Package javax.servlet

Class GenericServlet

java.lang.Object
javax.servlet.GenericServlet
All Implemented Interfaces:
Serializable, Servlet, ServletConfig
Direct Known Subclasses:
HttpServlet
public abstract class GenericServlet extends Object implements Servlet, ServletConfig, Serializable
Defines a generic, protocol-independent servlet. To write an HTTP servlet for use on the Web, extend HttpServlet instead.

GenericServlet implements the Servlet and ServletConfig interfaces. GenericServlet may be directly extended by a servlet, although it's more common to extend a protocol-specific subclass such as HttpServlet.

GenericServlet makes writing servlets easier. It provides simple versions of the lifecycle methods init and destroy and of the methods in the ServletConfig interface. GenericServlet also implements the log method, declared in the ServletContext interface.

To write a generic servlet, you need only override the abstract service method.

See Also:

  • Constructor Details

    • GenericServlet

      public GenericServlet()
      Does nothing. All of the servlet initialization is done by one of the init methods.

  • Method Details

    • destroy

      public void destroy()
      Called by the servlet container to indicate to a servlet that the servlet is being taken out of service. See Servlet.destroy().
      Specified by:
      destroy in interface Servlet

    • getInitParameter

      public String getInitParameter(String name)
      Returns a String containing the value of the named initialization parameter, or null if the parameter does not exist. See ServletConfig.getInitParameter(java.lang.String).

      This method is supplied for convenience. It gets the value of the named parameter from the servlet's ServletConfig object.

      Specified by:
      getInitParameter in interface ServletConfig
      Parameters:
      name - a String specifying the name of the initialization parameter
      Returns:
      String a String containing the value of the initialization parameter

    • getInitParameterNames

      public Enumeration<String> getInitParameterNames()
      Returns the names of the servlet's initialization parameters as an Enumeration of String objects, or an empty Enumeration if the servlet has no initialization parameters. See ServletConfig.getInitParameterNames().

      This method is supplied for convenience. It gets the parameter names from the servlet's ServletConfig object.

      Specified by:
      getInitParameterNames in interface ServletConfig
      Returns:
      Enumeration an enumeration of String objects containing the names of the servlet's initialization parameters

    • getServletConfig

      public ServletConfig getServletConfig()
      Returns this servlet's ServletConfig object.
      Specified by:
      getServletConfig in interface Servlet
      Returns:
      ServletConfig the ServletConfig object that initialized this servlet
      See Also:

    • getServletContext

      public ServletContext getServletContext()
      Returns a reference to the ServletContext in which this servlet is running. See ServletConfig.getServletContext().

      This method is supplied for convenience. It gets the context from the servlet's ServletConfig object.

      Specified by:
      getServletContext in interface ServletConfig
      Returns:
      ServletContext the ServletContext object passed to this servlet by the init method
      See Also:

    • getServletInfo

      public String getServletInfo()
      Returns information about the servlet, such as author, version, and copyright. By default, this method returns an empty string. Override this method to have it return a meaningful value. See Servlet.getServletInfo().
      Specified by:
      getServletInfo in interface Servlet
      Returns:
      String information about this servlet, by default an empty string

    • init

      public void init(ServletConfig config) throws ServletException
      Called by the servlet container to indicate to a servlet that the servlet is being placed into service. See Servlet.init(javax.servlet.ServletConfig).

      This implementation stores the ServletConfig object it receives from the servlet container for later use. When overriding this form of the method, call super.init(config).

      Specified by:
      init in interface Servlet
      Parameters:
      config - the ServletConfig object that contains configutation information for this servlet
      Throws:
      ServletException - if an exception occurs that interrupts the servlet's normal operation
      See Also:

    • init

      public void init() throws ServletException
      A convenience method which can be overridden so that there's no need to call super.init(config).

      Instead of overriding init(ServletConfig), simply override this method and it will be called by GenericServlet.init(ServletConfig config). The ServletConfig object can still be retrieved via getServletConfig().

      Throws:
      ServletException - if an exception occurs that interrupts the servlet's normal operation

    • log

      public void log(String msg)
      Writes the specified message to a servlet log file, prepended by the servlet's name. See ServletContext.log(String).
      Parameters:
      msg - a String specifying the message to be written to the log file

    • log

      public void log(String message, Throwable t)
      Writes an explanatory message and a stack trace for a given Throwable exception to the servlet log file, prepended by the servlet's name. See ServletContext.log(String, Throwable).
      Parameters:
      message - a String that describes the error or exception
      t - the java.lang.Throwable error or exception

    • service

      public abstract void service(ServletRequest req, ServletResponse res) throws ServletException, IOException
      Called by the servlet container to allow the servlet to respond to a request. See Servlet.service(javax.servlet.ServletRequest, javax.servlet.ServletResponse).

      This method is declared abstract so subclasses, such as HttpServlet, must override it.

      Specified by:
      service in interface Servlet
      Parameters:
      req - the ServletRequest object that contains the client's request
      res - the ServletResponse object that will contain the servlet's response
      Throws:
      ServletException - if an exception occurs that interferes with the servlet's normal operation occurred
      IOException - if an input or output exception occurs

    • getServletName

      public String getServletName()
      Returns the name of this servlet instance. See ServletConfig.getServletName().
      Specified by:
      getServletName in interface ServletConfig
      Returns:
      the name of this servlet instance