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Spring MVC - Using HttpEntity

[Last Updated: Jan 20, 2017]

HttpEntity<T> is a helper object which encapsulates header and body of an HTTP request or response. It can be used as a handler method parameter.

To get header and body information,the following methods are used:

public HttpHeaders getHeaders()
public T getBody()

The usage of HttpEntity is an alternative to using the two parameter:
@RequestHeader HttpHeaders
and
@RequestBody String/backing type

HttpEntity can be used to return response as well. The additional advantage in this case, when comparing with @ResponseBody is, it can include the headers in the response as well.


Example

In the following example we are going to demonstrate the use of HttpEntity with JUnit tests.

Handling headers and body as String

@RestController
@RequestMapping
public class MyController {

    @RequestMapping
    public void handleRequest (HttpEntity<String> requestEntity) {
       System.out.println("request body: " + requestEntity.getBody());
        HttpHeaders headers = requestEntity.getHeaders();
        System.out.println("request headers " + headers);
        HttpEntity&ltString> responseEntity = new HttpEntity<String>("my response body");
        return responseEntity;
    }
}


The unit test

@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
@WebAppConfiguration
@ContextConfiguration(classes = MyWebConfig.class)
public class ControllerTest {

    @Autowired
    private WebApplicationContext wac;
    private MockMvc mockMvc;

    @Before
    public void setup () {
        DefaultMockMvcBuilder builder = MockMvcBuilders.webAppContextSetup(this.wac);
        this.mockMvc = builder.build();
    }

    @Test
    public void testUserController () throws Exception {
        MockHttpServletRequestBuilder builder =
                                      MockMvcRequestBuilders.post("/")
                                        .header("testHeader",
                                                "headerValue")
                                        .content("test body");
        this.mockMvc.perform(builder)
                    .andExpect(MockMvcResultMatchers.status()
                                                    .isOk())
                    .andDo(MockMvcResultHandlers.print());



Output:

request body: test body
request headers {testHeader=[headerValue], Content-Length=[9]}

MockHttpServletRequest:
      HTTP Method = POST
      Request URI = /
       Parameters = {}
          Headers = {testHeader=[headerValue]}

Handler:
             Type = com.logicbig.example.MyController
           Method = public org.springframework.http.HttpEntity<java.lang.String> com.logicbig.example.MyController.handleRequest(org.springframework.http.HttpEntity<java.lang.String>)

Async:
    Async started = false
     Async result = null

Resolved Exception:
             Type = null

ModelAndView:
        View name = null
             View = null
            Model = null

FlashMap:
       Attributes = null

MockHttpServletResponse:
           Status = 200
    Error message = null
          Headers = {Content-Type=[text/plain;charset=ISO-8859-1], Content-Length=[16]}
     Content type = text/plain;charset=ISO-8859-1
             Body = my response body
    Forwarded URL = null
   Redirected URL = null
          Cookies = []


Using Backing/Command Object

public class User implements Serializable {
    private Long id;
    private String name;
    private String password;
    private String emailAddress;

    //getters and setters
}


The Controller

@RestController
@RequestMapping
public class MyController {

    @RequestMapping("/user")
    public HttpEntity<String> handleUserRequest (HttpEntity<User> requestEntity) {
        User user = requestEntity.getBody();
        System.out.println("request body: " + user);
        System.out.println("request headers " + requestEntity.getHeaders());

        MultiValueMap<String, String> headers = new HttpHeaders();
        headers.put("Cache-Control", Arrays.asList("max-age=3600"));

        HttpEntity<String> responseEntity = new HttpEntity<>("my response body", headers);
        return responseEntity;
    }
}

Unit Test

@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
@WebAppConfiguration
@ContextConfiguration(classes = MyWebConfig.class)
public class ControllerTest {

    @Autowired
    private WebApplicationContext wac;
    private MockMvc mockMvc;

    @Before
    public void setup () {
        DefaultMockMvcBuilder builder = MockMvcBuilders.webAppContextSetup(this.wac);
        this.mockMvc = builder.build();
    }

    @Test
    public void testUserController () throws Exception {

        MockHttpServletRequestBuilder builder =
                                    MockMvcRequestBuilders.post("/user")
                                        .header("testHeader",
                                                "headerValue")
                                        .contentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
                                        .content(createUserInJson("joe",
                                                            "joe@example.com"));
        this.mockMvc.perform(builder)
                    .andExpect(MockMvcResultMatchers.status()
                                                    .isOk())
                    .andDo(MockMvcResultHandlers.print());
    }

    private static String createUserInJson (String name, String email) {
        return "{ \"name\": \"" + name + "\", " +
                            "\"emailAddress\":\"" + email + "\"}";
    }
}

Output:

request body: User{name='joe', emailAddress='joe@example.com'}
request headers {testHeader=[headerValue], Content-Type=[application/json], Content-Length=[50]}

MockHttpServletRequest:
      HTTP Method = POST
      Request URI = /user
       Parameters = {}
          Headers = {testHeader=[headerValue], Content-Type=[application/json]}

Handler:
             Type = com.logicbig.example.MyController
           Method = public org.springframework.http.HttpEntity<java.lang.String> com.logicbig.example.MyController.handleUserRequest(org.springframework.http.HttpEntity<com.logicbig.example.User>)

Async:
    Async started = false
     Async result = null

Resolved Exception:
             Type = null

ModelAndView:
        View name = null
             View = null
            Model = null

FlashMap:
       Attributes = null

MockHttpServletResponse:
           Status = 200
    Error message = null
          Headers = {Cache-Control=[max-age=3600], Content-Type=[text/plain;charset=ISO-8859-1], Content-Length=[16]}
     Content type = text/plain;charset=ISO-8859-1
             Body = my response body
    Forwarded URL = null
   Redirected URL = null
          Cookies = []




Example Project

Dependencies and Technologies Used:

  • Spring Web MVC 4.2.4.RELEASE: Spring Web MVC.
  • Spring TestContext Framework 4.2.4.RELEASE: Spring TestContext Framework.
  • Java Servlet API 3.0.1
  • JUnit 4.12: JUnit is a unit testing framework for Java, created by Erich Gamma and Kent Beck.
  • jackson-databind 2.7.2: General data-binding functionality for Jackson: works on core streaming API.
  • JDK 1.8
  • Maven 3.0.4

Spring Http Entity Example Select All Download
  • spring-http-entity
    • src
      • main
        • java
          • com
            • logicbig
              • example
                • MyController.java
        • test
          • java
            • com
              • logicbig
                • example

    See Also