Returning Stream from WebRequest

Question

I'm having an issue when i return a Stream from a WebRequest, it says that the stream was closed, when i have everything in the same method then it works here is the code example:

public static Stream MethodOne()
{
            Uri uri = new Uri(url, true);
            WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(uri);
            request.Method = "GET";

            Stream responseStream = null;
            using (WebResponse webResponse = request.GetResponse())
            {
                responseStream = webResponse.GetResponseStream();
            }
}

The other method is:

public static XDocument MethodTwo()
        {
            Stream stream = MethodOne();
            if (stream == null)
            {
                return null;
            }

            XmlReader xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(stream);
            return XDocument.Load(xmlReader);
        }

The error that i get is where i try to create an xmlReader from the stream with the following message: The request was aborted: The connection was closed unexpectedly.

Any idea how to resolve it?

Answer 1

your using statement calls Dispose on the Response before you read the stream.

I would return the WebResponse from Method one.

    public static XDocument MethodTwo()
    {

        WebResponse response = MethodOne();
        if (response == null)
        {
            response null;
        }

        try
        {
            var stream = response.GetResponseStream();
            XmlReader xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(stream);
            return XDocument.Load(xmlReader);
        }
        finally
        {
            response.Dispose();
        }

    }

Update: Better solution

    public static XDocument MethodTwo()
    {

        using (var response = MethodOne())
        using (var stream = response.GetResponseStream())
        {
            var stream = response.GetResponseStream();
            XmlReader xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(stream);
            return XDocument.Load(xmlReader);
        }

    }

    public static Stream MethodOne()
    {
        Uri uri = new Uri(url, true);
        WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(uri);
        request.Method = "GET";
        return request;
    }

This will ensure that your resources are disposed (even if an exception occures).

Answer 2

As SchlaWiener pointed out, the problem you're facing is that the using statement calls Dispose() on the stream before you can read the stream. You should refactor your code as follows:

public static Stream GetResponseStream() 
{
    var uri = new Uri(url, true);
    WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create(uri);
    request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Http.Get;
    WebResponse response = request.GetResponse();
    return response.GetResponseStream();
}

public static XDocument GetXDocument()
{
    using(Stream stream = GetResponseStream())
    {
        XmlReader xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(stream);
        return XDocument.Load(xmlReader);
    }
}

This way, you'll make sure the stream is closed only after the read.