rest: don't copy data when sending binary response

Also, change `HTTPRequest::WriteReply` to accept `std::span`.

Author: romanz

src/httpserver.cpp

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <deque>
 #include <memory>
 #include <optional>
+#include <span>
 #include <string>
 #include <unordered_map>
 
@@ -634,7 +635,7 @@ void HTTPRequest::WriteHeader(const std::string& hdr, const std::string& value)
  * Replies must be sent in the main loop in the main http thread,
  * this cannot be done from worker threads.
  */
-void HTTPRequest::WriteReply(int nStatus, const std::string& strReply)
+void HTTPRequest::WriteReply(int nStatus, std::span<const std::byte> reply)
 {
     assert(!replySent && req);
     if (m_interrupt) {
@@ -643,7 +644,7 @@ void HTTPRequest::WriteReply(int nStatus, const std::string& strReply)
     // Send event to main http thread to send reply message
     struct evbuffer* evb = evhttp_request_get_output_buffer(req);
     assert(evb);
-    evbuffer_add(evb, strReply.data(), strReply.size());
+    evbuffer_add(evb, reply.data(), reply.size());
     auto req_copy = req;
     HTTPEvent* ev = new HTTPEvent(eventBase, true, [req_copy, nStatus]{
         evhttp_send_reply(req_copy, nStatus, nullptr, nullptr);

src/httpserver.h

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 #include <functional>
 #include <optional>
+#include <span>
 #include <string>
 
 namespace util {
@@ -123,12 +124,16 @@ class HTTPRequest
     /**
      * Write HTTP reply.
      * nStatus is the HTTP status code to send.
-     * strReply is the body of the reply. Keep it empty to send a standard message.
+     * reply is the body of the reply. Keep it empty to send a standard message.
      *
      * @note Can be called only once. As this will give the request back to the
      * main thread, do not call any other HTTPRequest methods after calling this.
      */
-    void WriteReply(int nStatus, const std::string& strReply = "");
+    void WriteReply(int nStatus, std::string_view reply = "")
+    {
+        WriteReply(nStatus, std::as_bytes(std::span{reply.data(), reply.size()}));
+    }
+    void WriteReply(int nStatus, std::span<const std::byte> reply);
 };
 
 /** Get the query parameter value from request uri for a specified key, or std::nullopt if the key

src/rest.cpp

@@ -248,9 +248,8 @@ static bool rest_headers(const std::any& context,
             ssHeader << pindex->GetBlockHeader();
         }
 
-        std::string binaryHeader = ssHeader.str();
         req->WriteHeader("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream");
-        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, binaryHeader);
+        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, ssHeader);
         return true;
     }
 
@@ -321,9 +320,8 @@ static bool rest_block(const std::any& context,
 
     switch (rf) {
     case RESTResponseFormat::BINARY: {
-        const std::string binaryBlock{block_data.begin(), block_data.end()};
         req->WriteHeader("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream");
-        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, binaryBlock);
+        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, std::as_bytes(std::span{block_data}));
         return true;
     }
 
@@ -451,9 +449,8 @@ static bool rest_filter_header(const std::any& context, HTTPRequest* req, const
             ssHeader << header;
         }
 
-        std::string binaryHeader = ssHeader.str();
         req->WriteHeader("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream");
-        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, binaryHeader);
+        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, ssHeader);
         return true;
     }
     case RESTResponseFormat::HEX: {
@@ -548,9 +545,8 @@ static bool rest_block_filter(const std::any& context, HTTPRequest* req, const s
         DataStream ssResp{};
         ssResp << filter;
 
-        std::string binaryResp = ssResp.str();
         req->WriteHeader("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream");
-        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, binaryResp);
+        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, ssResp);
         return true;
     }
     case RESTResponseFormat::HEX: {
@@ -729,9 +725,8 @@ static bool rest_tx(const std::any& context, HTTPRequest* req, const std::string
         DataStream ssTx;
         ssTx << TX_WITH_WITNESS(tx);
 
-        std::string binaryTx = ssTx.str();
         req->WriteHeader("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream");
-        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, binaryTx);
+        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, ssTx);
         return true;
     }
 
@@ -900,10 +895,9 @@ static bool rest_getutxos(const std::any& context, HTTPRequest* req, const std::
         // use exact same output as mentioned in Bip64
         DataStream ssGetUTXOResponse{};
         ssGetUTXOResponse << active_height << active_hash << bitmap << outs;
-        std::string ssGetUTXOResponseString = ssGetUTXOResponse.str();
 
         req->WriteHeader("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream");
-        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, ssGetUTXOResponseString);
+        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, ssGetUTXOResponse);
         return true;
     }
 
@@ -981,7 +975,7 @@ static bool rest_blockhash_by_height(const std::any& context, HTTPRequest* req,
         DataStream ss_blockhash{};
         ss_blockhash << pblockindex->GetBlockHash();
         req->WriteHeader("Content-Type", "application/octet-stream");
-        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, ss_blockhash.str());
+        req->WriteReply(HTTP_OK, ss_blockhash);
         return true;
     }
     case RESTResponseFormat::HEX: {