvi QUVI_OPTION_ALLOW_COOKIES
is QUVI_TRUE
quvi.http.fetch(<URL>[,qoo])::
Fetch an URL over an HTTP connection.
+
The second argument ('qoo') is expected to be a dictionary of
additional 'quvi object options', if defined at all.
+
The function will return the 'data' value among the values in
the returned dictionary.
quvi.http.header(<VALUE>[,qoo])::
Add, remove or replace internally used libcurl HTTP headers.
+
The second argument ('qoo') is expected to be a dictionary of
additional 'quvi object options', if defined at all.
+
This function essentially wraps CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, and will not
return any additional values in the dictionary. See
linkman:curl_easy_setopt[3] for the full description of
CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER.
NOTE: To clear the custom headers, pass "" as the VALUE; the custom
headers are also cleared automatically when a support script
function 'parse' is called
quvi.http.metainfo(<URL>[,qoo])::
Query the HTTP metainfo for the URL.
+
The second argument ('qoo') is expected to be a dictionary of
additional 'quvi object options', if defined at all.
+
The function will return the 'content_length' and the 'content_type'
values among the values in the returned dictionary.
quvi.http.resolve(<URL>[,qoo])::
Resolve an URL redirection.
+
The second argument ('qoo') is expected to be a dictionary of
additional 'quvi object options', if defined at all.
+
The function will return the 'resolved_url' among the values in the
returned dictionary. If the URL did not redirect to another location,
the value of the 'resolved_url' is left empty.
EXAMPLES
--------
Base64
~~~~~~
* Base64 encode a string:
+
----
local H = require 'quvi/hex'
local s = H.to_hex('foo') -- Pass in hexadecimal form
local r = quvi.base64.encode(s)
print(r.base64)
----
* Reverse the process:
+
----
local r = quvi.base64.decode(r.base64)
local s = H.to_str(r.plaintext)
----
Crypto
~~~~~~
* Encrypt plaintext:
+
----
local plaintext = 'f34481ec3cc627bacd5dc3fb08f273e6'
local key = '00000000000000000000000000000000'
local C = require 'quvi/const'
local o = {
[C.qoo_crypto_cipher_mode] = C.qoco_cipher_mode_cbc,
[C.qoo_crypto_algorithm] = 'aes',
[C.qoo_crypto_cipher_key = key
}
local r = quvi.crypto.encrypt(plaintext, o)
print(r.ciphertext)
----
* Reverse the process:
+
----
local r = quvi.crypto.decrypt(r.ciphertext, o)
print(r.plaintext)
----
* Generate a hash (message digest):
+
----
local H = require 'quvi/hex'
local s = H.to_hex('foo') -- Pass in hexadecimal form
local C = require 'quvi/const'
local o = { [C.qoo_crypto_algorithm] = 'sha1' }
local r = quvi.crypto.hash(s, o)
print(r.digest)
----
* Same as above, but use the shorthand function:
+
----
local A = require 'quvi/hash'
local r = A.sha1sum('foo')
print(r)
----
HTTP
~~~~
* Dump the cookies in the memory to stdout:
+
----
local C = require 'quvi/const'
local o = { [C.qoo_http_cookie_mode] = C.qohco_mode_jar }
local r = quvi.http.cookie('-', o)
----
* Identical to the above but use the wrapper module:
+
----
local K = require 'quvi/http/cookie'
local r = K.jar('-')
----
* Fetch an URL:
+
----
local r = quvi.http.fetch('http://example.com')
----
+
r.data would now hold the contents. If an error occurred, e.g.
connection failed, the library would exit the process with an error.
* Same as above, but handle the error in the script:
+
----
local C = require 'quvi/const'
local o = { [C.qoo_croak_if_error] = false }
local r = quvi.http.fetch('http://example.com', o)
if r.quvi_code ~= C.qerr_ok then
local s =
string.format('quvi.http.fetch: %s (libquvi=%d, http/%d)',
r.error_message, r.quvi_code, r.response_code)
error(s)
end
----
+
By setting qoo_croak_if_error to 'false', we tell the library to
only register that an error occurred and return the control to
the script. Handling of the error is then left for the script to do.
+
NOTE: Typically, the scripts would not need to handle the error
* Force conversion from ISO-8859-1 to UTF-8:
+
----
local C = require 'quvi/const'
local o = { [C.qoo_fetch_from_charset] = 'ISO-8859-1' }
local r = quvi.http.fetch('http://example.com', o)
----
* Override user-agent header in the HTTP request:
+
----
local r = quvi.http.header('User-Agent: foo/1.0')
r = quvi.http.fetch(...)
----
* Disable an internal header in the HTTP request:
+
----
local r = quvi.http.header('Accept:')
r = quvi.http.fetch(...)
----
* Send a cookie in the HTTP request:
+
----
local r = quvi.http.header('Cookie: foo=1')
r = quvi.http.fetch(...)
----
* Query metainfo for an URL:
+
----
local r = quvi.http.metainfo('http://is.gd/SKyg8m')
print(r.content_length, r.content_type)
----
* Resolve URL redirection:
+
----
local r = quvi.http.resolve('http://is.gd/SKyg8m')
if #r.resolved_url >0 then
print('new location:', r.resolved_url)
end
----
SEE ALSO
--------
linkman:libquvi-scripts[7], linkman:libquvi[3], linkman:quvi-modules[7],
linkman:quvi-modules-3rdparty[7]
include::../footer.txt[]