# Civetweb API Reference

### `mg_download( host, port, use_ssl, error_buffer, error_buffer_size, fmt, ... );`

### Parameters

| Parameter | Type | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
|**`host`**|`const char *`|The hostname or IP address of the server|
|**`port`**|`int`|The port number on the server|
|**`use_ssl`**|`int`|Use SSL if this value is not equal zero|
|**`error_buffer`**|`char *`|Buffer to store an error message|
|**`error_buffer_size`**|`size_t`|Size of the error message buffer including the terminating NUL|
|**`fmt`**|`const char *`|Format string specifying the remote command to execute|
|**`...`**|*various*|Parameters used in the format string|

### Return Value

| Type | Description |
| :--- | :--- |
|`struct mg_connection *`|A pointer to the connection structure if successful and NULL otherwise|

### Description

The `mg_download()` function is used to download data from a remote webserver. The server
address can either be specified as a hostname or IP address and SSL can be used if
needed. If the function succeeds, a pointer is returned to a connection structure.
The connection must be closed with a call to the
[`mg_close_connection()`](mg_close_connection.md) function.

The format string is a format string from the `printf()` series of functions to specify
the remote command. An example to get the main index page from Google is the following
call:

`conn = mg_download( "google.com", 80, 0, ebuf, sizeof(ebuf),
                     "%s", "GET / HTTP/1.0\r\nHost: google.com\r\n\r\n" );`

### See Also

* [`mg_close_connection();`](mg_close_connection.md)