How do I send custom request methods using the Requests library?

The Python requests library is a popular HTTP client for making requests to web servers. While it provides built-in methods for common HTTP request types like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc., it also allows you to send requests with custom or less-common HTTP methods using the requests.request function.

Here's the general syntax for using requests.request to send a custom HTTP method:

import requests

url = 'http://example.com/path/to/resource'
headers = {'custom-header': 'value'}  # Optional, add custom headers if needed

# Replace 'CUSTOM_METHOD' with your desired method
response = requests.request(method='CUSTOM_METHOD', url=url, headers=headers)

# Check response
print(response.status_code)
print(response.text)

Let's say you want to send a PROPFIND request, which is used in WebDAV:

import requests

url = 'http://example.com/webdav/resource'
headers = {'Content-Type': 'text/xml', 'Depth': '1'}

# Use 'PROPFIND' as the method
response = requests.request(method='PROPFIND', url=url, headers=headers)

print(response.status_code)
print(response.text)

In the example above, we use the PROPFIND HTTP method by passing it as a string to the method parameter in the requests.request function. The url parameter specifies the target URL, and the headers parameter allows you to set any headers needed for the request.

Remember to handle the response appropriately and consider best practices such as exception handling and response validation when using the requests library in a production environment.

Keep in mind that some HTTP methods may not be supported by the server you are making the request to, and thus you may receive responses indicating that the method is not allowed (HTTP status code 405). Always make sure that the method you are using is supported by the API or server you are interacting with.