Package javax.faces.context

Class ExternalContext

java.lang.Object
javax.faces.context.ExternalContext
Direct Known Subclasses:
ExternalContextWrapper
public abstract class ExternalContext extends Object

This class allows the Faces API to be unaware of the nature of its containing application environment. In particular, this class allows JavaServer Faces based appications to run in either a Servlet or a Portlet environment.

The documentation for this class only specifies the behavior for the Servlet implementation of ExternalContext. The Portlet implementation of ExternalContext is specified under the revision of the Portlet Bridge Specification for JavaServer Faces JSR that corresponds to this version of the JSF specification. See the Preface of the "prose document", linked from the javadocs, for a reference.

If a reference to an ExternalContext is obtained during application startup or shutdown time, any method documented as "valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown" must be supported during application startup or shutdown time. The result of calling a method during application startup or shutdown time that does not have this designation is undefined.

An ExternalContext can be injected into a CDI managed bean using @Inject ExternalContext externalContext;

  • Field Summary

    Fields
    Modifier and Type
    Field
    Description
    static final String
    BASIC_AUTH
    String identifier for BASIC authentication.
    static final String
    CLIENT_CERT_AUTH
    String identifier for CLIENT_CERT authentication.
    static final String
    DIGEST_AUTH
    String identifier for DIGEST authentication.
    static final String
    FORM_AUTH
    String identifier for FORM authentication.

  • Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Constructor
    Description
    ExternalContext()
     

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    void
    addResponseCookie(String name, String value, Map<String,Object> properties)
    Adds the cookie represented by the arguments to the response.
    void
    addResponseHeader(String name, String value)
    Add the given name and value to the response header.
    abstract void
    dispatch(String path)
    Dispatch a request to the specified resource to create output for this response.
    abstract String
    encodeActionURL(String url)
    Return the input URL, after performing any rewriting needed to ensure that it will correctly identify an addressable action in the current application.
    String
    encodeBookmarkableURL(String baseUrl, Map<String,List<String>> parameters)
    The purpose of this method is to generate a query string from the collection of Parameter objects provided by the parameters argument and append that query string to the baseUrl.
    abstract String
    encodeNamespace(String name)
    Return the specified name, after prefixing it with a namespace that ensures that it will be unique within the context of a particular page.
    String
    encodePartialActionURL(String url)
    Return the input URL, after performing any rewriting needed to ensure that it can be used in a partial page submission (ajax request) to correctly identify an addressable action in the current application.
    String
    encodeRedirectURL(String baseUrl, Map<String,List<String>> parameters)
    The purpose of this method is to generate a query string from the collection of Parameter objects provided by the parameters argument and append that query string to the baseUrl.
    abstract String
    encodeResourceURL(String url)
    Return the input URL, after performing any rewriting needed to ensure that it will correctly identify an addressable resource in the current application.
    abstract String
    encodeWebsocketURL(String url)
    Return the websocket URL, after performing any rewriting needed to ensure that it will correctly identify an addressable websocket in the current application.
    String
    getApplicationContextPath()
    Return the name of the container context for this application.
    abstract Map<String,Object>
    getApplicationMap()
    Return a mutable Map representing the application scope attributes for the current application.
    abstract String
    getAuthType()
    Return the name of the authentication scheme used to authenticate the current user, if any; otherwise, return null.
    ClientWindow
    getClientWindow()
    Return the ClientWindow set in a preceding call to setClientWindow(javax.faces.lifecycle.ClientWindow), or null if no such call has been made.
    abstract Object
    getContext()
    Return the application environment object instance for the current appication.
    String
    getContextName()
    Return the name of the container context for this application.
    Flash
    getFlash()
    Return the threadsafe Flash for this application.
    abstract String
    getInitParameter(String name)
    Return the value of the specified application initialization parameter (if any).
    abstract Map<String,String>
    getInitParameterMap()
    Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of application initialization parameter names configured for this application, and whose values are the corresponding parameter values.
    String
    getMimeType(String file)
    Returns the MIME type of the specified file or null if the MIME type is not known.
    String
    getRealPath(String path)
    Returns a String containing the real path for a given virtual path.
    abstract String
    getRemoteUser()
    Return the login name of the user making the current request if any; otherwise, return null.
    abstract Object
    getRequest()
    Return the environment-specific object instance for the current request.
    String
    getRequestCharacterEncoding()
    Return the character encoding currently being used to interpret this request.
    int
    getRequestContentLength()
    Return the result of calling getContentLenth() on the ServletRequest instance for this request.
    String
    getRequestContentType()
    Return the MIME Content-Type for this request.
    abstract String
    getRequestContextPath()
    Return the portion of the request URI that identifies the web application context for this request.
    abstract Map<String,Object>
    getRequestCookieMap()
    Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of cookie names included in the current request, and whose values (of type javax.servlet.http.Cookie) are the first (or only) cookie for each cookie name returned by the underlying request.
    abstract Map<String,String>
    getRequestHeaderMap()
    Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of request header names included in the current request, and whose values (of type String) are the first (or only) value for each header name returned by the underlying request.
    abstract Map<String,String[]>
    getRequestHeaderValuesMap()
    Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of request header names included in the current request, and whose values (of type String[]) are all of the value for each header name returned by the underlying request.
    abstract Locale
    getRequestLocale()
    Return the preferred Locale in which the client will accept content.
    abstract Iterator<Locale>
    getRequestLocales()
    Return an Iterator over the preferred Locales specified in the request, in decreasing order of preference.
    abstract Map<String,Object>
    getRequestMap()
    Return a mutable Map representing the request scope attributes for the current application.
    abstract Map<String,String>
    getRequestParameterMap()
    Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of request parameters names included in the current request, and whose values (of type String) are the first (or only) value for each parameter name returned by the underlying request.
    abstract Iterator<String>
    getRequestParameterNames()
    Return an Iterator over the names of all request parameters included in the current request.
    abstract Map<String,String[]>
    getRequestParameterValuesMap()
    Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of request parameters names included in the current request, and whose values (of type String[]) are all of the values for each parameter name returned by the underlying request.
    abstract String
    getRequestPathInfo()
    Return the extra path information (if any) included in the request URI; otherwise, return null.
    String
    getRequestScheme()
    Returns the name of the scheme used to make this request, for example, http, https, or ftp.
    String
    getRequestServerName()
    Returns the host name of the server to which the request was sent.
    int
    getRequestServerPort()
    Returns the port number to which the request was sent.
    abstract String
    getRequestServletPath()
    Return the servlet path information (if any) included in the request URI; otherwise, return null.
    abstract URL
    getResource(String path)
    Return a URL for the application resource mapped to the specified path, if it exists; otherwise, return null.
    abstract InputStream
    getResourceAsStream(String path)
    Return an InputStream for an application resource mapped to the specified path, if it exists; otherwise, return null.
    abstract Set<String>
    getResourcePaths(String path)
    Return the Set of resource paths for all application resources whose resource path starts with the specified argument.
    abstract Object
    getResponse()
    Return the environment-specific object instance for the current response.
    int
    getResponseBufferSize()
    Return the buffer size for the current response.
    String
    getResponseCharacterEncoding()
    Returns the name of the character encoding (MIME charset) used for the body sent in this response.
    String
    getResponseContentType()
    Return the MIME Content-Type for this response.
    OutputStream
    getResponseOutputStream()
    Returns an OutputStream suitable for writing binary data to the user-agent.
    Writer
    getResponseOutputWriter()
    Returns a Writer suitable for writing character data to the user-agent.
    abstract Object
    getSession(boolean create)
    If the create parameter is true, create (if necessary) and return a session instance associated with the current request.
    String
    getSessionId(boolean create)
    Return the id of the current session or the empty string if no session has been created and the create parameter is false.
    abstract Map<String,Object>
    getSessionMap()
    Return a mutable Map representing the session scope attributes for the current application.
    int
    getSessionMaxInactiveInterval()
    Returns the maximum time interval, in seconds, that the servlet container will keep this session open between client accesses.
    abstract Principal
    getUserPrincipal()
    Return the Principal object containing the name of the current authenticated user, if any; otherwise, return null.
    void
    invalidateSession()
    Invalidates this session then unbinds any objects bound to it.
    boolean
    isResponseCommitted()
    Check if the current response has been committed.
    boolean
    isSecure()
    Returns a boolean indicating whether this request was made using a secure channel, such as HTTPS.
    abstract boolean
    isUserInRole(String role)
    Return true if the currently authenticated user is included in the specified role.
    abstract void
    log(String message)
    Log the specified message to the application object.
    abstract void
    log(String message, Throwable exception)
    Log the specified message and exception to the application object.
    abstract void
    redirect(String url)
    Redirect a request to the specified URL, and cause the responseComplete() method to be called on the FacesContext instance for the current request.
    void
    responseFlushBuffer()
    Flushes the buffered response content to the client.
    void
    responseReset()
    Resets the current response.
    void
    responseSendError(int statusCode, String message)
    Sends an HTTP status code with message.
    void
    setClientWindow(ClientWindow window)
    Associate this instance with a ClientWindow.
    void
    setRequest(Object request)
    Set the environment-specific request to be returned by subsequent calls to getRequest().
    void
    setRequestCharacterEncoding(String encoding)
    Overrides the name of the character encoding used in the body of this request.
    void
    setResponse(Object response)
    Set the environment-specific response to be returned by subsequent calls to getResponse().
    void
    setResponseBufferSize(int size)
    Set the buffer size for the current response.
    void
    setResponseCharacterEncoding(String encoding)
    Sets the character encoding (MIME charset) of the response being sent to the client, for example, to UTF-8.
    void
    setResponseContentLength(int length)
    Set the content length of the response.
    void
    setResponseContentType(String contentType)
    Sets the content type of the response being sent to the client, if the response has not been committed yet.
    void
    setResponseHeader(String name, String value)
    Set the response header with the given name and value.
    void
    setResponseStatus(int statusCode)
    Sets the HTTP status code for the response.
    void
    setSessionMaxInactiveInterval(int interval)
    Specifies the time, in seconds, between client requests before the servlet container will invalidate this session.

    Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

    clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

  • Field Details

  • Constructor Details

    • ExternalContext

      public ExternalContext()

  • Method Details

    • addResponseCookie

      public void addResponseCookie(String name, String value, Map<String,Object> properties)

      Adds the cookie represented by the arguments to the response.

      Servlet: This must be accomplished by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse method addCookie(). The Cookie argument must be constructed by passing the name and value parameters. If the properties arugument is non-null and not empty, the Cookie instance must be initialized as described below.

      Cookie handling table
      Key in "values" Map Expected type of value. Name of setter method on Cookie instance to be set with the value from the Map.
      comment String setComment
      domain String setDomain
      maxAge Integer setMaxAge
      secure Boolean setSecure
      path String setPath
      httpOnly Boolean setHttpOnly

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      name - To be passed as the first argument to the Cookie constructor.
      value - To be passed as the second argument to the Cookie constructor.
      properties - A Map containg key/value pairs to be passed as arguments to the setter methods as described above.
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if the properties Map is not-null and not empty and contains any keys that are not one of the keys listed above.
      Since:
      2.0

    • dispatch

      public abstract void dispatch(String path) throws IOException

      Dispatch a request to the specified resource to create output for this response.

      Servlet: This must be accomplished by calling the javax.servlet.ServletContext method getRequestDispatcher(path), and calling the forward() method on the resulting object.

      If the call to getRequestDisatcher(path) returns null, send aServletResponse SC_NOT_FOUND error code.

      Parameters:
      path - Context relative path to the specified resource, which must start with a slash ("/") character
      Throws:
      FacesException - thrown if a ServletException occurs
      IOException - if an input/output error occurs

    • encodeActionURL

      public abstract String encodeActionURL(String url)

      Return the input URL, after performing any rewriting needed to ensure that it will correctly identify an addressable action in the current application.

      Encoding the ClientWindow

      Call ClientWindow.isClientWindowRenderModeEnabled(javax.faces.context.FacesContext). If the result is false take no further action and return the rewritten URL. If the result is true, call getClientWindow(). If the result is non-null, call ClientWindow.getId() and append the id to the query string of the URL, making the necessary allowances for a pre-existing query string or no query-string.

      Call ClientWindow.getQueryURLParameters(javax.faces.context.FacesContext). If the result is non-null, for each parameter in the map, unconditionally add that parameter to the URL.

      The name of the query string parameter is given by the value of the constant ResponseStateManager.CLIENT_WINDOW_URL_PARAM.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse method encodeURL(url).

      Parameters:
      url - The input URL to be encoded
      Returns:
      the encoded URL.
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if url is null

    • encodeNamespace

      public abstract String encodeNamespace(String name)

      Return the specified name, after prefixing it with a namespace that ensures that it will be unique within the context of a particular page.

      Servlet: The input value must be returned unchanged.

      Parameters:
      name - Name to be encoded
      Returns:
      the unique name prefixed with namespace.

    • encodeResourceURL

      public abstract String encodeResourceURL(String url)

      Return the input URL, after performing any rewriting needed to ensure that it will correctly identify an addressable resource in the current application.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse method encodeURL(url).

      Parameters:
      url - The input URL to be encoded
      Returns:
      the encoded resource URL.
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if url is null

    • encodeWebsocketURL

      public abstract String encodeWebsocketURL(String url)

      Return the websocket URL, after performing any rewriting needed to ensure that it will correctly identify an addressable websocket in the current application.

      Servlet: This must ensure that the input URL is prefixed with the correct websocket scheme, domain and port and then encoded by encodeResourceURL(String).

      Parameters:
      url - The input URL to be encoded.
      Returns:
      the encoded websocket URL.
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if url is null.
      Since:
      2.3

    • getApplicationMap

      public abstract Map<String,Object> getApplicationMap()

      Return a mutable Map representing the application scope attributes for the current application. The returned Map must implement the entire contract for a modifiable map as described in the JavaDocs for java.util.Map. Modifications made in the Map must cause the corresponding changes in the set of application scope attributes. Particularly the clear(), remove(), put(), putAll(), and get() operations must take the appropriate action on the underlying data structure.

      For any of the Map methods that cause an element to be removed from the underlying data structure, the following action regarding managed-beans must be taken. If the element to be removed is a managed-bean, and it has one or more public no-argument void return methods annotated with javax.annotation.PreDestroy, each such method must be called before the element is removed from the underlying data structure. Elements that are not managed-beans, but do happen to have methods with that annotation must not have those methods called on removal. Any exception thrown by the PreDestroy annotated methods must by caught and not rethrown. The exception may be logged.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called at startup or shutdown time, this method returns a Map that is backed by the same container context instance (ServletContext or PortletContext) as the one returned by calling getApplicationMap() on the ExternalContext returned by the FacesContext during an actual request.

      Servlet: This must be the set of attributes available via the javax.servlet.ServletContext methods getAttribute(), getAttributeNames(), removeAttribute(), and setAttribute().

      Returns:
      the map associated with the backed ServletContext.

    • getAuthType

      public abstract String getAuthType()

      Return the name of the authentication scheme used to authenticate the current user, if any; otherwise, return null. For standard authentication schemes, the returned value will match one of the following constants: BASIC_AUTH, CLIENT_CERT_AUTH, DIGEST_AUTH, or FORM_AUTH.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest method getAuthType().

      Returns:
      the authentication type.

    • getFlash

      public Flash getFlash()

      Return the threadsafe Flash for this application. The default implementation will throw UnsupportedOperationException. Compliant JSF runtimes must provide an implementation of this method.

      Returns:
      the Flash for this application.
      Since:
      2.0

    • getMimeType

      public String getMimeType(String file)

      Returns the MIME type of the specified file or null if the MIME type is not known. The MIME type is determined by the container.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called during application startup or shutdown, this method calls through to the getMimeType() method on the same container context instance (ServletContext or PortletContext) as the one used when calling getMimeType() on the ExternalContext returned by the FacesContext during an actual request.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletContext method getMimeType().

      Parameters:
      file - The file for which the mime type should be obtained.
      Returns:
      the MIME type of the file.
      Since:
      2.0

    • getContext

      public abstract Object getContext()

      Return the application environment object instance for the current appication.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called during application startup or shutdown, this returns the same container context instance (ServletContext or PortletContext) as the one returned when calling getContext() on the ExternalContext returned by the FacesContext during an actual request.

      Servlet: This must be the current application's javax.servlet.ServletContext instance.

      Returns:
      the object of the ServletContext.

    • getContextName

      public String getContextName()

      Return the name of the container context for this application.

      Return the result of calling getServletContextName() on the ServletContext instance for this application. It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the name the ServletContext.

    • getApplicationContextPath

      public String getApplicationContextPath()

      Return the name of the container context for this application.

      Servlet: Return the result of calling getContextPath() on the ServletContext instance for this application.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the context path of this application.
      Since:
      2.2

    • getInitParameter

      public abstract String getInitParameter(String name)

      Return the value of the specified application initialization parameter (if any).

      Servlet: This must be the result of the javax.servlet.ServletContext method getInitParameter(name).

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called during application startup or shutdown, this method calls through to the actual container context to return the init parameter value.

      Parameters:
      name - Name of the requested initialization parameter
      Returns:
      the value of the specified parameter.
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if name is null

    • getInitParameterMap

      public abstract Map<String,String> getInitParameterMap()

      Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of application initialization parameter names configured for this application, and whose values are the corresponding parameter values. The returned Map must implement the entire contract for an unmodifiable map as described in the JavaDocs for java.util.Map.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called during application startup or shutdown, this method returns a Map that is backed by the same container context instance (ServletContext or PortletContext) as the one returned by calling getInitParameterMap() on the ExternalContext returned by the FacesContext during an actual request.

      Servlet: This result must be as if it were synthesized by calling the javax.servlet.ServletContext method getInitParameterNames, and putting each configured parameter name/value pair into the result.

      Returns:
      the init parameter map for this application.

    • getRemoteUser

      public abstract String getRemoteUser()

      Return the login name of the user making the current request if any; otherwise, return null.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest method getRemoteUser().

      Returns:
      the user name of the current request.

    • getRequest

      public abstract Object getRequest()

      Return the environment-specific object instance for the current request.

      Servlet: This must be the current request's javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest instance.

      Returns:
      the instance of the current request.

    • setRequest

      public void setRequest(Object request)

      Set the environment-specific request to be returned by subsequent calls to getRequest(). This may be used to install a wrapper for the request.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      request - the request object to be set.
      Since:
      1.2

    • getRequestScheme

      public String getRequestScheme()

      Returns the name of the scheme used to make this request, for example, http, https, or ftp.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletRequest method getScheme().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the name of the scheme.
      Since:
      2.0

    • getRequestServerName

      public String getRequestServerName()

      Returns the host name of the server to which the request was sent.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletRequest method getServerName().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the host name of the server.
      Since:
      2.0

    • getRequestServerPort

      public int getRequestServerPort()

      Returns the port number to which the request was sent.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletRequest method getServerPort().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the port number to which the request was sent.
      Since:
      2.0

    • setRequestCharacterEncoding

      public void setRequestCharacterEncoding(String encoding) throws UnsupportedEncodingException

      Overrides the name of the character encoding used in the body of this request.

      Calling this method after the request has been accessed will have no no effect, unless a Reader or Stream has been obtained from the request, in which case an IllegalStateException is thrown.

      Servlet: This must call through to the javax.servlet.ServletRequest method setCharacterEncoding().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      encoding - the encoding name to be set.
      Throws:
      UnsupportedEncodingException - if this is not a valid encoding
      Since:
      1.2

    • getRealPath

      public String getRealPath(String path)

      Returns a String containing the real path for a given virtual path.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called during application startup or shutdown, this method calls through to the getRealPath() method on the same container context instance (ServletContext or PortletContext) as the one used when calling getRealPath() on the ExternalContext returned by the FacesContext during an actual request.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletContext method getRealPath().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      path - The context of the requested initialization parameter
      Returns:
      the real path for the specified virtual path.
      Since:
      2.0

    • getRequestContextPath

      public abstract String getRequestContextPath()

      Return the portion of the request URI that identifies the web application context for this request.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest method getContextPath().

      Returns:
      the context path for this request.

    • getRequestCookieMap

      public abstract Map<String,Object> getRequestCookieMap()

      Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of cookie names included in the current request, and whose values (of type javax.servlet.http.Cookie) are the first (or only) cookie for each cookie name returned by the underlying request. The returned Map must implement the entire contract for an unmodifiable map as described in the JavaDocs for java.util.Map.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest method getCookies(), unless null was returned, in which case this must be a zero-length array.

      Returns:
      the cookie map in the current request.

    • getRequestHeaderMap

      public abstract Map<String,String> getRequestHeaderMap()

      Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of request header names included in the current request, and whose values (of type String) are the first (or only) value for each header name returned by the underlying request. The returned Map must implement the entire contract for an unmodifiable map as described in the JavaDocs for java.util.Map. In addition, key comparisons must be performed in a case insensitive manner.

      Servlet: This must be the set of headers available via the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest methods getHeader() and getHeaderNames().

      Returns:
      the header map in the current request.

    • getRequestHeaderValuesMap

      public abstract Map<String,String[]> getRequestHeaderValuesMap()

      Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of request header names included in the current request, and whose values (of type String[]) are all of the value for each header name returned by the underlying request. The returned Map must implement the entire contract for an unmodifiable map as described in the JavaDocs for java.util.Map. In addition, key comparisons must be performed in a case insensitive manner.

      Servlet: This must be the set of headers available via the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest methods getHeaders() and getHeaderNames().

      Returns:
      the header values map in the current request.

    • getRequestLocale

      public abstract Locale getRequestLocale()

      Return the preferred Locale in which the client will accept content.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletRequest method getLocale().

      Returns:
      the Locale of the current request.

    • getRequestLocales

      public abstract Iterator<Locale> getRequestLocales()

      Return an Iterator over the preferred Locales specified in the request, in decreasing order of preference.

      Servlet: This must be an Iterator over the values returned by the javax.servlet.ServletRequest method getLocales().

      Returns:
      the Iterator of Locales of the current request.

    • getRequestMap

      public abstract Map<String,Object> getRequestMap()

      Return a mutable Map representing the request scope attributes for the current application. The returned Map must implement the entire contract for a modifiable map as described in the JavaDocs for java.util.Map. Modifications made in the Map must cause the corresponding changes in the set of request scope attributes. Particularly the clear(), remove(), put(), putAll(), and get() operations must take the appropriate action on the underlying data structure.

      For any of the Map methods that cause an element to be removed from the underlying data structure, the following action regarding managed-beans must be taken. If the element to be removed is a managed-bean, and it has one or more public no-argument void return methods annotated with javax.annotation.PreDestroy, each such method must be called before the element is removed from the underlying data structure. Elements that are not managed-beans, but do happen to have methods with that annotation must not have those methods called on removal. Any exception thrown by the PreDestroy annotated methods must by caught and not rethrown. The exception may be logged.

      Servlet: This must be the set of attributes available via the javax.servlet.ServletRequest methods getAttribute(), getAttributeNames(), removeAttribute(), and setAttribute().

      Returns:
      the map including the attributes of the current request.

    • getRequestParameterMap

      public abstract Map<String,String> getRequestParameterMap()

      Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of request parameters names included in the current request, and whose values (of type String) are the first (or only) value for each parameter name returned by the underlying request. The returned Map must implement the entire contract for an unmodifiable map as described in the JavaDocs for java.util.Map.

      Servlet: This must be the set of parameters available via the javax.servlet.ServletRequest methods getParameter() and getParameterNames().

      Returns:
      the map for the current request parameters.

    • getRequestParameterNames

      public abstract Iterator<String> getRequestParameterNames()

      Return an Iterator over the names of all request parameters included in the current request.

      Servlet: This must be an Iterator over the values returned by the javax.servlet.ServletRequest method getParameterNames().

      Returns:
      the Iterator for the names of the current request parameters.

    • getRequestParameterValuesMap

      public abstract Map<String,String[]> getRequestParameterValuesMap()

      Return an immutable Map whose keys are the set of request parameters names included in the current request, and whose values (of type String[]) are all of the values for each parameter name returned by the underlying request. The returned Map must implement the entire contract for an unmodifiable map as described in the JavaDocs for java.util.Map.

      Servlet: This must be the set of parameters available via the javax.servlet.ServletRequest methods getParameterValues() and getParameterNames().

      Returns:
      the map for the parameter values of the current request.

    • getRequestPathInfo

      public abstract String getRequestPathInfo()

      Return the extra path information (if any) included in the request URI; otherwise, return null.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest method getPathInfo().

      Returns:
      the path information of the current request.

    • getRequestServletPath

      public abstract String getRequestServletPath()

      Return the servlet path information (if any) included in the request URI; otherwise, return null.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest method getServletPath().

      Returns:
      the servlet path information of the current request.

    • getRequestCharacterEncoding

      public String getRequestCharacterEncoding()

      Return the character encoding currently being used to interpret this request.

      Servlet: This must return the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletRequest method getCharacterEncoding().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the character encoding currently being used.
      Since:
      1.2

    • getRequestContentType

      public String getRequestContentType()

      Return the MIME Content-Type for this request. If not available, return null.

      Servlet: This must return the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletRequest method getContentType().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the Content-Type for this request.
      Since:
      1.2

    • getRequestContentLength

      public int getRequestContentLength()

      Return the result of calling getContentLenth() on the ServletRequest instance for this request.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the content length of the current request.
      Since:
      2.0

    • getResponseCharacterEncoding

      public String getResponseCharacterEncoding()

      Returns the name of the character encoding (MIME charset) used for the body sent in this response.

      Servlet: This must return the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletResponse method getCharacterEncoding().

      Portlet: if this method is called during a lifecycle phase other than RENDER_RESPONSE, this must return null. If called during RENDER_RESPONSE, return the response encoding of the portlet response.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the name of the character encoding.
      Since:
      1.2

    • getResponseContentType

      public String getResponseContentType()

      Return the MIME Content-Type for this response. If not available, return null.

      Servlet: This must return the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletResponse method getContentType().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the MIME Content-Type for this response.
      Since:
      1.2

    • getResource

      public abstract URL getResource(String path) throws MalformedURLException

      Return a URL for the application resource mapped to the specified path, if it exists; otherwise, return null.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called during application startup or shutdown, this method calls through to the getResource() method on the same container context instance (ServletContext or PortletContext) as the one used when calling getResource() on the ExternalContext returned by the FacesContext during an actual request.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletContext method getResource(path).

      Parameters:
      path - The path to the requested resource, which must start with a slash ("/" character
      Returns:
      the URL of the resource.
      Throws:
      MalformedURLException - if the specified path is not in the correct form
      NullPointerException - if path is null

    • getResourceAsStream

      public abstract InputStream getResourceAsStream(String path)

      Return an InputStream for an application resource mapped to the specified path, if it exists; otherwise, return null.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called during application startup or shutdown, this method calls through to the getResourceAsStream() method on the same container context instance (ServletContext or PortletContext) as the one used when calling getResourceAsStream() on the ExternalContext returned by the FacesContext during an actual request.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletContext method getResourceAsStream(path).

      Parameters:
      path - The path to the requested resource, which must start with a slash ("/" character
      Returns:
      the InputStream for the application resource.
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if path is null

    • getResourcePaths

      public abstract Set<String> getResourcePaths(String path)

      Return the Set of resource paths for all application resources whose resource path starts with the specified argument.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called during application startup or shutdown, this method calls through to the getResourcePaths() method on the same container context instance (ServletContext or PortletContext) as the one used when calling getResourcePaths() on the ExternalContext returned by the FacesContext during an actual request.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletContext method getResourcePaths(path).

      Parameters:
      path - Partial path used to match resources, which must start with a slash ("/") character
      Returns:
      the Set of resource paths for the application resources.
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if path is null

    • getResponse

      public abstract Object getResponse()

      Return the environment-specific object instance for the current response.

      Servlet: This is the current request's javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse instance.

      Returns:
      the instance of the current javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse.

    • setResponse

      public void setResponse(Object response)

      Set the environment-specific response to be returned by subsequent calls to getResponse(). This may be used to install a wrapper for the response.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      response - the response instance to be set.
      Since:
      1.2

    • getResponseOutputStream

      public OutputStream getResponseOutputStream() throws IOException

      Returns an OutputStream suitable for writing binary data to the user-agent.

      Servlet: This must return the value returned by the javax.servlet.ServletResponse method getOutputStream().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the OutputStream for the current response.
      Throws:
      IOException - any IO related exception.
      Since:
      2.0

    • getResponseOutputWriter

      public Writer getResponseOutputWriter() throws IOException

      Returns a Writer suitable for writing character data to the user-agent.

      Servlet: This must return the value returned by the ServletResponse.getWriter().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the Writer for the current response.
      Throws:
      IOException - any IO related exception.
      Since:
      2.0

    • setResponseCharacterEncoding

      public void setResponseCharacterEncoding(String encoding)

      Sets the character encoding (MIME charset) of the response being sent to the client, for example, to UTF-8.

      Servlet: This must call through to the javax.servlet.ServletResponse method setCharacterEncoding().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      encoding - the character encoding to be sent by the current response.
      Since:
      1.2

    • setResponseContentType

      public void setResponseContentType(String contentType)

      Sets the content type of the response being sent to the client, if the response has not been committed yet.

      Servlet: This must call setContentType() on the underlying javax.servlet.ServletResponse instance.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      contentType - The content type to be set as the contentType of the response.
      Since:
      2.0

    • getSession

      public abstract Object getSession(boolean create)

      If the create parameter is true, create (if necessary) and return a session instance associated with the current request. If the create parameter is false return any existing session instance associated with the current request, or return null if there is no such session.

      Servlet: This must return the result of calling getSession(create) on the underlying javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest instance.

      Parameters:
      create - Flag indicating whether or not a new session should be created if there is no session associated with the current request
      Returns:
      the session object of the current request.

    • getSessionId

      public String getSessionId(boolean create)

      Return the id of the current session or the empty string if no session has been created and the create parameter is false.

      Servlet: If create is true, obtain a reference to the HttpSession for the current request (creating the session if necessary) and return its id. If create is false, obtain a reference to the current session, if one exists, and return its id. If no session exists, return the empty string.

      Parameters:
      create - Flag indicating whether or not a new session should be created if there is no session associated with the current request
      Returns:
      the session id for the current request.
      Since:
      2.2

    • getSessionMaxInactiveInterval

      public int getSessionMaxInactiveInterval()

      Returns the maximum time interval, in seconds, that the servlet container will keep this session open between client accesses. After this interval, the servlet container will invalidate the session. The maximum time interval can be set with the setSessionMaxInactiveInterval(int) method.

      A return value of zero or less indicates that the session will never timeout.

      Servlet: This must return the result of calling getMaxInactiveInterval on the underlying javax.servlet.http.HttpSession instance.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the session maximum inactive interval.
      Since:
      2.1

    • getSessionMap

      public abstract Map<String,Object> getSessionMap()

      Return a mutable Map representing the session scope attributes for the current application. The returned Map must implement the entire contract for a modifiable map as described in the JavaDocs for java.util.Map. Modifications made in the Map must cause the corresponding changes in the set of session scope attributes. Particularly the clear(), remove(), put(), and get() operations must take the appropriate action on the underlying data structure. Accessing attributes via this Map must cause the creation of a session associated with the current request, if such a session does not already exist.

      For any of the Map methods that cause an element to be removed from the underlying data structure, the following action regarding managed-beans must be taken. If the element to be removed is a managed-bean, and it has one or more public no-argument void return methods annotated with javax.annotation.PreDestroy, each such method must be called before the element is removed from the underlying data structure. Elements that are not managed-beans, but do happen to have methods with that annotation must not have those methods called on removal. Any exception thrown by the PreDestroy annotated methods must by caught and not rethrown. The exception may be logged.

      Servlet: This must be the set of attributes available via the javax.servlet.http.HttpSession methods getAttribute(), getAttributeNames(), removeAttribute(), and setAttribute().

      Returns:
      the session map for the current application.

    • getUserPrincipal

      public abstract Principal getUserPrincipal()

      Return the Principal object containing the name of the current authenticated user, if any; otherwise, return null.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest method getUserPrincipal().

      Returns:
      the Principal object.

    • getClientWindow

      public ClientWindow getClientWindow()

      Return the ClientWindow set in a preceding call to setClientWindow(javax.faces.lifecycle.ClientWindow), or null if no such call has been made.

      Returns:
      the instance of the ClientWindow.
      Since:
      2.2

    • invalidateSession

      public void invalidateSession()

      Invalidates this session then unbinds any objects bound to it.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpSession method invalidate().

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Since:
      2.0

    • isUserInRole

      public abstract boolean isUserInRole(String role)

      Return true if the currently authenticated user is included in the specified role. Otherwise, return false.

      Servlet: This must be the value returned by the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest method isUserInRole(role).

      Parameters:
      role - Logical role name to be checked
      Returns:
      the flag indicating whether the current user is in the specified role.
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if role is null

    • log

      public abstract void log(String message)

      Log the specified message to the application object.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called during application startup or shutdown, this calls the log() method on the same container context instance (ServletContext or PortletContext) as the one used during a call to log() on the ExternalContext returned by the FacesContext during an actual request.

      Servlet: This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.ServletContext method log(String).

      Parameters:
      message - Message to be logged
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if message is null

    • log

      public abstract void log(String message, Throwable exception)

      Log the specified message and exception to the application object.

      It is valid to call this method during application startup or shutdown. If called during application startup or shutdown, this calls the log() method on the same container context instance (ServletContext or PortletContext) as the one used when calling log() on the ExternalContext returned by the FacesContext during an actual request.

      Servlet: This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.ServletContext method log(String,Throwable).

      Parameters:
      message - Message to be logged
      exception - Exception to be logged
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if message or exception is null

    • redirect

      public abstract void redirect(String url) throws IOException

      Redirect a request to the specified URL, and cause the responseComplete() method to be called on the FacesContext instance for the current request.

      The implementation must determine if the request is an Ajax request by obtaining a PartialViewContext instance from the FacesContext and calling PartialViewContext.isAjaxRequest().

      Servlet: For non Ajax requests, this must be accomplished by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse method sendRedirect().

      For Ajax requests, the implementation must:
      Parameters:
      url - Absolute URL to which the client should be redirected
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if the specified url is relative
      IllegalStateException - if, in a portlet environment, the current response object is a RenderResponse instead of an ActionResponse
      IllegalStateException - if, in a servlet environment, the current response has already been committed
      IOException - if an input/output error occurs

    • setResponseHeader

      public void setResponseHeader(String name, String value)

      Set the response header with the given name and value.

      Servlet:This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse setHeader method.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      name - The name of the response header.
      value - The value of the response header.
      Since:
      2.0

    • addResponseHeader

      public void addResponseHeader(String name, String value)

      Add the given name and value to the response header.

      Servlet:This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse addHeader method.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      name - The name of the response header.
      value - The value of the response header.
      Since:
      2.0

    • setResponseBufferSize

      public void setResponseBufferSize(int size)

      Set the buffer size for the current response.

      Servlet: This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse setBufferSize method.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      size - the new buffer size
      Since:
      2.0

    • getResponseBufferSize

      public int getResponseBufferSize()

      Return the buffer size for the current response.

      Servlet: This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse getBufferSize method.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the buffer size of the response.
      Since:
      2.0

    • isResponseCommitted

      public boolean isResponseCommitted()

      Check if the current response has been committed.

      Servlet: This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse isCommitted method.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the flag indicating whether the current response has been committed.
      Since:
      2.0

    • responseReset

      public void responseReset()

      Resets the current response.

      Servlet: This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse reset method.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Since:
      2.0

    • responseSendError

      public void responseSendError(int statusCode, String message) throws IOException

      Sends an HTTP status code with message.

      Servlet: This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse sendError method.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      statusCode - an HTTP status code
      message - an option message to detail the cause of the code
      Throws:
      IOException - any IO related exceptions.
      Since:
      2.0

    • setResponseStatus

      public void setResponseStatus(int statusCode)

      Sets the HTTP status code for the response.

      Servlet: This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse setStatus method.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      statusCode - an HTTP status code
      Since:
      2.0

    • setSessionMaxInactiveInterval

      public void setSessionMaxInactiveInterval(int interval)

      Specifies the time, in seconds, between client requests before the servlet container will invalidate this session.

      An interval value of zero or less indicates that the session should never timeout.

      Servlet: This must call setMaxInactiveInterval on the underlying javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest instance.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      interval - the value to be set.
      Since:
      2.1

    • setClientWindow

      public void setClientWindow(ClientWindow window)

      Associate this instance with a ClientWindow.

      Parameters:
      window - the window with which this instance is associated.
      Since:
      2.2

    • responseFlushBuffer

      public void responseFlushBuffer() throws IOException

      Flushes the buffered response content to the client.

      Servlet: This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse flushBuffer method.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Throws:
      IOException - any IO related exception.
      Since:
      2.0

    • setResponseContentLength

      public void setResponseContentLength(int length)

      Set the content length of the response.

      Servlet: This must be performed by calling the javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse setContentLength method.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      length - the value to be set.
      Since:
      2.0

    • encodeBookmarkableURL

      public String encodeBookmarkableURL(String baseUrl, Map<String,List<String>> parameters)

      The purpose of this method is to generate a query string from the collection of Parameter objects provided by the parameters argument and append that query string to the baseUrl. This method must be able to encode the parameters to a baseUrl that may or may not have existing query parameters. The parameter values should be encoded appropriately for the environment so that the resulting URL can be used as the target of a link (e.g., in an href attribute) in a JSF response. It's possible for an ExternalContext implementation to override this method in any way that would make the URL bookmarkable in that environment.

      See encodeActionURL(java.lang.String) for the required specification of how to encode the ClientWindow.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Parameters:
      baseUrl - The base URL onto which the query string generated by this method will be appended. The URL may contain query parameters.
      parameters - The collection of Parameter objects, representing name=value pairs that are used to produce a query string
      Returns:
      the result of encoding.
      Since:
      2.0

    • encodeRedirectURL

      public String encodeRedirectURL(String baseUrl, Map<String,List<String>> parameters)
      The purpose of this method is to generate a query string from the collection of Parameter objects provided by the parameters argument and append that query string to the baseUrl. This method must be able to encode the parameters to a baseUrl that may or may not have existing query parameters. The parameter values should be encoded appropriately for the environment so that the resulting URL can be used as the target of a redirect. It's possible for an ExternalContext implementation to override this method to accomodate the definition of redirect for that environment.

      See encodeActionURL(java.lang.String) for the required specification of how to encode the ClientWindow.

      Parameters:
      baseUrl - The base URL onto which the query string generated by this method will be appended. The URL may contain query parameters.
      parameters - The collection of Parameter objects, representing name=value pairs that are used to produce a query string
      Returns:
      the result of encoding.
      Since:
      2.0

    • encodePartialActionURL

      public String encodePartialActionURL(String url)

      Return the input URL, after performing any rewriting needed to ensure that it can be used in a partial page submission (ajax request) to correctly identify an addressable action in the current application.

      See encodeActionURL(java.lang.String) for the required specification of how to encode the ClientWindow.

      Servlet:Returns the same encoded URL as the encodeActionURL(String url) method.

      Portlet:Returns an encoded URL that, upon HTTP POST, will invoke the RESOURCE_PHASE of the portlet lifecycle.

      Parameters:
      url - The input URL to be encoded
      Returns:
      the encoded URL.
      Throws:
      NullPointerException - if url is null
      Since:
      2.0

    • isSecure

      public boolean isSecure()

      Returns a boolean indicating whether this request was made using a secure channel, such as HTTPS.

      Servlet: This must return the result of calling isSecure on the underlying javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest instance.

      The default implementation throws UnsupportedOperationException and is provided for the sole purpose of not breaking existing applications that extend this class.

      Returns:
      the boolean indicating whether this request is secured.
      Since:
      2.1