org.apache.commons.httpclient
Interface HttpMethod

All Known Subinterfaces:

HttpUrlMethod

All Known Implementing Classes:

HttpMethodBase

public interface HttpMethod

HttpMethod interface represents a request to be sent via a HTTP connection and a corresponding response.

Since:

1.0

Version:

$Revision: 1.23.2.5 $ $Date: 2004/06/13 20:24:48 $

Author:

Remy Maucherat, Rod Waldhoff, Jeff Dever, Mike Bowler, Oleg Kalnichevski

Method Summary

void	addRequestHeader(Header header) Adds the specified request header, not overwriting any previous value.
void	addRequestHeader(String headerName, String headerValue) Adds the specified request header, not overwriting any previous value.
void	addResponseFooter(Header footer) Add a footer to this method's response.
int	execute(HttpState state, HttpConnection connection) Executes this method using the specified HttpConnection and HttpState.
boolean	getDoAuthentication() Returns true if the HTTP method should automatically handle HTTP authentication challenges (status code 401, etc.), false otherwise
boolean	getFollowRedirects() Returns true if the HTTP method should automatically follow HTTP redirects (status code 302, etc.), false otherwise.
HostConfiguration	getHostConfiguration() Gets the host configuration for this method.
String	getName() Obtains the name of the HTTP method as used in the HTTP request line, for example "GET" or "POST".
String	getPath() Returns the path of the HTTP method.
String	getQueryString() Returns the query string of this HTTP method.
Header	getRequestHeader(String headerName) Gets the request header with the given name.
Header[]	getRequestHeaders() Returns the current request headers for this HTTP method.
byte[]	getResponseBody() Returns the response body of the HTTP method, if any, as an array of bytes.
InputStream	getResponseBodyAsStream() Returns the response body of the HTTP method, if any, as an InputStream.
String	getResponseBodyAsString() Returns the response body of the HTTP method, if any, as a String.
Header	getResponseFooter(String footerName) Return the specified response footer.
Header[]	getResponseFooters() Returns the response footers from the most recent execution of this request.
Header	getResponseHeader(String headerName) Returns the specified response header.
Header[]	getResponseHeaders() Returns the response headers from the most recent execution of this request.
int	getStatusCode() Returns the status code associated with the latest response.
StatusLine	getStatusLine() Returns the Status-Line from the most recent response for this method, or null if the method has not been executed.
String	getStatusText() Returns the status text (or "reason phrase") associated with the latest response.
URI	getURI() Returns the URI for this method.
boolean	hasBeenUsed() Returns true if the HTTP method has been already executed, but not recycled.
boolean	isStrictMode() Returns the value of the strict mode flag.
void	recycle() Deprecated. no longer supported and will be removed in the future version of HttpClient
void	releaseConnection() Releases the connection being used by this HTTP method.
void	removeRequestHeader(String headerName) Removes all request headers with the given name.
void	setDoAuthentication(boolean doAuthentication) Sets whether or not the HTTP method should automatically handle HTTP authentication challenges (status code 401, etc.)
void	setFollowRedirects(boolean followRedirects) Sets whether or not the HTTP method should automatically follow HTTP redirects (status code 302, etc.)
void	setPath(String path) Sets the path of the HTTP method.
void	setQueryString(NameValuePair[] params) Sets the query string of this HTTP method.
void	setQueryString(String queryString) Sets the query string of the HTTP method.
void	setRequestHeader(Header header) Sets the specified request header, overwriting any previous value.
void	setRequestHeader(String headerName, String headerValue) Sets the specified request header, overwriting any previous value.
void	setStrictMode(boolean strictMode) Defines how strictly the method follows the HTTP protocol specification.
boolean	validate() Returns true the method is ready to execute, false otherwise.

Method Detail

getName

public String getName()

Obtains the name of the HTTP method as used in the HTTP request line, for example "GET" or "POST".

Returns:

the name of this method

getHostConfiguration

public HostConfiguration getHostConfiguration()

Gets the host configuration for this method. The configuration specifies the server, port, protocol, and proxy server via which this method will send its HTTP request.

Returns:

the HostConfiguration or null if none is set

setPath

public void setPath(String path)

Sets the path of the HTTP method. It is responsibility of the caller to ensure that the path is properly encoded (URL safe).

Parameters:

path - The path of the HTTP method. The path is expected to be URL encoded.

getPath

public String getPath()

Returns the path of the HTTP method. Calling this method after the request has been executed will return the actual path, following any redirects automatically handled by this HTTP method.

Returns:

the path of the HTTP method, in URL encoded form

getURI

public URI getURI()
           throws URIException

Returns the URI for this method. The URI will be absolute if the host configuration has been set and relative otherwise.

Returns:

the URI for this method

Throws:

URIException - if a URI cannot be constructed

setStrictMode

public void setStrictMode(boolean strictMode)

Defines how strictly the method follows the HTTP protocol specification. (See RFC 2616 and other relevant RFCs.) In the strict mode the method precisely implements the requirements of the specification, whereas in non-strict mode it attempts to mimic the exact behaviour of commonly used HTTP agents, which many HTTP servers expect.

Parameters:

strictMode - true for strict mode, false otherwise

See Also:

isStrictMode()

isStrictMode

public boolean isStrictMode()

Returns the value of the strict mode flag.

Returns:

true if strict mode is enabled, false otherwise

See Also:

setStrictMode(boolean)

setRequestHeader

public void setRequestHeader(String headerName,
                             String headerValue)

Sets the specified request header, overwriting any previous value. Note that header-name matching is case insensitive.

Parameters:

headerName - the header's name

headerValue - the header's value

See Also:

setRequestHeader(Header), getRequestHeader(String), removeRequestHeader(String)

setRequestHeader

public void setRequestHeader(Header header)

Sets the specified request header, overwriting any previous value. Note that header-name matching is case insensitive.

Parameters:

header - the header to be set

See Also:

setRequestHeader(String,String), getRequestHeader(String), removeRequestHeader(String)

addRequestHeader

public void addRequestHeader(String headerName,
                             String headerValue)

Adds the specified request header, not overwriting any previous value. If the same header is added multiple times, perhaps with different values, multiple instances of that header will be sent in the HTTP request. Note that header-name matching is case insensitive.

Parameters:

headerName - the header's name

headerValue - the header's value

See Also:

addRequestHeader(Header), getRequestHeader(String), removeRequestHeader(String)

addRequestHeader

public void addRequestHeader(Header header)

Adds the specified request header, not overwriting any previous value. If the same header is added multiple times, perhaps with different values, multiple instances of that header will be sent in the HTTP request. Note that header-name matching is case insensitive.

Parameters:

header - the header

See Also:

addRequestHeader(String,String), getRequestHeader(String), removeRequestHeader(String)

getRequestHeader

public Header getRequestHeader(String headerName)

Gets the request header with the given name. If there are multiple headers with the same name, there values will be combined with the ',' separator as specified by RFC2616. Note that header-name matching is case insensitive.

Parameters:

headerName - the header name

Returns:

the header

removeRequestHeader

public void removeRequestHeader(String headerName)

Removes all request headers with the given name. Note that header-name matching is case insensitive.

Parameters:

headerName - the header name

getFollowRedirects

public boolean getFollowRedirects()

Returns true if the HTTP method should automatically follow HTTP redirects (status code 302, etc.), false otherwise.

Returns:

true if the method will automatically follow HTTP redirects, false otherwise

setFollowRedirects

public void setFollowRedirects(boolean followRedirects)

Sets whether or not the HTTP method should automatically follow HTTP redirects (status code 302, etc.)

Parameters:

followRedirects - true if the method will automatically follow redirects, false otherwise

setQueryString

public void setQueryString(String queryString)

Sets the query string of the HTTP method. It is responsibility of the caller to ensure that the path is properly encoded (URL safe). The string must not include an initial '?' character.

Parameters:

queryString - the query to be used in the request, with no leading '?' character

See Also:

getQueryString(), setQueryString(NameValuePair[])

setQueryString

public void setQueryString(NameValuePair[] params)

Sets the query string of this HTTP method. The pairs are encoded as UTF-8 characters. To use a different charset the parameters can be encoded manually using EncodingUtil and set as a single String.

Parameters:

params - An array of NameValuePairs to use as the query string. The name/value pairs will be automatically URL encoded and should not have been encoded previously.

See Also:

getQueryString(), setQueryString(String), EncodingUtil.formUrlEncode(NameValuePair[], String)

getQueryString

public String getQueryString()

Returns the query string of this HTTP method.

Returns:

the query string in URL encoded form, without a leading '?'.

See Also:

setQueryString(NameValuePair[]), setQueryString(String)

getRequestHeaders

public Header[] getRequestHeaders()

Returns the current request headers for this HTTP method. The returned headers will be in the same order that they were added with addRequestHeader. If there are multiple request headers with the same name (e.g. Cookie), they will be returned as multiple entries in the array.

Returns:

an array containing all of the request headers

See Also:

addRequestHeader(Header), addRequestHeader(String,String)

validate

public boolean validate()

Returns true the method is ready to execute, false otherwise.

Returns:

true if the method is ready to execute, false otherwise.

getStatusCode

public int getStatusCode()

Returns the status code associated with the latest response.

Returns:

The status code from the most recent execution of this method. If the method has not yet been executed, the result is undefined.

getStatusText

public String getStatusText()

Returns the status text (or "reason phrase") associated with the latest response.

Returns:

The status text from the most recent execution of this method. If the method has not yet been executed, the result is undefined.

getResponseHeaders

public Header[] getResponseHeaders()

Returns the response headers from the most recent execution of this request.

Returns:

A newly-created array containing all of the response headers, in the order in which they appeared in the response.

getResponseHeader

public Header getResponseHeader(String headerName)

Returns the specified response header. Note that header-name matching is case insensitive.

Parameters:

headerName - The name of the header to be returned.

Returns:

The specified response header. If the repsonse contained multiple instances of the header, its values will be combined using the ',' separator as specified by RFC2616.

getResponseFooters

public Header[] getResponseFooters()

Returns the response footers from the most recent execution of this request.

Returns:

an array containing the response footers in the order that they appeared in the response. If the response had no footers, an empty array will be returned.

getResponseFooter

public Header getResponseFooter(String footerName)

Return the specified response footer. Note that footer-name matching is case insensitive.

Parameters:

footerName - The name of the footer.

Returns:

The response footer.

getResponseBody

public byte[] getResponseBody()

Returns the response body of the HTTP method, if any, as an array of bytes. If the method has not yet been executed or the response has no body, null is returned. Note that this method does not propagate I/O exceptions. If an error occurs while reading the body, null will be returned.

Returns:

The response body, or null if the body is not available.

getResponseBodyAsString

public String getResponseBodyAsString()

Returns the response body of the HTTP method, if any, as a String. If response body is not available or cannot be read, null is returned. The raw bytes in the body are converted to a String using the character encoding specified in the response's Content-Type header, or ISO-8859-1 if the response did not specify a character set.

Note that this method does not propagate I/O exceptions. If an error occurs while reading the body, null will be returned.

Returns:

The response body converted to a String, or null if the body is not available.

getResponseBodyAsStream

public InputStream getResponseBodyAsStream()
                                    throws IOException

Returns the response body of the HTTP method, if any, as an InputStream. If the response had no body or the method has not yet been executed, null is returned. Additionally, null may be returned if releaseConnection() has been called or if this method was called previously and the resulting stream was closed.

Returns:

The response body, or null if it is not available

Throws:

IOException - if an I/O (transport) problem occurs

hasBeenUsed

public boolean hasBeenUsed()

Returns true if the HTTP method has been already executed, but not recycled.

Returns:

true if the method has been executed, false otherwise

execute

public int execute(HttpState state,
                   HttpConnection connection)
            throws HttpException,
                   IOException

Executes this method using the specified HttpConnection and HttpState.

Parameters:

state - the state information to associate with this method

connection - the connection used to execute this HTTP method

Returns:

the integer status code if one was obtained, or -1

Throws:

IOException - If an I/O (transport) error occurs. Some transport exceptions can be recovered from.

HttpException - If a protocol exception occurs. Usually protocol exceptions cannot be recovered from.

recycle

public void recycle()

Deprecated. no longer supported and will be removed in the future version of HttpClient

Recycles the HTTP method so that it can be used again. Note that all of the instance variables will be reset once this method has been called. This method will also release the connection being used by this HTTP method.

See Also:

releaseConnection()

releaseConnection

public void releaseConnection()

Releases the connection being used by this HTTP method. In particular the connection is used to read the response (if there is one) and will be held until the response has been read. If the connection can be reused by other HTTP methods it is NOT closed at this point.

After this method is called, getResponseBodyAsStream() will return null, and getResponseBody() and getResponseBodyAsString() may return null.

addResponseFooter

public void addResponseFooter(Header footer)

Add a footer to this method's response.

Note: This method is for internal use only and should not be called by external clients.

Parameters:

footer - the footer to add

Since:

2.0

getStatusLine

public StatusLine getStatusLine()

Returns the Status-Line from the most recent response for this method, or null if the method has not been executed.

Returns:

the status line, or null if the method has not been executed

Since:

2.0

getDoAuthentication

public boolean getDoAuthentication()

Returns true if the HTTP method should automatically handle HTTP authentication challenges (status code 401, etc.), false otherwise

Returns:

true if authentication challenges will be processed automatically, false otherwise.

Since:

2.0

See Also:

setDoAuthentication(boolean)

setDoAuthentication

public void setDoAuthentication(boolean doAuthentication)

Sets whether or not the HTTP method should automatically handle HTTP authentication challenges (status code 401, etc.)

Parameters:

doAuthentication - true to process authentication challenges automatically, false otherwise.

Since:

2.0

See Also:

getDoAuthentication()