Read Browser/Client time from Http Servlet request header

Question

Is it possible to read the Browser(Client machine) time when a request is made to the servlet?

Answer 1

I don't believe so. Unfortunately the HTTP Date header is only sent for PUT or POST messages, and even then it's optional:

Clients SHOULD only send a Date header field in messages that include an entity-body, as in the case of the PUT and POST requests, and even then it is optional. A client without a clock MUST NOT send a Date header field in a request.

If you have control of the client, you could (perhaps) encode it as a separate experimental HTTP header. Or add it as a GET parameter etc.

Answer 2

You can use javascript and append the time to every request. Provided that javascript is enabled, you can add the following to your links:

link = link + "?date="+(new Date()).getTime()

You can do something similar, if you need timezone information. This question may help.