[Help] To prevent timeout error of browser in clinet with servlet in server

Question

Hi all,
If a browser (for example, Internet Explorer) do not get any response from a server for more than sometime (in case of IE, default is 5 min), it will stop waiting and return some timeout error message.
But I have a servlet, which has a really long-time(at least 10 min) job to do before it could send a response to the browser. So, before the browser in client can get the result, it stops waiting.
I know I can change the time-out setting of browser in client machines, but there are hundred of thousands.
So, what I am asking is if it is possible to do it with servlet in server, and how?
(for example, send something to the client every few minutes, but I do not know how to do it .)
thanks a lot!

Answer 1

What you would have to do is set up some sort of 'Buffer' servlet.
It starts the job in the background, and then returns a page saying job started - client does not time out.
You would have to start it in a seperate process - probably a new Thread.
The client would then have to send back requests asking - is it finished yet?
While the job is not finished the buffer servlet returns a "not yet" message.
On completion, the job can be sent back to the client.
Couple of pointers:
It may be easier to have the background process generate the result to file - then your buffer servlet can just pick up the file when it is completed.
To get your page to refresh multiple times, you can use javascript: window.setTimeout("[reload page]");
Good luck,
evnafets