1libcurl(3)                     libcurl overview                     libcurl(3)
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NAME

6       libcurl - client-side URL transfers
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DESCRIPTION

9       This  is  a  short  overview  on how to use libcurl in your C programs.
10       There are specific man pages for each function mentioned in here. There
11       are  also  the libcurl-easy(3) man page, the libcurl-multi(3) man page,
12       the libcurl-share(3) man page and the libcurl-tutorial(3) man page  for
13       in-depth understanding on how to program with libcurl.
14
15       There  are  many  bindings  available that bring libcurl access to your
16       favourite language. Look elsewhere for documentation on those.
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18       libcurl has a global constant environment that  you  must  set  up  and
19       maintain   while  using  libcurl.   This  essentially  means  you  call
20       curl_global_init(3)   at   the    start    of    your    program    and
21       curl_global_cleanup(3)  at  the  end.   See  GLOBAL CONSTANTS below for
22       details.
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24       If libcurl was compiled with support for  multiple  SSL  backends,  the
25       function curl_global_sslset(3) can be called before curl_global_init(3)
26       to select the active SSL backend.
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28       To transfer files, you create an "easy handle" using  curl_easy_init(3)
29       for  a  single  individual transfer (in either direction). You then set
30       your desired set of options in that  handle  with  curl_easy_setopt(3).
31       Options  you  set  with curl_easy_setopt(3) stick. They will be used on
32       every repeated use of this handle until you either change  the  option,
33       or you reset them all with curl_easy_reset(3).
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35       To  actually  transfer  data  you  have  the option of using the "easy"
36       interface, or the "multi" interface.
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38       The easy interface is a  synchronous  interface  with  which  you  call
39       curl_easy_perform(3)  and  let it perform the transfer. When it is com‐
40       pleted, the function returns and you can  continue.  More  details  are
41       found in the libcurl-easy(3) man page.
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43       The  multi  interface  on  the other hand is an asynchronous interface,
44       that you call and that performs only a little piece of the transfer  on
45       each  invoke. It is perfect if you want to do things while the transfer
46       is in progress, or similar. The multi interface allows you to  select()
47       on  libcurl action, and even to easily download multiple files simulta‐
48       neously using a single thread. See  further  details  in  the  libcurl-
49       multi(3) man page.
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51       You can have multiple easy handles share certain data, even if they are
52       used in different threads. This magic is setup using the  share  inter‐
53       face, as described in the libcurl-share(3) man page.
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55       There  is  also  a  series of other helpful functions to use, including
56       these:
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58              curl_version_info()
59                     gets detailed libcurl (and other used libraries)  version
60                     info
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62              curl_getdate()
63                     converts a date string to time_t
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65              curl_easy_getinfo()
66                     get information about a performed transfer
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68              curl_formadd()
69                     helps building an HTTP form POST
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71              curl_formfree()
72                     free a list built with curl_formadd(3)
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74              curl_slist_append()
75                     builds a linked list
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77              curl_slist_free_all()
78                     frees a whole curl_slist
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LINKING WITH LIBCURL

82       On  unix-like  machines,  there's  a  tool  named curl-config that gets
83       installed with the rest of the curl stuff when 'make install'  is  per‐
84       formed.
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86       curl-config  is  added  to make it easier for applications to link with
87       libcurl and developers to learn about libcurl and how to use it.
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89       Run 'curl-config --libs' to get the  (additional)  linker  options  you
90       need  to  link with the particular version of libcurl you've installed.
91       See the curl-config(1) man page for further details.
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93       Unix-like operating system that ship libcurl as part of their distribu‐
94       tions  often don't provide the curl-config tool, but simply install the
95       library and headers in the common path for this purpose.
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97       Many Linux and similar systems use pkg-config to provide build and link
98       options about libraries and libcurl supports that as well.
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LIBCURL SYMBOL NAMES

101       All public functions in the libcurl interface are prefixed with 'curl_'
102       (with a lowercase c). You can  find  other  functions  in  the  library
103       source code, but other prefixes indicate that the functions are private
104       and may change without further notice in the next release.
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106       Only use documented functions and functionality!
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PORTABILITY

109       libcurl works exactly the same, on any of the platforms it compiles and
110       builds on.
111

THREADS

113       libcurl  is  thread  safe  but  there  are  a  few exceptions. Refer to
114       libcurl-thread(3) for more information.
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116

PERSISTENT CONNECTIONS

118       Persistent connections means that libcurl can re-use the  same  connec‐
119       tion for several transfers, if the conditions are right.
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121       libcurl will always attempt to use persistent connections. Whenever you
122       use curl_easy_perform(3) or  curl_multi_perform(3)  etc,  libcurl  will
123       attempt  to  use an existing connection to do the transfer, and if none
124       exists it'll open a new one that will be subject for re-use on a possi‐
125       ble following call to curl_easy_perform(3) or curl_multi_perform(3).
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127       To  allow libcurl to take full advantage of persistent connections, you
128       should do as many of your file transfers as  possible  using  the  same
129       handle.
130
131       If  you  use the easy interface, and you call curl_easy_cleanup(3), all
132       the possibly open connections held by libcurl will be closed  and  for‐
133       gotten.
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135       When  you've  created a multi handle and are using the multi interface,
136       the connection pool is instead kept in the multi handle so closing  and
137       creating new easy handles to do transfers will not affect them. Instead
138       all added easy handles can take advantage of the single shared pool.
139

GLOBAL CONSTANTS

141       There are a variety of constants that libcurl uses, mainly through  its
142       internal  use  of  other  libraries,  which are too complicated for the
143       library loader to set up.  Therefore, a program  must  call  a  library
144       function  after  the program is loaded and running to finish setting up
145       the library code.  For example, when libcurl is built for SSL  capabil‐
146       ity  via  the  GNU  TLS library, there is an elaborate tree inside that
147       library that describes the SSL protocol.
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149       curl_global_init(3) is the function that you must call.  This may allo‐
150       cate  resources (e.g. the memory for the GNU TLS tree mentioned above),
151       so the companion function curl_global_cleanup(3) releases them.
152
153       The basic rule for constructing a program that uses  libcurl  is  this:
154       Call  curl_global_init(3), with a CURL_GLOBAL_ALL argument, immediately
155       after the program starts, while it is still only one thread and  before
156       it uses libcurl at all.  Call curl_global_cleanup(3) immediately before
157       the program exits, when the program is again only one thread and  after
158       its last use of libcurl.
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160       You  can  call  both of these multiple times, as long as all calls meet
161       these requirements and the number of calls to each is the same.
162
163       It isn't actually required that the functions be called at  the  begin‐
164       ning  and  end of the program -- that's just usually the easiest way to
165       do it.  It is required that the  functions  be  called  when  no  other
166       thread in the program is running.
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168       These  global  constant  functions are not thread safe, so you must not
169       call them when any other thread in the program is  running.   It  isn't
170       good  enough that no other thread is using libcurl at the time, because
171       these functions internally call similar functions of  other  libraries,
172       and  those  functions are similarly thread-unsafe.  You can't generally
173       know what these libraries are, or whether other threads are using them.
174
175       The global constant situation merits  special  consideration  when  the
176       code you are writing to use libcurl is not the main program, but rather
177       a modular piece of a program, e.g. another library.  As a module,  your
178       code  doesn't  know about other parts of the program -- it doesn't know
179       whether they use libcurl or not.  And its code doesn't necessarily  run
180       at the start and end of the whole program.
181
182       A module like this must have global constant functions of its own, just
183       like curl_global_init(3) and curl_global_cleanup(3).  The  module  thus
184       has  control at the beginning and end of the program and has a place to
185       call the libcurl functions.  Note that if multiple modules in the  pro‐
186       gram  use libcurl, they all will separately call the libcurl functions,
187       and that's OK because only the first curl_global_init(3) and  the  last
188       curl_global_cleanup(3)  in  a program change anything.  (libcurl uses a
189       reference count in static memory).
190
191       In a C++ module, it is common to deal with the global  constant  situa‐
192       tion  by  defining  a special class that represents the global constant
193       environment of the module.  A program always has exactly one object  of
194       the  class,  in  static  storage.   That way, the program automatically
195       calls the constructor of the object as the program starts  up  and  the
196       destructor  as it terminates.  As the author of this libcurl-using mod‐
197       ule, you can make the  constructor  call  curl_global_init(3)  and  the
198       destructor  call  curl_global_cleanup(3) and satisfy libcurl's require‐
199       ments without your user having to think about it.  (Caveat: If you  are
200       initializing  libcurl  from  a Windows DLL you should not initialize it
201       from DllMain or a static initializer because Windows holds  the  loader
202       lock during that time and it could cause a deadlock.)
203
204       curl_global_init(3) has an argument that tells what particular parts of
205       the global constant environment to set up.  In  order  to  successfully
206       use  any  value  except CURL_GLOBAL_ALL (which says to set up the whole
207       thing), you must  have  specific  knowledge  of  internal  workings  of
208       libcurl and all other parts of the program of which it is part.
209
210       A  special  part  of the global constant environment is the identity of
211       the memory allocator.  curl_global_init(3) selects the  system  default
212       memory allocator, but you can use curl_global_init_mem(3) to supply one
213       of your own.  However, there is no way to  use  curl_global_init_mem(3)
214       in  a  modular  program  --  all  modules in the program that might use
215       libcurl would have to agree on one allocator.
216
217       There is a failsafe in libcurl that makes it usable  in  simple  situa‐
218       tions without you having to worry about the global constant environment
219       at all: curl_easy_init(3) sets up the environment itself if  it  hasn't
220       been  done yet.  The resources it acquires to do so get released by the
221       operating system automatically when the program exits.
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223       This failsafe feature exists mainly for backward compatibility  because
224       there was a time when the global functions didn't exist.  Because it is
225       sufficient only in the simplest of programs, it is not recommended  for
226       any program to rely on it.
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230libcurl 7.61.1                   July 15, 2017                      libcurl(3)
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