Java Servlet

Objectives

• Explain the nature of a servlet and its operation

• Use the appropriate servlet methods in a web
application
• Code the extraction of environment entries within a
servlet
• Handle HTML forms within a servlet
• Explain the significance of web application state
• Explain the purpose and operation of HTTP cookies
and their role in state management
• Develop java web application with MVC model
Free Servlet and JSP Engines (Servlet/JSP
Containers)

• Apache Tomcat
• http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/
• IDE: NetBeans, Eclipse
• https://netbeans.org/
• https://eclipse.org/
• Some Tutorials:
• Creating Servlet in Netbeans:
http://www.studytonight.com/servlet/creating-servlet-in-
netbeans.php
• Java Servlet Example:
http://w3processing.com/index.php?subMenuId=170
Compiling and Invoking Servlets

• Put your servlet classes in proper location

• Locations vary from server to server. E.g.,
• tomcat_install_dir/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/classes
• Invoke your servlets (HTTP request)
• http://localhost/servlet/ServletName
• Custom URL-to-servlet mapping (via web.xml)
Purposes of Web Applications (A single
WAR file)

• Organization
• Related files grouped together in a single directory
hierarchy.
• HTML files, JSP pages, servlets, beans, images, etc.
• Portability
• Most servers support Web apps.
• Can redeploy on new server by moving a single file.
• Separation
• Each Web app has its own:
• ServletContext, Class loader
• Sessions, URL prefix, Directory structure
Structure of a Web Application

• JSP and regular Web content (HTML, style sheets,

images, etc.):
• Main directory or a subdirectory thereof.
• Servlets:
• WEB-INF/classes (if servlet is unpackaged – i.e. in default
package)
• A subdirectory thereof that matches the package name.
• JAR files:
• WEB-INF/lib.
• web.xml:
• WEB-INF
• Tag Library Descriptor files:
• WEB-INF or subdirectory thereof
• Files in WEB-INF not directly accessible to outside clients
Example Structure
Java Servlets

• A servlet is a Java program that is invoked by a web

server in response to a request

Client Server Platform

Web
Server
Web Application

Servlet
Java Servlets

• Together with web pages and other components,

servlets constitute part of a web application

• Servlets can
• create dynamic (HTML) content in response to a request
• handle user input, such as from HTML forms
• access databases, files, and other system resources
• perform any computation required by an application
Java Servlets

• Servlets are hosted by a servlet container, such as Apache

Tomcat*

The web server

Server Platform handles the HTTP
Web transaction details
Server
The servlet container
Servlet provides a Java
Virtual Machine
Container for servlet execution

*Apache Tomcat can be both a web server and a servlet container

Environment For Developing and Testing
Servlets

• Compile:
• Need Servlet.jar. Available in Tomcat package

• Setup testing environment

• Install and start Tomcat web server
• Place compiled servlet at appropriate location
Servlet Operation
Servlet Methods

• Servlets have three principal methods

.init()
invoked once, when the servlet is loaded by the servlet
container (upon the first client request)

.service(HttpServletRequest req,
HttpServletResponse res)
invoked for each HTTP request
parameters encapsulate the HTTP request and response

.destroy()
invoked when the servlet is unloaded
(when the servlet container is shut down)
Servlet Methods

• The default .service() method simply invokes method-

specific methods
• depending upon the HTTP request method

.doGet()
.service() .doPost()
.doHead()
… etc.
Methods

Methods HTTP Requests Comments

doGet GET, HEAD Usually overridden

doPost POST Usually overridden
doPut PUT Usually not overridden
doOptions OPTIONS Almost never overridden
doTrace TRACE Almost never overridden
Servlet Example 1

• This servlet will say "Hello!" (in HTML)

package servlet;
import javax.servlet.http.*;

public class HelloServlet extends HttpServlet {

public void service(HttpServletRequest req,
HttpServletResponse res) throws IOException {
PrintWriter htmlOut = res.getWriter();
res.setContentType("text/html");
htmlOut.println("<html><head><title>" +
"Servlet Example Output</title></head><body>" +
"<p>Hello!</p>" + "</body></html>");
htmlOut.close();
}
}
 Servlet Example 2

import java.io.*;
import javax.servlet.*;
import javax.servlet.http.*;

public class HelloWorld extends HttpServlet {

public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
throws ServletException, IOException {
PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
out.println("Hello World");
}
}
 Servlet Configuration

• The web application configuration file, web.xml,

identifies servlets and defines a mapping from
requests to servlets
An identifying name for the servlet (appears twice)

<servlet>
<servlet-name>HelloServlet</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>servlet.HelloServlet</servlet-
class>
</servlet> The servlet's package
and class names
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>HelloServlet</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/hello</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
The pathname used to invoke the servlet
(relative to the web application URL)
Environment Entries

• Servlets can obtain configuration information at run-

time from the configuration file (web.xml)
• a file name, a database password, etc.

• in web.xml:
<env-entry-description>password</env-entry-
description>
<env-entry>
<env-entry-name>UserId</env-entry-name>
<env-entry-value>Xy87!fx9*</env-entry-value>
<env-entry-type>java.lang.String</env-entry-type>
</env-entry>
Environment Entries

• in the init() method of the servlet:

try {
Context envCtx = (Context)
(new InitialContext()).lookup("java:comp/env");
password = (String) envCtx.lookup("password");
} catch (NamingException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Handling HTML Forms

• An HTML form can be sent to a servlet for processing

• The action attribute of the form must match the
servlet URL mapping

<form method="post" action="hello" />

<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>HelloServlet</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/hello</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
Simple Form Servlet
<form action="hello" method="post" >
<p>User Id:<input type="text" name="userid" /></p>
<p><input type="submit" value="Say Hello" /></p>
</form>

public class HelloServlet extends HttpServlet {

public void doPost(HttpServletRequest req,
HttpServletResponse res) throws IOException {
PrintWriter out = res.getWriter();
res.setContentType("text/html");
String userId = req.getParameter("userid");

out.println("<html><head><title>Hello</title></he
ad>"
+ "<body><p>Hello, " + userId
+ "!</p></body></html>");
out.close();
}
State Management

• session: a series of transaction between user and

application
• session state: the short-term memory that the
application needs in order to maintain the session
• e.g., shopping cart, user-id
• cookie: a small file stored by the client at the
instruction of the server
Cookies

• The Set-Cookie: header in an HTTP response

instructs the client to store a cookie
Set-Cookie: SESSIONID=B6E98A; Path=/slms;
Secure

• After a cookie is created, it is returned to the server in

subsequent requests as an HTTP request Cookie:
header
Cookie: SESSIONID=B6E98A
Cookie Attributes

• Name: the unique name associated with the cookie

• Content: value stored in the cookie
• Expiration Date: cookie lifetime
• Domain: Defines the hosts to which the cookie should
be returned
• Path: Defines the resource requests with which the
cookie should be returned
• Secure: if true, cookie is returned only with HTTPS
requests
Cookie Example

• Name: session-id
• Content: 104-1898635-929144
• Expiration Date: Monday, June 29, 2009 3:33:30 PM
• Domain: .ehsl.org
• Path: /slms
• Secure: no

• This cookie will be returned with all requests

matching *.ehsl.org/slms*, through the indicated
expiration date
Session Management

• HTTP is inherently stateless, i.e., there is no memory

between transactions
• Applications must maintain a session memory if it is
required
• Cookies are used to identify sessions, by recording a
unique session-id
 State Management
Server

Client

Cookie Session
[session-id] Memory

session

• At the start of a new session, the server sets a new

cookie containing the session-id
• With each transaction, the client sends the session-id,
allowing the server to retrieve the session
Session Attributes

• The methods
session.setAttribute(key, value)
session.getAttribute(key)
store and retrieve session memory
• key is a string; value can be any object

• For example,
session.setAttribute("userid", userId);
String userId =
(String)session.getAttribute("userid");
Problem

30
Initial Solution

• Develop a number of servlets

• Each servlet plays the role of one function (a.k.a
business logic)
Better Solution: Using MVC

• Take business logic out servlets and put them inside

Model
Example 1: Beer Recommendation

HTML
page
JSP page
34
 Application Programming Structure

beer_v1

src web

com form.html result.html

WEB-INF
example

web model web.xml

BeerSelect BeerExpert
.java .java
Structure of Folder Development
beer_v1 webapps tomcat

WEB-INF form.html result.html

classes

com web.xml

example

web model

BeerSelect BeerExpert
.class .class
form.html

<form method="POST“
action="SelectBeer.do">
Select beer characteristics
<p>Color:
<select name="color" size="1">
<option value="light">light</option>
<option value="amber">amber</option>
<option value="brown">brown</option>
<option value="dark">dark</option>
</select>
<center> <input type="SUBMIT"> </center>
</form>
web.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<web-app …>
<servlet>
<servlet-name>ServletBeer</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>com.example.web.BeerSelect
</servlet-class>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>ServletBeer</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/SelectBeer.do</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
</web-app>
Servlet BeerSelect – Version 1

public class BeerSelect extends HttpServlet {

@Override
protected void doPost(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response) throws
ServletException, IOException {
response.setContentType("text/html");
PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
out.println("Beer Selection Advice<br>");
String c = request.getParameter("color");
out.println("<br>Got beer color "+c);
}
}
Application Test
Model BeerExpert

public class BeerExpert {

public List getBrands(String color){
List brands = new ArrayList();
if(color.equals("amber")){
brands.add("Jack Amber");
brands.add("Red Moose");
}
else{
brands.add("Jail Pale Ale");
brands.add("Gout Stout");
}
return brands;
}
}

41
Servlet BeerSelect – Version 2

import package com.example.web;

…
protected void doPost(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
throws ServletException, IOException {
String c = request.getParameter("color");
BeerExpert be = new BeerExpert();
List result = be.getBrands(c);
response.setContentType("text/html");
PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
out.println("Beer Selection Advice<br>");
Iterator it = result.iterator();
while(it.hasNext()){
out.print("<br>try: "+it.next());
}
}
Application Test

43
Current Architecture of the Application
Desired Application Architecture
Result.jsp

<%@ page import="java.util.*"%>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h1 align="center">Beer Recommendation </h1>
<p>
<%
List styles=(List)
request.getAttribute("styles");
Iterator it = styles.iterator();
while(it.hasNext()){
out.print("<br>try: "+it.next());
}
%>
</body>
</html>
Servlet BeerSelect – Version 3

import package com.example.web;

…
protected void doPost(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
throws ServletException, IOException {
String c = request.getParameter("color");
BeerExpert be = new BeerExpert();
List result = be.getBrands(c);

request.setAttribute("styles", result);
RequestDispatcher view =
request.getRequestDispatcher("result.jsp");
view.forward(request, response);
}
Application Test

48
Review

• Java servlets
• Servlet methods and operation
• HTML forms and servlets
• HTTP cookies
• Web application state management
• Beer Recommendations with MVC model