javax.servlet.http

Interface HttpServletRequest

All Superinterfaces:
ServletRequest

public interface HttpServletRequest
extends ServletRequest

Extends the ServletRequest interface to provide request information for HTTP servlets.

The servlet container creates an HttpServletRequest object and passes it as an argument to the servlet's service methods (doGet, doPost, etc).

Version:
$Version$

Author:
Various

Method Summary

String
getAuthType()
Returns the name of the authentication scheme used to protect the servlet, for example, "BASIC" or "SSL," or null if the servlet was not protected.
String
getContextPath()
Returns the portion of the request URI that indicates the context of the request.
Cookie[]
getCookies()
Returns an array containing all of the Cookie objects the client sent with this request.
long
getDateHeader(String name)
Returns the value of the specified request header as a long value that represents a Date object.
String
getHeader(String name)
Returns the value of the specified request header as a String.
Enumeration
getHeaderNames()
Returns an enumeration of all the header names this request contains.
Enumeration
getHeaders(String name)
Returns all the values of the specified request header as an Enumeration of String objects.
int
getIntHeader(String name)
Returns the value of the specified request header as an int.
String
getMethod()
Returns the name of the HTTP method with which this request was made, for example, GET, POST, or PUT.
String
getPathInfo()
Returns any extra path information associated with the URL the client sent when it made this request.
String
getPathTranslated()
Returns any extra path information after the servlet name but before the query string, and translates it to a real path.
String
getQueryString()
Returns the query string that is contained in the request URL after the path.
String
getRemoteUser()
Returns the login of the user making this request, if the user has been authenticated, or null if the user has not been authenticated.
String
getRequestURI()
Returns the part of this request's URL from the protocol name up to the query string in the first line of the HTTP request.
String
getRequestedSessionId()
Returns the session ID specified by the client.
String
getServletPath()
Returns the part of this request's URL that calls the servlet.
HttpSession
getSession()
Returns the current session associated with this request, or if the request does not have a session, creates one.
HttpSession
getSession(boolean create)
Returns the current HttpSession associated with this request or, if if there is no current session and create is true, returns a new session.
java.security.Principal
getUserPrincipal()
Returns a java.security.Principal object containing the name of the current authenticated user.
boolean
isRequestedSessionIdFromCookie()
Checks whether the requested session ID came in as a cookie.
boolean
isRequestedSessionIdFromURL()
Checks whether the requested session ID came in as part of the request URL.
boolean
isRequestedSessionIdFromUrl()
Deprecated. As of Version 2.1 of the Java Servlet API, use isRequestedSessionIdFromURL() instead.
boolean
isRequestedSessionIdValid()
Checks whether the requested session ID is still valid.
boolean
isUserInRole(String role)
Returns a boolean indicating whether the authenticated user is included in the specified logical "role".

Methods inherited from interface javax.servlet.ServletRequest

getAttribute, getAttributeNames, getCharacterEncoding, getContentLength, getContentType, getInputStream, getLocale, getLocales, getParameter, getParameterNames, getParameterValues, getProtocol, getReader, getRealPath, getRemoteAddr, getRemoteHost, getRequestDispatcher, getScheme, getServerName, getServerPort, isSecure, removeAttribute, setAttribute

Method Details

getAuthType

public String getAuthType()
Returns the name of the authentication scheme used to protect the servlet, for example, "BASIC" or "SSL," or null if the servlet was not protected.

Same as the value of the CGI variable AUTH_TYPE.

Returns:
a String specifying the name of the authentication scheme, or null if the request was not authenticated


getContextPath

public String getContextPath()
Returns the portion of the request URI that indicates the context of the request. The context path always comes first in a request URI. The path starts with a "/" character but does not end with a "/" character. For servlets in the default (root) context, this method returns "".

Returns:
a String specifying the portion of the request URI that indicates the context of the request


getCookies

public Cookie[] getCookies()
Returns an array containing all of the Cookie objects the client sent with this request. This method returns null if no cookies were sent.

Returns:
an array of all the Cookies included with this request, or null if the request has no cookies


getDateHeader

public long getDateHeader(String name)
Returns the value of the specified request header as a long value that represents a Date object. Use this method with headers that contain dates, such as If-Modified-Since.

The date is returned as the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970 GMT. The header name is case insensitive.

If the request did not have a header of the specified name, this method returns -1. If the header can't be converted to a date, the method throws an IllegalArgumentException.

Parameters:
name - a String specifying the name of the header

Returns:
a long value representing the date specified in the header expressed as the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970 GMT, or -1 if the named header was not included with the reqest


getHeader

public String getHeader(String name)
Returns the value of the specified request header as a String. If the request did not include a header of the specified name, this method returns null. The header name is case insensitive. You can use this method with any request header.

Parameters:
name - a String specifying the header name

Returns:
a String containing the value of the requested header, or null if the request does not have a header of that name


getHeaderNames

public Enumeration getHeaderNames()
Returns an enumeration of all the header names this request contains. If the request has no headers, this method returns an empty enumeration.

Some servlet containers do not allow do not allow servlets to access headers using this method, in which case this method returns null

Returns:
an enumeration of all the header names sent with this request; if the request has no headers, an empty enumeration; if the servlet container does not allow servlets to use this method, null


getHeaders

public Enumeration getHeaders(String name)
Returns all the values of the specified request header as an Enumeration of String objects.

Some headers, such as Accept-Language can be sent by clients as several headers each with a different value rather than sending the header as a comma separated list.

If the request did not include any headers of the specified name, this method returns an empty Enumeration. The header name is case insensitive. You can use this method with any request header.

Parameters:
name - a String specifying the header name

Returns:
a Enumeration containing the values of the requested header, or null if the request does not have any headers of that name


getIntHeader

public int getIntHeader(String name)
Returns the value of the specified request header as an int. If the request does not have a header of the specified name, this method returns -1. If the header cannot be converted to an integer, this method throws a NumberFormatException.

The header name is case insensitive.

Parameters:
name - a String specifying the name of a request header

Returns:
an integer expressing the value of the request header or -1 if the request doesn't have a header of this name


getMethod

public String getMethod()
Returns the name of the HTTP method with which this request was made, for example, GET, POST, or PUT. Same as the value of the CGI variable REQUEST_METHOD.

Returns:
a String specifying the name of the method with which this request was made


getPathInfo

public String getPathInfo()
Returns any extra path information associated with the URL the client sent when it made this request. The extra path information follows the servlet path but precedes the query string. This method returns null if there was no extra path information.

Same as the value of the CGI variable PATH_INFO.

Returns:
a String specifying extra path information that comes after the servlet path but before the query string in the request URL; or null if the URL does not have any extra path information


getPathTranslated

public String getPathTranslated()
Returns any extra path information after the servlet name but before the query string, and translates it to a real path. Same as the value of the CGI variable PATH_TRANSLATED.

If the URL does not have any extra path information, this method returns null.

Returns:
a String specifying the real path, or null if the URL does not have any extra path information


getQueryString

public String getQueryString()
Returns the query string that is contained in the request URL after the path. This method returns null if the URL does not have a query string. Same as the value of the CGI variable QUERY_STRING.

Returns:
a String containing the query string or null if the URL contains no query string


getRemoteUser

public String getRemoteUser()
Returns the login of the user making this request, if the user has been authenticated, or null if the user has not been authenticated. Whether the user name is sent with each subsequent request depends on the browser and type of authentication. Same as the value of the CGI variable REMOTE_USER.

Returns:
a String specifying the login of the user making this request, or null


getRequestURI

public String getRequestURI()

Returns:
a String containing the part of the URL from the protocol name up to the query string

See Also:
HttpUtils.getRequestURL(HttpServletRequest)


getRequestedSessionId

public String getRequestedSessionId()
Returns the session ID specified by the client. This may not be the same as the ID of the actual session in use. For example, if the request specified an old (expired) session ID and the server has started a new session, this method gets a new session with a new ID. If the request did not specify a session ID, this method returns null.

Returns:
a String specifying the session ID, or null if the request did not specify a session ID

See Also:
isRequestedSessionIdValid()


getServletPath

public String getServletPath()
Returns the part of this request's URL that calls the servlet. This includes either the servlet name or a path to the servlet, but does not include any extra path information or a query string. Same as the value of the CGI variable SCRIPT_NAME.

Returns:
a String containing the name or path of the servlet being called, as specified in the request URL


getSession

public HttpSession getSession()
Returns the current session associated with this request, or if the request does not have a session, creates one.

Returns:
the HttpSession associated with this request

See Also:
getSession(boolean)


getSession

public HttpSession getSession(boolean create)
Returns the current HttpSession associated with this request or, if if there is no current session and create is true, returns a new session.

If create is false and the request has no valid HttpSession, this method returns null.

To make sure the session is properly maintained, you must call this method before the response is committed.

Parameters:

Returns:
the HttpSession associated with this request or null if create is false and the request has no valid session

See Also:
getSession()


getUserPrincipal

public java.security.Principal getUserPrincipal()
Returns a java.security.Principal object containing the name of the current authenticated user. If the user has not been authenticated, the method returns null.

Returns:
a java.security.Principal containing the name of the user making this request; null if the user has not been authenticated


isRequestedSessionIdFromCookie

public boolean isRequestedSessionIdFromCookie()
Checks whether the requested session ID came in as a cookie.

Returns:
true if the session ID came in as a cookie; otherwise, false

See Also:
getSession


isRequestedSessionIdFromURL

public boolean isRequestedSessionIdFromURL()
Checks whether the requested session ID came in as part of the request URL.

Returns:
true if the session ID came in as part of a URL; otherwise, false

See Also:
getSession


isRequestedSessionIdFromUrl

public boolean isRequestedSessionIdFromUrl()

Deprecated. As of Version 2.1 of the Java Servlet API, use isRequestedSessionIdFromURL() instead.


isRequestedSessionIdValid

public boolean isRequestedSessionIdValid()
Checks whether the requested session ID is still valid.

Returns:
true if this request has an id for a valid session in the current session context; false otherwise

See Also:
getRequestedSessionId(), getSession, HttpSessionContext


isUserInRole

public boolean isUserInRole(String role)
Returns a boolean indicating whether the authenticated user is included in the specified logical "role". Roles and role membership can be defined using deployment descriptors. If the user has not been authenticated, the method returns false.

Parameters:
role - a String specifying the name of the role

Returns:
a boolean indicating whether the user making this request belongs to a given role; false if the user has not been authenticated


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