public abstract class HttpServlet extends GenericServlet
HttpServlet must override at least
 one method, usually one of these:
 doGet, if the servlet supports HTTP GET requests
 doPost, for HTTP POST requests
 doPut, for HTTP PUT requests
 doDelete, for HTTP DELETE requests
 init and destroy,
 to manage resources that are held for the life of the servlet
 getServletInfo, which the servlet uses to
 provide information about itself
 There's almost no reason to override the service
 method. service handles standard HTTP
 requests by dispatching them to the handler methods
 for each HTTP request type (the doMethod
 methods listed above).
 
Likewise, there's almost no reason to override the
 doOptions and doTrace methods.
 
Servlets typically run on multithreaded servers, so be aware that a servlet must handle concurrent requests and be careful to synchronize access to shared resources. Shared resources include in-memory data such as instance or class variables and external objects such as files, database connections, and network connections. See the Java Tutorial on Multithreaded Programming for more information on handling multiple threads in a Java program.
| Constructor and Description | 
|---|
| HttpServlet()Does nothing, because this is an abstract class. | 
| Modifier and Type | Method and Description | 
|---|---|
| protected void | doDelete(HttpServletRequest req,
        HttpServletResponse resp)Called by the server (via the  servicemethod)
 to allow a servlet to handle a DELETE request. | 
| protected void | doGet(HttpServletRequest req,
     HttpServletResponse resp)Called by the server (via the  servicemethod) to
 allow a servlet to handle a GET request. | 
| protected void | doHead(HttpServletRequest req,
      HttpServletResponse resp)Receives an HTTP HEAD request from the protected
  servicemethod and handles the
 request. | 
| protected void | doOptions(HttpServletRequest req,
         HttpServletResponse resp)Called by the server (via the  servicemethod)
 to allow a servlet to handle a OPTIONS request. | 
| protected void | doPost(HttpServletRequest req,
      HttpServletResponse resp)Called by the server (via the  servicemethod)
 to allow a servlet to handle a POST request. | 
| protected void | doPut(HttpServletRequest req,
     HttpServletResponse resp)Called by the server (via the  servicemethod)
 to allow a servlet to handle a PUT request. | 
| protected void | doTrace(HttpServletRequest req,
       HttpServletResponse resp)Called by the server (via the  servicemethod)
 to allow a servlet to handle a TRACE request. | 
| protected long | getLastModified(HttpServletRequest req)Returns the time the  HttpServletRequestobject was last modified,
 in milliseconds since midnight January 1, 1970 GMT. | 
| protected void | service(HttpServletRequest req,
       HttpServletResponse resp)Receives standard HTTP requests from the public
  servicemethod and dispatches
 them to thedoMethod methods defined in
 this class. | 
| void | service(ServletRequest req,
       ServletResponse res)Dispatches client requests to the protected
  servicemethod. | 
destroy, getInitParameter, getInitParameterNames, getServletConfig, getServletContext, getServletInfo, getServletName, init, init, log, logpublic HttpServlet()
protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException, java.io.IOException
service method) to
 allow a servlet to handle a GET request.
 Overriding this method to support a GET request also automatically supports an HTTP HEAD request. A HEAD request is a GET request that returns no body in the response, only the request header fields.
When overriding this method, read the request data,
 write the response headers, get the response's writer or
 output stream object, and finally, write the response data.
 It's best to include content type and encoding. When using
 a PrintWriter object to return the response,
 set the content type before accessing the
 PrintWriter object.
 
The servlet container must write the headers before committing the response, because in HTTP the headers must be sent before the response body.
Where possible, set the Content-Length header (with the
 ServletResponse.setContentLength(int) method),
 to allow the servlet container to use a persistent connection
 to return its response to the client, improving performance.
 The content length is automatically set if the entire response fits
 inside the response buffer.
 
When using HTTP 1.1 chunked encoding (which means that the response has a Transfer-Encoding header), do not set the Content-Length header.
The GET method should be safe, that is, without any side effects for which users are held responsible. For example, most form queries have no side effects. If a client request is intended to change stored data, the request should use some other HTTP method.
The GET method should also be idempotent, meaning that it can be safely repeated. Sometimes making a method safe also makes it idempotent. For example, repeating queries is both safe and idempotent, but buying a product online or modifying data is neither safe nor idempotent.
If the request is incorrectly formatted, doGet
 returns an HTTP "Bad Request" message.
req - an HttpServletRequest object that
                  contains the request the client has made
                  of the servletresp - an HttpServletResponse object that
                  contains the response the servlet sends
                  to the clientjava.io.IOException - if an input or output error is
                              detected when the servlet handles
                              the GET requestServletException - if the request for the GET
                                  could not be handledServletResponse.setContentType(java.lang.String)protected long getLastModified(HttpServletRequest req)
HttpServletRequest
 object was last modified,
 in milliseconds since midnight January 1, 1970 GMT.
 If the time is unknown, this method returns a negative
 number (the default).
 Servlets that support HTTP GET requests and can quickly determine their last modification time should override this method. This makes browser and proxy caches work more effectively, reducing the load on server and network resources.
req - the HttpServletRequest
                  object that is sent to the servletlong integer specifying
              the time the HttpServletRequest
              object was last modified, in milliseconds
              since midnight, January 1, 1970 GMT, or
              -1 if the time is not knownprotected void doHead(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException, java.io.IOException
Receives an HTTP HEAD request from the protected
 service method and handles the
 request.
 The client sends a HEAD request when it wants
 to see only the headers of a response, such as
 Content-Type or Content-Length. The HTTP HEAD
 method counts the output bytes in the response
 to set the Content-Length header accurately.
 
If you override this method, you can avoid computing
 the response body and just set the response headers
 directly to improve performance. Make sure that the
 doHead method you write is both safe
 and idempotent (that is, protects itself from being
 called multiple times for one HTTP HEAD request).
 
If the HTTP HEAD request is incorrectly formatted,
 doHead returns an HTTP "Bad Request"
 message.
req - the request object that is passed to the servletresp - the response object that the servlet
                  uses to return the headers to the clientjava.io.IOException - if an input or output error occursServletException - if the request for the HEAD
                                  could not be handledprotected void doPost(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException, java.io.IOException
service method)
 to allow a servlet to handle a POST request.
 The HTTP POST method allows the client to send
 data of unlimited length to the Web server a single time
 and is useful when posting information such as
 credit card numbers.
 When overriding this method, read the request data,
 write the response headers, get the response's writer or output
 stream object, and finally, write the response data. It's best
 to include content type and encoding. When using a
 PrintWriter object to return the response, set the
 content type before accessing the PrintWriter object.
 
The servlet container must write the headers before committing the response, because in HTTP the headers must be sent before the response body.
Where possible, set the Content-Length header (with the
 ServletResponse.setContentLength(int) method),
 to allow the servlet container to use a persistent connection
 to return its response to the client, improving performance.
 The content length is automatically set if the entire response fits
 inside the response buffer.
 
When using HTTP 1.1 chunked encoding (which means that the response has a Transfer-Encoding header), do not set the Content-Length header.
This method does not need to be either safe or idempotent. Operations requested through POST can have side effects for which the user can be held accountable, for example, updating stored data or buying items online.
If the HTTP POST request is incorrectly formatted,
 doPost returns an HTTP "Bad Request" message.
req - an HttpServletRequest object that
                  contains the request the client has made
                  of the servletresp - an HttpServletResponse object that
                  contains the response the servlet sends
                  to the clientjava.io.IOException - if an input or output error is
                              detected when the servlet handles
                              the requestServletException - if the request for the POST
                                  could not be handledServletOutputStream, 
ServletResponse.setContentType(java.lang.String)protected void doPut(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException, java.io.IOException
service method)
 to allow a servlet to handle a PUT request.
 The PUT operation allows a client to
 place a file on the server and is similar to
 sending a file by FTP.
 When overriding this method, leave intact any content headers sent with the request (including Content-Length, Content-Type, Content-Transfer-Encoding, Content-Encoding, Content-Base, Content-Language, Content-Location, Content-MD5, and Content-Range). If your method cannot handle a content header, it must issue an error message (HTTP 501 - Not Implemented) and discard the request. For more information on HTTP 1.1, see RFC 2616 .
This method does not need to be either safe or idempotent.
 Operations that doPut performs can have side
 effects for which the user can be held accountable. When using
 this method, it may be useful to save a copy of the
 affected URL in temporary storage.
 
If the HTTP PUT request is incorrectly formatted,
 doPut returns an HTTP "Bad Request" message.
req - the HttpServletRequest object that
                  contains the request the client made of
                  the servletresp - the HttpServletResponse object that
                  contains the response the servlet returns
                  to the clientjava.io.IOException - if an input or output error occurs
                              while the servlet is handling the
                              PUT requestServletException - if the request for the PUT
                                  cannot be handledprotected void doDelete(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException, java.io.IOException
service method)
 to allow a servlet to handle a DELETE request.
 The DELETE operation allows a client to remove a document
 or Web page from the server.
 This method does not need to be either safe or idempotent. Operations requested through DELETE can have side effects for which users can be held accountable. When using this method, it may be useful to save a copy of the affected URL in temporary storage.
If the HTTP DELETE request is incorrectly formatted,
 doDelete returns an HTTP "Bad Request"
 message.
req - the HttpServletRequest object that
                  contains the request the client made of
                  the servletresp - the HttpServletResponse object that
                  contains the response the servlet returns
                  to the clientjava.io.IOException - if an input or output error occurs
                              while the servlet is handling the
                              DELETE requestServletException - if the request for the
                                  DELETE cannot be handledprotected void doOptions(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException, java.io.IOException
service method)
 to allow a servlet to handle a OPTIONS request.
 The OPTIONS request determines which HTTP methods
 the server supports and
 returns an appropriate header. For example, if a servlet
 overrides doGet, this method returns the
 following header:
 Allow: GET, HEAD, TRACE, OPTIONS
 
There's no need to override this method unless the servlet implements new HTTP methods, beyond those implemented by HTTP 1.1.
req - the HttpServletRequest object that
                  contains the request the client made of
                  the servletresp - the HttpServletResponse object that
                  contains the response the servlet returns
                  to the clientjava.io.IOException - if an input or output error occurs
                              while the servlet is handling the
                              OPTIONS requestServletException - if the request for the
                                  OPTIONS cannot be handledprotected void doTrace(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException, java.io.IOException
service method)
 to allow a servlet to handle a TRACE request.
 A TRACE returns the headers sent with the TRACE
 request to the client, so that they can be used in
 debugging. There's no need to override this method.req - the HttpServletRequest object that
                  contains the request the client made of
                  the servletresp - the HttpServletResponse object that
                  contains the response the servlet returns
                  to the clientjava.io.IOException - if an input or output error occurs
                              while the servlet is handling the
                              TRACE requestServletException - if the request for the
                                  TRACE cannot be handledprotected void service(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException, java.io.IOException
service method and dispatches
 them to the doMethod methods defined in
 this class. This method is an HTTP-specific version of the
 Servlet.service(javax.servlet.ServletRequest, javax.servlet.ServletResponse) method. There's no
 need to override this method.req - the HttpServletRequest object that
                  contains the request the client made of
                  the servletresp - the HttpServletResponse object that
                  contains the response the servlet returns
                  to the clientjava.io.IOException - if an input or output error occurs
                              while the servlet is handling the
                              HTTP requestServletException - if the HTTP request
                                  cannot be handledServlet.service(javax.servlet.ServletRequest, javax.servlet.ServletResponse)public void service(ServletRequest req, ServletResponse res) throws ServletException, java.io.IOException
service method. There's no need to
 override this method.service in interface Servletservice in class GenericServletreq - the HttpServletRequest object that
                  contains the request the client made of
                  the servletres - the HttpServletResponse object that
                  contains the response the servlet returns
                  to the clientjava.io.IOException - if an input or output error occurs
                              while the servlet is handling the
                              HTTP requestServletException - if the HTTP request cannot
                                  be handledServlet.service(javax.servlet.ServletRequest, javax.servlet.ServletResponse)Copyright © 2000-2015 Apache Software Foundation. All Rights Reserved.