Flash Remoting: The Definitive Guide

Referencing the Request and Session

Flash Remoting services do not have access to the HttpServletRequest request object created by the Flash client Remoting service call. Nor do they have access to the HttpSession user session object associated with that request. Many developers using Flash Remoting find that they need access to both. The request object has useful information about the user making the request. Developers frequently use the user session object to store information specific to that user while the user is using the application.

The most common reason for accessing the request and user session objects is to integrate with a user-authentication system, either standard Container-Managed Security supported by Servlet 2.3 J2EE application servers or a homegrown system that stores information in the user session object.

If we can gain access to the HttpServletRequest object, we can also access the user session via HttpServletRequest.getSession( ), so let’s focus on the first goal. One solution is to write a servlet filter, available in Servlet 2.3 application servers, that associates the request with the current thread before the request is handled by the Remoting gateway. Servlet filters can act on the request and response objects before and after they are handled by a servlet.

By associating the request with the current thread before the request is handled by the Remoting gateway, any code running in the same thread can retrieve a reference to the request. Two classes ...