Media Server 25.4
Media Server Help

# Send Data by Using a POST Method

You can send files and binary data directly to Media Server using a POST request. One possible way to send a POST request over a socket to Media Server is using the cURL command-line tool.

The data that you send in a POST request must adhere to specific formatting requirements. You must use one of the following content types:

- `application/x-www-form-urlencoded`
- `multipart/form-data`

TIP: Media Server rejects POST requests larger than the size specified by the configuration parameter `MaxFileUploadSize`.

## application/x-www-form-urlencoded

The `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` content type describes form data that is sent in a single block in the HTTP message body. Unlike the query part of the URL in a GET request, the length of the data is unrestricted. However, Media Server rejects requests that exceed the size specified by the configuration parameter `MaxFileUploadSize`.

This content type is inefficient for sending large quantities of binary data or text containing non-ASCII characters. For these purposes, OpenText recommends sending data as multipart/form-data.

In the request:

- Separate each parameter from its value with an equals symbol (`=`).
- Separate multiple values with a comma (`,`).
- Separate each parameter-value pair with an ampersand (`&`).
- Base-64 encode any binary data.
- URL encode all non-alphanumeric characters, including those in base-64 encoded data.

Example

The following example uses the command-line tool `curl` to send an `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` request to a Content component. This query finds documents that are conceptually similar to some query text.

`curl http://content:9100/action=SuggestOnText --data-urlencode "Text=common uses of the ampersand (&) character" --data-urlencode Print=Reference`

## multipart/form-data

OpenText recommends using `multipart/form-data` for sending non-ASCII or binary data. With this content type, the HTTP message body is divided into parts, each containing a discrete section of data.

Each message part requires a header containing information about the data in the part. Each part can contain a different content type; for example, `text/plain`, `image/png`, `image/gif`, or `multipart/mixed`. If a parameter specifies multiple files, you must specify the `multipart/mixed` content type in the part header.

Encoding is optional for each message part. The message part header must specify any encoding other than the default (7BIT).

NOTE: With cURL, you specify each message part using the `-F` (or `--form`) option. To upload a file in a message part, prefix the file name with the `@` symbol. For more information about using cURL, refer to the cURL documentation.

Example

The following example uses the command-line tool `curl` to send a `multipart/form-data` request to a Media Server. This request includes two files: a configuration file for performing Optical Character Recognition, and an image file to analyze.

    curl http://mediaserver:14000/action=Process -F config=@ocr.cfg -F sourcedata=@image.tiff

Copyright 2025 Open Text
Version 25.4 | Last updated October 2025

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Product: Knowledge Discovery Media Server 25.4

Topic Title: Send Data by Using a POST Method