Xml response in browser .. how to deal with

Question

OK .. I have a basic question here but I'm long winded so bear with me.
Background:
I am submitting an HTML form to a secure website, with a username/password, and that web site in turn returns me a webpage with XML in it that looks something like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<string xmlns="http://tempuri.org/">http://blahblah.blah.com/index.aspx?ticket=fabcdefjkjlkjlkja;lkh31bba5f7</string>
the webpage is https, it's secured.
I can submit the my form (not included in this post because it's not a problem) and get the XML back in the browser - but how, in my JSP or servlet (either / or) .. what is the API to retrieve the XML response (above) from the browser .......... I can manage to parse it once I can get it.
I've done some research. but the more I do the more I get confused.
Is it just something like request.getParameter(something or other) once the form is submitted?
Do I need to use SAX/JAX, or DOM, XMLHTTP, javascript, HTTPClient, Xerces, Xalan ... sooooooooooo confused. ..... to actually retrieve that page into something I can work with in Java?
Like I said once I get the page in a variable, somehow, I'm sure I can figure out how to parse the "string" variable out ................ the objective there then is to redirect the user to that URL
I'm really lost ........... help!!!!!!!
Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edited by: hopkinca on May 16, 2008 1:04 PM

Answer 1

Hi. Thanks for your thoughtful answers.
My actual problem is much more basic. I know where to put business logic, I know how to parse XML.
It's not either of those that is the problem.
Here is my scenario:
I am auto submitting a form in a servlet. (this works fine). It's an authenticated POST to an external web site.
The submission of this form creates a browser response -- a WEB PAGE (*https*!!!!) with information I need in it (that the user shouldn't actually see). It happens to be XML. But even if it was a chapter of a book, my question is ... after the form is submitted (no problem), and the browser shows the webpage (no problem), how, in java or javascript, do I
get the contents of that https:// webpage. (that's my problem!!)
Does this kind of clarify my question? I'm kind of looking for more specific answers than what technology to use. Should this XML be part of the response from the POST?
When I try to create an xml source, I get the following:
Exception is javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: sun.security.validator.ValidatorException: PKIX path building failed: sun.security.provider.certpath.SunCertPathBuilderException: unable to find valid certification path to requested target
Maybe this willhelp you. We were given the ASP code to do this.
the way that it goes about this is
{color:#ff0000}Set objRequest = Server.createObject("MSXML2.SERVERXMLHTTP"){color}
objectRequest.open="POST", "https://blahlblahblah", False
objectRequest.setRequestHeader "Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded"
objectRequest.Send (blah blah blah ..... the parameters
' my comment: AT THIS POINT THIS IS LIKE SUBMITTING THE FORM, no? Except for the red part
'then they get the contents by this:
dim GetTheContents
GetTheContents = objectRequest.responseText
Then they proceed to parse it in a very ugly fashion, but I will use DOM or the like. but at least the variable "GetTHeContents" has the contents of the https webpage that was returned by the external site after submitting the form.
Thanks again. I hope I helped clarify instead of created more confusion.
PS I am trying AJAX now. I still can't manage to put the contents of the webpage into some kind of variable (or get it from some other kind of variable). This is my first round with Ajax.
Edited by: hopkinca on May 20, 2008 2:15 PM