Check if a url is reachable - Help in optimizing a Class

Question

net 4 and c#.

I need a Class able to return a Bool value if an Uri (string) return HTTP status codes 200.

At the moment I have this code (it work using try to see if it is possible connect to the Uri) but I would like implemented with "HttpStatusCode.OK" instead.

• Do you know a better approach?

Thanks.

public static bool IsReachableUri(string uriInput)
        {
            // Variable to Return
            bool testStatus;
            // Create a request for the URL.
            WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(uriInput);
            request.Timeout = 15000; // 15 Sec

            WebResponse response;
            try
            {
                response = request.GetResponse();
                testStatus = true; // Uri does exist                 
                response.Close();
            }
            catch (Exception)
            {
                testStatus = false; // Uri does not exist
            }
            // Result
            return testStatus;
        }

Answer 1

Well, firstly it would be better to have a using statement for your response instead of just calling Close - in this case there's not much difference, but in general using statements are the way to go.

As for testing the result status - just cast the response to HttpWebResponse and then use the StatusCode property. Something like this:

HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest) WebRequest.Create(url);
request.Timeout = 15000;
request.Method = "HEAD"; // As per Lasse's comment
try
{
    using (HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse) request.GetResponse())
    {
        return response.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.OK;
    }
}
catch (WebException)
{
    return false;
}