Generic HTTP Request (reusable script include)
- Jonathan Muse
- Shane Smith
Problem
Making an extremal HTTP request is an extremely common task. Much of the work to prepare to send the request is identical from script to script.
Solution
The easiest way to solve this is to use a include like this one so that the code does not need to be created every time. Another benefit of a script like this is that more time and attention can be placed in areas like logging and debugging.
Script components
httpResult struct
The purpose of this struct is to break up the data returned into 3 pieces of information required to process the call:
Was the call successful?
If the call failed, why did it fail?
If the call succeeded, get the data
httpResult struct
struct _httpResult {
boolean success;
string message;
string data;
}generateRequest function
With any HTTP request one of the more labor intensive parts is authenticating with the external system. This function was separated from the main function (below) so that multiple system requirements can be used by passing a parameter to the function.
generateRequest function
function generateRequest(string type) {
HttpRequest request;
HttpHeader header = httpCreateHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");
request.headers += header;
if(type == "SERVER") {
HttpHeader authHeader = httpBasicAuthHeader("jmuse", "Pc9vfdhssh5B73c");
request.headers += authHeader;
} else {
HttpHeader header2 = httpCreateHeader("Authorization", "Basic am9uYXRoYW4ubXVz6RFdfjghndPVkJQNmhKdGpMSzlBMkM=");
request.headers += header2;
}
return request;
}The authentication information (username and passwords) was displayed in this script to help with readability and understanding. In real world applications this information would be encrypted and stored as a persistent variable. See the example below for use of persistent variables.
genericRequestCall function
This is the main function that will get reused by other scripts. It will actually make the HTTP request. It supports the main methods like GET, PUT, DELETE, and POST. It accepts 4 parameters:
Request URL (string) - the URL of the system to make the request to
Method (string) - HTTP methods like GET or POST
Data (JSON) - JSON data to be passed in the request
HttpRequestion (object) - SIL object, this is also the output of the generateRequest which is designed to be used in this parameter.
genericRequestCall function
function genericRestCall(string url, string method, string data, HttpRequest request) {
_httpResult result;
if(method == "GET") {
result.data = httpGet(url, request); //replace with specific domain name
} else if (method == "PUT") {
result.data = httpPut(url, request, data);
} else if (method == "DELETE") {
result.data = httpDelete(url, request, data);
} else {
result.data = httpPost(url, request, data);
}
...Error check and return statement
The final part of this script is checking if the request was successful. If it is successful the script passes the httpResult containing the requested data. If not, it prints the errors to the console and to the Jira log. It also returns the httpResult containing the failure information.
Error check
Full Scripts
genericRest.incl
Persistent variable version
This versions is more secure in that the username and password is stored in the database and is not visible in the script. See persistent variables on examples on how to set these values.
Table of Contents
- 1 Problem
- 1.1 Solution
- 1.2 Script components
- 1.2.1 httpResult struct
- 1.2.1.1 httpResult struct
- 1.2.1 httpResult struct
- 1.3 generateRequest function
- 1.3.1 generateRequest function
- 1.4 genericRequestCall function
- 1.5 Error check and return statement
- 1.5.1 Error check
- 2 Full Scripts