Forwarding a request to a sevlet inside context on another web server.

[Ashish Agrawal]

I have written one servlet from which I want to pass the objects created in it to a servlet on another server. I have tried it with the sendRedirect method. It is working fine for simple strings when appended with the url query string, but how can I send bulk amount of data with the request and also have a response from there?
I have also tried using forward method, but it doesnt work for remote contexts even if a reference to remote context is acquired.

[Roland Barcia]

A forward stays on the server and is part of the same request. So you can store data as an attribute and forward. If you need to redirect to a Servlet that is part of another application on another box, redirect is always a GET reuest so the URL string is all you have.

[Ashish Agrawal]

Originally posted by Roland Barcia:
A forward stays on the server and is part of the same request. So you can store data as an attribute and forward. If you need to redirect to a Servlet that is part of another application on another box, redirect is always a GET reuest so the URL string is all you have.

Thats right...but as I mentioned in my post, I want to send objects and not just character data. Is there any other way like using URLConnection,etc.? If yes, how?
- Ashish Agrawal.

[rick zorich]

Here is some quick and dirty JSP to demonstrate. Put both files in the same directory.
------------sender.jsp----------------------------------------

<%@ page import="java.util.*,java.net.*,java.io.*" %>
<%  
         Vector vSend = new Vector();
         vSend.add("one");
         vSend.add("two");
         vSend.add("three");
         String urlStr = request.getRequestURL().toString();
         URL url = new URL(urlStr.substring(0,urlStr.lastIndexOf("/")+1) + "bouncer.jsp");
         HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection)url.openConnection();
         conn.setDoOutput(true);
         conn.setDoInput(true);
         conn.setRequestMethod("POST");
         conn.setRequestProperty("Content-type", "application/octet-stream");
         ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(conn.getOutputStream());
         oos.writeObject(vSend); 
         oos.flush();
         ObjectInputStream in = new ObjectInputStream(conn.getInputStream());
         Vector vBack = (Vector)in.readObject();
         in.close();
         oos.close();
%>
vBack=<%=vBack%>
 

-------------------------------bouncer.jsp--------------------------

  <%@ page import="java.net.*,java.io.*" %>
<%
         ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(request.getInputStream());
         ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(response.getOutputStream());
         oos.writeObject(ois.readObject()); 
         oos.flush();
         ois.close();
         oos.close();
%>

[Ashish Agrawal]

Thank you very much Rick