GenericServlet Class  
public abstract class GenericServlet extends Object implements Servlet, ServletConfig, Serializable  
 
Object   
  GenericServlet   
Interfaces

Servlet, ServletConfig, Serializable

The GenericServlet class defines a generic, protocol-independent servlet. It provides implementations of the methods declared in the Servlet and ServletConfig interfaces. Because GenericServlet is an abstract class, a GenericServlet object is never created. To create a generic servlet, a class must be written that extends the GenericServlet class and overrides the service() method.

GenericServlet()  
public GenericServlet() Constructor
 

This constructor does nothing. The init() methods are used for servlet initialization.

destroy()  
public void destroy() Method
 

destroy() unloads the servlet from the server's memory and releases any resources associated with the servlet.

getServletConfig()  
public ServletConfig getServletConfig() Method
 

getServletConfig() returns the ServletConfig object associated with the invoking GenericServlet sub-class object. A ServletConfig object contains parameters that are used to initialize the servlet.

getServletContext()  
public ServletContext getServletContext() Method
 

getServletContext() returns the ServletContext object associated with the invoking GenericServlet sub-class object. A ServletContext object contains information about the environment in which the servlet is running.

init()  
public void init() throws ServletException
public void init(ServletConfig config)
throws ServletException
Method
 

init() is called when the servlet is loaded into the address space of the server. If a ServletConfig object is specified, it can be used to provide the servlet with initialization parameters. The no-argument version is provided as a convenience method and is intended to be overridden by sub-classes.

log()  
public void log(String message)
public void log(String message, Throwable thr)
Method
 

log() is used to write a message to the servlet's log file. The second version writes an explanatory message and a stack trace for the specified Throwable exception to the log file.

getInitParameter()  
public String getInitParameter(String name) Method
 

getInitParameter() returns the value of the specified initialization parameter from the ServletConfig object associated with the invoking GenericServlet object.

getInitParameterNames()  
public Enumeration getInitParameterNames() Method
 

getInitParameterNames() returns an Enumeration of String objects containing the names of all of the servlet's initialization parameters.

getServletInfo()  
public String getServletInfo() Method
 

getServletInfo() returns a String containing useful information about the servlet. By default, this method returns an empty String. It can be overridden to provide more useful information.

getServletName()  
public String getServletName() Method
 

getServletName() returns the name of the invoking GenericServlet object.

service()  
public abstract void service(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException Method
 

service() is called to respond to a request from a client machine. The code representing what the servlet is supposed to do is placed in this method. Because this method is declared abstract, a concrete implementation must be provided by a concrete (non-abstract) sub-class of GenericServlet.