Filters

The following sections provide information about using filters in a Web application:

• Overview of Filters
• Writing a Filter Class
• Configuring Filters
• Filtering the Servlet Response Object
• Additional Resources

 

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Overview of Filters

A filter is a Java class that is invoked in response to a request for a resource in a Web application. Resources include Java Servlets, JavaServer pages (JSP), and static resources such as HTML pages or images. A filter intercepts the request and can examine and m odify the response and request objects or execute other tasks.

Filters are an advanced J2EE feature primarily intended for situations where the developer cannot change the coding of an existing resource and needs to modify the behavior of that resource. Generally, it is more efficient to modify the code to change the behavior of the resource itself rather than using filters to modify the resource. In some situations, using filters can add unnecessary complexity to an application and degrade performance.

 

How Filters Work

You define filters in the context of a Web application. A filter intercepts a request for a specific named resource or a group of resources (based on a URL pattern) and executes the code in the filter. For each resource or group of resources, you can specify a single filter or multiple filters that are invoked in a specific order, called a chain.

When a filter intercepts a request, it has access to the javax.servlet.ServletRequest and javax.servlet.ServletResponse objects that provide access to the HTTP request and response, and a javax.servlet.FilterChain object. The FilterChain object contains a list of filters that can be invoked sequentially. When a filter has completed its work, the filter can either call the next filter in the chain, block the request, throw an exception, or invoke the originally requested resource.

After the original resource is invoked, control is passed back to the filter at the bottom of the list in the chain. This filter can then examine and modify the response headers and data, block the request, throw an exception, or invoke the next filter up from the bottom of the chain. This process continues in reverse order up through the chain of filters. Note that the filter can modify the headers only if the response has not already been committed.

 

Uses for Filters

Filters can be useful for the following functions:

• Implementing a logging function
• Implementing user-written security functionality
• Debugging
• Encryption
• Data compression
• Modifying the response sent to the client. (However, post processing the response can degrade the performance of your application.)

 

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Writing a Filter Class

To write a filter class, implement the javax.servlet.Filter interface. You must implement the following methods of this interface:

• init()
• destroy()
• doFilter()

Use the doFilter() method to examine and modify the request and response objects, perform other tasks such as logging, invoke the next filter in the chain, or block further processing.

Several other methods are available on the FilterConfig object for accessing the name of the filter, the ServletContext and the filter's initialization attributes. For more information see the J2EE Javadocs from Sun Microsystems for javax.servlet.FilterConfig.To access the next item in the chain (either another filter or the original resource, if that is the next item in the chain), call the FilterChain.doFilter() method.

 

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Configuring Filters

You configure filters as part of a Web application, using the application's web.xml deployment descriptor. In the deployment descriptor, you specify the filter and then map the filter to a URL pattern or to a specific servlet in the Web application. You can specify any number of filters.

 

Configuring a Filter

To configure a filter:

1. Open the web.xml deployment descriptor in a text editor or use the Administration Console. For more information, see Web Application Developer Tools. The web.xml file is located in the WEB-INF directory of your Web application.
2. Add a filter declaration. The <filter> element declares a filter, defines a name for the filter, and specifies the Java class that executes the filter. The <filter> element must directly follow the <context-param> element and directly precede the <listener> and <servlet> elements. For example:

   <context-param>Param</context-param>
   

   <filter>
   
   
   
     <icon>
   
   
   
       <small-icon>MySmallIcon.gif</small-icon>
   
   
   
       <large-icon>MyLargeIcon.gif</large-icon>
   
   
   
     </icon>
   
   
   
     <filter-name>myFilter</filter-name>
   
   
   
     <display-name>My Filter</display-name>
   
   
   
     <description>This is my filter</description>
   
   
   
     <filter-class>examples.myFilterClass</filter-class>
   
   
   
   </filter>
   

   <listener>Listener</listener>
   

   <servlet>Servlet</servlet>
   

   The icon, description, and display-name elements are optional.

3. Specify one or more initialization attributes inside a <filter> element. For example:

   <filter>
   
   
   
     <icon>
   
   
   
       <small-icon>MySmallIcon.gif</small-icon>
   
   
   
       <large-icon>MyLargeIcon.gif</large-icon>
   
   
   
     </icon>
   
   
   
     <filter-name>myFilter</filter-name>
   
   
   
     <display-name>My Filter</display-name>
   
   
   
     <description>This is my filter</description>
   
   
   
     <filter-class>examples.myFilterClass</filter-class>
   
   
   
     <init-param>
   
   
   
       <param-name>myInitParam</param-name>
   
   
   
       <param-value>myInitParamValue</param-value>
   
   
   
     </init-param>
   
   
   
   </filter>
   

   Your Filter class can read the initialization attributes using the FilterConfig.getInitParameter() or FilterConfig.getInitParameters() methods.

4. Add filter mappings. The <filter-mapping> element specifies which filter to execute based on a URL pattern or servlet name. The <filter-mapping> element must immediately follow the <filter> element(s).
   • To create a filter mapping using a URL pattern, specify the name of the filter and a URL pattern. URL pattern matching is performed according to the rules specified in the Servlet 2.3 Specification from Sun Microsystems, in section 11.1. For example, the following filter-mapping maps myFilter to requests that contain /myPattern/.

     <filter-mapping>
     
     
     
       <filter-name>myFilter</filter-name>
     
     
     
       <url-pattern>/myPattern/*</url-pattern>
     
     
     
     </filter-mapping>
     

   • To create a filter mapping for a specific servlet, map the filter to the name of a servlet that is registered in the Web application. For example, the following code maps the myFilter filter to a servlet called myServlet:

     <filter-mapping>
     
     
     
       <filter-name>myFilter</filter-name>
     
     
     
       <servlet-hame>myServlet</servlet-name>
     
     
     
     </filter-napping>
     

5. To create a chain of filters, specify multiple filter mappings. For more information, see Configuring a Chain of Filters.

 

Configuring a Chain of Filters

WebLogic Server creates a chain of filters by creating a list of all the filter mappings that match an incoming HTTP request. The ordering of the list is determined by the following sequence:

1. Filters where the filter-mapping element contains a url-pattern that matches the request are added to the chain in the order they appear in the web.xml deployment descriptor.
2. Filters where the filter-mapping element contains a servlet-name that matches the request are added to the chain after the filters that match a URL pattern.
3. The last item in the chain is always the originally requested resource.

In your filter class, use the FilterChain.doFilter() method to invoke the next item in the chain.

 

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Filtering the Servlet Response Object

You can use filters to post-process the output of a servlet by appending data to the output generated by the servlet. However, in order to capture the output of the servlet, create a wrapper for the response. (You cannot use the original response object, because the output buffer of the servlet is automatically flushed and sent to the client when the servlet completes executing and before control is returned to the last filter in the chain.) When you create such a wrapper, WebLogic Server must manipulate an additional copy of the output in memory, which can degrade performance.

For more information on wrapping the response or request objects, see the J2EE Javadocs from Sun Microsystems for javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponseWrapper and javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequestWrapper. .

 

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Additional Resources

• Servlet 2.3 Specification from Sun Microsystems
• J2EE API Reference (Javadocs)
• The J2EE Tutorial from Sun Microsystems