The Java EE 7 Tutorial

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17.17 The dukeetf Example Application

The dukeetf example application, located in the tut-install/examples/web/dukeetf/ directory, demonstrates how to use asynchronous processing in a servlet to provide data updates to web clients. The example resembles a service that provides periodic updates on the price and trading volume of an electronically traded fund (ETF).

17.17.1 Architecture of the dukeetf Example Application

The dukeetf example application consists of a servlet, an enterprise bean, and an HTML page.

  • The servlet puts requests in asynchronous mode, stores them in a queue, and writes the responses when new data for price and trading volume becomes available.

  • The enterprise bean updates the price and volume information once every second.

  • The HTML page uses JavaScript code to make requests to the servlet for new data, parse the response from the servlet, and update the price and volume information without reloading the page.

The dukeetf example application uses a programming model known as long polling. In the traditional HTTP request and response model, the user must make an explicit request (such as clicking a link or submitting a form) to get any new information from the server, and the page has to be reloaded. Long polling provides a mechanism for web applications to push updates to clients using HTTP without the user making an explicit request. The server handles connections asynchronously, and the client uses JavaScript to make new connections. In this model, clients make a new request immediately after receiving new data, and the server keeps the connection open until new data becomes available.

17.17.1.1 The Servlet

The DukeETFServlet class uses asynchronous processing:

@WebServlet(urlPatterns={"/dukeetf"}, asyncSupported=true)
public class DukeETFServlet extends HttpServlet {
...
}

In the following code, the init method initializes a queue to hold client requests and registers the servlet with the enterprise bean that provides the price and volume updates. The send method gets called once per second by the PriceVolumeBean to send updates and close the connection:

@Override
public void init(ServletConfig config) {
   /* Queue for requests */
   requestQueue = new ConcurrentLinkedQueue<>();
   /* Register with the enterprise bean that provides price/volume updates */
   pvbean.registerServlet(this);
}

/* PriceVolumeBean calls this method every second to send updates */
public void send(double price, int volume) {
   /* Send update to all connected clients */
   for (AsyncContext acontext : requestQueue) {
      try {
         String msg = String.format("%.2f / %d", price, volume);
         PrintWriter writer = acontext.getResponse().getWriter();
         writer.write(msg);
         logger.log(Level.INFO, "Sent: {0}", msg);
         /* Close the connection
          * The client (JavaScript) makes a new one instantly */
         acontext.complete();
      } catch (IOException ex) {
         logger.log(Level.INFO, ex.toString());
      }
   }
}

The service method puts client requests in asynchronous mode and adds a listener to each request. The listener is implemented as an anonymous class that removes the request from the queue when the servlet finishes writing a response or when there is an error. Finally, the service method adds the request to the request queue created in the init method. The service method is the following:

@Override
public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, 
                  HttpServletResponse response) {
   response.setContentType("text/html");
   /* Put request in async mode */
   final AsyncContext acontext = request.startAsync();
   /* Remove from the queue when done */
   acontext.addListener(new AsyncListener() {
      public void onComplete(AsyncEvent ae) throws IOException {
         requestQueue.remove(acontext);
      }
      public void onTimeout(AsyncEvent ae) throws IOException {
         requestQueue.remove(acontext);
      }
      public void onError(AsyncEvent ae) throws IOException {
         requestQueue.remove(acontext);
      }
      public void onStartAsync(AsyncEvent ae) throws IOException {}
   });
   /* Add to the queue */
   requestQueue.add(acontext);
}

17.17.1.2 The Enterprise Bean

The PriceVolumeBean class is an enterprise bean that uses the timer service from the container to update the price and volume information and call the servlet's send method once every second:

@Startup
@Singleton
public class PriceVolumeBean {
    /* Use the container's timer service */
    @Resource TimerService tservice;
    private DukeETFServlet servlet;
    ...
    
    @PostConstruct
    public void init() {
        /* Initialize the EJB and create a timer */
        random = new Random();
        servlet = null;
        tservice.createIntervalTimer(1000, 1000, new TimerConfig());
    }
    
    public void registerServlet(DukeETFServlet servlet) {
        /* Associate a servlet to send updates to */
        this.servlet = servlet;
    }
    
    @Timeout
    public void timeout() {
        /* Adjust price and volume and send updates */
        price += 1.0*(random.nextInt(100)-50)/100.0;
        volume += random.nextInt(5000) - 2500;
        if (servlet != null)
            servlet.send(price, volume);
    }
}

See Using the Timer Service in Chapter 34, "Running the Enterprise Bean Examples" for more information on the timer service.

17.17.1.3 The HTML Page

The HTML page consists of a table and some JavaScript code. The table contains two fields referenced from JavaScript code:

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>...</head>
<body onload="makeAjaxRequest();">
  ...
  <table>
    ...
    <td id="price">--.--</td>
    ...
    <td id="volume">--</td>
    ...
  </table>
</body>
</html>

The JavaScript code uses the XMLHttpRequest API, which provides functionality for transferring data between a client and a server. The script makes an asynchronous request to the servlet and designates a callback method. When the server provides a response, the callback method updates the fields in the table and makes a new request. The JavaScript code is the following:

var ajaxRequest;
function updatePage() {
   if (ajaxRequest.readyState === 4) {
      var arraypv = ajaxRequest.responseText.split("/");
      document.getElementById("price").innerHTML = arraypv[0];
      document.getElementById("volume").innerHTML = arraypv[1];
      makeAjaxRequest();
   }
}
function makeAjaxRequest() {
   ajaxRequest = new XMLHttpRequest();
   ajaxRequest.onreadystatechange = updatePage;
   ajaxRequest.open("GET", "http://localhost:8080/dukeetf/dukeetf", 
                    true);
   ajaxRequest.send(null);
}

The XMLHttpRequest API is supported by most modern browsers, and it is widely used in Ajax web client development (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML).

See The dukeetf2 Example Application in Chapter 18, "Java API for WebSocket" for an equivalent version of this example implemented using a WebSocket endpoint.

17.17.2 Running the dukeetf Example Application

This section describes how to run the dukeetf example application using NetBeans IDE and from the command line.

17.17.2.1 To Run the dukeetf Example Application Using NetBeans IDE

  1. Make sure that GlassFish Server has been started (see Starting and Stopping GlassFish Server).

  2. From the File menu, choose Open Project.

  3. In the Open Project dialog box, navigate to:

    tut-install/examples/web/servlet

  4. Select the dukeetf folder.

  5. Click Open Project.

  6. In the Projects tab, right-click the dukeetf project and select Run.

    This command builds and packages the application into a WAR file (dukeetf.war) located in the target directory, deploys it to the server, and launches a web browser window with the following URL:

    http://localhost:8080/dukeetf/

    Open the same URL in a different web browser to see how both pages get price and volume updates simultaneously.

17.17.2.2 To Run the dukeetf Example Application Using Maven

  1. Make sure that GlassFish Server has been started (see Starting and Stopping GlassFish Server).

  2. In a terminal window, go to:

    tut-install/examples/web/servlet/dukeetf/

  3. Enter the following command to deploy the application:

    mvn install

  4. Open a web browser window and type the following address:

    http://localhost:8080/dukeetf/

    Open the same URL in a different web browser to see how both pages get price and volume updates simultaneously.

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