# Using Headers for loading Images

**URL:** <https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450>\
**Category:** Coding Questions\
**Created:** [July 26, 2021, 5:31pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450 "2021-07-26T17:31:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Glenton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Glenton](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Glenton)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 5:31pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450/1 "2021-07-26T17:31:59Z")

</div>

Hello,

I would like to use the [discog API](https://www.discogs.com/developers/) in order to get informations on music albums and the cover Image of the album.

The program I wrote handles the API correctly for fetching the String datas, but I have a problem with loading the Images from the URL provided in the JSON sent back by the Discog API:  
The URL works fine in a browser but the server returns a 403 error when I try to load the image with processing using the same URL.

here is the code I would like to see working:

```auto
String searchString;
JSONObject json;

PImage cover;

void setup()
{
  searchString = ("https://api.discogs.com/database/search?q=Nirvana%20nevermind");
  testdiscogs();
}

void draw(){
  
}

void testdiscogs(){
  JSONObject json;
  int masterID = 0;
  
  println("test discogs");
  try{
    println(searchString);
    GetRequest get = new GetRequest(searchString);
    get.addHeader("Authorization", "Discogs key="+discogsConsumerKey+", secret="+discogsConsumerSecret);
    get.addHeader("user-agent","omnijukebot/0.0 bcrepet@yahoo.fr");
    get.send();
    json = parseJSONObject(get.getContent());
    JSONArray results = json.getJSONArray("results");
    if(results.size()>0){
      println("Au moins un master trouvé");
      masterID = results.getJSONObject(0).getInt("master_id");
      println("master_id:" + masterID);
      cover = requestImage(results.getJSONObject(0).getString("cover_image"));
  }
  catch (Exception e) {
    println("probleme test discogs e="+e);
  }
}

```

[I asked for help in the Discop API forum](https://www.discogs.com/fr/forum/thread/863968?page=1#8840164), and I have been answered that the problem probably comes from the fact that I don’t send the necessary informations (Authorization and User-Agent) in headers when trying to load the image.

I know what to send in the headers but after searching for a while, I have not found any obvious solution for sending headers with loadImage() or requestImage(), or a library that could do the job. Now I am really stuck with that…

Does someone knows how to do this with processing?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chrisir](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/chrisir/32/45_2.png) [@Chrisir](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Chrisir)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450/2 "2021-07-26T17:58:13Z")

</div>

> [@Glenton](#):
>
> `results.getJSONObject(0).getString("cover_image")`

Understood.

By the way:

What gives println (results.getJSONObject(0).getString(“cover\_image”));

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Glenton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Glenton](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Glenton)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 9:48pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450/3 "2021-07-26T21:48:55Z")

</div>

println (results.getJSONObject(0).getString(“cover\_image”); gives:

“[https://img.discogs.com/UoDAnoi3Cbp\_JvOrz4CRgZBBSfg=/fit-in/600x592/filters:strip\_icc():format(jpeg):mode\_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-367084-1263095553.jpeg.jpg](https://img.discogs.com/UoDAnoi3Cbp_JvOrz4CRgZBBSfg=/fit-in/600x592/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-367084-1263095553.jpeg.jpg)”

Copied and pasted in a browser address bar, this shows the expected cover.

But a loadImage() right after this println() gives:  
java.io.IOException: Server returned HTTP response code: 403 for URL: [https://img.discogs.com/UoDAnoi3Cbp\_JvOrz4CRgZBBSfg=/fit-in/600x592/filters:strip\_icc():format(jpeg):mode\_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-367084-1263095553.jpeg.jpg](https://img.discogs.com/UoDAnoi3Cbp_JvOrz4CRgZBBSfg=/fit-in/600x592/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-367084-1263095553.jpeg.jpg)  
… and a lot of other red lines…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chrisir](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/chrisir/32/45_2.png) [@Chrisir](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Chrisir)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450/4 "2021-07-26T22:21:48Z")

</div>

I can’t help you with that

it’s not a straight forward, direct image url which looks more  
like [https://img.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2021-07/sommerpressekonferenz-angela-merkel-bundeskanzlerin-bilder/2006-gettyimages-71746021.jpg/imagegroup/original\_\_960x720\_\_desktop](https://img.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2021-07/sommerpressekonferenz-angela-merkel-bundeskanzlerin-bilder/2006-gettyimages-71746021.jpg/imagegroup/original __960x720__ desktop)

or just [https://img.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2021-07/sommerpressekonferenz-angela-merkel-bundeskanzlerin-bilder/2006-gettyimages-71746021.jpg](https://img.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2021-07/sommerpressekonferenz-angela-merkel-bundeskanzlerin-bilder/2006-gettyimages-71746021.jpg)

anyway, when the guys from discop are correct, either check out where the images are (when the folder is not protected) OR use `GetRequest` again, no?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Glenton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Glenton](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Glenton)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 7:29am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450/5 "2021-07-27T07:29:46Z")

</div>

I don’t understand what means checking where the images are. How can I do that with the URL I have?  
Even trying to “cut” this URL - for example “[https://img.discogs.com/UoDAnoi3Cbp\_JvOrz4CRgZBBSfg=/fit-in/600x592/](https://img.discogs.com/UoDAnoi3Cbp_JvOrz4CRgZBBSfg=/fit-in/600x592/)” this gives no results neither with a browser nor with processing.

However using GetRequest again with the URL gave something: A very long gibberish String that I can’t use as is but this is a step forward!

Do you think this String could be the image itself?

I recorded it in a .txt file [here](https://www.filemail.com/d/klhwwgxkoufsdyu) if you want to have a look. I tried to convert it to image with some online tools but did not manage to get an image.

If it is the image and if it is possible to convert it, is there a way to do that with processing?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chrisir](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/chrisir/32/45_2.png) [@Chrisir](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Chrisir)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 10:25am UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450/6 "2021-07-27T10:25:22Z")

</div>

I don’t know

Please check with the forum

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Flolo](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/flolo/32/13874_2.png) [@Flolo](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Flolo)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450/7 "2021-07-27T13:23:56Z")

</div>

Hey @Glenton I dont know if this helps:  
Its a little class which downloads an Image and then loads it via `loadImage()` from processing

> **Click to see the my Example**
>
> ```auto
> String URL = "https://img.discogs.com/UoDAnoi3Cbp_JvOrz4CRgZBBSfg=/fit-in/600x592/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-367084-1263095553.jpeg.jpg";
> PImage img;
> void setup() {
> size(100, 100);
> //img = requestImage(URL);//not working
> //img = loadImage(URL);//not working
> 
> DownloadImage downImg = new DownloadImage(this);
> img = downImg.load(URL, sketchPath("test.png"));
> 
> if (img == null) {
> println("Error");
> return;
> }
> println("Image loaded");
> surface.setSize(img.width, img.height);
> }
> void draw() {
> background(0);
> 
> if (img == null) return;
> image(img, 0, 0);
> }
> 
> import java.io.FileOutputStream;
> import java.io.IOException;
> import java.io.InputStream;
> import java.io.OutputStream;
> import java.net.URL;
> import java.net.URLConnection;
> 
> public class DownloadImage {
> PApplet parent;
> 
> public DownloadImage(PApplet parent) {
> this.parent = parent;
> }
> public PImage load(String search, String path) {
> 
> // This will get input data from the server
> InputStream inputStream = null;
> 
> // This will read the data from the server;
> OutputStream outputStream = null;
> 
> try {
> // This will open a socket from client to server
> URL url = new URL(search);
> 
> // This user agent is for if the server wants real humans to visit
> String USER_AGENT = "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/56.0.2924.87 Safari/537.36";
> 
> // This socket type will allow to set user_agent
> URLConnection con = url.openConnection();
> 
> // Setting the user agent
> con.setRequestProperty("User-Agent", USER_AGENT);
> 
> // Requesting input data from server
> inputStream = con.getInputStream();
> 
> // Open local file writer
> outputStream = new FileOutputStream(path);
> 
> // Limiting byte written to file per loop
> byte[] buffer = new byte[2048];
> 
> // Increments file size
> int length;
> 
> // Looping until server finishes
> while ((length = inputStream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
> // Writing data
> outputStream.write(buffer, 0, length);
> }
> } 
> catch (Exception ex) {
> ex.printStackTrace();
> }
> 
> // closing used resources
> // The computer will not be able to use the image
> // This is a must
> 
> try {
> outputStream.close();
> inputStream.close();
> } 
> catch (IOException e) {
> e.printStackTrace();
> }
> 
> PImage img = parent.loadImage(path);
> return img;
> }
> }
> 
> ```

> **Click to see the Example in your code**
>
> ```auto
> String searchString;
> JSONObject json;
> 
> PImage cover;
> 
> void setup()
> {
> searchString = ("https://api.discogs.com/database/search?q=Nirvana%20nevermind");
> testdiscogs();
> }
> 
> void draw() {
> if (cover == null) return;
> image(cover, 0, 0);
> }
> 
> void testdiscogs() {
> JSONObject json;
> int masterID = 0;
> 
> println("test discogs");
> try {
> println(searchString);
> GetRequest get = new GetRequest(searchString);
> get.addHeader("Authorization", "Discogs key="+discogsConsumerKey+", secret="+discogsConsumerSecret);
> get.addHeader("user-agent", "omnijukebot/0.0 bcrepet@yahoo.fr");
> get.send();
> json = parseJSONObject(get.getContent());
> JSONArray results = json.getJSONArray("results");
> if (results.size()>0) {
> println("Au moins un master trouvé");
> masterID = results.getJSONObject(0).getInt("master_id");
> println("master_id:" + masterID);
> DownloadImage downImg = new DownloadImage(this);
> String url = results.getJSONObject(0).getString("cover_image");
> cover = downImg.load(url, sketchPath("test.png"));
> }
> }
> catch (Exception e) {
> println("probleme test discogs e="+e);
> }
> if (cover == null) return;
> surface.setSize(cover.width, cover.height);
> }
> 
> import java.io.FileOutputStream;
> import java.io.IOException;
> import java.io.InputStream;
> import java.io.OutputStream;
> import java.net.URL;
> import java.net.URLConnection;
> 
> public class DownloadImage {
> PApplet parent;
> 
> public DownloadImage(PApplet parent) {
> this.parent = parent;
> }
> public PImage load(String search, String path) {
> 
> // This will get input data from the server
> InputStream inputStream = null;
> 
> // This will read the data from the server;
> OutputStream outputStream = null;
> 
> try {
> // This will open a socket from client to server
> URL url = new URL(search);
> 
> // This user agent is for if the server wants real humans to visit
> String USER_AGENT = "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/56.0.2924.87 Safari/537.36";
> 
> // This socket type will allow to set user_agent
> URLConnection con = url.openConnection();
> 
> // Setting the user agent
> con.setRequestProperty("User-Agent", USER_AGENT);
> 
> // Requesting input data from server
> inputStream = con.getInputStream();
> 
> // Open local file writer
> outputStream = new FileOutputStream(path);
> 
> // Limiting byte written to file per loop
> byte[] buffer = new byte[2048];
> 
> // Increments file size
> int length;
> 
> // Looping until server finishes
> while ((length = inputStream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
> // Writing data
> outputStream.write(buffer, 0, length);
> }
> } 
> catch (Exception ex) {
> ex.printStackTrace();
> }
> 
> // closing used resources
> // The computer will not be able to use the image
> // This is a must
> 
> try {
> outputStream.close();
> inputStream.close();
> } 
> catch (IOException e) {
> e.printStackTrace();
> }
> 
> PImage img = parent.loadImage(path);
> return img;
> }
> }
> 
> ```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Glenton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8edcca/32.png) [@Glenton](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Glenton)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450/8 "2021-07-27T16:28:22Z")

</div>

Yes Floflo, this helps. You just totally solved my problem!  
Thank you a lot! I have been stuck for a while on this…

I am just a processing user, I don’t really know Java.  
I wish I could understand how your class works, especially what is this PApplet parent object and how it gets the image data with inputStream, outputStream an the buffer…  
But I will dig on this later.

Thanks again!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Flolo](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discourse.processing.org/flolo/32/13874_2.png) [@Flolo](https://discourse.processing.org/u/Flolo)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2021, 9:27pm UTC](https://discourse.processing.org/t/using-headers-for-loading-images/31450/9 "2021-07-27T21:27:25Z")

</div>

That’s nice 😃

So the PApplet class is the base class for all sketches that use processing.core.  
You can look at this link: [PApplet](https://processing.github.io/processing-javadocs/core/processing/core/PApplet.html)

And I only looked for and adjusted the rest online together, I didn’t fully understand that im sorry 😅