com.marringtons.net.HTTP
Class Client

java.lang.Object
  com.marringtons.net.HTTP.Client

public class Client

extends Object

This class provides complete HTTP client functionality so that a Java program can act as a browser does in talking to a HTTP server. It can be used to Get and Post data to a HTTP server and collect the results for analysis. Multiple exchanges may use the same connection if it is still open.

 Writer writer = new StringWriter();
 Client client = new Client(1958, writer); // initialise with the port number
 class Closer implements Closeable
 	{
 		public void close()
 			{
 				System.out.println("Client Read Complete");
 			}
 	}
 client.onComplete(new Closeable());
 client.get("http://myserver.com/testcgi.cgi", 80, writer);
 if (client.isAlive())
 System.out.println("client is still retrieving data");
 if (client.result(60))
 	System.out.println("Client returned " + writer.toString());
 else if (client.timedOut())
 	System.err.println("Client timed out ");
 else
 	System.err.println("Client error: " + client.error());
 
 // or if you want the body as a string:
 client = new Client(1958);
 String result = client.body(); // waits to return the completed body
 

Author:

Paul Marrington

Constructor Summary

Client(int port)
Create a client pointing to a server on the local machine for the defined port.

Client(int port, Writer fromServer)
Create a client pointing to a server on the local machine for the defined port.

Client(String hostName, int port)
Create a client pointing to a server on the named machine.

Client(String hostName, int port, Writer fromServer)
Create a client pointing to a server on the named machine.

Method Summary

void	clear() Used by testing routines where client input is kept in a string to clear this input.
void	close() Close a persistent connection (one where each message had a length).
void	converse() Called when thread starts to do the real work.
void	get() Set up client to receive from server without first sending anything.
void	get(String url) Send a Get request to the server - synchronous.
Header	getHeader() Retrieve the header from the last get or post command.
boolean	isOpen() Is the client connection still open and ready for business.
void	post(String url, String data) Send a Post request to the server - synchronous.
void	setCharacterMode() Set the transfer from server to character at a time (instead of line).
void	setCharacterMode(boolean mode) Set the transfer from server to character at a time (instead of line).
String	toString()

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

Client

public Client(int port)

Create a client pointing to a server on the local machine for the defined port. Results can be retrieved with body() method.

Parameters:

port - to open for connection

Client

public Client(int port,
              Writer fromServer)

Create a client pointing to a server on the local machine for the defined port.

Parameters:

port - to open for connection

fromServer - stream to write to with data recieved from the server

Client

public Client(String hostName,
              int port)
       throws UnknownHostException

Create a client pointing to a server on the named machine.

Parameters:

hostName - name or IP as a string

port - to open for connection

Throws:

UnknownHostException

Client

public Client(String hostName,
              int port,
              Writer fromServer)
       throws UnknownHostException

Create a client pointing to a server on the named machine.

Parameters:

hostName - name or IP as a string

port - to open for connection

fromServer - stream to write to with data recieved from the server

Throws:

UnknownHostException

Method Detail

get

public void get()
         throws IOException

Set up client to receive from server without first sending anything. Used by unit testing when the unit test code instigates a server push.

Throws:

IOException - on a socket error

get

public void get(String url)
         throws IOException

Send a Get request to the server - synchronous.

Parameters:

url - to ask server to retrieve

Throws:

IOException - on a socket error

post

public void post(String url,
                 String data)
          throws IOException

Send a Post request to the server - synchronous.

Parameters:

url - to ask server to action

data - of the post alreay encoded (i.e. a=b&c=d+e&f=g)

Throws:

IOException - on a socket error

converse

public void converse()
              throws IOException

Called when thread starts to do the real work.

Throws:

IOException - on a socket error

toString

public String toString()

Returns:

the contents of the response from the remote server.

See Also:

Object.toString()

close

public void close()

Close a persistent connection (one where each message had a length).

isOpen

public boolean isOpen()

Is the client connection still open and ready for business.

Returns:

true if client connection had remained open after exchange.

setCharacterMode

public void setCharacterMode()

Set the transfer from server to character at a time (instead of line). Only works for pages that do not have a specific length.

setCharacterMode

public void setCharacterMode(boolean mode)

Set the transfer from server to character at a time (instead of line). Only works for pages that do not have a specific length.

Parameters:

mode - - true for character-at-a-time and false for line-at-a-time

getHeader

public Header getHeader()

Retrieve the header from the last get or post command.

Returns:

Header

clear

public void clear()

Used by testing routines where client input is kept in a string to clear this input. A subsequent toString() or body() will return an empty string.