Module java.base
Package java.net

Class HttpCookie

java.lang.Object
java.net.HttpCookie
All Implemented Interfaces:
Cloneable
public final class HttpCookie extends Object implements Cloneable
An HttpCookie object represents an HTTP cookie, which carries state information between server and user agent. Cookie is widely adopted to create stateful sessions.

There are 3 HTTP cookie specifications:

Netscape draft
RFC 2109 - http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2109.txt
RFC 2965 - http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965.txt

HttpCookie class can accept all these 3 forms of syntax.

Since:
1.6

  • Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Constructor
    Description
    HttpCookie​(String name, String value)
    Constructs a cookie with a specified name and value.

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    Object
    clone()
    Create and return a copy of this object.
    static boolean
    domainMatches​(String domain, String host)
    The utility method to check whether a host name is in a domain or not.
    boolean
    equals​(Object obj)
    Test the equality of two HTTP cookies.
    String
    getComment()
    Returns the comment describing the purpose of this cookie, or null if the cookie has no comment.
    String
    getCommentURL()
    Returns the comment URL describing the purpose of this cookie, or null if the cookie has no comment URL.
    boolean
    getDiscard()
    Returns the discard attribute of the cookie
    String
    getDomain()
    Returns the domain name set for this cookie.
    long
    getMaxAge()
    Returns the maximum age of the cookie, specified in seconds.
    String
    getName()
    Returns the name of the cookie.
    String
    getPath()
    Returns the path on the server to which the browser returns this cookie.
    String
    getPortlist()
    Returns the port list attribute of the cookie
    boolean
    getSecure()
    Returns true if sending this cookie should be restricted to a secure protocol, or false if the it can be sent using any protocol.
    String
    getValue()
    Returns the value of the cookie.
    int
    getVersion()
    Returns the version of the protocol this cookie complies with.
    boolean
    hasExpired()
    Reports whether this HTTP cookie has expired or not.
    int
    hashCode()
    Returns the hash code of this HTTP cookie.
    boolean
    isHttpOnly()
    Returns true if this cookie contains the HttpOnly attribute.
    static List<HttpCookie>
    parse​(String header)
    Constructs cookies from set-cookie or set-cookie2 header string.
    void
    setComment​(String purpose)
    Specifies a comment that describes a cookie's purpose.
    void
    setCommentURL​(String purpose)
    Specifies a comment URL that describes a cookie's purpose.
    void
    setDiscard​(boolean discard)
    Specify whether user agent should discard the cookie unconditionally.
    void
    setDomain​(String pattern)
    Specifies the domain within which this cookie should be presented.
    void
    setHttpOnly​(boolean httpOnly)
    Indicates whether the cookie should be considered HTTP Only.
    void
    setMaxAge​(long expiry)
    Sets the maximum age of the cookie in seconds.
    void
    setPath​(String uri)
    Specifies a path for the cookie to which the client should return the cookie.
    void
    setPortlist​(String ports)
    Specify the portlist of the cookie, which restricts the port(s) to which a cookie may be sent back in a Cookie header.
    void
    setSecure​(boolean flag)
    Indicates whether the cookie should only be sent using a secure protocol, such as HTTPS or SSL.
    void
    setValue​(String newValue)
    Assigns a new value to a cookie after the cookie is created.
    void
    setVersion​(int v)
    Sets the version of the cookie protocol this cookie complies with.
    String
    toString()
    Constructs a cookie header string representation of this cookie, which is in the format defined by corresponding cookie specification, but without the leading "Cookie:" token.

    Methods declared in class java.lang.Object

    finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

  • Constructor Details

    • HttpCookie

      public HttpCookie​(String name, String value)
      Constructs a cookie with a specified name and value.

      The name must conform to RFC 2965. That means it can contain only ASCII alphanumeric characters and cannot contain commas, semicolons, or white space or begin with a $ character. The cookie's name cannot be changed after creation.

      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 RFC 2965 cookie specification. The version can be changed with the setVersion method.

      Parameters:
      name - a String specifying the name of the cookie
      value - a String specifying the value of the cookie
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if the cookie name contains illegal characters
      NullPointerException - if name is null
      See Also:
      setValue(java.lang.String), setVersion(int)

  • Method Details

    • parse

      public static List<HttpCookie> parse​(String header)
      Constructs cookies from set-cookie or set-cookie2 header string. RFC 2965 section 3.2.2 set-cookie2 syntax indicates that one header line may contain more than one cookie definitions, so this is a static utility method instead of another constructor.
      Parameters:
      header - a String specifying the set-cookie header. The header should start with "set-cookie", or "set-cookie2" token; or it should have no leading token at all.
      Returns:
      a List of cookie parsed from header line string
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if header string violates the cookie specification's syntax or the cookie name contains illegal characters.
      NullPointerException - if the header string is null

    • hasExpired

      public boolean hasExpired()
      Reports whether this HTTP cookie has expired or not.
      Returns:
      true to indicate this HTTP cookie has expired; otherwise, false

    • setComment

      public void setComment​(String purpose)
      Specifies a comment that describes a cookie's purpose. The comment is useful if the browser presents the cookie to the user. Comments are not supported by Netscape Version 0 cookies.
      Parameters:
      purpose - a String specifying the comment to display to the user
      See Also:
      getComment()

    • getComment

      public String getComment()
      Returns the comment describing the purpose of this cookie, or null if the cookie has no comment.
      Returns:
      a String containing the comment, or null if none
      See Also:
      setComment(java.lang.String)

    • setCommentURL

      public void setCommentURL​(String purpose)
      Specifies a comment URL that describes a cookie's purpose. The comment URL is useful if the browser presents the cookie to the user. Comment URL is RFC 2965 only.
      Parameters:
      purpose - a String specifying the comment URL to display to the user
      See Also:
      getCommentURL()

    • getCommentURL

      public String getCommentURL()
      Returns the comment URL describing the purpose of this cookie, or null if the cookie has no comment URL.
      Returns:
      a String containing the comment URL, or null if none
      See Also:
      setCommentURL(java.lang.String)

    • setDiscard

      public void setDiscard​(boolean discard)
      Specify whether user agent should discard the cookie unconditionally. This is RFC 2965 only attribute.
      Parameters:
      discard - true indicates to discard cookie unconditionally
      See Also:
      getDiscard()

    • getDiscard

      public boolean getDiscard()
      Returns the discard attribute of the cookie
      Returns:
      a boolean to represent this cookie's discard attribute
      See Also:
      setDiscard(boolean)

    • setPortlist

      public void setPortlist​(String ports)
      Specify the portlist of the cookie, which restricts the port(s) to which a cookie may be sent back in a Cookie header.
      Parameters:
      ports - a String specify the port list, which is comma separated series of digits
      See Also:
      getPortlist()

    • getPortlist

      public String getPortlist()
      Returns the port list attribute of the cookie
      Returns:
      a String contains the port list or null if none
      See Also:
      setPortlist(java.lang.String)

    • setDomain

      public void setDomain​(String pattern)
      Specifies the domain within which this cookie should be presented.

      The form of the domain name is specified by RFC 2965. 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.

      Parameters:
      pattern - a String containing the domain name within which this cookie is visible; form is according to RFC 2965
      See Also:
      getDomain()

    • getDomain

      public String getDomain()
      Returns the domain name set for this cookie. The form of the domain name is set by RFC 2965.
      Returns:
      a String containing the domain name
      See Also:
      setDomain(java.lang.String)

    • setMaxAge

      public void setMaxAge​(long expiry)
      Sets the maximum age of the cookie in seconds.

      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.

      Parameters:
      expiry - an integer specifying the maximum age of the cookie in seconds; if zero, the cookie should be discarded immediately; otherwise, the cookie's max age is unspecified.
      See Also:
      getMaxAge()

    • getMaxAge

      public long getMaxAge()
      Returns the maximum age of the cookie, specified in seconds. By default, -1 indicating the cookie will persist until browser shutdown.
      Returns:
      an integer specifying the maximum age of the cookie in seconds
      See Also:
      setMaxAge(long)

    • setPath

      public void setPath​(String uri)
      Specifies a path for the cookie to which the client should return the cookie.

      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 2965 (available on the Internet) for more information on setting path names for cookies.

      Parameters:
      uri - a String specifying a path
      See Also:
      getPath()

    • getPath

      public String getPath()
      Returns the path on the server to which the browser returns this cookie. The cookie is visible to all subpaths on the server.
      Returns:
      a String specifying a path that contains a servlet name, for example, /catalog
      See Also:
      setPath(java.lang.String)

    • setSecure

      public void setSecure​(boolean flag)
      Indicates whether the cookie should only be sent using a secure protocol, such as HTTPS or SSL.

      The default value is false.

      Parameters:
      flag - If true, the cookie can only be sent over a secure protocol like HTTPS. If false, it can be sent over any protocol.
      See Also:
      getSecure()

    • getSecure

      public boolean getSecure()
      Returns true if sending this cookie should be restricted to a secure protocol, or false if the it can be sent using any protocol.
      Returns:
      false if the cookie can be sent over any standard protocol; otherwise, true
      See Also:
      setSecure(boolean)

    • getName

      public String getName()
      Returns the name of the cookie. The name cannot be changed after creation.
      Returns:
      a String specifying the cookie's name

    • setValue

      public void setValue​(String newValue)
      Assigns a new value to a cookie after the cookie is created. 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.

      Parameters:
      newValue - a String specifying the new value
      See Also:
      getValue()

    • getValue

      public String getValue()
      Returns the value of the cookie.
      Returns:
      a String containing the cookie's present value
      See Also:
      setValue(java.lang.String)

    • getVersion

      public int getVersion()
      Returns the version of the protocol this cookie complies with. Version 1 complies with RFC 2965/2109, and version 0 complies with the original cookie specification drafted by Netscape. Cookies provided by a browser use and identify the browser's cookie version.
      Returns:
      0 if the cookie complies with the original Netscape specification; 1 if the cookie complies with RFC 2965/2109
      See Also:
      setVersion(int)

    • setVersion

      public void setVersion​(int v)
      Sets the version of the cookie protocol this cookie complies with. Version 0 complies with the original Netscape cookie specification. Version 1 complies with RFC 2965/2109.
      Parameters:
      v - 0 if the cookie should comply with the original Netscape specification; 1 if the cookie should comply with RFC 2965/2109
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if v is neither 0 nor 1
      See Also:
      getVersion()

    • isHttpOnly

      public boolean isHttpOnly()
      Returns true if this cookie contains the HttpOnly attribute. This means that the cookie should not be accessible to scripting engines, like javascript.
      Returns:
      true if this cookie should be considered HTTPOnly
      See Also:
      setHttpOnly(boolean)

    • setHttpOnly

      public void setHttpOnly​(boolean httpOnly)
      Indicates whether the cookie should be considered HTTP Only. If set to true it means the cookie should not be accessible to scripting engines like javascript.
      Parameters:
      httpOnly - if true make the cookie HTTP only, i.e. only visible as part of an HTTP request.
      See Also:
      isHttpOnly()

    • domainMatches

      public static boolean domainMatches​(String domain, String host)
      The utility method to check whether a host name is in a domain or not.

      This concept is described in the cookie specification. To understand the concept, some terminologies need to be defined first:

      effective host name = hostname if host name contains dot
                        or = hostname.local if not

      Host A's name domain-matches host B's if:

      • their host name strings string-compare equal; or
      • A is a HDN string and has the form NB, where N is a non-empty name string, B has the form .B', and B' is a HDN string. (So, x.y.com domain-matches .Y.com but not Y.com.)

      A host isn't in a domain (RFC 2965 sec. 3.3.2) if:

      • The value for the Domain attribute contains no embedded dots, and the value is not .local.
      • The effective host name that derives from the request-host does not domain-match the Domain attribute.
      • The request-host is a HDN (not IP address) and has the form HD, where D is the value of the Domain attribute, and H is a string that contains one or more dots.

      Examples:

      • A Set-Cookie2 from request-host y.x.foo.com for Domain=.foo.com would be rejected, because H is y.x and contains a dot.
      • A Set-Cookie2 from request-host x.foo.com for Domain=.foo.com would be accepted.
      • A Set-Cookie2 with Domain=.com or Domain=.com., will always be rejected, because there is no embedded dot.
      • A Set-Cookie2 from request-host example for Domain=.local will be accepted, because the effective host name for the request- host is example.local, and example.local domain-matches .local.
      Parameters:
      domain - the domain name to check host name with
      host - the host name in question
      Returns:
      true if they domain-matches; false if not

    • toString

      public String toString()
      Constructs a cookie header string representation of this cookie, which is in the format defined by corresponding cookie specification, but without the leading "Cookie:" token.
      Overrides:
      toString in class Object
      Returns:
      a string form of the cookie. The string has the defined format

    • equals

      public boolean equals​(Object obj)
      Test the equality of two HTTP cookies.

      The result is true only if two cookies come from same domain (case-insensitive), have same name (case-insensitive), and have same path (case-sensitive).

      Overrides:
      equals in class Object
      Parameters:
      obj - the reference object with which to compare.
      Returns:
      true if two HTTP cookies equal to each other; otherwise, false
      See Also:
      Object.hashCode(), HashMap

    • hashCode

      public int hashCode()
      Returns the hash code of this HTTP cookie. The result is the sum of hash code value of three significant components of this cookie: name, domain, and path. That is, the hash code is the value of the expression:
      getName().toLowerCase().hashCode()
      + getDomain().toLowerCase().hashCode()
      + getPath().hashCode()
      Overrides:
      hashCode in class Object
      Returns:
      this HTTP cookie's hash code
      See Also:
      Object.equals(java.lang.Object), System.identityHashCode(java.lang.Object)

    • clone

      public Object clone()
      Create and return a copy of this object.
      Overrides:
      clone in class Object
      Returns:
      a clone of this HTTP cookie
      See Also:
      Cloneable