The variables presented in the context menu of the request pane determine the general usefulness of this feature.
The FileHandler will first load an embedded set of variables which defines
some useful definitions for requests against normal HTTP servers as well as
WebDAV and DeltaV servers. After that it searches for a variableset file named
${app.home}/HttpClientVariables.xml and will load it if
present.
The hierarchical organization of the available variables is determined by their names:
Names are split at the characters “.” (dot) , “_” (underscore) and “-” (hyphen), with each part defining the name of a hierarchy level.
Variables which have such a common prefix will be grouped together in a submenu named as that prefix. This occurs recursively, resulting in nested submenu structures.
Variables which are globally available in the application will be put into a submenu named “sys”.
Variables with names ending in an underscore will be suppressed and do not show up in the request menu.
Only variables with names beginning with “v.” will be added to the response menu for assigning a variables value from the selection. Only globally available application variables will always be added to that menu, regardless of their name.
The embedded set of available variables provides for a flexible set of commonly used requests for the basic HTTP protocol as well as the WebDAV and DeltaV protocols.