javax.servlet
Class ServletInputStream

java.lang.Object
 |
 +--java.io.InputStream
 |
 +--javax.servlet.ServletInputStream

public abstract class ServletInputStream

extends java.io.InputStream

Provides an input stream for reading binary data from a client request, including an efficient readLine method for reading data one line at a time. With some protocols, such as HTTP POST and PUT, a ServletInputStream object can be used to read data sent from the client.

A ServletInputStream object is normally retrieved via the ServletRequest.getInputStream() method.

This is an abstract class that a servlet container implements. Subclasses of this class must implement the java.io.InputStream.read() method.

See Also:

ServletRequest

ServletInputStream

protected ServletInputStream()

Does nothing, because this is an abstract class.

readLine

public int readLine(byte[] b,
 int off,
 int len)
 throws java.io.IOException

Reads the input stream, one line at a time. Starting at an offset, reads bytes into an array, until it reads a certain number of bytes or reaches a newline character, which it reads into the array as well.

This method returns -1 if it reaches the end of the input stream before reading the maximum number of bytes.

Parameters:

b - an array of bytes into which data is read

off - an integer specifying the character at which this method begins reading

len - an integer specifying the maximum number of bytes to read

Returns:

an integer specifying the actual number of bytes read, or -1 if the end of the stream is reached

Throws:

java.io.IOException - if an input or output exception has occurred