define a web request for the specified URL

Question

what is the best way to validate a valid url and through error message?

i am using something like this:

 HttpWebRequest req = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(url);

i am doing try and catch to catch the error message

is that enough or can be do better then that?

I believe you are doing it right. Here is a question which has already been asked: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/924679/c-how-can-i-check-if-a-url-exists-is-valid You can use the WebResponse to check your URL — reggie, Jun 27 '11 at 17:45
Validate that the URL is valid uri syntax? Or validate that URL points to an actual valid location? — The Evil Greebo, Jun 27 '11 at 17:46

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 27 '11 at 17:48

1

If you want to see if you get a response from that URL you have to -

WebResponse webResponse = req.GetResponse();

answered Jun 27 '11 at 17:48

Maxim

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 27 '11 at 20:39

You can use the regular expressions (System.Text.RegularExpressions namespace) to test for valid URLs:

var urlTester = new Regex( @"http(s)?://([\w-]+\.)+[\w-]+(/[\w- ./?%&=]*)?" );
bool isValidUrl = urlTester.IsMatch( url );

Also ask google for other Regex URL patterns if it's needed.

2 Answers2