System.Net Namespace

[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]

The System.Net namespace provides a simple programming interface for many of the protocols used on networks today. The WebRequest and WebResponse classes form the basis of what are called pluggable protocols, an implementation of network services that enables you to develop applications that use Internet resources without worrying about the specific details of the individual protocols.

Capabilities

If you use this API in your app, you must specify the following capabilities in the app manifest. Otherwise, your app might not work correctly or it might exit unexpectedly.

ID_CAP_NETWORKING

Windows Phone 8, Windows Phone OS 7.1

For more info, see App capabilities and hardware requirements for Windows Phone 8.

Classes

	Class	Description
	Cookie	Provides an object for use with HTTP requests to persist state information for a Windows Phone-based application.
	CookieCollection	Represents a collection of Cookie objects.
	CookieContainer	Provides a container for a collection of CookieCollection objects.
	CookieException	The exception that is thrown when adding a Cookie to a CookieCollection.
	CredentialCache	Provides storage for multiple credentials.
	DnsEndPoint	Represents a network endpoint as a host name or a string representation of an IP address and a port number.
	DownloadProgressChangedEventArgs	Provides data for the DownloadProgressChanged event of a WebClient.
	DownloadStringCompletedEventArgs	Provides data for the DownloadStringCompleted event.
	EndPoint	Identifies a network address. This is an abstract class.
	HttpUtility	Provides methods for encoding and decoding HTML and URL strings.
	HttpWebRequest	Provides an HTTP-specific implementation of the WebRequest class.
	HttpWebResponse	Provides an HTTP-specific implementation of the WebResponse class.
	IPAddress	Provides an Internet Protocol (IP) address.
	IPEndPoint	Represents a network endpoint as an IP address and a port number.
	NetworkCredential	Provides credentials for password-based authentication schemes such as basic, digest, NTLM, and Kerberos authentication.
	OpenReadCompletedEventArgs	Provides data for the OpenReadCompleted event.
	OpenWriteCompletedEventArgs	Provides data for the OpenWriteCompleted event.
	ProtocolViolationException	The exception that is thrown when an error is made while using a network protocol.
	SocketAddress	Stores serialized information from EndPoint derived classes.
	UploadProgressChangedEventArgs	Provides data for the UploadProgressChanged event of a WebClient.
	UploadStringCompletedEventArgs	Provides data for the UploadStringCompleted event.
	WebClient	Provides common methods for sending data to and receiving data from a resource identified by a URI.
	WebException	The exception that is thrown when an error occurs while accessing the network through a pluggable protocol.
	WebHeaderCollection	Contains protocol headers associated with a request or response.
	WebRequest	Makes a request to a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). This is an abstract class.
	WebResponse	Provides a response from a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI). This is an abstract class.
	WebUtility	Provides methods for encoding and decoding URLs when processing Web requests.
	WriteStreamClosedEventArgs	Provides data for the WriteStreamClosed event.

Interfaces

	Interface	Description
	ICredentials	Provides the base authentication interface for retrieving credentials for Web client authentication.
	ICredentialsByHost	Provides the interface for retrieving credentials for a host, port, and authentication type.
	IWebRequestCreate	Provides the base interface for creating WebRequest instances.

Delegates

	Delegate	Description
	DownloadProgressChangedEventHandler	Represents the method that will handle the WebClient..::.DownloadProgressChanged event of a WebClient.
	DownloadStringCompletedEventHandler	Represents the method that will handle the DownloadStringCompleted event of a WebClient.
	OpenReadCompletedEventHandler	Represents the method that will handle the OpenReadAsync event of a WebClient.
	OpenWriteCompletedEventHandler	Represents the method that will handle the OpenWriteCompleted event of a WebClient.
	UploadProgressChangedEventHandler	Represents the method that will handle the UploadProgressChanged event of a WebClient.
	UploadStringCompletedEventHandler	Represents the method that will handle the UploadStringCompleted event of a WebClient.
	WriteStreamClosedEventHandler	Represents the method that will handle the WriteStreamClosed event of a WebClient.

Enumerations

	Enumeration	Description
	AuthenticationSchemes	Specifies protocols for authentication.
	HttpRequestHeader	The HTTP headers that may be specified in a client request.
	HttpStatusCode	Contains the values of status codes defined for HTTP.
	WebExceptionStatus	Defines status codes for the WebException class.