This python module, httpheader, provides some utility functions useful for parsing and dealing with some of the HTTP 1.1 protocol headers which are not adequately covered by the standard Python libraries, such as:

Download

You can download the source from this website, or from GitHub project dmeranda/httpheader.

License

This is Free Software, licensed under the terms of the GNU LGPL version 2.1 or later.

This basically means you are completely free to use it however you want (even in proprietary systems) for any purpose. However, if you make modifications to it and you redistribute it to others, then you must make your modifications to this software public. Read the license for all details.

Clarification: all sample code shown on this page is hereby placed in the Public Domain. Other text is covered by my general copyright. The httpheader module and its associated documentation is LGPL as stated above.

See also

Using HTTP range requests

This is a simple example of how to use this module to correctly handle HTTP range requests (on a GET or HEAD operation); i.e., those that specify the Ranges: header.

This example is presented in a way that is not bound to any particular web framework, whether that be mod_python, WSGI, etc. So some of the actions are intentionally generic. This example is also intentionally simplified by assuming that you know ahead of time how big the whole "file" is. If you don't know this, such as if the file is generated on-the-fly, then your actual use will be a bit more complex (mainly because range requests may reference file offsets relative to the end of the file rather than the beginning).

This is what you must do first, by whatever method is available to you in your framework.

# Preliminary handling of the HTTP request
ranges_hdr = http_request_headers.get( 'Range' )

# This example only supports GET and HEAD requests
if http_method not in ('GET', 'HEAD'):
    http_response_headers[ 'Allow' ] = 'GET, HEAD'
    set_http_return_code( 405, 'Method not allowed' )
    return # stop processing

# Determine the "file" being requested
file_size = size of the whole file being retrieved.
file_contents = the actual contents of the file
file_content_type = 'application/octet-stream' # or whatever it is

Now try to parse the Range header and figure out what portion(s) of the file has been requested.

# Process the ranges header
import httpheader
ranges = None  # None means return the whole file
if ranges_hdr:
    try:
        ranges = httpheader.parse_range_header( ranges_hdr )
    except httpheader.ParseError:
        # Ranges header is malformed; you should ignore this error
        # per the RFC and just serve the whole file instead.
        ranges = None
    if ranges:
        try:
            # Simplify/optimize the range(s) if possible
            ranges.fix_to_size( file_size )
            ranges.coalesce()  # You may wish to skip this
        except httpheader.RangeUnsatisfiableError:
            # Requested range can not be satisifed, return error
            http_repsonse_header['Content-Range'] = '*/%d' % file_size
            set_http_return_code( 416, 'Range not satisfiable' )
            return # stop processing

        if ranges.is_single_range() and \
           ranges.range_specs[0].first == 0 and \
           ranges.range_specs[0].last == file_size - 1:
            # Effectively getting whole file in pieces
            ranges = None

At this point, if ranges is None, then you're returning the whole file just like you would in a normal request. Be sure to return the Accept-Ranges header to announce that you can process range requests on future requests.

if not ranges:
    # Returning the whole file
    http_response_header['Accept-Ranges'] = 'bytes'
    http_response_header['Content-Length'] = file_size
    http_response_header['Content-Type'] = file_content_type
    set_http_return_code( 200, 'OK' )
    if http_method != 'HEAD':
        http_response_write( file_contents )

Otherwise you are returning one or more portions of the file. First we set up the various HTTP response headers.

else: # ranges is not None
    if ranges.is_single_range():
        # Just one part of the file, no need for a multipart
        http_response_header['Content-Type'] = file_content_type
        http_response_header['Content-Range'] = \
            '%s %d-%d/%d' % ( 'bytes',
                               ranges.range_specs[0].first,
                               ranges.range_specs[0].last,
                               file_size - 1)
    else:
        # Multiple parts.  Pick a random MIME boundary string
        import randon, string
        boundary = '--------' + ''.join([ random.choice(string.letters) for i in range(32) ])
        http_response_header['Content-Type'] = \
            'multipart/byteranges; boundary=%s' % boundary

    http_response_header['Accept-Ranges'] = ranges.units # 'bytes'
    set_http_return_code( 206, 'Partial Content' )

Now we output the actual content.

    if http_method == 'GET':
        if ranges.is_single_range():
            # Single range output
            first = ranges.range_specs[0].first )
            last = ranges.range_specs[0].last + 1  # Notice the +1
            http_response_write( file_contents[first:last] )
        else: # not ranges.is_single_range()
            # Multipart!
            for R in ranges.range_specs:
                http_response_write( '%s\r\n' % boundary )
                http_response_write('Content-Type: %s\r\n' % file_content_type )
                http_response_write('Content-Range: %s %d-%d/%d\r\n' \
                        % (ranges.units, R.first, R.last, file_size) )
                http_response_write( '\r\n' )
                http_respose_write( file_contents[ R.first : R.last+1 ] )
                http_response_write( '\r\n' )
            http_response_write( '%s--\r\n' % boundary )
    elif http_method == 'HEAD':
        # do similar to above to output correct Content-Length,
        # but don't output body.

Don't forget: In a real-world use, be sure to return the ETag and other cache-friendly headers such as Last-Modified or Digest. Just be sure that those headers are with respect to the entire file, not just the portions returned in the range request.