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Request-Handling Methods
Request-handling is performed in three phases, which correspond to three methods that you can override:
- Taking input values from the request (takeValuesFromRequest:inContext: or takeValuesFromRequest)
- Invoking the action (invokeActionForRequest:inContext: or invokeAction)
- Generating a response (appendToResponse:inContext: or appendToResponse)
The request-handling methods handle three types of objects:
- A request object (WORequest or Request in Java) is passed as an argument in the first two phases. This object represents a user request. You can use it to retrieve information about the request, such as the method line, request headers, the URL, and form values.
- A context object (WOContext or Context in Java) is passed as an argument in all three phases. This object represents the current context of the application. It contains references to information specific to the application, such as the path to the request component's directory, the version of WebObjects that's running, the application name, and the request page's name.
- A response object (WOResponse in Java) is passed in the final phase. This object encapsulates information contained in the generated HTTP response, such as the status, response headers, and response content.
As you implement request-handling methods, you must invoke the superclass's implementation of the same methods. But consider where you invoke it because it can affect the request, response, and context information available at any given point. In short, you want to perform certain tasks before super is invoked and other tasks after super is invoked.
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