http() returns true if page doesn't exist?

[wildfiction]

I would have expected the http() call to return false in this code:

var _init = false;

function preMain() {
    _init = true;
}

function main() {
    if(_init) {
        var webFile = "http://www.esignal.com/this_file_does_not_exist.txt";
        var f = new HTTP(webFile);
        var success = f.open("rt");
        if(success) {
            debugPrintln("Found " + webFile);
        } else {
            debugPrintln("Did not find " + webFile);
        }
        _init = false;
    }
} 

but apparently it doesn't. Is this the correct behavior?

if you change the webFile var to "http://www.iamsurethatthiswebsitedoesnotexist.com/this_file_does_not_exist.txt" then it does return false.

Thanks.

[Doji3333]

How I use it..

This is how I've been using the HTTP object with success.

var v = new HTTP("http://www.yoursite.com/yourfile.txt");
v.open("rt");
if(v.open()) {
    while(!v.eof()) {
     line = v.readln();
     if (line) {
       //  store line data
        linecount += 1;
     }
    }
 debugPrintln("yourfile.txt Loaded "+linecount);
} else {
 debugPrintln("yourfile.txt NOT Loaded");
}
v = null; 

[eSignal_JasonK]

Hello wildfiction,

Your code is working properly. The reason it returns true is because the url you are using takes you to a "Page Not Found" web page on the www.esignal.com website. It's not the text file you requested but the http object is opening a valid web page.

[wildfiction]

Originally posted by JasonK
Hello wildfiction,

Your code is working properly. The reason it returns true is because the url you are using takes you to a "Page Not Found" web page on the www.esignal.com website. It's not the text file you requested but the http object is opening a valid web page.

Thanks Jason - that makes sense - I never thought that the page not found "page" would be a valid response - but now it seems very obvious.