How to properly send an HTTP message to the client

Question

I\'m working on a RESTful web service in Java. I need a good way to send error messages to the client if something\'s wrong.

According to the Javadoc, HttpServlet

Answer 1

After your clarification, I tried this in Tomcat. Executing

response.sendError(HttpServletResponse.SC_BAD_REQUEST, "message goes here");

returns

HTTP/1.1 400 message goes here

as the first line in the response.

There must be a problem with the servlet container you are using.