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Development Tools HTTP Basics Introduction to HTTP Sending Data with a POST Request

Olivier Van hamme
Olivier Van hamme
5,418 Points
Posted by Olivier Van hamme
Olivier Van hamme
5,418 Points

I cannot replicate the 404 error in the video at [4:14] .

When I set the Content-Length to 30 characters — less than is required — I simply get a shortened data string back as a response instead of the 404 error :

Here is the original POST Request in the terminal on my Mac :

POST /post HTTP/1.1
Host: httpbin.org
Content-Length: 30

firstname=Dorothy&language=English

After pressing enter , I get back the following response :

"data": "firstname=Dorothy&language=Eng"

Notice how the original word — English — has been shortened to Eng .

James Croxford
James Croxford
12,723 Points

I've just had the same issue here (Windows, using workspaces). I copied the input directly from the tutorial:

 POST /post HTTP/1.1                                                                                                                                                                            
Host: httpbin.org                                                                                                                                                                              
Content-Length: 30                                                                                                                                                                             

firstname=Chris&language=English                                                                                                                                                               
HTTP/1.1 200 OK                                                                                                                                                                                
Access-Control-Allow-Credentials: true                                                                                                                                                         
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *                                                                                                                                                                 
Content-Type: application/json                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
Referrer-Policy: no-referrer-when-downgrade                                                                                                                                                    
Server: nginx                                                                                                                                                                                  
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff                                                                                                                                                                
X-Frame-Options: DENY                                                                                                                                                                          
X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block                                                                                                                                                                
Content-Length: 269                                                                                                                                                                            
Connection: keep-alive                                                                                                                                                                         

{                                                                                                                                                                                              
  "args": {},                                                                                                                                                                                  
  "data": "firstname=Chris&language=Engli",                                                                                                                                                    
  "files": {},                                                                                                                                                                                 
  "form": {},                                                                                                                                                                                  
  "headers": {                                                                                                                                                                                 
    "Content-Length": "30",                                                                                                                                                                    
    "Host": "httpbin.org"                                                                                                                                                                      
  },

Like in your case, the query input is just cut down and accepted.

1 Answer

Matt Coale
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Matt Coale
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 17,884 Points
Matt Coale
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Matt Coale
Full Stack JavaScript Techdegree Graduate 17,884 Points

I was getting the same results as you where the characters were getting cut off at 30 bytes. It makes sense, per the content-length that was set, but it's confusing versus watching the video.