CURLOPT_RTSP_REQUEST(3) Library Functions Manual CURLOPT_RTSP_REQUEST(3)
NAME
CURLOPT_RTSP_REQUEST - RTSP request
SYNOPSIS
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_RTSP_REQUEST, long request);
DESCRIPTION
Tell libcurl what kind of RTSP request to make. Pass one of the follow-
ing RTSP enum values as a long in the request argument. Unless noted
otherwise, commands require the Session ID to be initialized.
CURL_RTSPREQ_OPTIONS
Used to retrieve the available methods of the server. The appli-
cation is responsible for parsing and obeying the response. The
session ID is not needed for this method.
CURL_RTSPREQ_DESCRIBE
Used to get the low level description of a stream. The applica-
tion should note what formats it understands in the 'Accept:'
header. Unless set manually, libcurl automatically adds in 'Ac-
cept: application/sdp'. Time-condition headers are added to De-
scribe requests if the CURLOPT_TIMECONDITION(3) option is used.
(The session ID is not needed for this method)
CURL_RTSPREQ_ANNOUNCE
When sent by a client, this method changes the description of the
session. For example, if a client is using the server to record a
meeting, the client can use Announce to inform the server of all
the meta-information about the session. ANNOUNCE acts like an
HTTP PUT or POST just like CURL_RTSPREQ_SET_PARAMETER
CURL_RTSPREQ_SETUP
Setup is used to initialize the transport layer for the session.
The application must set the desired Transport options for a ses-
sion by using the CURLOPT_RTSP_TRANSPORT(3) option prior to call-
ing setup. If no session ID is currently set with CUR-
LOPT_RTSP_SESSION_ID(3), libcurl extracts and uses the session ID
in the response to this request. The session ID is not needed for
this method.
CURL_RTSPREQ_PLAY
Send a Play command to the server. Use the CURLOPT_RANGE(3) op-
tion to modify the playback time (e.g. npt=10-15).
CURL_RTSPREQ_PAUSE
Send a Pause command to the server. Use the CURLOPT_RANGE(3) op-
tion with a single value to indicate when the stream should be
halted. (e.g. npt=25)
CURL_RTSPREQ_TEARDOWN
This command terminates an RTSP session. Simply closing a connec-
tion does not terminate the RTSP session since it is valid to
control an RTSP session over different connections.
CURL_RTSPREQ_GET_PARAMETER
Retrieve a parameter from the server. By default, libcurl adds a
Content-Type: text/parameters header on all non-empty requests
unless a custom one is set. GET_PARAMETER acts just like an HTTP
PUT or POST (see CURL_RTSPREQ_SET_PARAMETER). Applications wish-
ing to send a heartbeat message (e.g. in the presence of a
server-specified timeout) should send use an empty GET_PARAMETER
request.
CURL_RTSPREQ_SET_PARAMETER
Set a parameter on the server. By default, libcurl uses a *Con-
tent-Type: text/parameters* header unless a custom one is set.
The interaction with SET_PARAMETER is much like an HTTP PUT or
POST. An application may either use CURLOPT_UPLOAD(3) with CUR-
LOPT_READDATA(3) like an HTTP PUT, or it may use CURLOPT_POST-
FIELDS(3) like an HTTP POST. No chunked transfers are allowed, so
the application must set the CURLOPT_INFILESIZE(3) in the former
and CURLOPT_POSTFIELDSIZE(3) in the latter. Also, there is no use
of multi-part POSTs within RTSP.
CURL_RTSPREQ_RECORD
Used to tell the server to record a session. Use the CUR-
LOPT_RANGE(3) option to modify the record time.
CURL_RTSPREQ_RECEIVE
This is a special request because it does not send any data to
the server. The application may call this function in order to
receive interleaved RTP data. It returns after processing one
read buffer of data in order to give the application a chance to
run.
DEFAULT
PROTOCOLS
This functionality affects rtsp only
EXAMPLE
int main(void)
{
CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
if(curl) {
CURLcode res;
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "rtsp://example.com/");
/* ask for options */
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_RTSP_REQUEST, CURL_RTSPREQ_OPTIONS);
res = curl_easy_perform(curl);
curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
}
}
AVAILABILITY
Added in curl 7.20.0
RETURN VALUE
curl_easy_setopt(3) returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.
CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred,
see libcurl-errors(3).
SEE ALSO
CURLOPT_RTSP_SESSION_ID(3), CURLOPT_RTSP_STREAM_URI(3)
libcurl 2026-07-12 CURLOPT_RTSP_REQUEST(3)
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