GET
requests. GET
requests, for those unfamiliar with HTTP, are requests made by browsers when the user types in a URL on the address line, follows a link from a Web page, or makes an HTML form that does not specify a METHOD
. Servlets can also very easily handle POST
requests, which are generated when someone creates an HTML form that specifies METHOD="POST"
. We'll discuss that in later sections. import java.io.*;(Download template source code -- click with the right mouse on the link or hold down SHIFT while clicking on the link.)
import javax.servlet.*;
import javax.servlet.http.*;
public class SomeServlet extends HttpServlet {
public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
throws ServletException, IOException {
// Use "request" to read incoming HTTP headers (e.g. cookies)
// and HTML form data (e.g. data the user entered and submitted)
// Use "response" to specify the HTTP response line and headers
// (e.g. specifying the content type, setting cookies).
PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
// Use "out" to send content to browser
}
}
To be a servlet, a class should extend HttpServlet and override doGet
or doPost
(or both), depending on whether the data is being sent by GET
or by POST
. These methods take two arguments: an HttpServletRequest and an HttpServletResponse. The HttpServletRequest
has methods that let you find out about incoming information such as FORM data, HTTP request headers, and the like. The HttpServletResponse
has methods that lets you specify the HTTP response line (200, 404, etc.), response headers (Content-Type
, Set-Cookie
, etc.), and, most importantly, lets you obtain a PrintWriter used to send output back to the client. For simple servlets, most of the effort is spent in println
statements that generate the desired page. Note that doGet
and doPost
throw two exceptions, so you are required to include them in the declaration. Also note that you have to import classes in java.io
(for PrintWriter
, etc.), javax.servlet
(for HttpServlet
, etc.), and javax.servlet.http
(for HttpServletRequest
and HttpServletResponse
). Finally, note that doGet
and doPost
are called by the service
method, and sometimes you may want to override service
directly, e.g. for a servlet that handles both GET
and POST
request.