Updated December 2022

This library, available under Windows as ashnet.dll and under Linux as libashnet.so, contains core logic for several network-related subroutines and functions, including:

•   HTTP.SBR

•   PDFX Email Type 4

•   CRYPTO.SBR

•   FTP2.SBR

•   OAUTH2.SBR

Update Notes

2020 September

ATE transport library upgraded to OpenSSL 1.1.1g to incorporate many accumulated protocol and security upgrades, bug fixes, etc. The updated ASHNET.DLL 1.1.173 now supports SHA3 hash algorithms in the CRYPTO.SBR CRYPTOP_HMAC operation via new mode parameter symbols in crypto.def):

2019 May, Ashnet 1.12.165

•   When the XHTTPF_REQGET call fails, it now returns an abbreviated status message in the response parameter instead of the full library debug string. In cases where the call succeeds in connecting to the endpoint, but the endpoint service then rejects the request, the response will be an HTTP header—e.g. "415 Unauthorized." In the case of a complete failure to connect, the response will be empty or "0". The status parameter will give additional information, as will a subsequent call using XHTTPF_GETSTSTXT.

•   A new opcode flag, XHTTPF_REQGETX (&h01000000) has been defined to implement a more advanced version of the "GET" operation. Currently the main visible difference is that the returned reponse will be more detailed in the case of a successful connection but a failed transaction, due to some kind of logic or validation issue on the server. The HTTP.DEF file contains the updated symbol definition.

•   You can now include custom headers—using XHTTPF_HDRBODY—with the string request versions of the XHTTPF_REQPOST and XHTTPF_REQGETX operations. Previously this was only possible with XHTTPF_FILEREQ, file based requests. Format the request string the same way you would the file, i.e. with CRLF between each custom header, then a blank line (terminate by CRLF), then, in the case of _REQPOST, the body of the request. GET operations have no request body.

2019 May, Ashnet 1.12.164

Refinement to HTTP.SBR to allow custom headers to be added to a GET request (XHTTPF_REQGET). Previously this was only possible with the POST request type (XHTTPF_REQPOST / XHTTPF_REQUPLOAD). To specify custom headers, set the XHTTPF_HDRBODY flag and put the new headers into the request$ parameter, using chr(13) to separate multiple headers, e.g.:

flags = XHTTPF_REQGET or XHTTPF_HDRBODY

request$ = "Referer: http://www.microsabio.com"

request$ += chr(13) + "User-Agent: A-Shell/ashnet-1.2.164"

...

xcall HTTP, 1, status, flags, url$, request$, response$, properties$

Note that you must specify at least 7 parameters—i.e., at least thru the properties$ parameter—even if the properties$ parameter is blank. Otherwise a more limited version of the routine will be used, which doesn't support this enhancement.

You can also put the custom headers into a file, as you would with XHTTPF_REQPOST + XHTTPF_FILEREQ + XHTTPF_HDRBODY. With the GET request, anything following the first blank line would be ignored.

Note that to examine/debug your headers, set the XHTTPF_DEBUG flag and then look at the DEBUG.LOG file on return from the XCALL.

2018 October, Ashnet 1.12.163

New subroutine OAUTH2 implements the industry-standard OAUTH2 protocol for authorization via the ASHNET library update 1.12.163.

2018 May, Ashnet 1.11162

•   Support secure protocols TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 in HTTP.SBR via the new flags:

•   Fix problems with the ashnet.log file (XHTTPF_DEBUG) not getting written or released under some circumstances.

•   Remove 100 character limit on header lines included at the top of the request (using XHTTPF_HDRBODY). Maximum length is now unlimited, which is useful when headers include lengthy signatures or digests.

•   Append a connection failure code to the XHTTPF_GETSTSTXT return string, as well as the ashnet.log file to assist with debugging failed connections. See the A-Shell Reference > HTTP.SBR > Connection Failure Codes for a listing of the codes and meanings.

2016 November, Ashnet 1.8.153, 54

Relink with updated SSL, SFTP and HTTP libraries to incorporate many minor bug fixes and improvements in the underlying libraries over the last 11 months. The DLL is backwards compatible to A-Shell and ATE 6.2.

The properties options introduced in 1.8.153 now apply to the HTTPF_REQGET ("simple get") operation as well as the other operations/modes; previously they were ignored for the simple get. Also, the default timeout parameters (30 seconds on connection, 75 on read) now apply to the HTTPF_REQGET operation even if properties are not explicitly specified. Previously the timeouts were indeterminate, but definitely shorter than the new defaults.

2014 May, Ashnet 1.7.145

Security-related enhancement:

•   supports public/private key authentication for SFTP via AG_FTP or FTPDLX.

•   fixes problems with SFTP downloads without explicit local paths.

•   fixes a bug in CRYPTO.SBR where the dst parameter was being truncated if needed to allow for an explicit trailing null.

•   supports new CRYPTO.SBR function to generate public/private key files.

Note: requires ASHW32.EXE 6.1.1385.0+ and should be updated at same time.

2013 July, Ashnet 1.4.137

•   Implements support for initial functionality of CRYPTO.SBR

2013 June, Ashnet 1.4.135

•   Support new HTTP.SBR arguments certfile and certpw

Update Notes: 2012 October/November, Ashnet 1.4.132

•   User agent in headers now shows, for example, "ashnet 1.4.131."

•   Now accepts port specifications embedded in the URL, i.e. http://www.mydomain.com:10080/mypath. Previously it only accepted the port if it was appended to the end of the URL, but that is a non-standard syntax and results in the port not being included in the "Host: domain{:port}" header of a POST request. The syntax shown above, i.e. {scheme}<domain>{:port}{path} is preferable.

•   The DEBUG.REQ file (copy of the request) had an extra CR at the end of each line (CRCRLF instead of CRLF). This didn't affect the actual request, but may have confused tech support efforts.

•   When the XHTTPF_DEBUG flag is set, in addition to creating the DEBUG.REQ file, it also appends a line to ashnet.log indicating the ashnet.dll version, domain, port, SSL flag and return status, e.g.:

HttpRequest v127 to www.mydomain.com port 10080 (SSL) rc=201 HTTP/1.1 201 created

This serves mainly to eliminate doubts during debugging as to where and how the request (DEBUG.REQ) was sent.

In addition, a new log file, DEBUG.LOG, will be created that combines lower level details about the individual steps performed within the operation, but also a transcript of what is sent and received over the wire.

•   Support custom Content-Type prefixes for uploaded files using XHTTPF_REQUPLOAD

•   Support separate option to retrieve the HTTP status text using XHTTPF_GETSTSTXT

•   If the operation fails to connect to the server, a verbose log of the request details is now written to the file DEBUG.LE (e.g. LastError), which might be helpful in debugging.

•   Added XHTTPF_REQGETRAW: like XHTTPF_REQGET (&h0020) but works around a limitation of XHTTPF_REQGET in which certain characters outside the range supported by Latin1/ANSI (e.g. Russian or Chinese) would just be dropped from the response. Can also be used to retrieve binary data containing embedded nulls (such as a file), although you must then use XHTTPF_FILERESP (&h0200) to write the response to a file.