code: protected void doDelete(HttpServletRequest req,
                              HttpServletResponse resp)
          throws ServletException, IOException
      {
          String protocol = req.getProtocol();
          String msg = lStrings.getString("http.method_delete_not_supported");
          if (protocol.endsWith("1.1")) {
              resp.sendError(HttpServletResponse.SC_METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED, msg);
          } else {
              resp.sendError(HttpServletResponse.SC_BAD_REQUEST, msg);
          }
      }
docs: Called by the server (via the <code>service</code> method)
  to allow a servlet to handle a DELETE request.
  
  The DELETE operation allows a client to remove a document
  or Web page from the server.
  
  <p>This method does not need to be either safe
  or idempotent. Operations requested through
  DELETE can have side effects for which users
  can be held accountable. When using
  this method, it may be useful to save a copy of the
  affected URL in temporary storage.
  
  <p>If the HTTP DELETE request is incorrectly formatted,
  <code>doDelete</code> returns an HTTP "Bad Request"
  message.
  
  @param req   the {@link HttpServletRequest} object that
  contains the request the client made of
  the servlet
  
  @param resp  the {@link HttpServletResponse} object that
  contains the response the servlet returns
  to the client
  
  @throws IOException   if an input or output error occurs
  while the servlet is handling the
  DELETE request
  
  @throws ServletException  if the request for the
  DELETE cannot be handled