How to get request parameters from a servlet init method

Question

I am writing a Servlet that retrieves request parameters but needs to use them in the init method. Since the init method would be called before the doGet method and since the init method does not have a HttpServletRequest object as an argument, I don't know how to get the request parameters.

public class OpenIdServlet extends HttpServlet 
{
    ...
    ...
    private OpenIdManager manager;

    @Override
    public void init() throws ServletException 
    {
        super.init();
        manager = new OpenIdManager();
        manager.setRealm("http://localhost:8080/OpenIDSample"); 
        manager.setReturnTo("http://localhost:8080/OpenIDSample/openid"); //I need to append the value of a request parameter here...
    }
    ...
    ...
}

So the question is: is there any way I can get HttpServletRequest parameters in the init() method of a servlet? If no what other better approach can one use to solve this problem? Thanks.

Answer 1

The init is called once on startup. So you have to live with a partial returnTo, and on request handling (doGet/doPost) complete it with the request parameters.

In fact the manager seems to be request dependent and hence should be created in the request - never as field. As there might be several requests. Maybe persisting as session attribute.

Answer 2

Your question doesn't make sense. There is no request when the init() method is called. It is called during container initialisation.

Do you mean initial parameter? They are available via the ServletContext provided as an argument to init().