CSC584 Enterprise

Programming
Chapter 3 – Servlets
MARSHIMA MOHD ROSLI
COMPUTER SCIENCE
 Servlets
 Creating & Running Servlets

Chapter 3  The Servlet API

Outline  HTML forms
 Session tracking
 Database programming in servlets
 Java on the Web: Java EE
Thin clients (minimize download)
Java all “server side”

THIS IS WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING!!

Understand the concept of servlets
Servlet technology is primarily designed for use with
the HTTP protocol of the Web.
Servlets are Java programs that run on a Web server.
Java servlets can be used to process client requests or
produce dynamic Web pages.

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Servlets
A servlet is like an applet, but on the server side

Client sends a request to server

Server starts a servlet

client server
Servlet computes a result for
server and does not quit client
servlet
Server returns response to client
Another client sends a request
Server calls the servlet again

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 Servlets vs. CGI scripts
Advantages:
◦ Running a servlet doesn’t require creating a separate process
each time
◦ A servlet stays in memory, so it doesn’t have to be reloaded
each time
◦ There is only one instance handling multiple requests, not a
separate instance for every request
Disadvantage:
◦ Less choice of languages (CGI scripts can be in any language)

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What are Servlets?
Units of Java code that run server-side.
Run in containers (provide context)
Helps with client-server communications
◦ Not necessarily over HTTP
◦ But usually over HTTP (we’ll focus here)
What are Servlets?
A servlet is any class that implements the
javax.servlet.Servlet interface
◦ In practice, most servlets extend the
javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet class
◦ Some servlets extend javax.servlet.GenericServlet instead
Servlets, like applets, usually lack a main method, but must
implement or override certain other methods

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Why are Servlets?
Web pages with dynamic content
Easy coordination between Servlets to make Web
applications
Containers support many features
◦ Sessions, persistence, resource management (e.g.,
database connections), security, etc.
Where are Servlets?

Static File system

HTTP Web
Server
Servlet
Dynamic Server

Tomcat = Web Server + Servlet Server

When are Servlets?
Receive Request for
Servlet S

Loaded when first used,

or after modified
Is S loaded? no

yes

no
Is S current? (re)Load S

yes
Servlets die when Servlet
Forward Request Server dies
to S
 The Servlet API
The servlet API provides the interfaces and classes that
support servlets. These interfaces and classes are grouped
into two packages: javax.servlet, and javax.servlet.http.

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 The Servlet Interface
/**Invoked for every servlet constructed*/
public void init(ServletConfig p0) throws ServletException;

/**Invoked to respond to incoming requests*/

public void service(ServletRequest p0, ServletResponse p1)
throws ServletException, IOException;

/**Invoked to release resource by the servlet*/

public void destroy();

/**Return information about the servlet*/

public String getServletInfo();

/**Return configuration objects of the servlet*/

public ServletConfig getServletConfig();

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Servlet Lifecycle

Server loads Servlets No Concurrency Issue

- run init method Server runs init only once, not per request

Servlets Accept Request from service must be thread-safe

Clients and return Data back - multiple service method at a time
- run service method if that is impossible, servlet must
implement SingleThreadModel interface

Server removes Servlets destroy must be thread-safe

- run destroy method - when server runs destroy, other threads
might be accessing shared resources

Server reloads Servlets

- run init method
 Servlet Architecture Overview -
HTTP servlets
parameters, protocol, remote host,
ServerInputStream(binary data etc..) Servlet
interface
ServletRequest
doGet(ServletRequest req, ServletResponse res);
Servlet
GET
ServletResponnse
Client

ServletRequest
POST doPost(ServletRequest req, ServletResponse res);
Servlet IS-A
ServletResponse
mime type to reply,reply data,
ServletOutputStream
The HTTPServlet Class
1. The HttpServlet class defines a servlet for the HTTP
protocol. It extends GenericServlet and implements
the service method.
2. The service method is implemented as a dispatcher
of HTTP requests. The HTTP requests are processed
in the following methods: doGet, doPost, doDelete,
doPut, doOptions, and doTrace. All these methods
have the same signature as follows:
protected void doXxx(HttpServletRequest req,
HttpServletResponse resp) throws ServletException,
java.io.IOException

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The HttpServletRequest Interface
1. Every doXxx method in the HttpServlet class has
an argument of the HttpServletRequest type,
which is an object that contains HTTP request
information including parameter name and
values, attributes, and an input stream.
2. HttpServletRequest is a subinterface of
ServletRequest. ServletRequest defines a more
general interface to provide information for all
kinds of clients.

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 The HttpServletResponse Interface
1. Every doXxx method in the HttpServlet class
has an argument of the HttpServletResponse
type, which is an object that assists a servlet
in sending a response to the client.
2. HttpServletResponse is a subinterface of
ServletResponse. ServletResponse defines a
more general interface for sending output to
the client.

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 Creating Servlets
1. Servlets are opposites of the Java applets. Java applets run
from a Web browser on the client side.
2. To write Java programs, you define classes.
3. To write a Java applet, you define a class that extends the
Applet class.
4. The Web browser runs and controls the execution of the
applet through the methods defined in the Applet class.
5. Similarly, to write a Java servlet, you define a class that
extends the HttpServlet class.

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 Creating Servlets, cont.

1. The servlet engine controls the servlets using the init, doGet,
doPost, destroy, and other methods. By default, the doGet
and doPost methods do nothing.
2. To handle the GET request, you need to override the doGet
method; to handle the POST request, you need to override
the doPost method.

Example 34.1 Obtaining Current Time from Server

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Example: Obtaining Current Time Based on
Locale and Time Zone

TimeForm Run

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import java.io.*;
import javax.servlet.*; How are
import javax.servlet.http.*;
Servlets?
public class Hellox extends HttpServlet {

public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,

HttpServletResponse response)
throws IOException, ServletException
{
response.setContentType("text/html");
PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
out.println("<html>");
// out.println("<body>");
out.println("<head>");
out.println("<title>Hello World!</title>");
out.println("</head>");
out.println("<body>");
out.println("<h1>Hello World!</h1>");
out.println("</body>");
out.println("</html>");
} // doGet
} // Hellox
Compiling
javac –classpath
$LIB/servlet-api.jar
Hellox.java
Directory Structure
Create your
web applications
here

Create a directory
D for your
web application

Create “WEB-INF”
under D

Create “classes”
under “WEB-INF”
Directory Structure
(cont.)

Static content in D

Dynamic content
in WEB-INF

web.xml in WEB-INF

Servlets in classes
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>

<web-app xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation=
"http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-app_2_4.xsd"

version="2.4">

<description>Examples</description>
<display-name>Examples</display-name>
Declares servlet
<servlet> abbreviation
<servlet-name>Hellox</servlet-name>
fully qualified (e.g., java.lang.String)
<servlet-class>Hellox</servlet-class>
</servlet>
Maps servlet to URL (rooted at D)

<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>Hellox</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/Hellox</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping> </web-app>
 Session Tracking
1. Web servers use Hyper-Text Transport Protocol (HTTP). HTTP
is a stateless protocol. The HTTP Web server cannot associate
requests from a client together.
2. Each request is treated independently by the Web server. This
protocol works fine for simple Web browsing, where each
request typically results in an HTML file or a text file being
sent back to the client.
3. Such simple requests are isolated. However, the requests in
interactive Web applications are often related.

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 What is a Session ?
A session can be defined as a series of related
interactions between a single client and the Web
server over a period of time. To track data among
requests in a session is known as session
tracking.
Session TrackingTechniques
Using hidden values, using cookies, and using the
session tracking tools from servlet API.
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Session Tracking Using Hidden Values

1. You can track session by passing data from the servlet to the
client as hidden value in a dynamically generated HTML form
by including a field like this:
<input type=”hidden” name=”lastName” value=”Smith”>
2. So the next request will submit the data back to the servlet.
3. The servlet retrieves this hidden value just like any other
parameter value using the getParameter method.

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Example: Using Hidden Values in the Registration
form
This example creates a servlet that processes a
registration form.
1. The client first submits the form using the GET method, as shown in Figure
16.18.
2. The server collects the data in the form, displays the data to the client, and
asks the client for confirmation, as shown in Figure 16.20.
3. The client confirms it by submitting the request with the hidden values using
the POST method.

4. Finally, the servlet writes the data to a database .

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Example: Using Hidden Values in the
Registration form, cont.

Registration Run

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Session Tracking Using Cookies

1. You can track sessions using cookies. Cookies are small text files that store sets of
name=value pairs on the disk in the client’s computer.
2. Cookies are sent from the server through the instructions in the header of the HTTP
response.
3. The instructions tell the browser to create a cookie with a given name and its
associated value. If the browser already has the cookie with the key name, the value
will be updated.
4. The browser will then send the cookie with any request submitted to the same
server. Cookies can have expiration dates set, after which the cookies will not be
sent to the server.

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 Session Tracking Using the Servlet API

1. The problems of session tracking with hidden

data and cookies are that data are not secured
and difficult to deal with large set of data.
2. Java servlet API provides a session tracking tool,
which enables tracking of a large set of data.
Data can be stored as objects. Data are kept on
the server side so they are secure.

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The HttpSession Class
1. To use the Java servlet API for session tracking, first
create a session object using the getSession method in
the HttpServletRequest interface like this:
HttpSession session = request.getSession(true);
2. This obtains the session or creates a new session if the
client does not have a session on the server.
3. The HttpSession class provides the methods for reading
and storing data to the session, and for manipulating
the session.
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Sending Images From the Servlets
Java servlets are not limited to sending text to a browser.
Java servlets can return images in GIF, JPEG, or PNG format.
This section demonstrates returning images in GIF format.
To send contents as a GIF image, the content type must be
set to image/gif like this:
response.setContentType("image/gif");
Images are binary data. You have to use a binary output
stream like this:
OutputStream out = response.getOutputStream();
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Example: Getting Images from Servlets

ImageContent Run

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Example: Creating Images by Drawing

ImageContentWithDrawing Run

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Example: Mixing Images and Texts

MixedContent Run

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