java - Unable to send a multipart/mixed request to spring MVC based REST service

Question

I have a Spring MVC and Resteasy based REST service that i need to test by sending a multipart/mixed request.

The service is coded as follows:

@POST
    @Path("/mixedMimeText")
    @Consumes("multipart/mixed")
    @ResponseStatus(HttpStatus.OK)
    public String createMime(@Context ServletContext servletContext, MultipartInput input) throws Exception, IOException {

        logger.info("Processing /mixedMimeText");

        for(InputPart p : input.getParts()){
            logger.info("Headers : " + p.getHeaders());
            logger.info("MediaType : " + p.getMediaType());
            logger.info("Body : " +  p.getBodyAsString());
            logger.info("--------------------------------------------------- ");
        }

        return "TEST";
    }

I am using the following file to send as the multipart mime content

--ABC123Boundary
Content-Type: text/xml

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<request>
<account-id>XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX</account-id>
<reference>12345</reference>
<app-name>XXXXXXXXX</app-name>
<information>
<calling-party>
<name>Joe Bloggs</name>
<identifier>441234567890</identifier>
</calling-party>
<called-party>
<name>John Smith</name>
<identifier>15551234567</identifier>
</called-party>
</information>
</request>

--ABC123Boundary
Content-Type: text/xml

UklGRkBAAABXQVZFZm10IBAAAAAHAAEAQB8AAEAfAAABAAgAZmFjdAQAAAAPQ
AAAZGF0YRBAAABn5///////////////5///Z+fn///n////////5////////2f//2f//+f//+f////n/
///////52f//////2f//////2f/////5////////+f/////Z+f///////////////9n//9nZ/9n////5+f///9
<snip>
//+f//////2f/////////5//n//////////9n

--ABC123Boundary--

I am sending the request using the curl client with the following command:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/MyRestServices/restportal/services/mixedMimeText -i -H "Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="--ABC123Boundary" -T myfile.txt

The request does get to the service but all i see on the JBOSS terminal is that it produces the following error which does not really make sense. There is no stack trace or any other errors.

21:48:37,174 WARN  [org.apache.james.mime4j.parser.MimeEntity] (http--127.0.0.1-8080-1) Unexpected end of headers detected. Higher level boundary detected or EOF reached.
21:48:37,175 WARN  [org.apache.james.mime4j.parser.MimeEntity] (http--127.0.0.1-8080-1) Invalid header encountered
21:48:37,176 WARN  [org.apache.james.mime4j.parser.MimeEntity] (http--127.0.0.1-8080-1) Body part ended prematurely. Boundary detected in header or EOF reached.

It sounds like there is something wrong with the content but i am not quite sure.

Edit

@Perception - i changed the command as follows but it still produces that same error

curl http://localhost:8080/MyRestServices/restportal/services/mixedMimeText --data-binary @myfile.txt -X POST -i -H "Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary=--ABC123Boundary"

I wonder if the MultipartInput structure expects the content to be in a different format.

Edit

It looks like the data being sent is correct. Here is the output when i run the command using the --trace option

curl http://localhost:8080/MyRestServices/restportal/services/mixedMimeText --data-binary @myfile.txt -X POST -i -H "Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary=--ABC123Boundary" --trace trace.txt

Trace output

== Info: About to connect() to localhost port 8080 (#0)
== Info:   Trying 127.0.0.1...
== Info: connected
== Info: Connected to localhost (127.0.0.1) port 8080 (#0)
=> Send header, 243 bytes (0xf3)
0000: 50 4f 53 54 20 2f 4d 73 6d 52 65 73 74 53 65 72 POST /MyRestSer
0010: 76 69 63 65 73 2f 72 65 73 74 2f 73 65 72 76 69 vices/rest/servi
0020: 63 65 73 2f 6d 69 78 65 64 4d 69 6d 65 54 65 78 ces/mixedMimeTex
0030: 74 20 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 0d 0a 55 73 65 72 t HTTP/1.1..User
0040: 2d 41 67 65 6e 74 3a 20 63 75 72 6c 2f 37 2e 32 -Agent: curl/7.2
0050: 34 2e 30 20 28 69 33 38 36 2d 70 63 2d 77 69 6e 4.0 (i386-pc-win
0060: 33 32 29 20 6c 69 62 63 75 72 6c 2f 37 2e 32 34 32) libcurl/7.24
0070: 2e 30 20 7a 6c 69 62 2f 31 2e 32 2e 35 0d 0a 48 .0 zlib/1.2.5..H
0080: 6f 73 74 3a 20 6c 6f 63 61 6c 68 6f 73 74 3a 38 ost: localhost:8
0090: 30 38 30 0d 0a 41 63 63 65 70 74 3a 20 2a 2f 2a 080..Accept: */*
00a0: 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 ..Content-Type: 
00b0: 6d 75 6c 74 69 70 61 72 74 2f 6d 69 78 65 64 3b multipart/mixed;
00c0: 20 62 6f 75 6e 64 61 72 79 3d 2d 2d 41 42 43 31  boundary=--ABC1
00d0: 32 33 42 6f 75 6e 64 61 72 79 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 23Boundary..Cont
00e0: 65 6e 74 2d 4c 65 6e 67 74 68 3a 20 37 37 31 0d ent-Length: 771.
00f0: 0a 0d 0a                                        ...
=> Send data, 771 bytes (0x303)
0000: 2d 2d 41 42 43 31 32 33 42 6f 75 6e 64 61 72 79 --ABC123Boundary
0010: 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 ..Content-Type: 
0020: 74 65 78 74 2f 78 6d 6c 0d 0a 0d 0a 3c 3f 78 6d text/xml....<?xm
0030: 6c 20 76 65 72 73 69 6f 6e 3d 22 31 2e 30 22 20 l version="1.0" 
0040: 3f 3e 0d 0a 3c 72 65 71 75 65 73 74 3e 0d 0a 3c ?>..<request>..<
0050: 61 63 63 6f 75 6e 74 2d 69 64 3e 58 58 58 58 2d account-id>XXXX-
0060: 58 58 58 58 2d 58 58 58 58 2d 58 58 58 58 3c 2f XXXX-XXXX-XXXX</
0070: 61 63 63 6f 75 6e 74 2d 69 64 3e 0d 0a 3c 72 65 account-id>..<re
0080: 66 65 72 65 6e 63 65 3e 31 32 33 34 35 3c 2f 72 ference>12345</r
0090: 65 66 65 72 65 6e 63 65 3e 0d 0a 3c 61 70 70 2d eference>..<app-
00a0: 6e 61 6d 65 3e 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 58 3c 2f name>XXXXXXXXX</
00b0: 61 70 70 2d 6e 61 6d 65 3e 0d 0a 3c 69 6e 66 6f app-name>..<info
00c0: 72 6d 61 74 69 6f 6e 3e 0d 0a 3c 63 61 6c 6c 69 rmation>..<calli
00d0: 6e 67 2d 70 61 72 74 79 3e 0d 0a 3c 6e 61 6d 65 ng-party>..<name
00e0: 3e 4a 6f 65 20 42 6c 6f 67 67 73 3c 2f 6e 61 6d >Joe Bloggs</nam
00f0: 65 3e 0d 0a 3c 69 64 65 6e 74 69 66 69 65 72 3e e>..<identifier>
0100: 34 34 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 30 3c 2f 69 64 441234567890</id
0110: 65 6e 74 69 66 69 65 72 3e 0d 0a 3c 2f 63 61 6c entifier>..</cal
0120: 6c 69 6e 67 2d 70 61 72 74 79 3e 0d 0a 3c 63 61 ling-party>..<ca
0130: 6c 6c 65 64 2d 70 61 72 74 79 3e 0d 0a 3c 6e 61 lled-party>..<na
0140: 6d 65 3e 4a 6f 68 6e 20 53 6d 69 74 68 3c 2f 6e me>John Smith</n
0150: 61 6d 65 3e 0d 0a 3c 69 64 65 6e 74 69 66 69 65 ame>..<identifie
0160: 72 3e 31 35 35 35 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 3c 2f 69 r>15551234567</i
0170: 64 65 6e 74 69 66 69 65 72 3e 0d 0a 3c 2f 63 61 dentifier>..</ca
0180: 6c 6c 65 64 2d 70 61 72 74 79 3e 0d 0a 3c 2f 69 lled-party>..</i
0190: 6e 66 6f 72 6d 61 74 69 6f 6e 3e 0d 0a 3c 2f 72 nformation>..</r
01a0: 65 71 75 65 73 74 3e 0d 0a 0d 0a 2d 2d 41 42 43 equest>....--ABC
01b0: 31 32 33 42 6f 75 6e 64 61 72 79 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 123Boundary..Con
01c0: 74 65 6e 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 74 65 78 74 2f tent-Type: text/
01d0: 78 6d 6c 0d 0a 0d 0a 55 6b 6c 47 52 6b 42 41 41 xml....UklGRkBAA
01e0: 41 42 58 51 56 5a 46 5a 6d 31 30 49 42 41 41 41 ABXQVZFZm10IBAAA
01f0: 41 41 48 41 41 45 41 51 42 38 41 41 45 41 66 41 AAHAAEAQB8AAEAfA
0200: 41 41 42 41 41 67 41 5a 6d 46 6a 64 41 51 41 41 AABAAgAZmFjdAQAA
0210: 41 41 50 51 0d 0a 41 41 41 5a 47 46 30 59 52 42 AAPQ..AAAZGF0YRB
0220: 41 41 41 42 6e 35 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f AAABn5//////////
0230: 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 35 2f 2f 2f 5a 2b 66 6e 2f 2f 2f /////5///Z+fn///
0240: 6e 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 35 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f n////////5//////
0250: 2f 2f 32 66 2f 2f 32 66 2f 2f 2b 66 2f 2f 2b 66 //2f//2f//+f//+f
0260: 2f 2f 2f 2f 6e 2f 0d 0a 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 35 ////n/..///////5
0270: 32 66 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 32 66 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f//////2f//////
0280: 32 66 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 35 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f/////5////////
0290: 2b 66 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 5a 2b 66 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f +f/////Z+f//////
02a0: 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 39 6e 2f 2f 39 6e 5a /////////9n//9nZ
02b0: 2f 39 6e 2f 2f 2f 2f 35 2b 66 2f 2f 2f 39 0d 0a /9n////5+f///9..
02c0: 3c 73 6e 69 70 3e 0d 0a 2f 2f 2b 66 2f 2f 2f 2f <snip>..//+f////
02d0: 2f 2f 32 66 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 35 2f 2f //2f/////////5//
02e0: 6e 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 2f 39 6e 0d 0a 0d n//////////9n...
02f0: 0a 2d 2d 41 42 43 31 32 33 42 6f 75 6e 64 61 72 .--ABC123Boundar
0300: 79 2d 2d                                        y--
== Info: upload completely sent off: 771 out of 771 bytes
<= Recv header, 17 bytes (0x11)
0000: 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 20 32 30 30 20 4f 4b 0d HTTP/1.1 200 OK.
0010: 0a                                              .
<= Recv header, 27 bytes (0x1b)
0000: 53 65 72 76 65 72 3a 20 41 70 61 63 68 65 2d 43 Server: Apache-C
0010: 6f 79 6f 74 65 2f 31 2e 31 0d 0a                oyote/1.1..
<= Recv header, 19 bytes (0x13)
0000: 43 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 2a 2f Content-Type: */
0010: 2a 0d 0a                                        *..
<= Recv header, 19 bytes (0x13)
0000: 43 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 4c 65 6e 67 74 68 3a 20 Content-Length: 
0010: 34 0d 0a                                        4..
<= Recv header, 37 bytes (0x25)
0000: 44 61 74 65 3a 20 53 61 74 2c 20 31 38 20 46 65 Date: Sat, 18 Fe
0010: 62 20 32 30 31 32 20 32 32 3a 34 33 3a 35 33 20 b 2012 22:43:53 
0020: 47 4d 54 0d 0a                                  GMT..
<= Recv header, 2 bytes (0x2)
0000: 0d 0a                                           ..
<= Recv data, 4 bytes (0x4)
0000: 54 45 53 54                                     TEST
== Info: Connection #0 to host localhost left intact
== Info: Closing connection #0

Answer 1

Please look at: http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc1341/7_2_Multipart.html in 7.2.1 it shows examples and discusses how the boundary should be specified and used. A summary example:

1. Specify in header:

Content-Type: multipart/mixed;boundary=gc0p4Jq0M2Yt08jU534c0p

2. Precede each part with -- and boundary:

--gc0p4Jq0M2Yt08jU534c0p

3. Last boundary is -- and boundary and -- :

--gc0p4Jq0M2Yt08jU534c0p--

Hope that helps. I happened to have had to deal with this myself recently.