public class Cookie
extends java.lang.Object
implements java.lang.Cloneable, java.io.Serializable
A cookie has a name, a single value, and optional attributes such as a comment, path and domain qualifiers, a maximum age, and a version number. Some Web browsers have bugs in how they handle the optional attributes, so use them sparingly to improve the interoperability of your servlets.
The servlet sends cookies to the browser by using the HttpServletResponse.addCookie(javax.servlet.http.Cookie)
method, which adds fields
to HTTP response headers to send cookies to the browser, one at a time. The browser is expected to support 20 cookies
for each Web server, 300 cookies total, and may limit cookie size to 4 KB each.
The browser returns cookies to the servlet by adding fields to HTTP request headers. Cookies can be retrieved from a
request by using the HttpServletRequest.getCookies()
method. Several cookies might have the same name but
different path attributes.
Cookies affect the caching of the Web pages that use them. HTTP 1.0 does not cache pages that use cookies created with this class. This class does not support the cache control defined with HTTP 1.1.
This class supports both the Version 0 (by Netscape) and Version 1 (by RFC 2109) cookie specifications. By default, cookies are created using Version 0 to ensure the best interoperability.
Constructor and Description |
---|
Cookie(java.lang.String name,
java.lang.String value)
Constructs a cookie with the specified name and value.
|
Modifier and Type | Method and Description |
---|---|
java.lang.Object |
clone()
Overrides the standard
java.lang.Object.clone method to return a copy of this Cookie. |
java.lang.String |
getComment()
Returns the comment describing the purpose of this cookie, or
null if the cookie has no comment. |
java.lang.String |
getDomain()
Gets the domain name of this Cookie.
|
int |
getMaxAge()
Gets the maximum age in seconds of this Cookie.
|
java.lang.String |
getName()
Returns the name of the cookie.
|
java.lang.String |
getPath()
Returns the path on the server to which the browser returns this cookie.
|
boolean |
getSecure()
Returns
true if the browser is sending cookies only over a secure protocol, or false if
the browser can send cookies using any protocol. |
java.lang.String |
getValue()
Gets the current value of this Cookie.
|
int |
getVersion()
Returns the version of the protocol this cookie complies with.
|
boolean |
isHttpOnly()
Checks whether this Cookie has been marked as HttpOnly.
|
void |
setComment(java.lang.String purpose)
Specifies a comment that describes a cookie's purpose.
|
void |
setDomain(java.lang.String domain)
Specifies the domain within which this cookie should be presented.
|
void |
setHttpOnly(boolean isHttpOnly)
Marks or unmarks this Cookie as HttpOnly.
|
void |
setMaxAge(int expiry)
Sets the maximum age in seconds for this Cookie.
|
void |
setPath(java.lang.String uri)
Specifies a path for the cookie to which the client should return the cookie.
|
void |
setSecure(boolean flag)
Indicates to the browser whether the cookie should only be sent using a secure protocol, such as HTTPS or SSL.
|
void |
setValue(java.lang.String newValue)
Assigns a new value to this Cookie.
|
void |
setVersion(int v)
Sets the version of the cookie protocol that this Cookie complies with.
|
public Cookie(java.lang.String name, java.lang.String value)
The name must conform to RFC 2109. However, vendors may provide a configuration option that allows cookie names conforming to the original Netscape Cookie Specification to be accepted.
The name of a cookie cannot be changed once the cookie has been created.
The value can be anything the server chooses to send. Its value is probably of interest only to the server. The
cookie's value can be changed after creation with the setValue
method.
By default, cookies are created according to the Netscape cookie specification. The version can be changed with
the setVersion
method.
name
- the name of the cookievalue
- the value of the cookiejava.lang.IllegalArgumentException
- if the cookie name is null or empty or contains any illegal characters (for
example, a comma, space, or semicolon) or matches a token reserved for use by
the cookie protocolsetValue(java.lang.String)
,
setVersion(int)
public void setComment(java.lang.String purpose)
purpose
- a String
specifying the comment to display to the usergetComment()
public java.lang.String getComment()
null
if the cookie has no comment.null
if unspecifiedsetComment(java.lang.String)
public void setDomain(java.lang.String domain)
The form of the domain name is specified by RFC 2109. A domain name begins with a dot (.foo.com
) and
means that the cookie is visible to servers in a specified Domain Name System (DNS) zone (for example,
www.foo.com
, but not a.b.foo.com
). By default, cookies are only returned to the server
that sent them.
domain
- the domain name within which this cookie is visible; form is according to RFC 2109getDomain()
public java.lang.String getDomain()
Domain names are formatted according to RFC 2109.
setDomain(java.lang.String)
public void setMaxAge(int expiry)
A positive value indicates that the cookie will expire after that many seconds have passed. Note that the value is the maximum age when the cookie will expire, not the cookie's current age.
A negative value means that the cookie is not stored persistently and will be deleted when the Web browser exits. A zero value causes the cookie to be deleted.
expiry
- an integer specifying the maximum age of the cookie in seconds; if negative, means the cookie is
not stored; if zero, deletes the cookiegetMaxAge()
public int getMaxAge()
By default, -1
is returned, which indicates that the cookie will persist until browser shutdown.
setMaxAge(int)
public void setPath(java.lang.String uri)
The cookie is visible to all the pages in the directory you specify, and all the pages in that directory's subdirectories. A cookie's path must include the servlet that set the cookie, for example, /catalog, which makes the cookie visible to all directories on the server under /catalog.
Consult RFC 2109 (available on the Internet) for more information on setting path names for cookies.
uri
- a String
specifying a pathgetPath()
public java.lang.String getPath()
String
specifying a path that contains a servlet name, for example, /catalogsetPath(java.lang.String)
public void setSecure(boolean flag)
The default value is false
.
flag
- if true
, sends the cookie from the browser to the server only when using a secure
protocol; if false
, sent on any protocolgetSecure()
public boolean getSecure()
true
if the browser is sending cookies only over a secure protocol, or false
if
the browser can send cookies using any protocol.true
if the browser uses a secure protocol, false
otherwisesetSecure(boolean)
public java.lang.String getName()
public void setValue(java.lang.String newValue)
If you use a binary value, you may want to use BASE64 encoding.
With Version 0 cookies, values should not contain white space, brackets, parentheses, equals signs, commas, double quotes, slashes, question marks, at signs, colons, and semicolons. Empty values may not behave the same way on all browsers.
newValue
- the new value of the cookiegetValue()
public java.lang.String getValue()
setValue(java.lang.String)
public int getVersion()
setVersion(int)
public void setVersion(int v)
Version 0 complies with the original Netscape cookie specification. Version 1 complies with RFC 2109.
Since RFC 2109 is still somewhat new, consider version 1 as experimental; do not use it yet on production sites.
v
- 0 if the cookie should comply with the original Netscape specification; 1 if the cookie should comply
with RFC 2109getVersion()
public java.lang.Object clone()
java.lang.Object.clone
method to return a copy of this Cookie.clone
in class java.lang.Object
public void setHttpOnly(boolean isHttpOnly)
If isHttpOnly is set to true, this cookie is marked as HttpOnly, by adding the HttpOnly attribute to it.
HttpOnly cookies are not supposed to be exposed to client-side scripting code, and may therefore help mitigate certain kinds of cross-site scripting attacks.
isHttpOnly
- true if this cookie is to be marked as HttpOnly, false otherwisepublic boolean isHttpOnly()