[jetty-users] Loading resources from multiple locations

[ccleve <ccleve.tech@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm using plain-vanilla Jetty 8 in our application. When a request comes 
in, I need to check the headers, and then serve resources out of a 
particular subdirectory depending on header contents. I also need to 
check an external location to look for updated files.

These requirements suggest I should override DefaultServlet's 
getResource() method and return a custom Resource object. This is fine, 
but getResource(String path) only passes in a path as an argument, and 
not the entire Request object, so I can't get the headers within the 
getResource() method.

getResource() is called in only one location, in the 
DefaultServlet.doGet() method. I tried to override that, but it refers 
to a lot of private variables, so I get compile errors.

I considered putting the Request into a ThreadLocal variable, but the 
potential problems with classloading leaks describe here spooked me 
(second answer, Phil M): 
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/817856/when-and-how-should-i-use-a-threadlocal-variable

I've also considered using RequestDispatcher, but can't quite get that 
to work.

Any suggestions on how to attack this problem welcome. My best 
alternative right now is to make a complete copy of DefaultServlet and 
modify as needed.