Servlets

Servlet technology is used to create a web application (resides at server side and generates a
dynamic web page).

Servlet technology is robust and scalable because of java language. Before Servlet, CGI
(Common Gateway Interface) scripting language was common as a server-side programming
language. However, there were many disadvantages to this technology. We have discussed
these disadvantages below.

There are many interfaces and classes in the Servlet API such as Servlet, GenericServlet,
HttpServlet, ServletRequest, ServletResponse, etc.

What is a Servlet?

Servlet can be described in many ways, depending on the context.

 Servlet is a technology which is used to create a web application.

 Servlet is an API that provides many interfaces and classes including documentation.
 Servlet is an interface that must be implemented for creating any Servlet.
 Servlet is a class that extends the capabilities of the servers and responds to the incoming
requests. It can respond to any requests.
 Servlet is a web component that is deployed on the server to create a dynamic web page.

Life Cycle of a Servlet (Servlet Life Cycle)

The web container maintains the life cycle of a servlet instance. Let's see the life cycle of the
servlet:

1. Servlet class is loaded.

2. Servlet instance is created.
3. init method is invoked.
4. service method is invoked.
5. destroy method is invoked.
As displayed in the above diagram, there are three states of a servlet: new, ready and end. The
servlet is in new state if servlet instance is created. After invoking the init() method, Servlet comes in
the ready state. In the ready state, servlet performs all the tasks. When the web container invokes
the destroy() method, it shifts to the end state.

1) Servlet class is loaded

The classloader is responsible to load the servlet class. The servlet class is loaded when the
first request for the servlet is received by the web container.

2) Servlet instance is created

The web container creates the instance of a servlet after loading the servlet class. The servlet
instance is created only once in the servlet life cycle.

3) init method is invoked

The web container calls the init method only once after creating the servlet instance. The init
method is used to initialize the servlet. It is the life cycle method of the javax.servlet.Servlet
interface. Syntax of the init method is given below:

1. public void init(ServletConfig config) throws ServletException

4) service method is invoked

The web container calls the service method each time when request for the servlet is received.
If servlet is not initialized, it follows the first three steps as described above then calls the
service method. If servlet is initialized, it calls the service method. Notice that servlet is
initialized only once. The syntax of the service method of the Servlet interface is given
below:

1. public void service(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response)

throws ServletException, IOException

5) destroy method is invoked

The web container calls the destroy method before removing the servlet instance from the
service. It gives the servlet an opportunity to clean up any resource for example memory,
thread etc. The syntax of the destroy method of the Servlet interface is given below:

1. public void destroy()

Session Tracking in Servlets

Session simply means a particular interval of time.

Session Tracking is a way to maintain state (data) of an user. It is also known as session
management in servlet.

Http protocol is a stateless so we need to maintain state using session tracking techniques.
Each time user requests to the server, server treats the request as the new request. So we need
to maintain the state of an user to recognize to particular user.

HTTP is stateless that means each request is considered as the new request. It is shown in the figure
given below:
Why use Session Tracking?

To recognize the user It is used to recognize the particular user.

Session Tracking Techniques

There are four techniques used in Session tracking:

1. Cookies
2. Hidden Form Field
3. URL Rewriting
4. HttpSession

Cookies in Servlet
A cookie is a small piece of information that is persisted between the multiple client requests.

A cookie has a name, a single value, and optional attributes such as a comment, path and
domain qualifiers, a maximum age, and a version number.

Types of Cookie

There are 2 types of cookies in servlets.

1. Non-persistent cookie
2. Persistent cookie

Non-persistent cookie

It is valid for single session only. It is removed each time when user closes the browser.

Persistent cookie

It is valid for multiple session . It is not removed each time when user closes the browser. It
is removed only if user logout or signout.
Advantage of Cookies

1. Simplest technique of maintaining the state.

2. Cookies are maintained at client side.

Disadvantage of Cookies

1. It will not work if cookie is disabled from the browser.

2. Only textual information can be set in Cookie object.

Cookie class

javax.servlet.http.Cookie class provides the functionality of using cookies. It provides a lot

of useful methods for cookies.

Constructor of Cookie class

Constructor Description

Cookie() constructs a cookie.

Cookie(String name, String value) constructs a cookie with a specified name and value.

Useful Methods of Cookie class

There are given some commonly used methods of the Cookie class.

Method Description

public void setMaxAge(int

Sets the maximum age of the cookie in seconds.
expiry)

Returns the name of the cookie. The name cannot be changed after
public String getName()
creation.

public String getValue() Returns the value of the cookie.

public void setName(String

changes the name of the cookie.
name)

public void setValue(String

changes the value of the cookie.
value)
How to create Cookie?
Cookie ck=new Cookie("user","sonoo jaiswal");//creating cookie object

response.addCookie(ck);//adding cookie in the response

How to delete Cookie?

1. Cookie ck=new Cookie("user","");//deleting value of cookie

2. ck.setMaxAge(0);//changing the maximum age to 0 seconds
3. response.addCookie(ck);//adding cookie in the response

How to get Cookies?

Cookie ck[]=request.getCookies();
for(int i=0;i<ck.length;i++){
out.print("<br>"+ck[i].getName()+" "+ck[i].getValue());//printing name and value of cookie

index.html
<form action="servlet1" method="post">
Name:<input type="text" name="userName"/><br/>
<input type="submit" value="go"/>
</form>

FirstServlet.java

1. import java.io.*;
2. import javax.servlet.*;
3. import javax.servlet.http.*;
4.
5.
 6. public class FirstServlet extends HttpServlet {
7.
8. public void doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response){
9. try{
10.
11. response.setContentType("text/html");
12. PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
13.
14. String n=request.getParameter("userName");
15. out.print("Welcome "+n);
16.
17. Cookie ck=new Cookie("uname",n);//creating cookie object
18. response.addCookie(ck);//adding cookie in the response
19.
20. //creating submit button
21. out.print("<form action='servlet2'>");
22. out.print("<input type='submit' value='go'>");
23. out.print("</form>");
24.
25. out.close();
26.
27. }catch(Exception e){System.out.println(e);}
28. }
29. }

SecondServlet.java

1. import java.io.*;
2. import javax.servlet.*;
3. import javax.servlet.http.*;
4.
5. public class SecondServlet extends HttpServlet {
6.
7. public void doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response){
8. try{
9.
10. response.setContentType("text/html");
11. PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
12.
13. Cookie ck[]=request.getCookies();
14. out.print("Hello "+ck[0].getValue());
15.
16. out.close();
17.
18. }catch(Exception e){System.out.println(e);}
19. }
20.
21.
 22. }

web.xml

1. <web-app>
2.
3. <servlet>
4. <servlet-name>s1</servlet-name>
5. <servlet-class>FirstServlet</servlet-class>
6. </servlet>
7.
8. <servlet-mapping>
9. <servlet-name>s1</servlet-name>
10. <url-pattern>/servlet1</url-pattern>
11. </servlet-mapping>
12.
13. <servlet>
14. <servlet-name>s2</servlet-name>
15. <servlet-class>SecondServlet</servlet-class>
16. </servlet>
17.
18. <servlet-mapping>
19. <servlet-name>s2</servlet-name>
20. <url-pattern>/servlet2</url-pattern>
21. </servlet-mapping>
22.
23. </web-app>

Hidden Form Field

In case of Hidden Form Field a hidden (invisible) textfield is used for maintaining the state
of an user.

In such case, we store the information in the hidden field and get it from another servlet. This
approach is better if we have to submit form in all the pages and we don't want to depend on
the browser.

Let's see the code to store value in hidden field.

1. <input type="hidden" name="uname" value="Vimal Jaiswal">

Here, uname is the hidden field name and Vimal Jaiswal is the hidden field value.
Real application of hidden form field

It is widely used in comment form of a website. In such case, we store page id or page name
in the hidden field so that each page can be uniquely identified.

Advantage of Hidden Form Field

1. It will always work whether cookie is disabled or not.

Disadvantage of Hidden Form Field:

1. It is maintained at server side.

2. Extra form submission is required on each pages.
3. Only textual information can be used.

Example of using Hidden Form Field

index.html
 <form action="servlet1">
 Name:<input type="text" name="userName"/><br/>
 <input type="submit" value="go"/>
 </form>

FirstServlet.java

1. import java.io.*;
2. import javax.servlet.*;
3. import javax.servlet.http.*;
4.
 5. public class FirstServlet extends HttpServlet {
6. public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response){
7. try{
8.
9. response.setContentType("text/html");
10. PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
11.
12. String n=request.getParameter("userName");
13. out.print("Welcome "+n);
14.
15. //creating form that have invisible textfield
16. out.print("<form action='servlet2'>");
17. out.print("<input type='hidden' name='uname' value='"+n+"'>");
18. out.print("<input type='submit' value='go'>");
19. out.print("</form>");
20. out.close();
21.
22. }catch(Exception e){System.out.println(e);}
23. }
24.
25. }

SecondServlet.java

1. import java.io.*;
2. import javax.servlet.*;
3. import javax.servlet.http.*;
4. public class SecondServlet extends HttpServlet {
5. public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
6. try{
7. response.setContentType("text/html");
8. PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
9.
10. //Getting the value from the hidden field
11. String n=request.getParameter("uname");
12. out.print("Hello "+n);
13.
14. out.close();
15. }catch(Exception e){System.out.println(e);}
16. }
17. }

web.xml

1. <web-app>
2.
3. <servlet>
4. <servlet-name>s1</servlet-name>
5. <servlet-class>FirstServlet</servlet-class>
6. </servlet>
 7.
8. <servlet-mapping>
9. <servlet-name>s1</servlet-name>
10. <url-pattern>/servlet1</url-pattern>
11. </servlet-mapping>
12.
13. <servlet>
14. <servlet-name>s2</servlet-name>
15. <servlet-class>SecondServlet</servlet-class>
16. </servlet>
17.
18. <servlet-mapping>
19. <servlet-name>s2</servlet-name>
20. <url-pattern>/servlet2</url-pattern>
21. </servlet-mapping>
22.
23. </web-app>

3)URL Rewriting
In URL rewriting, we append a token or identifier to the URL of the next Servlet or the next
resource. We can send parameter name/value pairs using the following format:

url?name1=value1&name2=value2&??

A name and a value is separated using an equal = sign, a parameter name/value pair is
separated from another parameter using the ampersand(&). When the user clicks the
hyperlink, the parameter name/value pairs will be passed to the server. From a Servlet, we
can use getParameter() method to obtain a parameter value.
Advantage of URL Rewriting

1. It will always work whether cookie is disabled or not (browser independent).

2. Extra form submission is not required on each pages.

Disadvantage of URL Rewriting

1. It will work only with links.

2. It can send Only textual information.

Example of using URL Rewriting

In this example, we are maintaning the state of the user using link. For this purpose, we are
appending the name of the user in the query string and getting the value from the query string
in another page.

index.html
 <form action="servlet1">
 Name:<input type="text" name="userName"/><br/>
 <input type="submit" value="go"/>
 </form>

FirstServlet.java

1. import java.io.*;
2. import javax.servlet.*;
3. import javax.servlet.http.*;
4.
5.
6. public class FirstServlet extends HttpServlet {
7.
8. public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response){
9. try{
10.
11. response.setContentType("text/html");
12. PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
13.
14. String n=request.getParameter("userName");
15. out.print("Welcome "+n);
16.
17. //appending the username in the query string
18. out.print("<a href='servlet2?uname="+n+"'>visit</a>");
19.
20. out.close();
21.
22. }catch(Exception e){System.out.println(e);}
23. }
24.
25. }
SecondServlet.java

1. import java.io.*;
2. import javax.servlet.*;
3. import javax.servlet.http.*;
4.
5. public class SecondServlet extends HttpServlet {
6.
7. public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
8. try{
9.
10. response.setContentType("text/html");
11. PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
12.
13. //getting value from the query string
14. String n=request.getParameter("uname");
15. out.print("Hello "+n);
16.
17. out.close();
18.
19. }catch(Exception e){System.out.println(e);}
20. }
21.
22.
23. }

web.xml

1. <web-app>
2.
3. <servlet>
4. <servlet-name>s1</servlet-name>
5. <servlet-class>FirstServlet</servlet-class>
6. </servlet>
7.
8. <servlet-mapping>
9. <servlet-name>s1</servlet-name>
10. <url-pattern>/servlet1</url-pattern>
11. </servlet-mapping>
12.
13. <servlet>
14. <servlet-name>s2</servlet-name>
15. <servlet-class>SecondServlet</servlet-class>
16. </servlet>
17.
18. <servlet-mapping>
19. <servlet-name>s2</servlet-name>
20. <url-pattern>/servlet2</url-pattern>
21. </servlet-mapping>
22.
 23. </web-app>

HttpSession interface
In such case, container creates a session id for each user.The container uses this id to identify
the particular user.An object of HttpSession can be used to perform two tasks:

1. bind objects
2. view and manipulate information about a session, such as the session identifier,
creation time, and last accessed time.

How to get the HttpSession object ?

The HttpServletRequest interface provides two methods to get the object of HttpSession:

1. public HttpSession getSession():Returns the current session associated with this request, or
if the request does not have a session, creates one.
2. public HttpSession getSession(boolean create):Returns the current HttpSession associated
with this request or, if there is no current session and create is true, returns a new session.

Commonly used methods of HttpSession interface

1. public String getId():Returns a string containing the unique identifier value.

2. public long getCreationTime():Returns the time when this session was created, measured in
milliseconds since midnight January 1, 1970 GMT.
3. public long getLastAccessedTime():Returns the last time the client sent a request associated
with this session, as the number of milliseconds since midnight January 1, 1970 GMT.
4. public void invalidate():Invalidates this session then unbinds any objects bound to it.
Example:

In this example, we are setting the attribute in the session scope in one servlet and getting
that value from the session scope in another servlet. To set the attribute in the session
scope, we have used the setAttribute() method of HttpSession interface and to get the
attribute, we have used the getAttribute method.

index.html

1. <form action="servlet1">
2. Name:<input type="text" name="userName"/><br/>
3. <input type="submit" value="go"/>
4. </form>

FirstServlet.java

1. import java.io.*;
2. import javax.servlet.*;
3. import javax.servlet.http.*;
4.
5.
6. public class FirstServlet extends HttpServlet {
7.
8. public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response){
9. try{
10.
11. response.setContentType("text/html");
12. PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
13.
14. String n=request.getParameter("userName");
15. out.print("Welcome "+n);
16.
17. HttpSession session=request.getSession();
18. session.setAttribute("uname",n);
19.
20. out.print("<a href='servlet2'>visit</a>");
21.
22. out.close();
23.
24. }catch(Exception e){System.out.println(e);}
25. }
26.
27. }

SecondServlet.java

1. import java.io.*;
2. import javax.servlet.*;
3. import javax.servlet.http.*;
4.
5. public class SecondServlet extends HttpServlet {
6.
7. public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
8. try{
9.
10. response.setContentType("text/html");
11. PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
12.
13. HttpSession session=request.getSession(false);
14. String n=(String)session.getAttribute("uname");
15. out.print("Hello "+n);
16.
17. out.close();
18.
19. }catch(Exception e){System.out.println(e);}
20. }
21.
22.
23. }