     <refentry id="refsess">
      
      <refmeta>
	<refentrytitle>ne_session_create</refentrytitle>
	<manvolnum>3</manvolnum>
      </refmeta>

      <refnamediv>
	<refname id="ne_session_create">ne_session_create</refname>
	<refname id="ne_close_connection">ne_close_connection</refname>
	<refname id="ne_session_proxy">ne_session_proxy</refname>
	<refname id="ne_session_destroy">ne_session_destroy</refname>
	<refpurpose>set up HTTP sessions</refpurpose>
      </refnamediv>
      
      <refsynopsisdiv>
	
	<funcsynopsis>
	  <funcsynopsisinfo>#include &lt;ne_session.h&gt;</funcsynopsisinfo>
	  <funcprototype>
	    <funcdef>ne_session *<function>ne_session_create</function></funcdef>
	    <paramdef>const char *<parameter>scheme</parameter></paramdef>
	    <paramdef>const char *<parameter>hostname</parameter></paramdef>
	    <paramdef>unsigned int <parameter>port</parameter></paramdef>
	  </funcprototype>

	  <funcprototype>
	    <funcdef>void <function>ne_session_proxy</function></funcdef>
	    <paramdef>ne_session *<parameter>session</parameter></paramdef>
	    <paramdef>const char *<parameter>hostname</parameter></paramdef>
	    <paramdef>unsigned int <parameter>port</parameter></paramdef>
	  </funcprototype>

	  <funcprototype>
	    <funcdef>void <function>ne_close_connection</function></funcdef>
	    <paramdef>ne_session *<parameter>session</parameter></paramdef>
	  </funcprototype>

	  <funcprototype>
	    <funcdef>void <function>ne_session_destroy</function></funcdef>
	    <paramdef>ne_session *<parameter>session</parameter></paramdef>
	  </funcprototype>

	</funcsynopsis>
      </refsynopsisdiv>

      <refsect1>
	<title>Description</title>

	<para>An <type>ne_session</type> object represents an HTTP
session - a logical grouping of a sequence of HTTP requests made to a
certain server. Any requests made using the session can use a
persistent connection, share cached authentication credentials and any
other common attributes.</para>

	<para>A new HTTP session is created using
<function>ne_session_create</function>, giving the
<parameter>hostname</parameter> and <parameter>port</parameter> of the
server to use, along with the <parameter>scheme</parameter> used to
contact the server (usually <literal>"http"</literal>).  Before the
first use of <function>ne_session_create</function> in a process,
<xref linkend="ne_sock_init"/> must have been called to perform any
global initialization needed by any libraries used by &neon;.</para>

	<para>To enable SSL/TLS for the session, pass the string
<literal>"https"</literal> as the <parameter>scheme</parameter>
parameter, and either register a certificate verification function
(see <xref linkend="ne_ssl_set_verify"/>) or trust the appropriate 
certificate (see <xref linkend="ne_ssl_trust_cert"/>, <xref
linkend="ne_ssl_trust_default_ca"/>).</para>

	<para>If an HTTP proxy server should be used for the session,
<function>ne_session_proxy</function> must be called giving the
hostname and port on which to contact the proxy.</para>

	<para>If it is known that the session will not be used for a
significant period of time, <function>ne_close_connection</function>
can be called to close the connection, if one remains open.  Use of
this function is entirely optional, but it must not be called if there
is a request active using the session.</para>

	<para>Once a session has been completed,
<function>ne_session_destroy</function> must be called to destroy the
resources associated with the session.  Any subsequent use of the
session pointer produces undefined behaviour.</para>

      </refsect1>

      <refsect1>
	<title>Notes</title>

        <para>The hostname passed to
<function>ne_session_create</function> is resolved when the first
request using the session is dispatched; a DNS resolution failure can
only be detected at that time (using the <literal>NE_LOOKUP</literal>
error code); see <xref linkend="ne_request_dispatch"/> for
details.</para>

      </refsect1>

      <refsect1>
	<title>Return Values</title>
	<para><function>ne_session_create</function> will return
	a pointer to a new session object (and never &null;).</para>
      </refsect1>

      <refsect1>
	<title>Examples</title>
	<para>Create and destroy a session:</para>
	<programlisting>ne_session *sess;
sess = ne_session_create("http", "host.example.com", 80);
/* ... use sess ... */
ne_session_destroy(sess);
</programlisting>
      </refsect1>

      <refsect1>
	<title>See Also</title>

	<para><xref linkend="ne_ssl_set_verify"/>, <xref linkend="ne_ssl_trust_cert"/>, <xref linkend="ne_sock_init"/></para>
      </refsect1>

    </refentry>
