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Class HTTPClient.HttpOutputStream

java.lang.Object
    |
    +----java.io.OutputStream
            |
            +----HTTPClient.HttpOutputStream

public class HttpOutputStream

extends OutputStream

implements GlobalConstants

There are two constructors for this class, one taking a length parameter and one without any parameters. If the stream is created with a length then the request will be sent with the corresponding Content-length header and anything written to the stream will be written on the socket immediately. This is the preferred way. If the stream is created without a length then one of two things will happen: if, at the time of the request, the server is known to understand HTTP/1.1 then each write() will send the data immediately using the chunked encoding. If, however, either the server version is unknown (because this is first request to that server) or the server only understands HTTP/1.0 then all data will be written to a buffer first, and only when the stream is closed will the request be sent.

Another reason that using the HttpOutputStream(length) constructor is recommended over the HttpOutputStream() one is that some HTTP/1.1 servers do not allow the chunked transfer encoding to be used when POSTing to a cgi script. This is because the way the cgi API is defined the cgi script expects a Content-length environment variable. If the data is sent using the chunked transfer encoding however, then the server would have to buffer all the data before invoking the cgi so that this variable could be set correctly. Not all servers are willing to do this.

The behaviour of a request sent with an output stream may differ from that of request sent with a data parameter. The reason for this is that the various modules cannot resend a request which used an output stream. Therefore such things as authorization and retrying of requests won't be done by the HTTPClient for such a request.

Since:

V0.3

Version:

0.3 30/01/1998

Author:

Ronald Tschalär

HttpOutputStream()

Creates an output stream of unspecified length.

HttpOutputStream(int)

This creates an output stream which will take length bytes of data.

close()

Closes the stream and causes the data to be sent if it has not already been done so.

getLength()

Returns the number of bytes this stream is willing to accept, or -1 if it is unbounded.

toString()

produces a string describing this stream.

write(byte[], int, int)

Writes an array of bytes on the stream.

write(int)

Writes a single byte on the stream.

public HttpOutputStream()

Creates an output stream of unspecified length. Note that it is highly recommended that this constructor be avoided where possible and HttpOutputStream(int) used instead.

See Also:

HttpOutputStream

public HttpOutputStream(int length)

This creates an output stream which will take length bytes of data.

Parameters:

length - the number of bytes which will be sent over this stream

public int getLength()

Returns the number of bytes this stream is willing to accept, or -1 if it is unbounded.

Returns:

the number of bytes

public void write(int b) throws IOException, IllegalAccessError

Writes a single byte on the stream. It is subject to the same rules as write(byte[], int, int).

Parameters:

b - the byte to write

Throws: IOException

if any exception is thrown by the socket

Overrides:

write in class OutputStream

See Also:

write

public void write(byte[] buf,
                  int off,
                  int len) throws IOException, IllegalAccessError

Writes an array of bytes on the stream. This method may not be used until this stream has been passed to one of the methods in HTTPConnection (i.e. until it has been associated with a request).

Parameters:

buf - an array containing the data to write

off - the offset of the data whithin the buffer

len - the number bytes (starting at off) to write

Throws: IOException

if any exception is thrown by the socket, or if writing len bytes would cause more bytes to be written than this stream is willing to accept.

Throws: IllegalAccessError

if this stream has not been associated with a request yet

Overrides:

write in class OutputStream

public void close() throws IOException, IllegalAccessError

Closes the stream and causes the data to be sent if it has not already been done so. This method must be invoked when all data has been written.

Throws: IOException

if any exception is thrown by the underlying socket, or if too few bytes were written.

Throws: IllegalAccessError

if this stream has not been associated with a request yet.

Overrides:

close in class OutputStream

public String toString()

produces a string describing this stream.

Returns:

a string containing the name and the length

Overrides:

toString in class Object

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