Picturebox, Image.FromStrea m, WebRequest - Doesn't allways work

[Mads Aggerholm]

Hello Sirs

I hope you can give me a hint to this little problem.

The thing is, I have for a lang time enjoyed the comics on www.washintonpost.com,
and I allways start the day by going to their homepage.

One day, I thought: Why not just make a little program in C#, that
just shows me the .gif-picture of the strip?
And so I did. Or, more correctly, I tried to do.

Actually, it's quite simple. I want to show the strip of "Non
Sequitur" from the 30. of may 2008.
It can be seen directly in a browser, using this link:

http://wpcomics.washingtonpost.com/c...nq/2008/05/30/

Showing "Properties " thell me, the link directly to the .gif-file is
this:

http://wpcomics.washingtonpost.com/f...0/nq080530.gif

The strip can be viewed in a picturebox this way:

picturebox1.Ima ge = Image.FromStrea m(WebRequest.Cr eate("http://
wpcomics.washin gtonpost.com/feature/08/05/30/
nq080530.gif"). GetResponse().G etResponseStrea m());

If I want another strip from another date, I just change the date-part
of the url.

So far, so good.

However, I'd like to see "Hagar the Horrible" too. Browser link to the
same date is:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...&date=20080530

But here starts the problem: "Properties " on the strip is:

http://est.rbma.com/content/Hagar_Th...?date=20080530

Directly in a browser, it works fine.
But using it in a picturebox does not!

What can I do to make this work??
Any constructive input is welcome!

(It _should_ be possible! A friend told me once, that anything other
programs can do, I can do too in C#.)

Sincerely / Best regards
Mads Aggerholm

[Mads Aggerholm]

Hi Parez,

Thanks for the suggestion:

>
HttpWebRequest * *request = (HttpWebRequest )WebRequest.Cre ate("http://
est.rbma.com/content/Hagar_The_Horri ble?date=200805 30");

* * * * * * request .Referer="Somec rap.com";

so instead of somecrap.com OP (i dont know what that means) will have
to use *washtingtonpos t.com- Skjul tekst i anførselstegn -

But how do I get this into the picturebox??

I tried this:

HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest )WebRequest.Cre ate("http://
est.rbma.com/content/Hagar_The_Horri ble?date=200805 30");
request .Referer="washi ngtonpost.com";
picturebox1.Ima ge =
Image.FromStrea m(request).GetR esponse().GetRe sponseStream()) ;

Wild guess, I thought it would work that way, but it didn't.

Sincerely / Best regards
Mads Aggerholm

[Mads Aggerholm]

Hi Pete,

Personally, it's my opinion that when one starts impersonating a web page,*
they are getting into a gray area with respect to content/copyright *
ethics. *The web server owner is clearly specifically interested in making *
sure that when you look at the comic, you do so in a particular context. *
When you impersonate that context, you break the implied contract with the*
content producer.

*From the content producer's point of view, that contract may involve *
ensuring that advertising or other contextual things that they deem *
important or financially necessary are included. *If you as the viewer *
aren't willing to abide by that contract, then you're basically saying you*
don't approve of the "sale", and thus shouldn't be "buying" (that is, just*
don't read the comic).

As far as I know, this is not technically illegal per se. *But it *
definitely seems a little "wrong" to me. *From an implementation point of *
view, this could be avoided by just using the WebBrowser control and *
displaying the entire original page rather than just the comic. *That *
would also automatically fix the "referrer" issue. *:)

I understand your thoughts on this issue, and I - partly - agree.
To my excuse, I can mention that I read those comics on the Post and
nothing else. The commercials, which is what the post wants me to
read, does not apply to me, since I am living in Denmark, and as I see
it, it's not much different from using an application that hides the
commercials on websites.

This project is something has it's offspring in the thougt, that it
would be interesting to see if it could be done.
That last part of the sentence is the greatest teacher in the world.
I have learned a million things that way.

Sincerely / Best regards
Mads Aggerholm

[Mads Aggerholm]

Ok, got it solved:

string myUri = "http://est.rbma.com/content/
Hagar_The_Horri ble?date=200805 26";
HttpWebRequest myHttpWebReques t =
(HttpWebRequest )WebRequest.Cre ate(myUri);
myHttpWebReques t.Referer = "http://www.washingtonp ost.com/
wp-srv/artsandliving/comics";
try
{ HttpWebResponse myHttpWebRespon se =
(HttpWebRespons e)myHttpWebRequ est.GetResponse ();
Stream streamResponse =
myHttpWebRespon se.GetResponseS tream();
Image im = Image.FromStrea m(streamRespons e);
streamResponse. Close();
myHttpWebRespon se.Close();
picturebox1.Ima ge = im;
}
catch
{
MessageBox.Show ("Failure!") ;
}

Thanks for the input, everybody!

Sincerely / Best regards
Mads Aggerholm