difference between getContext(String uri) and getServletContext()

[Ben Zaidi]

Hi All,

I want to know the difference between

getContext(String url) and getServletContext()

Both of them return the ServletContext object though and one takes a path to the specified resource.
Inspite of using getServletContext(), first we can take the real path of the application and pass that path
to getContext() and get the ServletContext object. So i am confused what is the difference between two of
them? Can getContext(String url) can be used alternatively instead of getServletContext().

Thanks.

[Ankit Garg]

Ben Zaidi wrote:Inspite of using getServletContext(), first we can take the real path of the application and pass that path
to getContext() and get the ServletContext object.

What?? getServletContext() gets the context object for the current web application. There is not getContext(String uri) method in the GenericServlet class. I think it is available in ApplicationContext of tomcat. The getContext(String uri) gets the context object for the uri specified. This can be used to get a context object of a different web application...

[Ben Zaidi]

Thanks Ankit, it was pretty helpful. I figured it out though by looking at the API's. In any case it was a great explanation.

Thanks

[Joshua Smith]

Thanks for the explanation Ankit.

Am I right in assuming that the exam does not cover any of the API that is Tomcat specific? It's only for the Servlet API that is common across implementations?

Thanks,
Joshua Smith

[Christophe Verré]

Am I right in assuming that the exam does not cover any of the API that is Tomcat specific?

Of course. No container dependant question.

There is not getContext(String uri) method in the GenericServlet class.

Just to make sure nobody thinks that there is no such method at all, I'd like to add that there is one here : javax.servlet.ServletContext#getContext(java.lang.String)

[Ankit Garg]

Christophe. I really need to go through the API again ...

[Joshua Smith]

Thanks

[Ben Zaidi]

Thanks Chris and Ankit.