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javahttpsocketschunked-encoding

HttpURLConnection : Why is there 5 seconds delay with every chunk when Expect:100-Continue Header is specified?

I am experimenting with RFC Expect Header in java HttpURLConnection which works perfectly except for one detail.

There is an 5 second wait period between sending the body of an Fixed Length Mode or between each chunk in Chunk Streaming Mode

Here is the client class

public static void main(String[] args)throws Exception
 {
   HttpURLConnection con=(HttpURLConnection)new URL("http://192.168.1.2:2000/ActionG").openConnection();
   
   //for 100-Continue logic
   con.setRequestMethod("POST");
   con.setRequestProperty("Expect", "100-Continue");
  
   //responds to 100-continue logic
   con.setDoOutput(true);
   con.setChunkedStreamingMode(5);
   con.getOutputStream().write("Hello".getBytes());
   con.getOutputStream().flush();
   con.getOutputStream().write("World".getBytes());
   con.getOutputStream().flush();
   con.getOutputStream().write("123".getBytes());
   con.getOutputStream().flush();

   //decode response and response body/error if any
   System.out.println(con.getResponseCode()+"/"+con.getResponseMessage());      
   con.getHeaderFields().forEach((key,values)->
   {
    System.out.println(key+"="+values);
    System.out.println("====================");
   });      
   try(InputStream is=con.getInputStream()){System.out.println(new String(is.readAllBytes()));}
   catch(Exception ex)
   {
    ex.printStackTrace(System.err);
   
    InputStream err=con.getErrorStream();
    if(err!=null)
    {
     try(err){System.err.println(new String(is.readAllBytes()));}
     catch(Exception ex2){throw ex2;}
    }  
   } 
   con.disconnect();
  }

I am uploading 3 chunks. In the server side 5 packets of data are received

  1. All headers. respond with 100 Continue

  2. 3 Chunks. For each chunk respond with 100 Continue

  3. Last Chunk[Length 0]. respond with 200 OK

Here is the Test Server

final class TestServer
{
 public static void main(String[] args)throws Exception
 {
  try(ServerSocket socket=new ServerSocket(2000,0,InetAddress.getLocalHost()))
  {
   int count=0;
   try(Socket client=socket.accept())
   {
    int length;
    byte[] buffer=new byte[5000];
    InputStream is=client.getInputStream();
    
    OutputStream os=client.getOutputStream();
    while((length=is.read(buffer))!=-1)
    {
     System.out.println(++count);
     System.out.println(new String(buffer,0,length));
     System.out.println("==========");
  
     if(count<5)
     {
      os.write("HTTP/1.1 100 Continue\r\n\r\n".getBytes());
      os.flush();
     }
     else
     {
      os.write("HTTP/1.1 200 Done\r\nContent-Length:0\r\n\r\n".getBytes());
      os.flush();
      break;
     }   
    }
   }
  }
 }
}

Output:

1
POST /ActionG HTTP/1.1
Expect: 100-Continue
User-Agent: Java/17.0.2
Host: 192.168.1.2:2000
Accept: text/html, image/gif, image/jpeg, *; q=.2, */*; q=.2
Connection: keep-alive
Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Transfer-Encoding: chunked


==========   //5 seconds later
2
5
Hello

==========   //5 seconds later
3
5
World

==========  //5 seconds later
//this and the last chunk come seperatly but with no delay
4
3
123

==========
5
0


==========

I have checked every Timeout Method in my Connection Object

System.out.println(con.getConnectTimeout());
System.out.println(con.getReadTimeout());

Both return 0

So where is this 5 second delay coming from?

I am using jdk 17.0.2 with windows 10

Solution

  • 3 Chunks. For each chunk respond with 100 Continue

    That is not how Expect: 100-Continue works. Your server code is completely wrong for what you are attempting to do. In fact, your server code is completely wrong for an HTTP server in general. It is not even attempting to parse the HTTP protocol at all. Not the HTTP headers, not the HTTP chunks, nothing. Is there a reason why you are not using an actual HTTP server implementation, such as Java's own HttpServer?

    When using Expect: 100-Continue, the client is required to send ONLY the request headers, and then STOP AND WAIT a few seconds to see if the server sends a 100 response or not:

    • If the server responds with 100, the client can then finish the request by sending the request body, and then receive a final response.

    • If the server responds with anything other than 100, the client can fail its operation immediately without sending the request body at all.

    • If no response is received, the client can finish the request by sending the request body and receive the final response.

    The whole point of Expect: 100-Continue is for a client to ask for permission before sending a large request body. If the server doesn't want the body (ie, the headers describe unsatisfactory conditions, etc), the client doesn't have to waste effort and bandwidth to send a request body that will just be rejected.

    HttpURLConnection has built-in support for handling 100 responses, but see How to wait for Expect 100-continue response in Java using HttpURLConnection for caveats. Also see JDK-8012625: Incorrect handling of HTTP/1.1 " Expect: 100-continue " in HttpURLConnection.

    But, your server code as shown needs a major rewrite to handle HTTP properly, let alone handle chunked requests properly.