Package jakarta.servlet

Interface RequestDispatcher

public interface RequestDispatcher

Defines an object that receives requests from the client and sends them to any resource (such as a servlet, HTML file, or JSP file) on the server. The servlet container creates the RequestDispatcher object, which is used as a wrapper around a server resource located at a particular path or given by a particular name.

This interface is intended to wrap servlets, but a servlet container can create RequestDispatcher objects to wrap any type of resource.

See Also:

• ServletContext.getRequestDispatcher(String)
• ServletContext.getNamedDispatcher(String)
• ServletRequest.getRequestDispatcher(String)

Field Summary

Fields

Modifier and Type	Field	Description
static final String	ERROR_EXCEPTION	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked.
static final String	ERROR_EXCEPTION_TYPE	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked.
static final String	ERROR_MESSAGE	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked.
static final String	ERROR_METHOD	The name of the request attribute under which the method of the request whose processing caused the error is propagated during an error dispatch.
static final String	ERROR_QUERY_STRING	The name of the request attribute under which the query string for request whose processing caused the error is propagated during an error dispatch
static final String	ERROR_REQUEST_URI	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked.
static final String	ERROR_SERVLET_NAME	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked.
static final String	ERROR_STATUS_CODE	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked.
static final String	FORWARD_CONTEXT_PATH	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called.
static final String	FORWARD_MAPPING	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called.
static final String	FORWARD_PATH_INFO	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called.
static final String	FORWARD_QUERY_STRING	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called.
static final String	FORWARD_REQUEST_URI	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called.
static final String	FORWARD_SERVLET_PATH	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called.
static final String	INCLUDE_CONTEXT_PATH	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name.
static final String	INCLUDE_MAPPING	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name.
static final String	INCLUDE_PATH_INFO	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name.
static final String	INCLUDE_QUERY_STRING	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name.
static final String	INCLUDE_REQUEST_URI	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name.
static final String	INCLUDE_SERVLET_PATH	The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
void	forward(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response)	Forwards a request from a servlet to another resource (servlet, JSP file, or HTML file) on the server.
void	include(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response)	Includes the content of a resource (servlet, JSP page, HTML file) in the response.

Field Details

FORWARD_REQUEST_URI

static final String FORWARD_REQUEST_URI

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called. It provides the original value of a path-related property of the request. See the chapter "Forwarded Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

FORWARD_CONTEXT_PATH

static final String FORWARD_CONTEXT_PATH

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called. It provides the original value of a path-related property of the request. See the chapter "Forwarded Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

FORWARD_MAPPING

static final String FORWARD_MAPPING

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called. It provides the original value of a path-related property of the request. See the chapter "Forwarded Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 4.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

FORWARD_PATH_INFO

static final String FORWARD_PATH_INFO

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called. It provides the original value of a path-related property of the request. See the chapter "Forwarded Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

FORWARD_SERVLET_PATH

static final String FORWARD_SERVLET_PATH

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called. It provides the original value of a path-related property of the request. See the chapter "Forwarded Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

FORWARD_QUERY_STRING

static final String FORWARD_QUERY_STRING

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the forward(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called. It provides the original value of a path-related property of the request. See the chapter "Forwarded Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

INCLUDE_REQUEST_URI

static final String INCLUDE_REQUEST_URI

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name. It provides information on the path that was used to obtain the RequestDispatcher instance for this include call. See the chapter "Included Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

INCLUDE_CONTEXT_PATH

static final String INCLUDE_CONTEXT_PATH

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name. It provides information on the path that was used to obtain the RequestDispatcher instance for this include call. See the chapter "Included Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

INCLUDE_PATH_INFO

static final String INCLUDE_PATH_INFO

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name. It provides information on the path that was used to obtain the RequestDispatcher instance for this include call. See the chapter "Included Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

INCLUDE_MAPPING

static final String INCLUDE_MAPPING

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name. It provides information on the path that was used to obtain the RequestDispatcher instance for this include call. See the chapter "Included Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 4.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

INCLUDE_SERVLET_PATH

static final String INCLUDE_SERVLET_PATH

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name. It provides information on the path that was used to obtain the RequestDispatcher instance for this include call. See the chapter "Included Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

INCLUDE_QUERY_STRING

static final String INCLUDE_QUERY_STRING

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when the include(ServletRequest, ServletResponse) method is called on the RequestDispatcher obtained by a path and not by a name. It provides information on the path that was used to obtain the RequestDispatcher instance for this include call. See the chapter "Included Request Parameters" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

ERROR_EXCEPTION

static final String ERROR_EXCEPTION

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked. The value of the attribute is of type java.lang.Throwable. See the chapter "Error Handling" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

ERROR_EXCEPTION_TYPE

static final String ERROR_EXCEPTION_TYPE

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked. The value of the attribute is of type java.lang.Class. See the chapter "Error Handling" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

ERROR_MESSAGE

static final String ERROR_MESSAGE

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked. The value of the attribute is of type String. See the chapter "Error Handling" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

ERROR_METHOD

static final String ERROR_METHOD

The name of the request attribute under which the method of the request whose processing caused the error is propagated during an error dispatch.

Since:

Servlet 6.1

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

ERROR_REQUEST_URI

static final String ERROR_REQUEST_URI

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked. The value of the attribute is of type String. See the chapter "Error Handling" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

ERROR_QUERY_STRING

static final String ERROR_QUERY_STRING

The name of the request attribute under which the query string for request whose processing caused the error is propagated during an error dispatch

Since:

Servlet 6.1

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

ERROR_SERVLET_NAME

static final String ERROR_SERVLET_NAME

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked. The value of the attribute is of type String. See the chapter "Error Handling" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

ERROR_STATUS_CODE

static final String ERROR_STATUS_CODE

The name of the request attribute that should be set by the container when custom error-handling servlet or JSP page is invoked. The value of the attribute is of type java.lang.Integer. See the chapter "Error Handling" in the Servlet Specification for details.

Since:

Servlet 3.0

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

Method Details

forward

void forward(ServletRequest request,
 ServletResponse response)
      throws ServletException,
IOException

Forwards a request from a servlet to another resource (servlet, JSP file, or HTML file) on the server. This method allows one servlet to do preliminary processing of a request and another resource to generate the response.

For a RequestDispatcher obtained via getRequestDispatcher(), the ServletRequest object has its path elements and parameters adjusted to match the path of the target resource.

forward should be called before the response has been committed to the client (before response body output has been flushed). If the response already has been committed, this method throws an IllegalStateException. Uncommitted output in the response buffer is automatically cleared before the forward.

The request and response parameters must be either the same objects as were passed to the calling servlet's service method or be subclasses of the ServletRequestWrapper or ServletResponseWrapper classes that wrap them.

Parameters:

request - a ServletRequest object that represents the request the client makes of the servlet

response - a ServletResponse object that represents the response the servlet returns to the client

Throws:

ServletException - if the target resource throws this exception

IOException - if the target resource throws this exception

IllegalStateException - if the response was already committed

include

void include(ServletRequest request,
 ServletResponse response)
      throws ServletException,
IOException

Includes the content of a resource (servlet, JSP page, HTML file) in the response. In essence, this method enables programmatic server-side includes.

The ServletResponse object has its path elements and parameters remain unchanged from the caller's. The included servlet cannot change the response status code or set headers; any attempt to make a change is ignored.

The request and response parameters must be either the same objects as were passed to the calling servlet's service method or be subclasses of the ServletRequestWrapper or ServletResponseWrapper classes that wrap them.

Parameters:

request - a ServletRequest object that contains the client's request

response - a ServletResponse object that contains the servlet's response

Throws:

ServletException - if the included resource throws this exception

IOException - if the included resource throws this exception