[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1: At a Glance
1 G ettin g S ta rted!
2 H an dlin g D ata an d O p erators
3 B ra nch in g , Lo opin g, a nd C rea tin g M eth od s
4 R ea din g D ata from W eb Pa g es: B utton s a n d T ext Fields
5 R ea din g D ata from W eb Pa g es: C h eck B ox es, R a d io B utton s, a nd S elect C ontrols
6 C reatin g JS P C o m p on ents: Jav a B eans
7 T ra ck in g U s e rs W ith S essions a n d C ook ies
[ Team L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Day 1. Getting Started!

W elcom e to Java S erv er Pages (JS P)! O v er th e n ext 21 d a ys, y ou'll get a n in -depth g u ided tou r of th e in s
an d outs of JS P. Fro m th e m ost ba sic asp e cts to th e m o st a dva n ced, w e're g oin g to be co m e m asters of
JS P in this boo k. Y ou'v e co m e to th e rig h t place.

If y ou w a n t to d o W eb pro g ra m m in g on th e serv er, the re's ju st n oth in g like JS P. It's easy to g et started
w ith JS P, a n d b eca u se it h as th e in credible pow e r of Java beh in d
it, th ere's n o lim it to h ow far y ou can g o. T radition ally, serv er p ro g ra m m in g w as a
task on ly for exp erts, b u t w ith JS P, th at's all in th e past — no w an y on e can m ake W eb pa ges com e alive as
ne ve r be fore.

Let's dig in to JS P im m e diately. In th is, ou r first day on th e job , w e're g oin g to take a loo k at th ese topics:

 W h at Java S e rv er Pag es can h elp you do

 S ettin g u p you r dev elop m e n t en viro n m en t
 R u n n in g th e To m cat S erver
 H o w w e got h ere: from H T M L to JS P
 B u ildin g an d dissectin g you r first JS Ps
 U n d ersta nd in g JS P sy ntax
 JS P resou rces on lin e

W e're goin g to w ork w ith Java S e rver Pag e s 1.2 in th is book , bu t as y ou'll find , JS P
itself is on ly th e begin n ing . B ecau se JS P lets y o u u se Java to create W e b pa ges on
th e serv er, m u ch of w h a t w e're goin g to stu d y is Java itself, as w e see w h at w e can do w ith JS P. A n d you 'll
fin d th ere's p ractically n o lim it.
[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 1
[ T eam L iB ]

What Are JavaServer Pages Good For?

Take a look at Figu re 1.1 , w h ich sh ow s th e h o m e pa ge of D elta A irlin es. N ote th e
U R L at th e top of th e brow ser: http:// w w w .delta.co m /h o m e/in d ex.jsp . T h e JS P in th e
index.jsp portion is th e JS P in Java S e rv er Pag es.

Figure 1.1. The Delta Airlines home page.

It's easy to fin d JS P at w ork every w he re on th e W eb th ese day s. In fact, JS P is beco m in g th e n ew

stan dard for ea sily dev elope d , ea sily m aintain ed W eb ap p lication s.
A s y ou m igh t expect, th ere a re m a n y, m a n y rea son s for JS P 's soa rin g p opu larity, a n d m o re a re bein g
in vented all th e tim e. H ere are a coup le of th in g s th at JS P can d o for
you r W eb p ag e s— th is is ju st a sta rter list, of co u rse:

 M ak in g W eb pa g e s com e alive — T he re are too m a n y static p a ges on th e

Inte rn et alrea dy. W h y a dd yours to th e list? To get n oticed, you r pa ge m u st
be live — it m u st do som eth in g , or offer som e service. W h at better w ay to liven pa ges u p
you rself th an to u se JS P ? N ow you r W eb pa g e s can interact w ith th e u ser in real tim e.
 G e ttin g data fro m th e u ser— A ll th e text fields, radio button s, ch eck bo xes,
an d so on , you see in W eb p a ge s can h old d ata. JS P m ak es it easy to read
th at data back to th e se rv er, an d to sen d W eb p ages th at u se th at d ata back
to th e b row ser, as w e'll see in D ay 4, "R ea din g D ata fro m W eb Pag e s: B utton s an d Fields," an d
D ay 5 , "R ea din g D ata from W eb Pa ge s: C h e ck B ox es, R a dio
B utton s, an d S elect C on tro ls."
 E asier to p ro g ra m — T he re are plenty of server-s ide pro gra m m in g option s ou t th ere, bu t n on e
easier to p rogra m th an JS P. In fact, JS P is sp e cifically
desig n ed to b e easy to pro g ra m , a s y ou'll see today.

Week 1 – Page 2
  M ore p ow er th ro ug h Jav a — JS P lets you ru n Jav a cod e w h en creatin g W eb
pa ges. Th at fa ct alon e m ak es w h at y ou can d o w ith JS P practically bou nd less.
Java is an ev er-expan d ing , n early en d less pro gra m m in g pack a ge, an d JS P
puts it at you r service. A n d you don 't h ave to b e a Ja va expe rt eith er — you
can start sm all, as w e w ill in th is book , bu ildin g u p to w h atev er level y ou
w a nt.
 C onn ectin g to datab ase s— O n e of th e m ost p op u lar th in g s you can do w ith
JS P on th e server is con n ect to data b ases via Ja va. It's n ot as h a rd as y ou
m igh t th in k, an d w e'll see h ow to conn e ct to d a tab ases, ad d ou r ow n d ata to
th e m , get data ou t of th em , an d m ore in th is book.
 Perform a n ce — JS P is b u ilt to perform bette r th a n oth er server -sid e
pro g ra m m in g p acka ges. JS P is b u ilt righ t into th e serv er softw are itself, w h ich
m e an s th at m a n y u sers can access you r W eb pa ge w i th ou t u sin g a lot of extra
m e m o ry or d e gra din g p erform an ce. In som e oth er server -side pro g ra m m in g
pack a g e s, a w h ole ne w pro cess h as to start for ev ery u ser th at a ccesses y ou r
W eb pa g e, a n d if a lot o f u sers a re d ow n lo adin g th at p age, it can brin g th e
serv er to a virtu al h alt.
 S ep aratin g code an d da ta — A v ery big topic in th e p rogra m m in g w orld th ese
days is th e sep a ration o f code a n d d ata, an d JS P fits rig h t into th at. T h e idea
is th at w h en you r JS P p ro g ra m m in g code th at th e server run s is separa te
from th e d ata th at th at cod e w orks on , it's easier to w rite a n d m aintain you r
pro g ra m s. A s w e'll see in th is book, the re a re som e n ew w ays of w orkin g w ith
JS P th at let you sep arate cod e an d data v ery effectively.
 H and lin g cookies— A po pu lar u se of JS P is to w ork w ith cookies, sto rin g
in form ation on th e u ser's m ac h in e. S om e p eo ple love cookies, som e h a te
th e m , bu t th ere's n o d o ub t th at JS P allow s you to u se th e m . W an t to re cord a
u ser's spe cial setting s for you r W eb p ag e? A JS P cookie w ill do th at. Y o u'll see
h ow to w ork w ith coo kies in D ay 7, "T ra ck in g U sers w ith S ession s an d
C ookies."

In ch oosin g JS P, you 've ch osen th e righ t pack a g e for server -sid e pro gra m m in g . Y ou
can do startlin gly pow erfu l th ing s w ith JS P, beca u se JS P h as th e fu ll pow er of Java
beh in d it on th e serv er. For exa m p le, ta ke a loo k at Figu re 1.2 , w h ich sh ow s an
exa m p le w e'll develop la ter in th e b o ok (in D ay 20 , "C reating Im a g es o n th e S e rv er
an d H an dlin g Intern et P ro g ra m m in g ," w h e re you'll learn h ow to create an d draw
im a ges u sin g Java). In th is case, th e u ser can "dra w " a lin e in th e bro w ser u sin g th e
m o u se, an d th e softw a re w e'll develop for th e server w ill actu ally create th e
corresp on d in g im age file (a JP E G file) an d sen d th at im a ge b ack to th e bro w ser, as
you see in th e figu re. T h at's a JP E G im ag e file you're lookin g at in th e figu re, created
in teractively w ith Java on th e serve r th a n ks to JS P.

Figure 1.2. Creating a JPEG image file.

Week 1 – Page 3
Let's g et dow n to bu sin e ss by settin g u p you r o w n dev elop m e n t en viro n m en t in
w h ich to create an d u se JS P ou rselves. T h is dev elop m e n t en viro n m en t w ill give you a
JS P serv er an d allow yo u to d e velop y ou r ow n JS P -en a bled W eb pa g es. A ll th e
softw a re y ou'll n ee d is free, an d you can do w n load it fro m va riou s sites on th e W eb .
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

It All Starts with Java

T h e J in JS P is for th e Ja va progra m m in g lan g u age, an d w e're goin g to n ee d Ja va to
ru n JS P. If y ou already h ave a ccess to a W eb server th at run s Java a n d JS P,
cong ratu lation s— you 're all set. O n th e oth er h a n d , if you don 't yet h av e access to
su ch a server, or w an t to de velop you r JS P cod e offlin e on you r ow n com p uter, w e
can set u p ou r ow n de v elop m e n t en viro n m ent.

T h e first th in g to in stall is Java itself, w h ich th e W eb server w ill n ee d to access to ru n

you r JS P code . Java is a pro du ct of S u n M icrosy stem s, an d y ou can d ow n load it for
free from its W eb site. W e're goin g to u se Java 2 S ta nd ard E dition ; th e cu rren t
version is 1.4. (T h at m igh t be diffe ren t w h en y ou read th is, h ow ever — you sh ou ld get
th e latest version of th e Java 2 S ta n d ard E dition S D K , th e S oftw a re D evelop m e n t
K it.) H ere are th e U R L s you 'll n ee d:

 http://java.sun.com/j2se/— T h e h o m e p a g e for Java 2 S ta n d ard E dition .

G o h ere to see y ou r do w n load option s for Java.
 http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/download.html— T h e curren t dow n load
pa ge for Java 1 .4. Y ou can also dow n load th e Ja va do cu m entation h ere, w h ich
is a goo d idea.

Week 1 – Page 4
 Caution

A llow so m e tim e to d ow n load Jav a — th e executa ble in stalla tion file is 20 –

36M B large, d epen d in g on w h at op eratin g syste m you're u sin g .

T h e in stallation in stru ction s a re on lin e (y ou can view th e m fro m th e d o w n load pa ge).

Ty pically, you ru n a self-extra ctin g executable file, su ch as j2sdk-1_4_0-win.exe in
W in d ow s, or j2re-1_4_0-solx86.sh for th e S olaris ope ratin g system . A fter you
follow th e in stallation in stru ction s, you 'll h ave Java in stalled.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

The Tomcat Server

N ow th at you 've in stalled Java, y ou're h alfw ay th e re. T h e n ext step in creatin g you r
JS P dev elop m e n t en viro n m en t is to in stall a JS P -en abled W eb serv er on you r
com p ute r. T he re's n oth in g co m p lex in this, altho ug h th e idea of in stallin g a W eb
serv er on you r co m p ute r can sou n d a little da u n ting .

T h ere a re a n u m b e r of JS P -en a bled W eb serv ers, an d w e'll u se th e on e th at's

beco m e th e JS P sta nd a rd : th e A p ach e project's To m cat server. T h is server is th e
stan d ard th rou gh o u t th e JS P w orld, an d it's th e on e S u n u ses w h en cre a tin g its JS P
im ple m e ntation .

You can d ow n load th e T om cat serv er at http://jaka rta.a p a ch e.org/tom c at/ ("Jaka rta"
is th e n a m e of th e p roje ct th at T om cat is a p art of). W e'll u se th e m ost recen t
To m cat v ersion availa ble as of th is w riting , version 4.0.3, w h ich su p p orts JS P v ersion
1.2. C urrently, you can dow n load th is version from
http://jak a rta .ap a ch e.org/b uilds/jak a rta -to m cat-4.0/release/v4 .0.3/b in / . Ju st pick
th e ap p ropriate v ersion for you r system , su ch a s jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3.zip for
W in d ow s, an d u n zip it in a directo ry of y ou r ch oosing .

Note

In th is book, th e Z ip file w ill be copied to th e W ind o w s directo ry C:\tomcat

an d un zipp ed th ere, w h ich creates th e directory C:\tomcat\jakarta-
tomcat-4.0.3, an d plen ty of sub d irectories un d ern eath it. Y ou m ig h t w an t
to u se th e sa m e directory stru ctu re to m ak e it easier to follow th e
exa m p les w e'll develop (su b stitu te / for \ in U n ix).

T h at in stalls T om cat— n ow let's take a loo k at w h at w e'v e g ot.

Week 1 – Page 5
The Tomcat Directory Structure

A great deal of th is boo k h as to do w ith u n d erstan d in g h ow

th e stan d ard JS P server, T o m cat, w ork s. F or th e sa ke of
referen ce — so y ou can com e b ack to th is in form ation as you
pro g ress throu g h th e b o ok — h ere's th e directo ry stru ctu re th at
un zippin g T o m cat creates (th e "classes" he re re fer to Java
classes; for Java code to be accessible, it m u st be in a class,
an d you 're goin g to see m o re a b ou t classes in D ay 6,
"C reatin g JS P C o m p on e nts: JavaB e an s"):

jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3
|__bin Binary executable files
|__classes Classes available to all Web applications
|__common Classes available to internal classes and
Web applications
| |__classes Common Java classes
| |__lib Common Java classes in Java Archive (JAR)
format
|__conf Configuration files (such as passwords)
|__jasper JAR files used to process and run JSP
pages
|__lib JAR files available to Web applications
|__logs The server's log files
|__server Internal Tomcat classes
|__webapps Directory for Web applications
|__work Scratch directory for holding temporary
files

W e'll get m ore fa m iliar w ith th is directo ry stru c tu re w h en w e sta rt u sin g it in depth in
th e co m in g d ays.

N ote in particu lar th e webapps directo ry, w h ich is w he re th e W eb a pp lica tion s you
create g o so th ey're acc essible to th e b row ser. For in sta n ce, th e exa m p les fro m D a y
1 w ill go into th e ch01 directory w e'll add to webapps:

webapps
|__ch01 Our folder for Day 1 examples

T h e directory contain in g W eb a pp lication s m u st also contain a directo ry n a m e d WEB-

INF, w ith tw o sub d irectories, classes an d lib. WEB-INF, classes, an d lib m igh t all
be e m pty, bu t T o m cat w ill expect th em to be th ere b e fo re run n in g you r a p p lication :

webapps
|__ch01 Our folder for Day 1 examples
|__WEB-INF Information about Day 1's Web
applications
|__classes Java classes used by Day 1's Web
applications
|__lib JAR files used by Day 1's Web
applications

Week 1 – Page 6
W e'll create th e ch01, WEB-INF, classes, an d lib directo ries w e n ee d in a m o m ent,
bu t first, let's sta rt T o m cat itself.

Note

T h ere w ill be plenty of p ath specification s in this book, su ch as jakarta-

tomcat-4.0.3\webapps\ch01 in W in d ow s, or jakarta-tomcat-
4.0.3/webapps/ch01 in U n ix. If you 're u sin g W ind o w s an d you see forw ard
slash es (/) in a path , it's a U n ix path — ju st sub s titute b ackslash es ( \)
in stead, an d vice v ersa if y ou're a U n ix u ser w h o sees forw a rd slash es. T h e
To m cat directo ry stru ctu re is th e sa m e on all operatin g syste m s, exce p t for
ope ratin g system -d epen den t sy ntax, like u sin g \ in stead of /.

Starting Tomcat

W h en y ou sta rt T om cat, you m u st first set a few en v iro n m en t

variable s. A m o n g oth er th ing s, th ese en viro n m e n t varia bles
w ill let To m c at fin d Java so it can ru n ou r JS P cod e.

Tip

You can g et th e details on th ese en viro n m en t v ariables by tak in g a look at

th e readme.txt do cu m e n t th at com e s w ith T om cat, w h ich w ill refer you to
th e docu m e n t running.txt. It's also ava ila ble on lin e at
http://jak a rta .ap a ch e.org/to m cat/to m c a t -4.0 -d oc/R U N N IN G .tx t.

In p a rticu lar, th e en viron m en t varia bles to set a re th e follow in g :

 JAVA_HOME points to th e in stallation directo ry of Java; for ex a m p le, th at m ig h t

be C:\jdk1.4 in Windows.
 CATALINA_HOME points to th e in stallation directo ry of T o m cat; for exa m p le,
C:\tomcat\jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3 (you g et th is path w h en you un zip
To m cat 4.0.3 in C:\tomcat).
 PATH h olds th e search p ath th e co m p uter's op eratin g syste m w ill search for
pro g ra m s to run . M ak e su re y ou add Jav a 's bin directo ry to y ou r p ath — for
exa m p le, you w ou ld ad d C:\jdk1.4\bin to th e path if Java w as in stalled to
C:\jdk1.4.

T h e w a y you actu ally set th ese va ria bles va ries by o p eratin g syste m . F o r exa m p le, to
set JAVA_HOME to C:\jdk1.4 in W in d ow s 200 0 P rofession al, you can select S tart,
S ettin g s, C ontro l Pan el to op en th e control p an e l, an d do u b le -click th e S yste m icon
in th e con tro l p an el. N e xt, click th e A d van ced tab as y ou se e in Figu re 1.3 . D oin g so

Week 1 – Page 7
open s th e E n viro n m en t V aria bles dialog box; click th e N ew button in th e S y stem
V aria bles p art, op en in g th e N ew S y stem V aria ble dialog you see in Figu re 1.4 .

Figure 1.3. The Advanced tab in the System Properties dialog in

Windows 2000 Professional.

Figure 1.4. Setting an environment variable in Windows 2000

Professional.

Week 1 – Page 8
You can ente r th e n ew settin g for JAVA_HOME a s you see in Figu re 1.4 : C:\jdk1.4. T o
ch a ng e th e PATH va ria ble, w h ich already exists, you click th e E dit b utton in th e
S ystem V aria bles section a n d edit th e PATH variable to add th e Jav a bin directo ry to
it. For exa m p le, if you r path loo ks som eth in g like th is:

C:\WINDOWS;C:\Program Files

you 'd a dd a sem icolon an d th e p ath of th e Java bin directo ry:

C:\WINDOWS;C:\Program Files;C:\jdk1.4\bin

H o w y ou set en viro n m e n t varia bles depe n d s on th e op eratin g syste m , h ow ev er; for

exa m p le, th e process is com p letely differen t in W in d ow s 95 /98, w h ere you m u st edit
th e C:\autoexec.bat file in stea d.

Tip

You can fin d excellen t in stru ction s on settin g en viro n m e n t va ria bles for a ll
th e op eratin g system s th at ru n Java fro m th e Java dow n load p a ge , in th e
in stallation n otes. H ere's th e U R L w ith lin ks for variou s op eratin g system s:
http://jav a.su n .c om /j2 s e/1.4/install-opera tin gsyste m n a m e.htm l (for
exa m p le, for W in d ow s, th e U R L is http://jav a.s u n .co m /j2se/1.4 /in stall-
w in d ow s.htm l) . T h ese n otes are all abou t settin g th e PATH en viro n m e n t
variable, bu t you can u se th e m to set an y en viro n m en t va riable.

You can also set th e en viro n m e n t va ria bles w h e n y ou sta rt T om cat itself, an d you
m igh t fin d th at m ore con ven ient. Y ou'll fin d th e direction s for startin g T om cat in th e
running.txt docu m e n t th at co m es w ith To m ca t.

To start T om cat, y ou'll n ee d a co m m a n d p ro m pt. In W in d ow s, th at's th e D O S

pro m pt, w h ich you get in a D O S w in d ow . Y ou ca n open a D O S w in d ow b y selectin g
S tart, P ro g ra m s, A ccess ories, C o m m a n d P ro m p t in W ind o w s 20 00 P rofe s sion al;
S tart, P ro g ra m s, M S -D O S P ro m p t in W in d ow s 98, an d so on .

Week 1 – Page 9
To set th e en viro n m e n t variables (if you h av en 't set th em alread y), you can type th e
follow in g at th e D O S p rom pt. (M a k e th e v ersion nu m b ers an d p ath s m atch w h at you
h ave in stalled, of course . )

C:\>SET JAVA_HOME=C:\jdk1.4
C:\>SET CATALINA_HOME=C:\tomcat\jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3
C:\>SET PATH=%PATH%;C:\jdk1.4\bin

N ote th e last statem e nt, SET PATH=%PATH%;C:\jdk1.4\bin, w h ich is an easy w ay of

ad d in g C:\jdk1.4\bin to th e en d of th e path , w ith ou t m ak in g a n y ch an g es to th e
rest of th e p ath .

In th e U n ix bash sh ell, th is m ig h t loo k so m eth in g like th is in you r .bashrc file (start

a n ew sh ell to m ake th e ch a n g es take effect):

JAVA_HOME=/jdk1.4
export JAVA_HOME
SET CATALINA_HOME=/tomcat/jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3
export CATALINA_HOME
SET PATH=/usr/local/bin:/jdk1.4/bin
export PATH

In th e U n ix tcsh sh ell, it m ig h t loo k like th is in you r .tcshrc file (start a n ew sh ell to

m ake th e ch a n ge s tak e effect):

setenv JAVA_HOME /jdk1.4

setenv CATALINA_HOME /tomcat/jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3
setenv PATH /usr/local/bin:/jdk1.4/bin

A fter th ese en viro n m en t variables are set, w e're ready to sta rt T om cat. A g ain , th is
pro cess is op eratin g system -dep e n d ent; see th e T om cat d o cu m en t running.txt for
m o re d etails. In W in d ow s, g o to th e To m cat bin directo ry (th e bin directory is rig h t
un d er th e directo ry th at T om cat un zips itself to, su ch as C:\tomcat\jakarta-
tomcat-4.0.3\bin if T o m cat w as u n zip p ed in C:\tomcat) an d type startup:

C:\tomcat\jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3\bin\>startup

In U n ix, th at co m m a n d m igh t loo k like th is:

/tomcat/jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3/bin/startup.sh

T h at's it— n ow T o m cat is runn in g . In W in d ow s, you'll see a n ew D O S w in d ow op en

an d a m essa g e sim ilar to th is ap p e ar:

Starting service Tomcat-Apache

Apache Tomcat/4.0.3

Week 1 – Page 10
D on't close th is n ew w in dow — th at's w he re T om cat is run n in g . S o h ow d o w e pu t
To m cat to w ork? Y ou 'll n ee d a b row ser, su ch as M icro soft In tern et Explorer (w h ich
you can pick u p free at http:// w w w .m icro soft.c om /w in d ow s/ie/d efa u lt.asp ), or
N etscap e N av igator (fre e at http://b ro w sers.n etsca p e .co m /brow s ers/m a in .tm pl).
R u n th e brow ser n ow a n d enter th e U R L http://localhost:8080/index.html,
w h ich sh ou ld brin g u p th e p age you see in Figure 1.5 .

Figure 1.5. Running the Tomcat server.

A s th e fig u re say s, con g ratu lation s — n ow y ou're run n in g you r

ow n W eb serv er. N ote th e U R L w e'v e u sed —
http://localhost:8080/index.html. T h e localhost part is
th e n a m e of th e W eb se rv er, an d localhost is th e n a m e
reserv ed for W eb serv ers runn in g on you r ow n m ac h in e. 8080
is th e port nu m b e r. E a c h W eb serv er u ses a "p ort" nu m b er to
keep it sepa rate from oth er W eb serv ers. U su ally, W eb serv ers
u se p ort 80 , bu t T o m cat u ses po rt 808 0 so it w on't interfere
w ith oth er W eb servers.

Tip

If T om cat d oesn 't ru n fo r y ou , see th e T ro ub lesh oo tin g section in th e

running.txt docu m e n t th at co m es w ith To m ca t.

Week 1 – Page 11
To stop T o m cat, you u se th e shutdown co m m a nd . It looks som eth in g like th is in
W in d ow s:

C:\tomcat\jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3\bin\>shutdown

an d th is in U n ix:

/tomcat/jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3/bin/shutdown.sh

T h at's ou r first step — g e ttin g T o m cat itself run n ing . W e'v e already m a de pro g ress —
n ow let's see w h eth e r w e can display som e of ou r ow n pa g es u sin g this serv er.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating Web Documents

T h ro ug h ou t th is book, w e'll be creatin g ou r ow n docu m ents — H T M L do cu m e nts, Ja va
docu m e nts, JS P d ocu m e nts, an d so on . T h at m e an s th at w e'll n ee d an e d itor th at can
save plain text files as p art of ou r d ev elop m e n t en viro n m e nt.

You can u se an y editor or ev en w ord processor you like, su ch as W ordP ad in

W in d ow s, o r vi (or eve n pico) in U n ix. T h e m a in poin t h ere is th at you m u st sav e
th e files you create in plain text form at (n ot, for exa m p le, rich text form at, w h ich is
th e defa u lt for som e v ersion s of W ordPa d).

For exa m p le, you can see h ow to u se W ordP ad to create a W eb p ag e n a m e d

ch01_01.html (th at is, E xa m p le 1 fro m D a y 1) in Figu re 1.6 . W h en you sav e it, u se
th e File, S ave A s m en u item , an d select th e T ext D ocu m e n t item in th e S ave A s T ype
box of th e S av e A s dialog box th at ap p ears. W e'll see ho w to op en th is n ew H TM L
docu m e n t in To m cat later in th is D ay.

Figure 1.6. Creating a Web page.

Week 1 – Page 12
 Tip

W h en w e d ev elop JS P -e n a bled p ages, w e'll give th em th e exten sion .jsp,

like index.jsp. W h en y ou sav e a file w ith th e e xten sion .jsp in W ordP ad,
it'll try to a dd th e exten sion .txt beca u se it do esn't kn ow abo u t th e .jsp
exten sion , givin g you index.jsp.txt. T o av oid th is, p u t q u otation m arks
aro un d th e n a m e of th e file w h en y ou sa ve it — if you sav e th e file as
"index.jsp", y ou'll get th e file index.jsp, n ot index.jsp.txt.

You can fin d th e H T M L p age cre ated in Fig u re 1.6 in Listin g 1.1 .

Listing 1.1 A Simple Web Page (ch01_01.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>
A Web Page
</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
Hello there!
</BODY>
</HTML>

Week 1 – Page 13
W h ere can y ou sa ve th is do cu m e n t so you can view it w ith T o m cat? In th is book, it'll
be easiest to store th e exa m p les fro m D ay 1 in a directo ry n a m ed ch01, th e
exa m p les fro m D a y 2 in ch02, an d so on . T h ose directo ries a re sub d irectories of th e
webapps directo ry in th e T om cat directory stru ctu re:

jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3
|__webapps
|__ch01
|__ch02
|__ch03
.
.
.

C reate th e ch01 directo ry n ow — for exa m p le, you can u se th e W in d ow s E xplorer in

W in d ow s for th is pu rp o se. W e'll also n ee d a WEB-INF directo ry un d e r ch01, as w ell as
classes an d lib su b directo ries (ev en th ou g h th ey're e m pty):

jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3
|__webapps
|__ch01
|__WEB-INF
|__classes
|__lib
|__ch02
|__WEB-INF
|__classes
|__lib

C reate th is directo ry stru ctu re for ch01 n ow , an d sav e th e first exa m p le ,

ch01_01.html, in ch01 (th at is, in jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3\webapps\ch01 in
W in d ow s, or jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3/webapps/ch01 in U n ix).

W h at's th e U R L of ou r n ew d ocu m e nt? If w e h a d pu t it in to th e webapps directo ry

itself, it w ou ld be http://localhost:8080/ch01_01.html, bu t be ca u se w e've place d
it in th e webapps\ch01 directory, its U R L is
http://localhost:8080/ch01/ch01_01.html. E nter th at U R L into th e bro w ser n ow ,
an d you sh ou ld see th e resu lt in Figu re 1.7 .

Figure 1.7. Viewing a new document in Tomcat.

Week 1 – Page 14
A n d th a t's it— n ow ou r d ev elop m en t en viro n m e n t is co m p lete. W e'v e g ot Java, w e've
got a JS P serv er, w e've got a brow ser, a n d w e'v e got an editor w ith w h ich to w rite
ou r W eb d ocu m ents (altern atively, you cou ld ju st dow n loa d th e sou rce cod e for th is
boo k an d u se th a t). N ot bad — w e'v e m ad e a g re at deal of p ro g ress.

N ow w e're read y to sta rt w orkin g u p to JS P itself. A n d to do th at, it's a goo d idea to

start by tak in g a look at th e h istory of JS P.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

A Brief History of JSP

To un de rsta n d JS P , y ou h ave to un d erstan d w h e re JS P ca m e fro m . T h e W eb started
w ith H TM L, an d JS P 's h istory sta rts th ere, to o, so th e first step is to take a loo k at
H T M L.

HTML

T h e pa g es into w h ich w e e m b ed ou r JS P a re H y pertext M a rku p Lan gu a ge (H TM L)

pa ges. (T h is book assu m es you a re alrea dy fa m iliar w ith H TM L.) H T M L is a
specification of th e W orld W ide W eb C on sortiu m (W 3C ), an d you can fin d th e official
h o m e p ag e for H T M L at http://w w w .w 3.org/M a rkU p . T h e cu rren t versio n of H T M L is

Week 1 – Page 15
 4.01, an d you can fin d H T M L's official specification at http://w w w .w 3.org/T R /htm l4/ .

Tip

If y ou w a n t to b ru sh u p on H TM L , the re a re m an y r esources on th e
Inte rn et. H e re's a go od on e th at lists all H TM L tags an d attributes by
bro w ser version an d w h at th ey d o:
http://w w w .w illc a m .co m /cm at/htm l/ta gs.htm l .

W e've alrea dy seen ou r first H T M L exa m p le, ch01_01.html; th at exa m p le did n't do
an yth in g except sup p o rt a title for th e pa g e a n d display th e text Hello there!:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>
A Web Page
</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
Hello there!
</BODY>
</HTML>

T h at's okay as far as it goes, bu t it doesn 't go v ery fa r. T h is pa ge is very static, an d

W eb d evelopers w an ted m o re as th e W eb b eca m e m ore an d m o re p op u lar. A t first,
clien t-side pro g ra m m in g beca m e p op u lar, u sin g script lan g u a ges like Java S cript.

JavaScript

D espite th e n a m e, Ja v a S cript is n ot related to Java. It a ctu ally beg an in 1995, w h en

a N etsca p e C o m m u n ication s C orp oration d e velo p er n a m e d B ren d an E ich w as given a
n ew project to w ork on . T h e origin al idea w as to give N etscape N av igator so m eth in g
extra; E ich to ok a loo k aro un d an d d e cided th at w h at w as n ee d ed w a s a scriptin g
lan gu ag e th at w as fa st an d easy to u se.

H e called h is creation LiveS cript, b u t it w as ren a m ed Java S cript (alth ou gh develop ed by

N etsca p e, S u n h ad th e trad e m a rks on Jav a , so, intere stin g ly, th e n a m e Java S cript
is actu ally a trade m ark of S u n M icrosy ste m s). T h e n ew lan gu a ge w as a nn ou n ced in a
join t press con feren ce w ith N etsca pe an d S u n on D ecem b e r 4, 19 95.

U n like JS P, w h ich is all abo u t p rogra m m in g on th e serv er , scriptin g lan g u a ges like
Java S cript are all abou t pro g ra m m in g on th e clien t side, in th e brow ser. You en close
you r Java S cript code in a <SCRIPT> ele m en t in an H T M L p ag e — for exa m p le, you can
see ho w to u se Java S cript to w rite th e m e ssa g e Hello there! to a W e b pa ge w h ile
th at pa ge is bein g loade d in Listin g 1.2 .

Week 1 – Page 16
Listing 1.2 Using JavaScript (ch01_02.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>
A Web Page
</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!—
document.write("Hello there!")
//—>
</SCRIPT>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th is creates th e sa m e resu lts as w e saw for ou r H T M L pa g e in Figu re 1.7 , b u t n ow

w e're u sin g Java S cript to w rite to th e W eb pa g e . C lien t -side pro gra m m in g like th is
can be u sefu l— you 'll se e th at w e can u se Ja va S cript to pass data to JS P docu m ents
on th e serv er— bu t it's extre m ely lim ited. A s a resu lt of secu rity restr iction s, for
exa m p le, you ca n't acce ss files fro m Ja va S cript. A n d beca u se Ja va S cript h as to be
bu ilt into th e brow se r, it h as to be relatively sm all, an d ca n 't contain m ore th an a
sm all fraction of th e po w er of a fu ll pro gra m m in g lan gu a ge like Java. In fac t, du rin g
all th e tim e H T M L an d scriptin g lan g u a ges like Java S cript w ere de veloping , so w as
Java.

Java

Java w as n't origin ally created for th e Inte rn et. T h e first version w as actu ally beg u n in
199 1 an d w ritten in 18 m o nth s at S u n M icrosy stem s. In fact, it w asn 't ev en called
Java in th ose day s; it w as called O ak, an d it w a s u sed intern ally at S u n .

T h e origin al idea for O a k w as to create an op e ratin g system -in d epen d e n t lan g u a ge.
M a n y p rogra m m ers w ere con fin in g th e m selves to pro gra m m in g for th e IB M PC at
th at tim e, bu t th e corpo rate en viro n m en t can in clud e all kin d s of pro gra m m in g
platform s, fro m th e PC to hu g e m ain fra m es, an d th e in spiration beh in d O ak w as to
create so m eth in g th at cou ld be u sed on all th ose co m p ute rs. (A ctu ally, th e origin al
in spiration for O ak w as n ot w h at you 'd call esp e cially gla m oro u s — S u n w anted to
create a lan gu a ge it cou ld u se in con su m er electro n ics. )

O ak w as ren a m ed Java in 19 95 w h en it w as released for pu b lic con su m p tion , an d as

you pro ba bly kn ow , it's beco m e very popu lar. E ven th oug h it's n ot ta rg eted at th e
Inte rn et, y ou can still u se it to display th e m essage Hello there!; Listin g 1.3 details
a sm all Java a p plication n a m e d ch01_03.java th at does ju st th at.

Listing 1.3 A Java Application (ch01_03.java)

public class ch01_03

Week 1 – Page 17
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println("Hello there!");
}
}
To ru n th is exa m p le, y o u m u st com pile ch01_03.java an d
create a Ja va .class file: ch01_03.class. T h e com p ilation
pro cess creates th is .class file, w h ich is w h at you ne ed to ru n
th e pro gra m .

You co m p ile ch01_03.java w ith th e Java co m p iler, w h ich is n a m ed javac. If you 've
set u p y ou r path to in clud e th e Java bin directory as w e saw ea rlier, y ou can u se th e
javac co m m an d at th e com m a n d p ro m p t; h ere's h ow th at m igh t loo k in W ind ow s
(m ake sure y ou're in th e sa m e directo ry as ch01_03.java):

C:\>javac ch01_03.java

T h is creates ch01_03.class, w h ich you can ru n w ith th e Java to ol, sim p ly n a m ed

java. H e re's h ow th at w ou ld loo k in W in d ow s:

C:\>java ch01_03

You can see th e resu lts in Figu re 1.8 , w he re ou r Java a pp lication is display in g th e
m essag e Hello there!

Figure 1.8. Running a Java application.

JS P is based on Jav a , a n d a lot of th is book is a bou t learn in g to u se Jav a. Java 's a

Week 1 – Page 18
big p art of th e In tern et n ow be cau se S u n cou ldn't ign ore th e In tern et, an d Java's
first atte m p t at w orkin g w ith th e Inte rn et w a s to intro du ce a p p lets.

Java Applets

A n a p p let is ju st a Java .class file th at's sp ecially w ritten to

display gra p h ics in a W eb brow s er; you e m b ed a p p lets in W eb
pa ges u sin g th e H TM L <APPLET> ele m ent. W h en ru n in a W eb
pa ge, Java ap p lets are d ow n loa ded auto m atically an d ru n by
th e bro w ser, displayin g th e m selves in th e space you've
allocated for th e m in th e pa ge . T h ey can do an yth in g fro m
w orkin g w ith gra p h ics a n d displayin g an i m ation to h a n d lin g
H T M L text fields an d b utton s.

H ere's an exa m p le called ch01_04.java. T h e Ja va ap p let you see in Listin g 1.4

displays ou r Hello there! m essag e.

Listing 1.4 A Java Applet (ch01_04.java)

import java.applet.Applet;
import java.awt.*;

public class ch01_04 extends Applet

{
public void paint(Graphics g)
{
g.drawString("Hello there!", 60, 100);
}
}

To u se th is ap p let, you m u st first com p ile it w ith javac:

C:\>javac ch01_04.java

T h is creates ch01_04.class, w h ich you can u s e in th e H T M L <APPLET> elem e nt.

H ere's a sa m p le W eb pa ge th at do es th is by settin g aside an area 20 0 x 2 00 pixels in
w h ich to display th e a p p let in Listin g 1.5 .

Listing 1.5 Displaying an Applet (ch01_05.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>A Web Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<APPLET CODE="ch01_04.class" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="200"></APPLET>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Week 1 – Page 19
If y ou store th e a p p let, ch01_04.class, an d th is W eb pa g e, ch01_05.html, in th e
webapps\ch01 directo ry , you can see th e a p p let at w ork b y n av igatin g to
http://localhost:8080/ch01/ch01_05.html, as y ou see in Figu re 1.9 .

Figure 1.9. Viewing an applet.

A pp lets can display text like th is, alon g w ith b u tton s, an d so on , b u t like Java S cript,
th ey're very lim ited. In fact, th eir tim e is m o stly past a s ne w client -side a pp lication s
like Flash take ov er; th e stan d ard v ersion of th e n ew est N etscap e N av ig ator n o
long er even sup p orts ap plets by defau lt.

B u t th e Intern et w a s still th ere to con qu e r. W ith th e de m ise of ap p lets, Java tu rn ed

to th e server side of th ing s, an d its first step in th e server w as to im p lem e n t
servlets.

Java Servlets

Java serv lets w ere th e first real atte m p t to get a ccess to th e

fu ll pow er of Ja v a in W e b ap p lication s. Like ap p lets, servlets
are w ritten co m p letely in Java; you com p ile th e m into .class
files, an d — u sin g serv ers like T o m cat th at can su p p ort
servlets— y ou can n av igate directly to tho se .class files an d
view th e resu lts in a bro w ser. In th is w ay, a servlet can alm ost
be th ou gh t of as an ap p let th at run s on th e serv er side (as th e

Week 1 – Page 20
 n a m e servlet is m ea n t to im p ly).

Lis ting 1 .6 sh ow s a sa m ple servlet, ch01_06.java, w ritten in pu re Java th at w ill

display ou r m essa g e.

Listing 1.6 A Java Servlet (ch01_06.java)

import java.io.*;
import javax.servlet.*;
import javax.servlet.http.*;

public class ch01_06 extends HttpServlet

{
public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
throws IOException, ServletException
{
response.setContentType("text/html");
PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();

out.println("<HTML>");
out.println("<HEAD>");
out.println("<TITLE>");
out.println("A Web Page");
out.println("</TITLE>");
out.println("</HEAD>");
out.println("Hello there!");
out.println("</BODY>");
out.println("</HTML>");
}
}

C o m p ilin g ch01_06.java in to ch01_06.class takes an a dd ition al step w e h av en't

seen be fore. M u ch of th e sup p ort for servlets is n ot bu ilt into th e core of Java, b u t is
stored in a Java A rch ive (JA R ) file n a m e d servlet.jar, w h ich stores m an y
specialized .class files in tern ally.

To m cat com e s w ith servlet.jar (located in th e jakarta-tomcat-

4.0.3\common\lib directory), an d to access it, w e h a ve to set th e CLASSPATH
en viro n m e n t va ria ble, w h ich is specific to Java. A s y ou m igh t expect fro m th e n a m e ,
CLASSPATH in dicates w h ere Java can look for th e .class files it n ee ds w h en gettin g
an ap p lication rea dy to run ; w e're u sin g CLASSPATH becau se w e n e ed a nu m b e r of
servlet .class files stored in servlet.jar. H ere's h ow you can set th e CLASSPATH
variable to in clu d e servlet.jar in W in d ow s (ch a ng e th e path to servlet.jar as
n ee d ed):

C:\>SET CLASSPATH=C:\tomcat\jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3\common\lib\servlet.jar

N ow Ja va can fin d w h at it n ee ds to com p ile serv lets. Y ou m ig h t h ave already set

CLASSPATH to oth er loca tion s, so if y ou ju st w a n t to add servlet.jar to th e

Week 1 – Page 21
CLASSPATH w ith ou t affectin g th e rest of w h at's a lrea dy in CLASSPATH, you can do th e
follow in g in W in d ow s (like othe r en viro n m en t v ariables, y ou sep a rate t h e location s
an d JA R filen a m es in th e CLASSPATH variable w ith se m icolon s):

C:>set classpath=%CLASSPATH%;d:\tomcat\jakarta-tomcat-
4.0.3\common\lib\servlet.jar

You 'll see m ore on u sin g an d settin g CLASSPATH in D ay 11 , "C reatin g M ore Pow erfu l
JavaB ea n s." N ow th at w e h av e acc ess to servlet.jar, n av ig ate to th e d irecto ry
w h ere ou r sa m p le servlet ch01_06.java is loca ted, an d u se javac to create
ch01_06.class (th is assu m es javac is in you r com p ute r's path ) :

C:\>javac ch01_06.java

N ow tran sfer ch01_06.class to jakarta-tomcat-4.0.3\webapps\ch01\classes—

n ote th at w e h av e to u s e th e classes directory for Java classes like ch01_06.class.

A n d th at's it— all w e h av e to do n ow is n av ig ate to

http://localhost:8080/ch01/servlet/ch01_06. Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re
1.1 0-n ote th at it loo ks ju st like ou r origin al H TM L do cu m e nt, b u t th is tim e, w e'v e
created th is W eb pa ge o n th e server.

Figure 1.10. Using a servlet.

Week 1 – Page 22
 Tip

T h e servlet in http://localhost:8080/ch01/servlet/ch01_06 tells

To m cat th at you 're n av igatin g to a servlet th at it sh ou ld run . W e'll see h ow
w e can m ak e som e con figu ration ch a n g es th at w ill allow u s to om it th at
term in D ay 13 , "C reatin g M ore P ow erfu l S ervlets," m a kin g this U R L sim p ly
http://localhost:8080/ch01/ch01_06.

S ervlets are v ery p ow erfu l, b u t th ey're n ot easy to p ro g ra m . A s a resu lt, th ey

h av en 't b eco m e v ery po pu lar. B u t Java a n d th e Inte rn et w as a m atch m ean t to b e —
an d th e n ext step is JS P .

JSP

JS P is bu ilt on top of servlets, bu t JS P is m u ch e asier to p rogra m , an d th at's th e

w h ole poin t— th at's w h y JS P h as tak en off.

JS P, a sp ecification of S u n M icro sy stem s, first a p p eare d in 199 8. T h e official

version s, 1.0 an d 1.1, b oth ap p e a red in 199 9, a n d both w ere v ery pop u lar. T h e
cu rren t version , 1.2, a p p ea red in 20 01, an d is th e m o st pop u lar im p le m entation yet;
th is is th e version w e'll be u sin g in th is book .

Inte rn ally, each JS P pa g e is actu ally con verted into a servlet by th e server (w e'll see
exactly h ow th at w orks in D ay 13 ). In othe r w ord s, th is is really a boo k abo u t
servlets— b u t th ey're a ctin g entirely beh in d th e scen es.

Note

W e'll also see h ow to create servlets in th is book for so m e a dd ed p ow er —

see D a ys 13 an d 1 4.

Fro m ou r poin t of view , JS P pa ges are sim ply H TM L pa g es w ith e m b e dd ed Java in

th e m . A n d by u sin g JS P, w e av oid all th e h assle of creatin g fu ll-blow n Java
ap p lication s— th e serv er w ill do all th at for u s, tak in g ou r Java sn ipp ets of cod e an d
com p ilin g th e m for u s a uto m atically.

It's clea r th at S u n h a d g otten th e m e ssa g e a bou t m ak in g thin g s easy for th e

pro g ra m m e r w h en it ca m e u p w ith JS P, a n d w e're th e w in n ers. Le t's u s e JS P n ow to
create th e W eb pa g e w e 've already d eveloped — you can see w h at it loo k s like in
Lis ting 1 .7 , ch01_07.jsp (givin g this docu m en t th e exten sion .jsp m e a n s T o m cat
w ill kn ow th at it is a JS P docu m en t an d treat it accordin gly):

Listing 1.7 A JSP Page (ch01_07.jsp)

Week 1 – Page 23
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>A Web Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<% out.println("Hello there!"); %>
</BODY>
</HTML>
N otice ho w sim p le th is is— it's ju st a sim p le H T M L p ag e , w ith
th e extra ele m en t <% out.println("Hello there!"); %>.
T h is ele m en t is called a scriptlet in JS P, a n d it en closes th e
Java w e u se to w rite th e m essa ge Hello there! to th e W eb
pa ge. Y ou can see th e resu lt by n av igatin g to
http://localhost:8080/ch01/ch01_07.js p, a s y ou see in
Figu re 1.1 1 .

Figure 1.11. Our first JSP.

Tip

A s y ou p rob a bly kn ow , a W eb server w ill sen d th e do cu m e n t n a m ed

index.html to th e b row ser if th at docu m en t is presen t in th e directo ry you
n av igate to on th e serv er, a n d y ou don 't sp ecify an y oth er do cu m e nt.
S im ilarly, index.jsp is th e defa u lt for JS P d ocu m e nts — T o m cat w ill sen d

Week 1 – Page 24
 th at to th e b ro w ser if y ou do n't sp ecify an y sp e c ific docu m en t oth erw ise. If
both index.jsp an d index.html are p re sent, th e server ch ooses
index.html as th e de fa u lt.

A n d th at's it— n ow w e'v e created a n d ru n ou r first JS P! Let's see w h at m ak es it tick.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Dissecting Our First JSP

T h e cru cial lin e in ou r first JS P is th is on e, w h ere it u ses so m e Ja v a cod e :

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>A Web Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<% out.println("Hello there!"); %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th e sp ecial JS P ta gs <% an d %> create a scriptlet, an d w e can en close Ja va code in

th e scriplet. In th is w ay, w e're a ble to em b ed Ja va directly into ou r p ag e 's H TM L .

T h e a ctu al Java w e 're u sin g h ere is out.println("Hello

there!"); (n ote th e sem icolon — all Java state m e nts en d w ith
a sem icolon ). H ere, w e're u sin g th e out obje ct to prin t Hello
there! to th e W eb pa g e before th at pa g e is sen t b ack to th e
bro w ser.
A Java object like out contain s all kin ds of p ro g ra m m in g
pow e r for u s. Fo r exa m ple, h ere w e're u sin g th e out obje ct's
println (w h ich stan d s for "prin t lin e") m eth od to w rite Hello
there! to th e W eb p a ge th at is bein g se n t to th e b row ser. T h e
m eth ods of an object let you p erform actions, su ch as w ritin g
text in a W eb p ag e. B esides m eth o ds, objects also sup p ort
data m e m b ers. Y ou u se data m e m b ers to con fig u re th e
object; for exa m p le, y ou can u se th e out.bufferSize data
m e m b e r of th e out obje ct to set th e size of th e in tern al b u ffer
u sed in th at object. Y ou 'll see m ore on objects, m eth ods, a n d
data m e m b ers in D ay 2, "H an d lin g D ata a n d O p erators," a n d
in detail in D ay 6— all th at's im p orta n t rig h t n ow is to kn ow
th at in JS P, you can u se th e out object's println m eth od to

Week 1 – Page 25
 w rite text (in clu din g H T M L!) to a W eb p ag e th at is bein g sen t
back to th e b row ser.

T h e out obje ct is on e of th e obje cts already bu ilt into JS P for ou r u se. N ote th at in
ou r servlet exa m p le, w e h ad to create th is obje ct ou rselves, u sin g tech n iq u es w e'll
loo k at later in th is book:

public class servlet extends HttpServlet

{
public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
throws IOException, ServletException
{
response.setContentType("text/html");
PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();

out.println("<HTML>");
.
.
.

In JS P , th e out object is already created for u s in ord er to m a ke th in g s easier, an d in

th is exa m p le, w e're u sin g th e println m eth od to w rite text to th e W eb pa ge bein g
sen t back to th e b ro w s e r. T h at's all th ere is to it.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Overview of JSP Syntax

N ow th at w e're actu ally w orkin g w ith JS P, th e n ext step is to get an ov erview of JS P
itself, w h ich m e an s g ettin g an overview of th e JS P sy ntax . A fter w e'v e gotten th e
com p on ents of JS P syntax dow n , everyth in g else w ill fit into th at fra m e w ork. T he re
are fou r differen t typ es of elem e nts you can u se in JS P:

 S criptin g ele m ents— T h is is w h ere you r Java go es, as in th e scriptlets w e'v e

already see n .
 C o m m e nts— C o m m e nts are text y ou ad d to an n otate a JS P d ocu m e n t —
th ey're like n otes to you rself or othe r p ro g ra m m ers. T h ey're ign ored by th e
W eb server, an d a re on ly for p ro g ra m m ers to re ad.
 D irectives— D irectives a re in stru ction s specific to a pa rticu lar p a ge th at let
you set ho w th e pa g e is to b e process ed. F or ex a m p le, you can u se a
directive to ind icate th at you w a n t th e outp u t of a pa ge to be X M L, n ot H T M L.
 A ctions — A ction s let you perform som e op e ration , su ch as in clu din g oth er
pa ges in th e curren t pa ge, or in clu din g Java a p p lets, or w orkin g w ith
JavaB ea n com p on e nts (w h ich you'll see in D ay 6 ). U n like directives, a ction s
are re-evalu ated each tim e th e pa ge is accesse d .

Let's tak e a look at th ese va riou s typ es of JS P elem e nts, sta rtin g w ith scriptin g

Week 1 – Page 26
ele m ents.

Scripting Elements

T h ere a re three typ e s of scriptin g ele m ents in JS P:

 S criptlets— S criptlets ca n contain Java cod e. T h is is th e m o st g en e ral of all

th e scriptin g ele m ents.
 D eclaration s— D eclares a variable or a m eth od for u se in you r cod e.
 E xp ressions— C ontain s a Java exp ression th at th e server evalu ates. T h e
resu lt of th e exp ression is in serte d into th e W eb page.

S c rip tle ts

T h e m ost g ene ral place for you r Ja v a code is in a scriptlet. S criplets h old Java code
frag m e nts, an d a re en closed w ith th e ta gs <% a n d %>. W e'v e alread y se en an
exa m p le of a scriptlet in ou r first JS P, w he re w e u sed th e Java state m e n t
out.println("Hello there!"); to display text in a W eb p a ge:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>A Web Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<% out.println("Hello there!"); %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

A scriptlet can h old an y nu m b e r of Java state m e nts, d e clarat ion s, or exp ression s,
m ak in g scriptlets th e m ost g en e ral of all th e JS P scriptin g ele m ents. N o te th at th ey
m u st h old valid Java sta tem ents, so y ou can 't in clud e direct H T M L in a scriptlet.

S criptlets are w h at m a n y JS P p ro g ra m m e rs th in k of w h en th ey th in k o f JS P.
S criptlets are u sed to e m b e d Java cod e in H T M L do cu m e nts, tu rn in g the m into JS P
docu m e nts. B u t b esides scriptlets, you can also u se d eclaration s an d ex pression s.

D e c la ra tio n s

A s y ou'll see tom o rrow , you can store d ata u sin g variables in
Java. Fo r exa m p le, h ere 's ho w y ou can sto re ou r text strin g
Hello there! in a varia ble of typ e String:

String msg = "Hello there!";

T h is declares a n ew va riable n a m ed msg th at h olds th e text Hello there!. In Java,

you m u st d eclare va riab les before you u se the m , givin g th em a n a m e. A fter you 'v e
n a m e d a va ria ble, you can refer to it in you r co d e u sin g th at n a m e.

T h ere's a spe cial set of tags, <%! a n d %>, th at y ou can u se to d eclare v ariables in JS P

Week 1 – Page 27
(y ou can also de clare va riables in scriptlets, w h ich is a m o re com m on th in g to do).
H ere's an exa m p le: In th is case, th e cod e de cla res th e variable msg:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>A Web Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<%! String msg = "Hello there!"; %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ow you can u se th is n ew v aria ble in a scriptlet; for exa m p le, he re's h ow y ou can
display th e text in msg in th e W eb p ag e u sin g th e out.println m etho d :

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>A Web Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<%! String msg = "Hello there!"; %>
<% out.println(msg); %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th at's w h at th e process loo ks like in overview ; you'll get all th e details on d e clarin g
an d u sin g varia bles in D ay 2.

E x p re s sio n s

E xp ression s a re an y Jav a cod e fra g m en t th at ca n be evalu ated to yield a valu e. Fo r

exa m p le, th e exp ression 2 + 2 yields a valu e of 4, th e exp ression 44 - 10 yields 34,
an d so on . In JS P , you can su rrou n d a Java exp ression in th e tags <%= a n d %>. T h e
exp re ssion 's valu e is in serted into th e W eb pa g e as text by th e server.

You can ev en u se a variable as an exp ression — w h en su ch an exp ressio n is

evalu ated, it yields th e valu e of th e va riable. Fo r exa m p le, if w e h a d sto red ou r strin g
Hello there! in a varia ble n a m ed msg, w e can in sert th at strin g into th e W eb p ag e
sim ply by u sin g th e variable as an exp ression th is w ay:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>A Web Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<%! String msg = "Hello there!"; %>
<%= msg %>

Week 1 – Page 28
 </BODY>
</HTML>

E xp ression s like th is are sim ilar to scriptlets, b e cau se you can place Jav a cod e in
th e m , bu t th ey h ave to be a ble to resu lt in a sin gle valu e w h en th ey're evalu ated.

E xp ression s like th is are u sefu l for sh orter JS P p ages, bu t n ote th at you don 't h av e to
u se th e m to in sert text into a W eb pa g e — y ou ca n u se m eth o ds like out.println in
scriptlets in stea d.

Comments

You can u se JS P com m e nts to d ocu m e n t w h at's goin g on in a JS P pa ge; th ey act like
n otes to you or othe r p rogra m m ers. C o m m ents are pu rely for th e b en efit of th e
pro g ra m m e rs th at w ork on th e pa g e, b e ca u se th e server w ill strip th em ou t be fore
send in g th e p ag e back to th e b row ser. Y ou en close th e text in a com m e n t betw een
th e tags <%-- an d --%>.

H ere's an exa m p le; in th is case, th e cod e in clu des th e com m e n t Display the
message now. to th is JS P exa m p le:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>A Web Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<%-- Display the message now. --%>
<% out.println("Hello there!"); %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th is co m m e n t lets you an d oth er p rogra m m e rs kn ow w h at's g oin g on in you r JS P.

You can ad d as m a n y co m m e nts to a JS P as you like — th ey're entirely fo r th e b ene fit
of p ro g ra m m e rs, an d w ill all be strip p ed ou t b e fore th e pa ge is sen t bac k to th e
bro w ser.

Directives

JS P directives let y ou give direction s to th e serv er o n ho w a p ag e sh ou ld be

pro cessed. T h ere a re th ree directives in JS P; w e'll see th e m th ro ug h ou t th e b o ok,
bu t h ere's an ov erview :

 page— T h is directive lets y ou con fig u re an entire JS P p ag e, su ch a s w h eth er

its outpu t is H T M L or X M L. You 'll see m ore on th is directive in D ay 6.
 include— T h is directive lets you in clu d e a n oth e r pa ge or resou rce in a JS P
pa ge.
 taglib— T h is directive lets you u se a set of cu stom JS P tags as defin ed in a
tag library. M ore on taglibs is co m in g u p in D ay 9, "U sin g C u sto m JS P Tags,"

Week 1 – Page 29
 an d D ay 10 , C reatin g C u stom Ta g s."

T h e page directive is goin g to be a u sefu l on e for u s a s w e w ork w ith Java. Y ou c an

u se th is directive to con figu re th e pa ge y ou're w orkin g on . Like oth er directives, you
u se th e sp ecial ta gs <%@ an d %> w ith th is directive; to cre ate a page directive, you
also in clu d e th e keyw o rd page like th is: <%@ page ... %>.

H ere's an exa m p le to sh ow w h at th e page directive can do for

u s. In th is case, th e cod e w ants to in d icate th at if th ere's an
error in th e cu rre n t p a g e, th e server sh ou ld sen d an error
pa ge n a m e d error.jsp back to th e brow ser; th at w e're
pro g ra m m in g in Java; th at th e outpu t of th e cu rren t p a ge
sh ou ld be X M L (n ot H T M L, w h ich is th e defau lt — m o re on X M L
in D ay 18 , "U sin g X M L a n d X S LT in JS P"); an d th at w e w a n t to
im port th e java.sql p a cka ge so th at ou r code can w ork w ith
S Q L data ba ses. Y ou'll see m o re on im p ortin g Jav a packa g es
w h en w e sta rt w orkin g w ith Java in depth — Jav a is divided into
m a n y section s called p a cka g e s, a n d to u se a pa rticu lar
section's fun ction ality, y ou m u st im p ort th e corresp ond in g
pack a g e , w h ich m ak es it accessible to y ou r cod e.
You can d o all th at w ith attributes of a sin gle page directive.
In JS P , attrib utes w ork ju st as the y do in H TM L — th ey 're part
of an ele m ent's op en in g ta g, an d h av e th e form
attribute=value. H e re's ho w y ou can u se th e errorPage,
language, contentType, an d import attrib utes of th e page
directive to con figu re th e pa ge as you w an t (note th at th e
page directive com e s at th e v ery b egin n in g of th e pa ge):

<%@ page errorPage="error.jsp" language="java"

contentType="application/xml" import="java.sql.*" %>
<HTML>
<HEAD>
.
.
.

A s y ou can alread y see, th e page directive is go in g to give u s a lot of p rogra m m in g

pow er.

T h e include directive, w h ich looks like <%@ page ... %>, lets y ou in clud e an othe r
pa ge in th e curren t p ag e. W h en y ou in clu d e a p age at a pa rticu lar poin t, th at pa ge's
entire contents a re sim p ly in serted at th at poin t.

T h e taglib directiv e (w h ich loo ks like th is: <%@ taglib ... %>) spe cifies a library
of cu stom JS P ta gs (see D ays 9 an d 10) th at y ou w an t to u se in th e curren t p ag e.
Tag libraries let you d efin e y ou r ow n JS P ta g s. W e're goin g to see ho w to u se th is
directive later, so w e w on't go into th e details n ow .

Note

T h ere a re ru m ors th at scriptlets are g oin g to be ph ased ou t in JS P 2.0 a n d

Week 1 – Page 30
 tag libraries w ill be u sed in stead, so it's a g o od idea to m ak e su re y ou k n ow
w h at's goin g on w ith ta g libraries in D ays 9 an d 10.

Actions

JS P also in clud es action s. A s th eir n a m e im p lies, action s let

you p erform som e actio n . U n like directives, a ction s a re re -
evalu ated ea ch tim e th e pa ge is accessed.

T h ere a re tw o type s of a ction s: cu stom an d sta n d ard. C u sto m action s are action s
you create you rself, an d stan d ard a ction s com e bu ilt into JS P. H ere a re th e stan d ard
action s in overview :

 <jsp:forward>— Fo rw a rds th e b row ser req ue st for a n ew W eb pa ge to an

H T M L file, JS P pa ge, or servlet. In th is w ay, you can delegate h ow you r W eb
ap p lication s resp on d to th e br ow ser.
 <jsp:include>— In clu d es a file or W eb co m p on ent. N ote th at
<jsp:include> is differen t th an th e include directive b e ca u se it re-ev alu ates
th e in clu d ed file ev ery tim e th e pa ge is accesse d , w he re a s th e include
directive d o es n ot.
 <jsp:plugin>— L ets yo u ex ecute ap p lets or Ja v aB ean s w ith a plu g -in . If th e
bro w ser d oesn 't h av e th e requ ired plu g -in m od u le, it w ill display a dialog box
ask in g you to d ow n lo ad it. W e'll see th is on e in D ay 13 .
 <jsp:getProperty>, <jsp:setProperty>, an d <jsp:useBean>— , Y ou u se
th ese action s w ith Java B ean com p on ents, a s y ou'll see in D ay 6.

W e'll get all th e details on th ese sta nd ard actio n s w h en w e p u t th em to w ork in th e

com in g days. A n d th at's it— th at co m p letes ou r ov erview of JS P syntax. N ow w e'v e
got th e foun d ation w e'll n ee d to m ov e on to D a y 2 .
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Online JSP Resources

O u r first day of JS P w ork w ill en d by tak in g a look at so m e of th e resou rces a vaila ble to you
on lin e. T h ese resou rces are ava ilable for free, a n d th ey're th ere to au g m e n t you r JS P arsen al.
Let's sta rt w ith JS P itself:

 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / p ro d u c ts / js p — JS P 's official h o m e p a ge.

 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / p ro d u c ts / js p / p ro d u c t.h tm l — A u sefu l ov erview of JS P fro m
Sun.
 h ttp :/ / d e v e lo p e r.ja v a.s u n .c o m / d e v e lo p e r/ te c h n ic a lA rtic le s/ P ro g r a m m in g / jsp / —
A techn ical overview of JS P from S un .
 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / p ro d u c ts / js p / f aq .h tm l# te c h faq — T h e official JS P Freq u ently
A sk ed Q u estion s (FA Q ) list.
 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / p ro d u c ts / js p / ta g s / 1 2 / sy n t a x re f1 2 .h t m l— T h e JS P sy ntax

Week 1 – Page 31
 gu ide on lin e.
 h ttp :/ / a rc h iv e s .ja v a .su n .c o m / a rc h iv e s / js p -in te re st.h t m l— A n interactive JS P
m ailin g list.
 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / p ro d u c ts / js p / te c h n ic al.h tm l— T echn ical pa ges an d
docu m e ntation on JS P.
 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / w e b s e rv ic e s / d o c s / e a 1 / tu t o ria l/ d o c / JS P T a g s.h t m l—
C reatin g cu sto m tag s in JS P.
 h ttp :/ / w w w .jsp in s id e r.co m / in d e x . v ie w — You 'll fin d lots of JS P re sources he re.

H ere's a sta rter list of o n lin e JS P tutorials:

 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / p ro d u c ts / js p / d o c s.h tm l— S u n 's Q u ick S tart g u ides to JS P; a

goo d tuto rial.
 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / w e b s e rv ic e s / d o c s / e a 2 / tu t o ria l/ d o c / JS P In tro .h t m l— A S u n
JS P tutorial.
 h ttp :/ / w w w .a p l.jh u .e d u / ~ h a ll/ ja v a / S e rv le t -T u t o ria l/ — A tutorial on servlets an d
JS P.
 h ttp :/ / w w w .jsp tu t.c o m / — A JS P tuto rial site.
 h ttp :/ / w w w .jsp in s id e r.co m / co n te n t/ rc a rn e s / jsp b _ in tro .v ie w — T h e JS P In side r's
tutorial.
 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / p ro d u c ts / js p / tu to ria l/ T a g L ib ra rie s T O C .h t m l— A tag library
tutorial.

A n d h ere a re som e JS P too ls ava ila ble on lin e (n ote th at the y're n ot ne c essarily free, h ow ever) :

 h ttp :/ / ja k a rta .a p ac h e .o rg / jm e t e r/ — A p ac h e's on lin e pe rform a n ce m eter, w h ich can

h elp test JS P p erform a n ce.
 h ttp :/ / w w w .m a c ro m e d ia .co m / so ftw a re / u ltra d e v / — A n autho rin g en viro n m e n t for
JS P ap p lication s.
 h ttp :/ / w w w -4 .ib m .c o m / so ftw a re / w e b s e rv e rs / s tu d io / — IB M 's W ebS p he re S tud io,
w h ich lets you create JS P ap p lication s.

Ev en th ou g h you can also fin d Java 1.4 do cu m e ntation on lin e or d ow n lo ad it, h ere are a few go od
U R Ls to kno w :

 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / j2 s e / 1 .4 / — T h e Java 1 .4 h om e pa g e .

 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / j2 s e / 1 .4 / d o c s / in d e x .h tm l— T h e on lin e Java 1.4
docu m e ntation .
 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / j2 s e / 1 .4 / d o w n lo ad .h tm l — D ow n loa da ble Jav a docu m e ntation .
 h ttp :/ / ja k a rta .a p ac h e .o rg / to m c at/ to m c a t -4 .0 -d o c / s e rv leta p i/ in d e x .h t m l—
S ervlet an d JS P Java ob ject do cu m e ntation ; a goo d on e to h av e. T he se are also in stalled
w ith To m cat on you r h a rd disk — tak e a look at jaka rta-to m cat-4.0.3 \w e b a p ps\to m cat-
docs\serv letap i\in d ex.htm l.
 h t t p :/ / ja v a .s u n .c o m / d o c s/ b o o k s / tu to ria l/ in d e x .h tm l — A Ja va tutorial fro m S u n .

T h ere's also som e To m c at docu m e ntation available:

 h ttp :/ / ja k a rta .a p ac h e .o rg / to m c a t/ — T h e To m cat h o m e p a ge .

 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / p ro d u c ts / js p / to m c a t/ — S u n's pa ge on T o m cat.
 h ttp :/ / ja v a .su n .c o m / p ro d u c ts / js p / to m c a t/ f a q .h tm l— T h e To m ca t FA Q .
 h ttp :/ / ja k a rta .a p ac h e .o rg / to m c at/ to m c a t -4 .0 -d o c / in d e x .h t m l — T h e T om cat
docu m e ntation on lin e. A lso in stalled on you r h a rd disk w h en y ou in stall To m cat; ta ke a

Week 1 – Page 32
 loo k at jak a rta-to m cat-4.0.3 \w e ba p p s\to m cat-docs\in d ex.htm l.
 h ttp :/ / ja k a rta .a p ac h e .o rg / to m c at/ to m c a t -4 .0 -d o c / R U N N IN G .tx t— T h e
running.txt docu m e n t th at cov ers h ow to ru n To m cat. A lso in clud e d in th e T o m cat
dow n load.

A s y ou can see, th ere a re a g reat nu m b e r of on lin e resou rces ava ilable on JS P — tak e a loo k!

Note

N o JS P g rou p s h av e ap p eared on U sen et (yet). Ev en so, th e comp.lang.java gro u p s

(like comp.lang.java.help, comp.lang.java.databases, an d so on ) can offer a lot of
Java h elp.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Summary
In ou r first day w orkin g w ith JS P, w e'v e com e fa r. W e'v e gotten an idea of w h at JS P
is goo d for, a n d ho w it's u sed. W e'v e seen th at JS P gives u s th e po w e r of Java o n th e
W eb server, w h ich is an in co m p arable asset.

W e've also tak en a look at w he re JS P ca m e fro m , an d h ow it develop e d . W e'v e seen

th at as th e W eb h a s ev olved, Java h as b een a p art of th e pictu re — first w ith ap plets,
th en servlets, an d n ow JS P. A p p lets w e re n ice, bu t lim ited; servlets a re very
pow erfu l bu t co m p lex. JS P gives u s th e b est of both w orlds: T h ey're b o th very
pow erfu l (th ey're con v erted to servlets b efo re th ey're ru n ) an d ea sy to w rite.

You 'v e also in stalled th e T om cat serv er an d g otten it run n in g , a n d bu ilt th e

dev elop m e n t en viro n m e n t (Java, T om cat, b row s er, an d an editor) you 'll be u sin g in
th e co m in g d ays.

W e've also de veloped a n d ru n ou r first JS P. In stead of h av in g to w rite ev eryth in g in

Java, w e w ere a ble to sim p ly in sert th e Ja va w e w anted i nto an H T M L p age. T h at's
th e w h ole gen iu s of JS P — you u se an H T M L b a ckbon e a n d ju st a dd th e Java you
n ee d. A s w e've also see n , JS P offers a w h ole se t of b u ilt-in objects, w h ich m ea n s w e
can get aw ay w ith ev en less Java b eca u se w e don't h av e to create tho se objects
ou rselves.

W e also to ok a loo k at th e JS P sy ntax in overview h ere — so m e of w h ich m ig h t n ot

h ave m ad e a g reat deal of sen se y et. (B u t don 't w orry, th at's w h y th is is D ay 1 — it's
all com in g u p in depth in th e n ext d a ys.)

A n d th at's it— w e'v e sta rted ou r in -depth g u ided tou r of JS P, an d bu ilt th e foun d ation
w e'll n ee d in th e co m in g days. T o m o rrow , y ou'll see m ore d etails, su ch a s h ow to

Week 1 – Page 33
w ork w ith data an d ope rato rs in JS P, an d you 'll start w ritin g so m e real c od e.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Q&A

Q1: D o I h a v e to u s e th e T o m c a t se rv e r? A re n 't th e re a n y o th e r JS P -
e n a b le d W e b s e rv e rs o u t th e re ?

A1: T h ere sure a re — take a loo k at http:// klo m p .org /gn ujsp/ a n d
http://w w w .ca uch o.co m / for so m e oth er JS P W e b servers.

Q2: H o w c a n I fin d o u t w h eth e r m y In te rn et s e rv ic e p ro v id e r su p p o rts

JS P ?

A2: T h e b est w a y is sim p ly to ask you r IS P's tech su p p ort. If the y don 't
sup p ort JS P , su g g est to th em th at th ey con sider it — tell th e m th at JS P is
gro w in g all th e tim e a n d th at oth er u sers w ill soo n b e ask ing . M a n y of th e
larger com m ercial W eb serv ers offer so m e kin d of JS P sup p o rt the se da ys.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Workshop
T h is w orksh op tests w h eth er you un d erstan d all th e con cepts y ou learn ed toda y. It is
very h elpfu l to kn ow an d un d ersta n d th e an sw e rs b efore startin g tom o rro w 's lesson .
You can fin d th e an sw e rs to th e qu iz q u estion s in A p p en d ix A .

Quiz

1: C an you trace th e dev elop m en t of JS P fro m H T M L p ag e s a s y ou sa w to d ay?

K n ow in g th is h istory w ill help explain a great d e al w h en it com es to w orkin g
w ith servlets later in th e book.

2: W h at a re th e fou r diffe ren t type s of JS P ele m en ts discu ssed today ?

3: H o w m a n y differen t typ es of scriptin g ele m ents are th e re in JS P? W h at are

th ey?

4: W h at a re th e tag s you u se for th e th ree diffe ren t types of JS P sc riptin g

ele m ents?

Week 1 – Page 34
 5: W h at a re th e th ree JS P directive type s?

Exercises

1: Take a loo k at th e JS P resou rces given in th e topic "O n lin e JS P R esou rces"
an d eith er b o ok m a rk or dow n loa d you r fav orit es. C o m p ilin g a list of rea dy
resou rces like th at can be a big h elp in you r JS P dev elop m ent. You m igh t
ev en w a n t to try a few of th e JS P tuto rials.

2: U se th e JS P exp ression <%= new java.util.Date() %> in a w elco m e

m essag e in a n ew JS P p age. T h is exp ression w ill in sert th e cu rren t date an d
tim e, perm ittin g you to cu sto m ize y ou r w elcom e pa ge .

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Day 2. Handling Data and Operators

W elcom e to D ay 2 ! T od ay, you 'll see ho w to ge t dow n to th e b rass tack s of JS P
pro g ra m m in g as w e see h ow to w ork w ith an d h an d le d ata in JS P. W orkin g w ith data
is th e very h eart of pro g ra m m in g , an d it's ou r logical first step. In fact, th e cap a bility
to w ork w ith an d h an dle data is w h at sep a rates JS P from static H T M L — a n d w e h av e
th e fu ll pow e r of Java b eh in d u s w h en w e w ork w ith data in JS P.

W e're also g oin g to see h ow to u se op erators to w ork w ith

data today. O p erators e n a ble you to p erform sim p le
m ath e m atical operation s on you r data. F or exa m p le, to add 2
an d 5, y ou can u se th e + op e rator in Java, so th e Java
exp re ssion 2 + 5 resu lts in th e valu e 7. (In th is ope ration , 2 is
th e first op era nd , + is th e ope rato r, an d 5 is th e secon d
ope ra n d .) Y ou're g oin g to see h ow to p erform a ll kind s of
m ath w ith operato rs tod ay . H ere's an overview of today 's
topics:

 T h e JS P p rogra m m in g e n viro n m en t
 H and lin g d ata
 C reatin g varia bles an d a rra ys
 W orkin g w ith string s
 U sin g operato rs
 U n d ersta nd in g operator precede n ce

N ow th at w e're diggin g into real pro g ra m m in g in Java S e rv er Pag es, th e first th in g to

n ote is th at w e are in d e e d dealin g w ith Java. Y ou'll see w h at th at m ean s n ext.

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 35
[ T eam L iB ]

Java in JSP
N ote th e w ord Java in Java S e rv er Pa ge s. Ja va itself is a very larg e pro g ra m m in g
lan gu a ge, b u t you d on't h ave to b e a Ja va expe rt to u se th is boo k, or even kn ow it at
all— w e're goin g to cov e r w h at w e n ee d. B u t y ou sh ou ld kn ow th at Java pro g ra m m in g
is a hu g e topic, an d w e're n ot goin g to h av e spa ce to cov er it all h ere . T h ere a re
th ick m u ltiple-volu m e b oo k sets on Java contain in g th ou san d s of p ag e s th at don't
cov er Java p rogra m m in g co m p letely — an d be ca u se th is is a book a bou t JS P, it's clear
w e're n ot g oin g to be a b le to cover all of Java h e re, eith er.

If y ou press on in JS P p ro g ra m m in g , yo u m ig h t w an t to pick u p a g oo d boo k on Ja va

pro g ra m m in g . You can also fin d th e com p lete Java do cu m entation on lin e, as w ell as
Java tutorials— see th e " O n lin e JS P R esou rces" topic in D ay 1, "G ettin g S tarted!".

Fortun ately, you don't n ee d a great d eal of Java prow ess to b e

able to bu ild extre m ely pow erfu l JS P a pp lication s, a s y ou'll
see. T h e ba sics are very sim ple — Java cod e is brok en u p into
statem e nts, each of w h ich m u st en d in a se m icolon , like th is
on e:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating a Greeting</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating a Greeting</H1>
<%
out.println("Hello from JSP!");
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>
A state m e nt, in tu rn , ca n be m a d e u p of expre ssion s, an d
w e've alrea dy seen w h a t an exp ression is — it's a set of term s
(2 + 2, for exa m p le) th at Java can evalu ate to yield som e
valu e (su ch as 4 h ere). W h at's im p orta n t to re m e m b e r a b ou t
exp re ssion s is th at th ey can be evalu ated to yield a valu e in
Java.

You can also co m m e n t you r Java cod e u sin g th e Java // com m en t m a rker, w h ich
m ak es Java ig n ore all th e rest of th e text on a lin e. A s w ith JS P com m e nts, Java
com m e nts a re m e an t a s n otes to you rself or oth er p rogra m m e rs explain in g w h at's
goin g on in th e cod e, as you can see in Listin g 2.1 .

Listing 2.1 Using Comments (ch02_01.jsp)

<HTML>

Week 1 – Page 36
 <HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating a Greeting</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating a Greeting</H1>
<%
out.println("Hello from JSP!"); //Display the greeting
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

If th is w ere a bo ok on Java p rogra m m i ng , w e'd h ave to cov er a g reat m an y m o re

details befo re w ritin g an y code , su ch a s h ow to create Ja va classes, an d so on , w h ich
you ne ed ju st to get sta rted. W e're lu cky in th at th is is a book on JS P, w h ere th ose
back g roun d details are tak en care of for u s — as w e're goin g to see. W e ju st n ee d to
u se th e Java cod e th at w e'll actu ally w a n t to ex ecute; n o extra s th at Ja va w ou ld
n orm ally n ee d to set th e sta g e. T h at's b e ca u se JS P already sets th e sta ge for u s, a s
w e'll discu ss n ext.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

The JSP Programming Environment

W h en y ou create a p u re -Java W eb ap p lication , like a servlet, you n ee d to set u p a
Java class an d p erform all kin d s of oth er w ork ju st to g et sta rted. T h at's n ot
n ecess a ry in JS P — you ju st p u t th e actu al Java statem e nts y ou w a n t to ex ecu te into
scriptlets, an d you're se t. T h e JS P serv er d oes th e rest, creatin g a fu ll servlet for y ou
auto m atically.

In fa ct, JS P even d oes m o re for u s — w e'v e alre ady see n th at JS P co m e s w ith a b u ilt-
in Java object n a m ed out, w h ich w e can u se to sen d text to a W eb p ag e. T he re a re a
nu m b e r of b u ilt-in objects like out already set for u s to u se in JS P p ag e s, an d w e'll
list th e m h ere for refere n ce.

E ach of th ese objects is created from a Java class (w e'll see h ow to create Java
classes ou rselves in D ay 6 , "C reatin g JS P C o m p on ents: Jav a B ean s"). H ere, you'll see
w h ich Java class each b u ilt-in object is created fro m , so th at if you w an t to fin d ou t
m o re a b ou t an y object, you can che ck th e Java docu m e ntation (see
http://jav a.su n.c o m /j2 s e/1.4/d ocs/ in d ex.htm l for th e on lin e docu m e n ta tion , or
http://jav a.su n.c o m /j2 s e/1.4/d ow n load.htm l to dow n load it). N ote th at th ere's n o
n ee d to read th e Java d ocu m entation directly — th ese obje cts a re cov ere d in detail in
th e co m in g d ays.

H ere's a list of th e bu ilt-in JS P objects; it'll be h ard to ap preciate th is list rig h t n ow ,

bu t it's goo d to h ave for later referen ce:

 application— H olds da ta for th e curren t W eb a p p lication (see D ay 7,

"Tra ck in g U sers w ith S e ssion s an d C oo kies"). T h is is an object of th e Java
javax.servlet.http.HttpSession class.

Week 1 – Page 37
  config— H olds con fig u ration d ata like pass w ord s. T h is is an obje ct of th e
Java javax.servlet.ServletConfig class.
 exception— L ets you h an d le errors (see D a y 8, "H an d lin g Erro rs"). T h is is an
object of th e Java java.lang.Throwable class.
 out— T h e object you u se to sen d text to a W eb pa ge. T h is is an object of th e
Java javax.servlet.jsp.JspWriter class.
 page— G ives y ou access to th e cu rren t JS P pa g e 's u nd erlyin g servlet (see D ay
6). T h is is an object of th e Java javax.servlet.jsp.HttpJspPage class.
 pageContext— H olds da ta from th e JS P pa g e's u nd erlyin g servlet (see D ay
10 , "C reatin g C u sto m T ags"). T h is is an obje ct of th e Java
javax.servlet.jsp.PageContext class.
 request— H olds data sen t to you fro m th e bro w ser (see D a y 4, "R e adin g
D ata fro m W eb Pag e s: B utton s an d T ext Fields"). T h is is an object of th e Java
javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest cla ss.
 response— H olds data you a re send in g b ack to th e brow ser (see D ay 7 ). T h is
is an object of th e Java javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse class.
 session— H olds data a bou t th e cu rren t session (see D a y 7). T h is is an object
of th e Java javax.servlet.http.HttpSession class.

W e're goin g to intro du c e an d u se the se obje cts as w e n ee d th em . T od a y, y ou're on ly

goin g to u se th e out object. W e'v e seen th at object h as a m eth od n a m e d println,
w h ich you can u se to sen d text to a W eb pa g e. For exa m p le, h ere's ho w w e prin t
"H ello fro m JS P !" to a W eb p a ge:

out.println("Hello from JSP!");

In th is case, w e're pa ssin g th e text strin g "Hello from JSP!"
to th e println m eth od so it can prin t th at text to th e W eb
pa ge. W h en y ou in voke a m eth od like th is, you call it, so th e
ap p ro p riate term in ology h ere is w h at w e're callin g th e
println m eth od a n d p a ssin g th e text strin g "Hello from
JSP!" to it.

B esides println, the re are othe r m eth ods av a ilable in th e out obje ct, a n d you can
see th em all in Table 2.1 . Y ou p a ss differen t ty pes of data to th ese va riou s m eth ods,
an d th e type of data y ou can p ass is in dicated in th at table. W e're goin g to see all
th ese data typ e s today — for exa m p le, th is entry in Table 2.1

println(char x);

m e an s th at you can pa s s an in divid u al ch aracter (su ch a s 'a' or 'x') to th e println

m eth od.

N ote th at th e print an d println m eth ods in T a ble 2.1 h ave m u ltiple version s w ith
th e sa m e n a m e th at tak e differen t data typ es. T h is m ea n s you can call th e sa m e
m eth od w ith differen t ty pes of data — for exa m p le, you can pass a sin gle ch ara cte r to
th e println m eth od, or a String object (a s w e'll see today), or a floatin g poin t
valu e, an d so on , as ind icated in Ta ble 2.1 .

Week 1 – Page 38
 Tip

H ere's so m eth in g u sefu l to kn ow ab ou t th e println m eth od — b eca u se its

n a m e m ea n s "p rin t lin e ," you m ig h t th in k it'll w rite outp u t to a W eb pa g e
an d th en sk ip to th e n ext lin e. In fact, th e outpu t on ly sk ips to th e n ext lin e
w h en you 're w ritin g plain -text files. A lth ou g h th at lets you form at th e text
in you r H T M L files n icely, w h en th e bro w ser dis p lays th at H TM L , it w ill
ign ore th e atte m p t to sk ip to th e n ext lin e. If you w a n t to skip to th e ne xt
lin e in th e bro w ser, m a k e su re you prin t th e H T M L to do th at, su ch a s u sin g
a <BR> ele m en t (for exa m p le, out.println("<BR>");). N ote th at th e out
object also h as a print m eth od, w h ich doe sn 't sk ip to th e ne xt lin e after
prin tin g its text.

Table 2.1. Methods of the out Object

M e th o d D o e s T h is
clear() C lears all intern al data in th e obje ct.
clearBuffer() C lears th e contents of th e intern al data bu ffer.
close() C loses th e outp u t "strea m ," w h ich is th e strea m of
data goin g to th e W eb p age.
flush() Flu sh es th e outp u t strea m , send in g a n y d ata in it to
th e W eb pa g e .
getBufferSize() G e ts th e size of th e intern al data bu ffer.
getRemaining() G e ts th e nu m b e r of un u sed b ytes in th e d ata b u ffer.
isAutoFlush() Ind icates if out auto flu sh es, w h ich m ea n s it w rites
its data ou t fu lly each tim e you w rite.
newLine() S kips to th e ne xt lin e in plain text files.
print(boolean b) P rints a B oolean valu e.
print(char c) P rints a ch ara cter.
print(char[] s) P rints an arra y of ch ara cters.
print(double d) P rints a doub le-precision floatin g -poin t nu m b er.
print(float f) P rints a floatin g -poin t n u m b er.
print(int i) P rints an integer.
print(long l) P rints a lon g integer.
print(java.lang.Object P rints an object.
obj)
print(java.lang.String s) P rints a string .
println() S kips to th e ne xt lin e in plain text files.

Week 1 – Page 39
println(boolean x) P rints a B oolean valu e a n d th en sk ips to th e n ex t
lin e in plain text files.
println(char x) P rints a ch ara cter an d th en skips to th e ne xt lin e in
plain text files.
println(char[] x) P rints an arra y of ch ara cters an d th en sk ips to th e
n ext lin e in plain text files.
println(double x) P rints a doub le-precision floatin g -poin t nu m b er an d
th en sk ips to th e n ext lin e in plain text files.
println(float x) P rints a floatin g -poin t n u m b er an d th en sk ips to th e
n ext lin e in plain text files.
println(int x) P rints an integer an d th en sk ips to th e n ext lin e in
plain text files.
println(long x) P rints a lon g integer an d th en sk ips to th e ne xt lin e
in plain text files.
println(java.lang.Object P rints an Object an d th en sk ips to th e n ext lin e in
x) plain text files.
println(java.lang.String P rints a String an d the n sk ips to th e n ext lin e in
x) plain text files.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Handling Data in JSP

W h en y ou h a n d le data v alu es directly into you r cod e, the y're
called literals in Java. F or exa m p le, in th e cod e in Listin g 2.2 ,
a strin g literal ("Number of days = ") is p asse d to println
first, an d an integer literal (365) second .

Listing 2.2 Using Literals (ch02_02.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using a Literal</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using a Literal</H1>
<%
out.println("Number of days = ");
out.println(365);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Week 1 – Page 40
Th is code displays th ose literals, as y ou see in Figu re 2.1 .

Figure 2.1. Using a literal in Java.

You can 't w ork w ith or ch a n g e th e valu e of literals in you r cod e, so Jav a also h as
variables.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating Variables
V aria bles co m e in differen t type s an d serv e as placeh olders in
m e m o ry for data. T h e d iffere n t typ es h ave to d o w ith th e
form at th e d ata is store d in , an d h ow m u ch m e m o ry is set
aside to h old th at data. For exa m p le, an inte ger varia ble type,
th e int typ e, is m a de u p of fou r bytes, or 32 bits, an d y ou u se
it to store integer valu e s. T h is gives th e data in th e int typ e a
sub stantial ran g e of p ossible valu es fro m 2,14 7 ,483,648 to
2,14 7,48 3,6 47. T he re a re qu ite a few differe n t variable types
bu ilt into Java, su ch a s integers, floatin g -poin t n u m b ers, an d
in dividu al ch aracters, w h ich w e'll see today.

Week 1 – Page 41
 B efore y ou u se a va ria ble in Java, y ou m u st d eclare it,
specify in g its data type. H ere's h ow y ou de cla re varia bles:
ty pe is th e typ e of varia ble (like int), n a m e is th e n a m e of th e
variable (th at m u st start w ith a letter an d can o n ly contain
letters, nu m b ers, an d/o r un d erscore s), an d valu e is th e valu e
you w an t to store in th e varia ble (re m e m be r th a t term is in
squ are bra ck ets, [] an d is option al).

type name [= value][, name [= value]...];

Let's see ho w th is w ork s; he re's an exa m p le sh o w in g h ow to d eclare a varia ble of th e

int type, w h ich m ean s you can store an integ e r in it. T h is variable is n a m e d days,
like th e follow in g:

int days;

N ow you can assign a v alu e to th is varia ble, w h ich stores th e integer 3 6 5 in days:

int days;
days = 365;

N ow days h olds 365, a s you can see in Listin g 2.3 . H ere, th e code is u sin g th e +
ope rato r to join th e valu e in days to th e text "Number of days = "— y ou'll see m ore
on join in g text togeth e r like this later tod ay.

Listing 2.3 Creating Variables (ch02_03.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating a Variable</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating a Variable</H1>
<%
int days;
days = 365;
out.println("Number of days = " + days);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 2.2 .

Figure 2.2. Creating a variable.

Week 1 – Page 42
A s w e kno w , you can also d eclare va riables in d eclaration scriptin g elem e nts,
en closed in <%! an d %> th is w ay:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating a Variable</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating a Variable</H1>
<%!
int days;
%>
<%
days = 365;
out.println("Number of days = " + days);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Initializing Variables
You can also store a valu e in a varia ble w h en you d e clare it,
w h ich is called in itializin g th e va riable. Y ou can do th at by

Week 1 – Page 43
 u sin g an = sign , called th e assign m e n t op erator in Java, like
th is:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating a Variable</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating a Variable</H1>
<%
int days = 365;
out.println("Number of days = " + days);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

In th is case, th e cod e is assig n in g a valu e of 365 to days at th e sa m e tim e th at th e

variable is declared , w h ich is a h an d y sho rtcut.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Data Types
T h e int type is on ly on e kin d of sim ple varia ble th at y ou can u se. H ere a re th e
possibilities in overview :

 Integ ers — T he se type s are: byte, short, int, an d long, w h ich h old sign e d,
w h ole-valu e n u m b ers.
 Floatin g -poin t n u m b ers — T he se type s a re: float an d double, w h ich h old
sign ed floatin g -poin t n u m b e rs.
 C h aracters — T h is is th e char type , w h ich h olds rep resentation s of ch a ra cters
su ch as lette rs an d n u m b ers.
 B oo lean — T h is type is d esign ed to h old on ly tw o typ es of valu es: true an d
false.

You can see th ese typ es in m ore d epth in Ta ble 2.2 .

Table 2.2. Data Types

Type B yte s Range
Used
boolean 2 true, false
byte 1 –1 2 8 – 12 7
char 2 N /A

Week 1 – Page 44
double 8 –1.797 69 31 348 62 32 E 3 08 to –4.94 065 64 584 1 2 47 E -32 4 for
n eg ative valu es, an d fro m 4.9 40 656 45 841 24 7 E -324 to
1.79 769 31 34 862 32 E 3 0 8 for p ositive valu es
float 4 –3.402 82 3 E 38 to – 1.4 0 129 8 E -4 5 for n eg ative v alu es, an d fro m
1.40 129 8 E -45 to 3.40 2 823 E 3 8 for po sitive value s
int 4 –2,147,48 3,6 48 to 2,1 4 7,48 3,64 7
long 8 –9,223,37 2,0 36,8 5 4,7 7 5,80 8 to 9 ,22 3,37 2,0 3 6 ,854,775,80 7
short 2 –3 2,76 8 to 32 ,7 67

For exa m p le, th e double type h olds "dou b le-pre cision " floatin g -poin t n u m b ers, w h ich
you can u se to sto re floatin g -poin t nu m b ers w ith greater p recision th an w ith th e
ordin ary floatin g -poin t type, float. H ere's h ow you can d eclare a double varia ble
n a m e d pi to h old th e v alu e of pi to 10 d e cim al places:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating a Variable</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating a Variable</H1>
<%
double pi = 3.1415926535;
out.println("Pi = " + pi);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Converting Between Data Types

Java is a stron g ly ty ped lan gu a ge, w h ich m e an s you h av e to
be ca refu l w h en tryin g to m ix data type s. F or exa m p le, say
th at you h ave a float v ariable, float1, an d a double
variable, double1. D ou b le-precision variables ca n h old valu es
w ith greater p recision th an sim ple float varia bles, so if you
try to assign th e valu e in double1 to float1, Ja va realizes
th ere m igh t be a loss in precision , an d w ill cau se an error. T h is
m e an s th at Jav a w ill n ot ru n th is code:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Mixing Data Types</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>

Week 1 – Page 45
 <H1>Mixing Data Types</H1>
<%
float float1;
double double1 = 1;

float1 = double1;

out.println("float1 = " + float1);

%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

In cases like th is, you n eed to con v ert betw een data types. T h ere a re tw o w a ys you
can do th at— u sin g auto m atic type con version , or d oin g th e type con v e rsion you rself.

Automatic Conversions

W h en y ou're a ssig n in g on e typ e of data to a va riable of an oth e r typ e, Java w ill

con v ert th e data to th e n ew va ria ble type auto m atically. For exa m p le, you can assign
a float valu e to a double variable, becau se double varia bles h ave a la rge r ra ng e
th an float valu es, so n o data w ill be lost in th e type con v ersion . Y ou ca n see an
exa m p le in Listin g 2.4 .

Listing 2.4 Automatic Data Conversions (ch02_04.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>An Automatic Data Conversion</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>An Automatic Data Conversion</H1>
<%
double double1;
float float1 = 1;

double1 = float1;

out.println("double1 = " + float1);

%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Java w ill h ave n o p ro ble m w ith th is code, as you see in Figu re 2.3 . T h ese type s of
con v ersion s, w h ere y ou con v ert to a data type w ith a larger ran g e, a re called
w iden in g con v ersion s.

Figure 2.3. An automatic data conversion.

Week 1 – Page 46
 Performing Type Conversions
If y ou're a ssign in g a data valu e to a varia ble of a type th at h as a larg e r ran g e th an th e
variable you 're assign in g it to, w h ich is called a n a rrow in g con version , th e Ja va
com p iler w ill n ot perform n arrow in g con v ersion s auto m atically, beca u se th e re is th e
possibility th at precision w ill be lost. If you w an t to p erform a n a rrow in g con v ersion ,
you m u st u se an explicit type cast.

A ty pe cast lets you con vert betw een d ata typ es. Fo r exa m p le,
in th e cod e you see in Listin g 2.5 , th e code is con vertin g
double1 from typ e double to typ e float w ith th e Java typ e
cast (float) an d a ssig n in g th e resu lt to float1.

Listing 2.5 Casting to a New Data Type (ch02_05.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Casting to a New Type</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Casting to a New Type</H1>
<%
float float1;
double double1 = 1;

float1 = (float) double1;

Week 1 – Page 47
 out.println("float1 = " + float1);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

W ith o u t th e explicit type ca st, Ja va w ou ld object, bu t w ith th e type cast, th ere's n o

pro ble m . Jav a de cides w h at you kn ow ab ou t th e po ssibility of losin g som e d ata w h en
you cra m a po ssibly larg er valu e into a sm aller type, an d a re tak in g resp on sibility for
th e resu lts. Y ou can see th e resu lts in Fig u re 2.4 .

Figure 2.4. Using a type cast.

Note

For in form ation on con v ertin g text string s to nu m b e rs an d vice versa , s ee

"U sin g N a m ed T a rgets" in D ay 5, "R ea din g D ata fro m W eb Pag es: C he c k
B oxes, R a dio B utton s, a n d S elect C on tro ls."

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 48
Strings
B esides n u m b e rs, text string s are an im p ortan t part of p rogra m m in g . In Java, strin g s
are sup po rted b y th eir o w n class, t h e String cla ss, an d you can th in k of th e String
class as d efin in g a n ew data type. Fo r exa m p le, you can create a strin g n a m e d
greeting, w h ich h olds th e text "H e llo fro m JS P !" in Listin g 2.6 .

Listing 2.6 Creating a String (ch02_06.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating a String</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating a String</H1>
<%
String greeting = "Hello from JSP!";

out.println(greeting);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 2.5 .

Figure 2.5. Creating a string.

Week 1 – Page 49
A lth ou g h string s are n ot on e of th e sim ple d ata types in Java, th ey d eserv e a place
h ere, b eca u se m ost pro g ra m m e rs treat th em a s th ey w ou ld an y othe r d ata type. Fo r
exa m p le, h ere's h ow y ou can create th ree strin gs an d join th e m into on e strin g w ith
th e + op erato r:

String string1 = "Hello ";

String string2 = "from ";
String string3 = "JSP!";
String greeting = string1 + string2 + string3;

In th is case, th e resu ltin g strin g in greeting w ou ld be "Hello from JSP!".

You can see a selection of th e Java String class's m eth o ds in Table 2.3 . For
exa m p le, tak e a loo k at th e entry int indexOf(String str) in th at table. T h is
m eth od sea rch es a strin g for a su b strin g :

index = string1.indexOf("JSP");

H ere, th e code is sea rch in g th e text in th e String string1 for th e text "JSP".
B esides p a ssin g data to m eth ods, m eth ods can also retu rn data, an d th e int in th is
entry in Table 2.3 , int indexOf(String str), m e an in g th is m eth od re tu rn s an
in teger valu e. In th is ca se, th e indexOf m eth od retu rn s th e ch ara cter ind ex at w h ich
th e sub strin g w as foun d in th e strin g you 're sea rch in g (th e first ch aracter in th e m ain
strin g h as ind ex 0, th e n ext in d ex 1, an d so on ). In th e p reviou s lin e of cod e, th en ,
I'm assign in g th e in d ex at w h ich "JSP" w as fou n d in th e text in string1 to th e

Week 1 – Page 50
variable index. If th e sub strin g w as n ot foun d , indexOf w ill retu rn a v alu e of –1.

Table 2.3. Selected Methods of the String Object

M e th o d
boolean equals(Object
anObject)
int indexOf(int ch)
int indexOf(int ch, int
fromIndex)
int indexOf(String str)
int indexOf(String str,
int fromIndex)
int lastIndexOf(String
str)
int lastIndexOf(String
str, int fromIndex)
int length()
String replace(char
oldChar, char newChar)
String substring(int
beginIndex)
String substring(int
beginIndex, int endIndex)
String toLowerCase()
String toUpperCase()
String trim()
D o e s T h is
C o m p a res th is strin g to an object. R etu rn s true if
th e string s are equ al.
R etu rn s th e ind ex w ith in th is strin g of th e first
occu rren ce of th e given ch aracter, or –1 if th e
sea rch w a s un su ccessfu l.
R etu rn s th e ind ex w ithin th is strin g of th e first
occu rren ce of th e given ch aracter startin g at th e
given in d ex, or –1 if th e sea rch w as u n su cc essfu l.
R etu rn s th e ind ex w ith in th is strin g of th e first
occu rren ce of th e given su b strin g , or –1 if th e
sea rch w a s un su ccessfu l.
R etu rn s th e ind ex w ithin th is strin g of th e first
occu rren ce of th e given sub strin g startin g at th e
given in d ex, or –1 if th e sea rch w as un su cc essfu l.
R etu rn s th e ind ex w ithin th is strin g of th e
rightm ost occu rre n ce of th e given sub strin g , or –1
if th e sea rch w a s un su c cessfu l.
R etu rn s th e ind ex w ithin th is strin g of th e last
occu rren ce of th e given sub strin g , or –1 if th e
sea rch w a s un su ccessfu l.
R etu rn s th e length of th is strin g .
R etu rn s a n ew strin g by replacin g all occu rren ce s
of oldChar in th is strin g w ith newChar.
R etu rn s a n ew strin g th at is a sub strin g of th is
string .
R etu rn s a n ew strin g th at is a su b strin g of th is
string , allow in g you to specify th e en d ind ex.
C on verts all th e ch aracters in th is strin g to
low erca se, retu rn in g a n ew string .
C on verts all th e ch aracters in th is strin g to
up p erca se, retu rn in g a n ew strin g object.
R e m o ves w h ite space from both end s of th is
string .

N ow let's get to th e details of creatin g an d u sin g strin g s.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 51
Creating Strings
T h ere a re m a n y w ays to create strin g s. H ere's a w ay w e've already se en :

String s1 = "Hello from JSP!";

.
.
.

T h e cod e is assign in g a strin g literal to s1. In fa ct, w h en you u se a strin g literal like
"Hello from JSP!" in you r code, Java treats it as a String object, so w h at's really
h a p p en in g h ere is th at th e code is assign in g on e String obje ct to an oth er.

Tip

S trin g literals like "Hello from JSP!" are en closed in dou b le qu otes. Ja va
also su pp orts sin g le ch a racter literals, w h ich you can assign to va riables of
th e ch ara cter typ e char. T o create a ch a racter literal in Java, yo u m u st
en close th e literal in sin gle q u otes, n ot doub le q u otes (w h ich w ill create a
string ), like 'a' or 'x'.

You can also, of course, declare a strin g first an d th en assig n a valu e to it, like th is:

String s1;
s1 = "Hello from JSP!";
.
.
.

T h ere a re oth er w ays of creatin g string s as w ell— a n d th ey rely on th e fact th at

string s are really strin g objects. T o un de rsta n d th ese othe r w ays of crea tin g string s,
you ne ed to un d e rstan d th e object n atu re of string s.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Strings Are Objects

S trin g s aren't exa ctly like th e othe r kind s of va ria bles w e've be en seein g, be ca u se
th ey're really objects of th e String class, n ot sim p le varia bles of typ es like int or
double. A s m ention ed in D ay 1, an obje ct can h ave bu ilt-in m eth od s — su ch as th e
println m eth od w e'v e seen in th e out obje ct, as w ell as data m e m b ers you u se to
store data in th e object. W e'v e already see n a selection of m eth o ds b u ilt into String

Week 1 – Page 52
objects in Table 2.3 .

You can th in k of Ja va classes, like th e String class, as a sort of te m p late or cookie

cutter. Y ou u se th at coo kie cutter to create obje cts. In th is w ay, a class is an object's
type, ju st like int is th e type of an integer v ariable. Y ou can store objects in
variables th at you d e cla re to b e of th at object's type (for exa m p le, you can store
String obje cts in variab les declared to b e of ty p e String).

S o h ow do you create a n obje ct from a class like th e String

class? Y ou can u se th e class's con stru cto r. A con stru cto r is a
special m eth od th at h as th e sa m e n a m e a s th e class itself
(su ch as String), w h ich you can u se to create objects of th at
class. Fo r exa m p le, to create a String object from th e String
class, w e can p a ss th e text th at w e w a n t th e ne w String
object to contain to th e String class's con stru ctor, an d it w ill
retu rn th e ne w String object, w h ich w e sto re in a varia ble
n a m e d s1:

String s1 = new String("Hello from JSP!");

out.println(s1);
.
.
.

T h is creates th e ne w ob ject s1, w h ich h olds th e strin g "Hello from JSP!". W e can
pass th is obje ct to println to display th at text in a W eb p a ge, as th e code is d oin g
h ere.

N ote also th e u se of th e new k eyw ord in th is cod e. W h en y ou create a n ew object

u sin g a con stru cto r, y ou n ee d to u se th e new keyw ord in th is w ay. W e d idn 't h ave to
do th at w h en in itializin g a sim p le variable of th e types int an d float th at you see in
Table 2 .2 , bu t w h en you create a n ew object u sin g a con stru cto r, you h ave to u se
th e new keyw ord as w e're doin g h ere. D oin g so in dicates to Java th at it m u st create
an d in itialize a n ew obje ct, n ot ju st a sim p le variable.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Determining String Length

T h ere a re plenty of m eth ods bu ilt into String o bjects a vaila ble for u se, as y ou can
see in Table 2.3 . Fo r ex a m p le, you can fin d th e length of a strin g (in ch aracters)
u sin g th e String length m eth od, as sh ow n in Listin g 2.7 .

Listing 2.7 Getting String Length (ch02_07.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Getting String Length</TITLE>

Week 1 – Page 53
 </HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Getting String Length</H1>
<%
String s1 = "Hello from JSP!";

out.println("\"" + s1 + "\"" + " is " + s1.length()

+ " characters long.");
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 2.6 .

Figure 2.6. Determining string length.

N ote th at th e text "Hello from JSP!" in th e outp u t is qu oted

in Figu re 2.6 . B u t th e text w e p ass to println m u st also be
qu oted in code (out.println("Like this");)— so h ow d o w e
m ake su re println d oe sn't get con fu sed w ith th e q u otation
m arks su rrou n d in g th e text w e p a ss it an d th e q u otation
m arks w e actu ally w a n t to display? W e d o th at b y precedin g
th e qu otation m arks w e w a n t to display w ith a b ackslash ( \),
w h ich w ill m ake sure Ja va treats th em as it w ou ld an y oth er
ch aracter, an d do e s n ot try to interpret th em in an y sp ecial
w ay. T h is is called esca pin g a ch aracter, an d h ere a re th e

Week 1 – Page 54
 ch aracters y ou can esca pe:

 \'— S in gle qu ote

 \"— D oub le qu ote
 \\— B ackslash
 \b— B acksp ace
 \ddd— O ctal ch aracter, w h ere ddd is th e code for th e ch a racter
 \f— Fo rm feed
 \n— N ew lin e (sk ips to th e n ext lin e in plain text files)
 \r— C arriag e retu rn
 \t— Tab
 \uxxxx— H exad ecim al U n ico de ch a ra cter, w h e re xxxx is th e cod e for th e
ch aracter

For exa m p le, if y ou w a n t to display a q u otation m ark u sin g out.println, y ou m u st

esca pe it in th e text you pass to th at m eth o d: "He said, \"hello,\" when he saw
me." T h is w ay, println w ill n ot get con fu sed a n d th in k th e tw o q u otation m a rks in
th e m id dle of th e text a re actu ally begin n in g or end in g th e text itself.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating and Working with Arrays

S im ple types like int are fin e for sto rin g sin gle data ite m s,
bu t d ata is often m ore c om p lex th an th at. S u p p ose th at y ou
w a n t to sta rt a n ew ba n k, th e JS P B a n k, an d y ou n ee d to k eep
track of th e a m o un t of m o n ey in every a ccou nt, as ind ex ed by
accoun t nu m b e r. A m eth od of w orkin g w ith m o re th an sim ple
variables is n eeded h ere , an d th at's w h at a rrays provide.

U sin g an array, you can gro u p sim ple d ata type s into a m o re com p ou n d data
stru cture, an d refer to th at n ew data stru ctu re by n a m e. M ore im p orta n tly, you can
refer to th e ind ividu al data item s sto red in th e arra y by n u m eric ind ex. T h at's
im p orta nt, becau se com puters ex cel at pe rform in g m illion s of op eration s v ery
qu ickly, so if you r d ata m ay be referen ced w ith a nu m eric ind ex, y ou ca n w ork
th ro ug h a w h ole set of d ata very qu ick ly sim ply by in cre m entin g th e array in dex.

In th is case, you m ig h t start JS P B an k w ith 10 0 n ew a ccou nts, a n d each on e w ill

h ave its ow n entry in an array n a m ed accounts[]. T h e squ a re b races a t th e en d of
accounts[] in dicate th a t it's an arra y, an d you place th e in d ex n u m b er of th e item in
th e array you w a n t to a ccess in th e braces. H ere's h ow you can create th e
accounts[] array, givin g each entry in it th e double type for a little extra precision .
First, you can de clare th e a rra y, an d th en create it w ith th e new ope rato r— a rrays a re
actu ally ob jects in Java, w h ich m ea n s y ou ne ed to u se th e new op erator to create
th e m :

<HTML>

Week 1 – Page 55
 <HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating an Array</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating an Array</H1>
<%
double accounts[];
accounts = new double[100];
.
.
.
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th is creates an array of 100 double valu es. Y ou can refer to th e in divid u al ele m ents
in th e array u sin g an in dex nu m b e r in sq u are b rack ets like th is: accounts[0], w h ich
refers to th e first ele m e n t in th e array (a rra y in dices are zero -based in Java, so
accounts[0] refers to th e first elem e nt), accounts[1], w h ich refers to th e secon d
ele m en t in th e arra y, an d so on . F or exa m p le, y ou can sto re $11 9 .6 3 in
accounts[3], an d retrie ve th at valu e to display it, as sh ow n in Listin g 2.8 .

Listing 2.8 Creating an Array (ch02_08.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating an Array</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating an Array</H1>
<%
double accounts[];
accounts = new double[100];
accounts[3] = 119.63;

out.println("Account 3 holds $" + accounts[3]);

%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th is code at w ork in Figu re 2.7 .

Figure 2.7. Creating an array.

Week 1 – Page 56
You can n ow refer to th e ite m s in th e array u sin g a nu m eric in d ex, w h ich orga n izes
th em in an easy w ay. Y ou can also com b in e th e declaration an d creation steps into
on e step:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating an Array</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating an Array</H1>
<%
double accounts[] = new double[100];
accounts[3] = 119.63;

out.println("Account 3 holds $" + accounts[3]);

%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

In fa ct, you can also in itialize arrays w ith valu es w h en you create th e a rray. To do
th at, you en close th e list of valu es y ou w a n t to store in th e array in cu rly bra ces ({
an d }). Fo r exa m p le, th is code creates fou r acc ounts, an d stores $23.6 6 in
accounts[0], $68.0 9 in accounts[1], $288 9.0 0 in accounts[2], an d $11 9.63 in
accounts[3]:

Week 1 – Page 57
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Initializing an Array</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Initializing an Array</H1>
<%
double accounts[] = {23.66, 68.09, 2889.00, 119.63};

out.println("Account 3 holds $" + accounts[3]);

%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Tip

H ere's an oth e r th in g to re m e m b er ab o u t a rray s — you can get th e len gth of

an arra y (th at is, th e n u m b er of ele m ents in an arra y) w ith th e length data
m e m b e r. Fo r exa m p le, th e exp ression accounts.length w ill h old 4 in th e
previou s exa m p le. S e e " T h e for L oo p " in D ay 3, "B ran ch in g , Loopin g , an d
C reatin g M eth o d s," for a n exa m p le.

T h is is fin e as fa r a s it goes, bu t the re's m o re. F or exa m p le, w h at if ou r cu sto m ers

w a n t a ch e ck in g accou n t in a ddition to a sav in g s accou nt? H ow can w e h a n dle th at
an d still kee p th in g s in dex ed by a ccou n t n u m be r?

T h e accounts[] array w e've already created is a on e-dim en sion al arra y, w h ich

m e an s you can th in k of it as a sin gle list of nu m b ers th at y ou can in d ex w ith on e
ind ex nu m b er. H o w ev er, array s can h a ve m u ltiple dim e n sion s in Java, w h ich m ean s
th at you can h av e m u ltiple array in d exes. In th is n ext exa m p le, y ou ca n exten d
accounts[] into a tw o -dim en sion al a rra y, accounts[][], to h a nd le both a sav in g s
an d ch eckin g account. T h e first in d ex of accounts[][] w ill be 0 for sav in gs accounts
an d 1 for ch eckin g acco unts, an d th e secon d ind ex w ill be th e accoun t nu m b e r as
befo re. You can see ho w th at loo ks in cod e in Listin g 2.9 .

Listing 2.9 Using Multidimensional Arrays (ch02_09.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Multidimensional Arrays</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Multidimensional Arrays</H1>
<%
double accounts[][] = new double[2][100];

Week 1 – Page 58
 accounts[0][3] = 119.63;
accounts[1][3] = 194.07;

out.println("Savings Account 3 holds $" + accounts[0][3] +

"<BR>");
out.println("Checking Account 3 holds $" + accounts[1][3]);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ow th at accounts[][] is a tw o -dim e n sion al array, ea ch item in it is referred to

u sin g tw o in dex valu es; for exa m p le, th e sav ing s balan ce for accoun t 3 is n ow
accounts[0][3], an d th e che ck in g balan ce is accounts[1][3]. Y ou ca n see th e
resu lts in Figu re 2.8 .

Figure 2.8. Creating a multidimensional array.

T h at gives u s a solid sta rt w ith storin g data in Ja v a— w e'v e tak en a loo k at w orkin g
w ith literals, sim ple variables, strin g s, objects, an d arra ys. W e'v e g otte n d ata
storag e d ow n , n ow let's take a look at h ow to w ork w ith an d m an ipu late th at d ata
u sin g operato rs.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 59
Working with Operators
T h e m ost ba sic w ay to w ork w ith th e data in a pro g ra m is w ith th e b u ilt-in Java
ope rato rs. Fo r exa m p le, say you h av e sto red a valu e of 23 in on e va riable an d a
valu e of 4 in an oth e r. Y ou can m u ltiply th ose tw o valu es w ith th e Java m u ltiplication
ope rato r, *, w h ich you can see in Listin g 2.1 0 .

Listing 2.10 Using Operators(ch02_10.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Operators</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Operators</H1>
<%
int operand1 = 23, operand2 = 4, product;

product = operand1 * operand2;

out.println(operand1 + " * " + operand2 +

" = " + product);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 2.9 , w he re w e learn th at 23 * 4 is 92.

Figure 2.9. Using Java operators.

Week 1 – Page 60
T h e follow in g operato rs are ava ilable in Java:

 D ecre m en t op e rato r ( --)

 S u btraction ope rato r (-) T h is is also th e n egation op erator if you u se it in
fro n t of a valu e; for exa m p le, th e exp ression -x evalu ates to th e valu e in x
w ith th at valu e's nu m eric sign flip p ed — positive valu es beco m e n eg ative an d
n eg ative valu es be co m e positive.
 Logical u n ary NOT op era tor (!)
 N ot equ al to ope rator (!=)
 M od u lu s op e rato r ( %)
 M od u lu s assig n m e n t op erat or (%=)
 Logical AND operato r (&)
 S h ort-circu it AND ope rator (&&)
 B itw ise AND assig n m e n t ope rato r ( &=)
 M u ltiplication ope rato r ( *)
 M u ltiplication assign m e n t op e rato r ( *=)
 D ivision operato r ( /)
 D ivision assig n m en t operato r (/=)
 if-th en -else op erator (?:)
 Logical Xor operato r (^)
 B itw ise Xor assig n m e n t ope rato r ( ^=)
 Logical OR operator (|)
 S h ort-circu it OR ope rato r (||)
 B itw ise OR assig n m e n t o p erator (|=)
 B itw ise u n ary NOT op e ra tor (~)

Week 1 – Page 61
  A dd ition operato r (+)
 In cre m en t ope rato r (++)
 A dd ition assign m en t op erator (+=)
 Less th an op erato r (<)
 S h ift left ope rato r (<<)
 S h ift left assign m en t operator ( <<=)
 Less th an or eq u al to op erator ( <=)
 A ssig n m e n t op e rato r ( =)
 S u btraction assig n m e n t ope rato r ( -=)
 E qu al to ope rato r (==)
 G reater th a n op erato r ( >)
 G reater th a n or equ a l to ope rato r (>=)
 S h ift righ t operato r (>>)
 S h ift righ t assig n m e n t operator ( >>=)
 S h ift righ t w ith zero fill ope rato r ( >>>)
 S h ift righ t zero fill assign m en t ope rator ( >>>=)

W e'll see th ese va riou s ope rato rs, an d h ow to u se th e m , throu g h ou t th e bo ok —

startin g righ t h ere, w ith a loo k at th e com m on Java op erators.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Assignment Operators
T h e m ost ba sic ope rators are th e assig n m e n t op erators, w h ich w e'v e already seen .
You u se th e = op erator to assign a varia ble a literal valu e, th e valu e in an oth er
variable, an d so on , like th is, w h ere th e cod e is assign in g th e variable n a m ed var1 a
valu e of 12:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Assignment Operators</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Assignment Operators</H1>
<%
int var1;

var1 = 12;

out.println("The total value = " + var1);

%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Week 1 – Page 62
 Java also su p po rts co m bin ation assig n m en t op e rators, w h ich
com b in e an op erator like +, -, or * w ith th e assign m en t
ope rato r =. H e re's an ex a m p le sh ow in g h ow th at w orks: S a y
th at w e h av e stored 15 in a varia ble n a m e d var1:

int var1 = 15;

To add 12 to th e valu e in th is variable, w e can u se th is cod e:

int var1 = 15;

var1 = var1 + 12;

O n th e othe r h a n d , w e can u se th e co m b in ation ope rato r += to d o th e sa m e th ing ;

th is ope rato r is sh ort fo r "ad d th e valu e of th e secon d op era n d to th e v alu e of th e
first ope ran d an d a ssign th e resu lt to th e first o p eran d ":

int var1 = 15;

var1 += 12;

Th ere a re qu ite a few co m b in ation assig n m e n t op erators in Java:

 M od u lu s assig n m e n t ( %=)
 B itw ise AND assig n m e n t (&=)
 M u ltiplication assign m e n t ( *=)
 D ivision assig n m en t ( /=)
 B itw ise Xor assig n m e n t (^=)
 B itw ise OR assig n m e n t (|=)
 A dd ition assign m en t (+=)
 S h ift left assign m en t (<<=)
 Less th an or eq u al to (<=)
 S u btraction assig n m e n t (-=)
 S h ift righ t assig n m e n t (>>=)
 S h ift righ t zero fill assign m en t ( >>>=)

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Incrementing and Decrementing Operators

T h e Java ++ ope rato r in cre m ents its ope ran d by one , an d th e -- op erator
decrem e nts its op eran d by on e. F or exa m p le, if value h olds 0, th en afte r y ou
ex ecute value++, value w ill h old 1.

H ere's an im p orta n t point; ++ an d -- can be eith er p ostfix

ope rato rs (value++) or prefix ope rato rs (++value). W h en

Week 1 – Page 63
 u sed a s a p ostfix op erator, th ey a re executed a fter th e rest of
th e statem e nt, a n d w h e n u sed a s a p refix ope ra tor, before th e
rest of th e state m ent. T h is is som eth in g you h a ve to w atch
ou t for, be cau se if you h ave cod e like th is

value2 = value1++;

w h en th e state m en t is com p leted, value2 w ill actu ally be left w ith th e origin al valu e
in value1 (n ot th e in crem e nted v a lu e), an d th e valu e in value1 w ill h ave b ee n
in cre m ented. Y ou can see an exa m p le sh o w in g cod e u sin g ++ as both a prefix an d
postfix op erator in Listin g 2.1 1 .

Listing 2.11 Incrementing and Decrementing Using Operators

(ch02_11.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Incrementing and Decrementing</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Incrementing and Decrementing</H1>
<%
int value1 = 0, value2 = 0;

out.println("value1 = " + value1 + "<BR>");

out.println("value2 = " + value2 + "<BR>");

value2 = value1++;

out.println("After <B>value2 = value1++</B>:" + "<BR>");

out.println("value1 = " + value1 + "<BR>");
out.println("value2 = " + value2 + "<BR>");

int value3 = 0, value4 = 0;

out.println("<BR>");
out.println("value3 = " + value3 + "<BR>");
out.println("value4 = " + value4 + "<BR>");

value4 = ++value3;

out.println("After <B>value4 = ++value3</B>:" + "<BR>");

out.println("value3 = " + value3 + "<BR>");
out.println("value4 = " + value4 + "<BR>");
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 2.1 0 , w h e re y ou can see th e ++
ope rato r w orkin g as both a p refix a n d postfix op erator.

Week 1 – Page 64
 Figure 2.10. Using ++ as both a prefix and postfix operator.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T ea m L iB ]

Multiplication and Division Operators

You u se * to m u ltiply va lu es an d / to divide valu es in Java. Y ou can see an exa m p le
w h ere th e code u ses * a n d / on double valu es in Listin g 2.1 2 .

Listing 2.12 Multiplication and Division (ch02_12.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Multiplication and Division</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Multiplication and Division</H1>
<%

Week 1 – Page 65
 double double1 = 6, double2 = 8, double3 = 5, doubleResult;
doubleResult = double1 * double2 / double3;
out.println("6 * 8 / 5 = " + doubleResult);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 2.1 1 .

Figure 2.11. Using multiplication and division.

Caution

You don 't h ave to u se double valu es w ith m u ltiplication a n d division , of

course, b u t n ote th at if you u se division on integer valu es, y ou ru n th e risk
of h av in g you r resu lts trun cated, losin g th e decim al part w h en th e resu lts
are stored in integer form at.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Addition and Subtraction Operators

A s y ou m igh t expect, th e m ost b a sic op e rato rs are + an d -, w h ich you u se for
ad d ition an d su btraction . You can see an exa m p le puttin g th e m to w ork in Listin g

Week 1 – Page 66
2.1 3.

Listing 2.13 Addition and Subtraction (ch02_13.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Addition and Subtraction</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Addition and Subtraction</H1>
<%
int operand1 = 15, operand2 = 24, sum, difference;

sum = operand1 + operand2;

difference = operand1 - operand2;

out.println(operand1 + " + " + operand2 + " = " + sum +

"<BR>");
out.println(operand1 + " - " + operand2 + " = " + difference);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th ese tw o o p erators at w ork in Figure 2.1 2 , w h e re Ja va is p erform in g

variou s ad d ition s an d su btraction s for u s.

Figure 2.12. Using addition and subtraction.

Week 1 – Page 67
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Relational Operators
You u se th e relation al operators ( >, >=, <, <=, ==, an d !=) to
create logical exp ressio n s th at you can test w ith cond ition al
statem e nts like th e if state m en t (w h ich w e'll see tom o rrow ).
A logical expression eva lu ates to eith er true or false (th ese
are th e p ossible valu es for th e B oo lean data typ e — see Ta ble
2.2).

S u p p ose w e set an integer variable n a m e d temperature to 70; in th at case, th e

logical expression temperature < 55 evalu ates to false. You can u se th is logical
exp re ssion in an if statem e nt, as w e'll see in D ay 3; if th e logical expre ssion in th e
if state m en t is true, th e code in th e bo dy of th e if statem en t is ex ecuted (an d n ot
oth erw ise). Fo r exa m p le , th e m essa ge "Just right." is w ritten to th e W eb pa g e if
th e valu e in temperature is less th an 8 0 deg re e s in Listin g 2.1 4 .

Listing 2.14 Using Relational Operators (ch02_14.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Relational Operators</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Relational Operators</H1>
<%
int temperature = 70;

if (temperature < 80) {

out.println("Just right.");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 2.1 3 , w h ere w e see th at th e tem p e ratu re is ju st
right.

Figure 2.13. Using relational operators.

Week 1 – Page 68
H ere are all th e Java relation al operato rs, an d w e'll see th e m at w ork to m o rro w an d
th ro ug h ou t th e b ook:

 G reater th a n (>) Fo r ex a m p le, operand1 > operand2 retu rn s true if

operand1 is greater th a n operand2.
 G reater th a n or equ al to (>=)
 Less th an (<)
 Less th an or eq u al to (<=)
 E qu al to (==)
 N ot equ al to (!=)

You can com b in e m u ltiple logical exp ression s w ith th e logical operato rs — com in g u p
n ext.

Tip

H ere's a pitfall to av oid — w h en y ou're creatin g a logical express ion to test if

tw o valu es a re eq u al, m ake sure y ou u se == in stead of ju st =. Fo r exa m ple,
th e exp ression budget == 0 is true if th e valu e in budget is 0, bu t th e
exp re ssion budget = 0 assig n s a valu e of 0 to budget. U sin g = in stead of
== in logical expression s is a very co m m on m istak e.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 69
Logical Operators
You u se th e logical operators, && an d ||, to con n ect logical expression s, as w h en y ou
w a n t to m ak e sure th e tem p e ratu re is both ab o ve 60 deg rees an d belo w 90 de g ree s.
T h e tw o logical operato rs are th e logical AND (&&), an d th e logical OR (||).

H ere's h ow th ese ope rators w ork: th e OR op erator || retu rn s false w h en both its
ope ra n d s a re false, an d true othe rw ise. T h e AND ope rator && retu rn s true w h en
both its ope ran d s a re true, an d false oth erw ise . Y ou u se th ese op e ra to rs to tie
logical expression s tog e th er— u se && w h en you w a n t tw o logical expression s to b oth
be true, an d || w h en y ou on ly req u ire on e of tw o exp ression s to be tru e. Fo r
exa m p le, you can see h ow to m ak e sure th e tem p eratu re is both ab ov e 60 d egre es
an d below 90 deg rees in Listin g 2.1 5 .

Listing 2.15 Using Logical Operators (ch02_15.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Logical Operators</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Logical Operators</H1>
<%
int temperature = 70;

if (temperature < 90 && temperature > 60) {

out.println("Picnic time!");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 2.1 4 , w h ere w e see it's tim e for a picn ic.

Figure 2.14. Using logical operators.

Week 1 – Page 70
You can see h ow th e || an d && op erators w ork on th eir tw o op eran d s (n a m ed a an d
b h ere) in Ta ble 2.4 . Fo r exa m p le, if a is true a n d b is false, a || b is true, bu t a
&& b is false.

Table 2.4. The Logical Operators

a b a || b (OR) a && b (AND)
false false false false
true false true false
false true true false
true true true true
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Understanding Operator Precedence

A s y ou'v e seen tod ay , Java su pp o rts a large n u m b er of op erators. B u t w h at h a p p en s
if you start m ixin g th em in th e sa m e state m ent? W h ich operato r w ill Ja va execu te
first? Fo r exa m p le, tak e a loo k at th is exa m p le, w h ere th e code is tryin g to ad d 10
an d 24 (to get 34) an d th en d ivide th e su m by 2 (to get 17):

double value;
value = 10 + 24 / 2;

Week 1 – Page 71
out.println("The value = " + value);

B u t h ere's w h at y ou see w h en y ou execute th is cod e:

The value = 22.0

C learly, th ere's som eth in g differe n t g oin g on from w h at w a s
exp ected . In fa ct, th ere's a w ell-defin ed ord er th at Java
ex ecute s op e rato rs in w h en th ere a re m u ltiple operators in an
exp re ssion , an d th at ord er is called ope rato r p re ceden ce. A s
far a s ou r exa m p le g oe s , / h as h igh er p reced en ce th an +, so
th e exp ression 24 / 2 is evalu ated first to g et 12, an d th at 12
is ad d ed to 10, to g et 2 2.

To spe cify to Java th e e xact ord er in w h ich you w a n t th e op erators to b e evalu ate d,
you can u se pa renth ese s to g rou p th ose ope ration s y ou w a n t p erform e d first. Y ou
can see h ow th at look s in Listin g 2.1 6 , w h ere th e pa renth e ses aro un d 10 + 24 m ake
su re th e ad d ition operation is perform ed first.

Listing 2.16 Using Operator Precedence (ch02_16.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Checking Operator Precedence</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Checking Operator Precedence</H1>
<%
double value;

value = (10 + 24) / 2;

out.println("The value = " + value);

%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can se e th e resu lts in Figu re 2.1 5 , w he re w e do ind ee d get th e an s w er w e

exp ected .

Figure 2.15. Using operator precedence.

Week 1 – Page 72
You 'll fin d th e Java ope rator p receden ce in Table 2.5 , fro m h igh est to low est—
ope rato rs w ith hig h er p receden ce a re ex ecuted befo re ope rato rs w ith low er
preced e n ce in a co m p ou n d expression . O p erators on th e sa m e lin e h ave th e sa m e
preced e n ce, an d if Java find s a nu m b er of ope ra tors of th e sa m e preced en ce in a
com p ou n d exp ression , th ose op erators a re executed from left to rig ht.

Table 2.5. Java Operator Precedence

( ) [ ] .

++ — ~ !
* / %

+ -

>> >>> <<

> >= < <=

== !=

&

&&

||

?:

Week 1 – Page 73
= [operator]=

N ow you h av e th e fou nd ation you'll n ee d to w ork w ith d ata a n d ope rators th rou gh ou t
th e bo ok. T o m o rrow , y o u're goin g to bu ild on th at Java foun d ation , seein g h ow to
m ake d ecision s in code, as w ell as h ow to cre ate loo pin g state m e nts an d m eth o ds.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Summary
Tod ay you 'v e m a d e a lo t of p ro g ress in w orkin g w ith Java. Y ou'v e g otte n th e b asics
dow n of th e Ja va en viron m en t th at you 'll be w o rkin g w ith in JS P, in clu din g gettin g an
ov erview of th e rea d y -m a de Java obje cts (like out) th at are already a v ailable for you
to u se in th at en viro n m ent.

Tod ay you 'v e sta rted g e ttin g to th e v ery h ea rt of pro gra m m in g — w orkin g w ith d ata.
T h ere a re a nu m b e r of w ays of h a n d lin g d ata in Java. T h e first is sim p ly to u se
literals, w h ich are literal nu m b ers or text ente re d directly in to you r code state m ents.
Literals are fin e, b u t yo u ca n't really m an ipu late th e m in code — fo r th at, y ou ne ed
variables.

V aria bles en a ble y ou to store data in a pro gra m an d refer to th at data b y n a m e. Fo r

exa m p le, if y ou n a m e a n in teger va ria ble temperature, you can sto re integer valu es
in temperature an d u se th at n a m e to refer to th e stored valu e in you r cod e. In
ad d ition , you can co m b in e a w h o le set of data into a rray s.

T h ere a re plenty of data types in Java, ea ch w ith its ow n ca pacity — fo r exa m p le, a
double variable can sto re valu es w ith h igh er m ath e m atical precision th an a sim p le
float varia ble. Java is a stick ler abou t m aintain in g type integ r ity, so y ou don 't lose
an y precision in a dverte n tly, an d th ere a re tw o w ays to con v ert b etw ee n d ata types —
auto m atically, an d w ith a type cast.

You also learn ed m o re a bou t Java objects toda y . You can create obje cts from
classes, an d in th at w ay, a class is a n object's type, m u ch like int is th e typ e of th e
temperature variable w e ju st discu ssed. Y ou ca n also sto re obje cts in v ariables
w h ose typ e is th e object's class.

U n like sim ple varia bles, obje cts can contain m eth ods an d m u ltiple d ata m e m b e rs.
You can crea te objects u sin g a con stru cto r, w h ich is a spe cial m eth od w ith th e sa m e
n a m e as th e class you 're creatin g objects fro m , togeth er w ith th e new op erator. T h e
con stru cto r m eth od w ill retu rn th e ne w ly create d object.

You can m an ipu late a n d w ork on th e data in you r code w ith Java op e ra tors. T h ere's a
goo d selection of op erators in Java, as w e'v e se en , an d the y provide u s w ith a basic
w ay of w orkin g on data. B esides nu m erical op erators, Java also sup po rts relation al
an d logical operato rs th at en a ble you to w ork w ith valu es of true an d false of th e

Week 1 – Page 74
kin d w e'll u se in if statem e nts tom orrow .

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Q&A

Q1: I c a n 't c h a n g e th e co n te n ts o f a String o b jec t— is th e re a n y s trin g

cla ss I c a n c h a n g e th e c o n te x t o f, a fte r a n o b jec t o f th a t c la ss h a s
b e e n c re a te d ?

A1: Yes. Y ou can u se th e StringBuffer class, w h ich w e'll see in D ay 4.

Q2: H o w a re Ja v a o b je cts d iffe re n t fro m J a v a 's b u ilt -in b a sic d a ta

ty p e s lik e int?

A2: A ll Java objects a re bas ed on th e java.lang.Object class, w h ereas ba sic

data types are n ot. T h at is, all objects alread y h ave m eth od s an d d ata
m e m b e rs bu ilt into th em fro m java.lang.Object, w h ich th e b asic d ata
types d on 't. Y ou 'll see m o re on th is issu e in D a y 7.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Workshop
T h is w ork sh op tests w h eth er y ou un d erstan d all th e con cepts y ou learn ed tod a y. It's
a goo d idea to m a ster today's con cepts b y h on in g you r kn ow led g e he re before
startin g tom o rrow 's m aterial. Y ou can fin d th e a n sw ers to th e q u iz q u estion s in
A pp e n d ix A .

Quiz

1: W h at a re th e b u ilt-in ob jects in JS P?

2: H o w do you sk ip to th e n ext lin e in th e bro w ser w h en u sin g println?

3: N a m e all th e floatin g -po int bu ilt-in d ata types in Java.

4: W h at valu es can B oo lea n varia bles h old?

Week 1 – Page 75
 5: If y ou can 't ch an g e a String obje ct after it's b e en created, w h y a re the re
String m eth od s like toLowerCase, toUpperCase, an d replace?

Exercises

1: C an you g u ess w h at th e exp ression 2 + 3 / 5 * 17 + 7 * 9 evalu ate s to ?

T ry it ou t in a JS P p a ge to ch eck you r an sw er.

2: U sin g th e String object's indexOf an d substring m eth o d s, fin d an d

display th e sixth w ord in th e senten ce "Jav aS e rver Pa g es is g oin g to
do m in ate th e w orld!" (H in t: search for sp aces re p eatedly!)

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Day 3. Branching, Looping, and

Creating Methods
Tod ay w e're g oin g to g e t so m e m ore essential Java p rogra m m in g u n d er ou r b elts.
W e'll see th ree cru cial techn iqu es h ere — b ra n ch ing , loo pin g , a n d creatin g m eth o ds.
T h ese a re all basic skills for th e JS P prog ra m m e r, an d w e'll n ee d th e m in ou r
pro g ra m m in g arsen al th ro u gh o u t th e b o ok. H ere's an overview of tod a y 's topics:

 B ran ch in g state m ents — if an d switch

 Loopin g state m ents— for, while, an d do-while
 C reatin g m eth o ds
 Passin g d ata to m eth o d s
 R etu rn in g d ata fro m m e th ods

B ran ch in g state m e nts (also called con d ition al statem e nts) let
you m ak e d ecision s in code. Fo r exa m p le, w e'v e alrea dy see n
th e m o st pop u lar Jav a b ran c h in g state m en t at w ork — th e if
statem e n t— in D ay 2, "H an d lin g D ata an d O p e ra tors." In
exa m p le ch02_15.jsp, w e u sed th e if statem e n t to display
th e m e ssa g e "Picnic time!" if th e te m pe ratu re w a s betw een
60 an d 90 deg rees Fa hrenh eit:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Logical Operators</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Logical Operators</H1>

Week 1 – Page 76
 <%
int temperature = 70;

if (temperature < 90 && temperature > 60) {

out.println("Picnic time!");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou'll see m o re ab o u t b ran ch in g statem e nts like th is on e tod ay.

Loops let y ou execute som e code ov er an d ove r on a set of

data. Loops are on e of th e m ain reason s co m p u ters are so
pow erfu l, becau se th at's w h at com p ute rs a re g o o d at:
ex ecutin g large a m o un ts of code qu ick ly. For ex a m p le, you
m igh t h ave an array h oldin g stud e n t scores fro m a class
you 're teach in g on JS P, an d u sin g a loo p, you ca n ad d all th e
scores to fin d th e av era ge score. E ach tim e thro ug h th e loo p,
called a loo p iteration , y ou can in crem e n t th e a rray ind ex,
givin g you access to th e n ext a rra y ele m ent. A s you iterate
th ro ug h th e w h ole a rray of stud e n t scores th is w ay, you can
ad d each score to a run n in g total. W h en th e loo p is fin ish ed,
you can divide th e ru nn in g total by th e total n u m b er of
stud e nts to get th e av erage sco re. Y ou'll see h o w th at w orks
today.

W e'll also see h ow to create ou r ow n m eth od s today. W e'v e seen m eth ods ev er sin ce
D ay 1, w he re w e u sed th e out object's println m eth od to w rite text to th e W eb
pa ge bein g sen t b a ck to th e brow ser. H ere, w e're goin g to see ho w to w rite ou r ow n
m eth ods. D ividin g you r cod e into m eth od s is a goo d idea w h en you r co d e gets long ;
it h elps keep th in g s org an ize d. U n less y ou b rea k y ou r cod e u p into sm a ller un its, you
cou ld en d u p w ith m an y pages of tan g led Java. If y ou divid e th at code into m eth od s,
each of w h ich is called to execute a sp ecific, discrete ta sk, th in g s stay m a n a gea ble.

T h at's it for th e intro du c tion — let's get pro gra m m in g , startin g w ith bran ch in g
statem e nts.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Branching Statements
T h e ne xt step u p fro m u sin g th e sim ple op e rato rs w e sa w in D ay 2 is to u se
bra n ch in g state m ents in you r cod e . Y ou u se bra n ch in g state m ents to m ake d ecision s
based on th e valu e of y ou r d ata, a n d to m ake th e flow of th e pro gra m go in differe n t
direction s accordin g ly.

T h ere a re tw o bran ch in g state m ents in Jav a — th e if statem e nt, a n d th e switch

statem e nt.

Week 1 – Page 77
The if Statement
W h en y ou w a n t to test cond ition s a n d execu te cod e accordin gly, it's a g oo d idea to
u se a statem e n t like th e if state m ent. H ere's h ow y ou u se th is state m en t in
gen e ral:

if (condition) statement1;
[else statement2;]

If condition evalu ates to true, statement1 is ex ecuted. O th erw ise, if th ere is an

else clau se to th e state m e nt, th e cod e in it ( statement2) is execute d.

In Jav a , statement1 an d statement2 can b oth be com pou n d state m ents, w h ich
m e an s th at the y can b e m a de u p of a nu m b er of statem e nts en closed in cu rly
braces, like th is:

if (condition){
statement;
statement;
.
.
.
}
else {
statement;
statement;
.
.
.
}

Let's tak e a look at so m e exa m p les to see h ow th is w orks. Fo r exa m p le, w h at if you
w a nted to fin d th e a bsolute valu e of a nu m b e r? O n e w ay to get an absolute valu e is
to sta rt by che ck in g w h eth er th e valu e is greater th an 0, an d if so, ju st prin t ou t th e
valu e itself. Listin g 3.1 sh ow s h ow to m a ke th at test w ith an if statem e nt.

Listing 3.1 Using an if Statement (ch03_01.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using the if Statement</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using the if Statement</H1>
<%
int value = 10;

if(value > 0)
out.println("Absolute value of " + value + " = " + value);

Week 1 – Page 78
 %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ote th e if state m ent's cond ition h ere , value > 0, w h e re th e cod e is u sin g th e >
relation al operator (see th e section " R elation al O p e rato rs" in D ay 2), w h ich w ill be
true if th e valu e is grea ter th an 0, an d false oth erw ise. Y ou can see th e resu lts of
th is cod e in Figu re 3.1 .

Figure 3.1. Using the if statement.

E x e c u tin g C o m p o u n d S ta te m e n ts

N ote th at in th is case, th e state m e n t th at's exe cuted if th e if state m e n t is true is a

sin gle state m en t, bu t you can also ex ecu te m u ltiple state m ents if y ou m ake th em
part of a co m p ou n d statem e n t surro u n d ed b y { an d }, as you see in Listin g 3.2 .

Listing 3.2 Using a Compound Statement (ch03_02.jsp )

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Compound Statements</TITLE>
</HEAD>

Week 1 – Page 79
 <BODY>
<H1>Using Compound Statements</H1>
<%
int value = 10;

if(value > 0) {
out.println("The number was positive.");
out.println("Absolute value of " + value + " = " + value);
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 3.2 .

Figure 3.2. Using compound statements.

T h e else S ta te m e n t

S o fa r, ou r if state m en t on ly displays an absolute valu e if th e valu e is greater th an

0. Y ou can expa n d th at if state m en t by ad d in g an else clau se, w h ich is execu ted if th e
if state m ent's con d ition is false. Y ou can see h ow th at looks in Listin g 3.3 . T h is
en a bles u s to fin d th e a bsolute valu e of n eg ative nu m b e rs a s w ell as positive one s
(n ote th at th e cod e is also u sin g th e Java n e gation op erator ( -) to ch a n g e th e sign of

Week 1 – Page 80
value if n ee de d; see th e topic "O pe rato rs" in D ay 2 for m o re on th is op erator).

Listing 3.3 Using an else Clause (ch03_03.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using an else Clause</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using an else Clause</H1>
<%
int value = -10;

if(value > 0) {
out.println("Absolute value of " + value + " = " + value);
}
else {
out.println("Absolute value of " + value + " = " + -value);
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Fig u re 3.3 .

Figure 3.3. Using an else clause.

Week 1 – Page 81
N e s ted if S ta te m e n ts

You can also n est if sta tem ents in side each oth er; h ere's an exa m p le sh ow in g h o w
th at w ork s. In th is case, say th at y ou w a n t to display th e recipro cal of a nu m b er —
bu t on ly if th at nu m b er is positive. A lso, you d o n 't w an t to ev en try to get th e
recipro cal if th e n u m b er is zero, b ecau se th e recipro cal of zero is n ot d efin ed. Listin g
3.4 sho w s h ow y ou can pu t all th is into code u sin g a n ested if statem e n t (n ote th at
th e code is u sin g th e relation al operato r != he re , w h ich m ea n s "n ot equ al to," as you
saw in D ay 2).

Listing 3.4 Nested if Statements (ch03_04.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Nested if Statements</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Nested if Statements</H1>
<%
double value = 2;

if (value != 0) {
if (value > 0)

Week 1 – Page 82
 out.println("The result = " + (1 / value));
else
out.println("Sorry, we need a positive number.");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

if-else L a d d e rs

It's p ossible to create a n entire seq u en ce of if-else state m ents called an if-else
lad d er. Y ou can see an exa m p le sh ow in g h ow th is w orks in Listin g 3.5 ; in th is case,
th e code kee ps testin g th e valu e in a String va riable un til it find s a m a tch to th e
cu rren t day of th e w eek .

Listing 3.5 Using an if-else Ladder (ch03_05.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using an if-else Ladder</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using an if-else Ladder</H1>
<%
String day = "Friday";

if(day == "Monday")
out.println("It\'s Monday.");
else if (day == "Tuesday")
out.println("It\'s Tuesday.");
else if (day == "Wednesday")
out.println("It\'s Wednesday.");
else if (day == "Thursday")
out.println("It\'s Thursday.");
else if (day == "Friday")
out.println("It\'s Friday.");
else if (day == "Saturday")
out.println("It\'s Saturday.");
else if (day == "Sunday")
out.println("It\'s Sunday.");
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can se e th e resu lts of th is cod e in Fig u re 3.4 , w h e re w e see th at it's Frid ay.

Figure 3.4. Using an if-else ladder.

Week 1 – Page 83
A lth ou g h it's possible to create if-else lad d ers like th is, Java actu ally in clu d es a
statem e n t exp ressly for situ ation s like th is: th e switch state m ent.

The switch Statement

T h e switch statem en t is Java 's m u ltiw ay bra n ch state m ent, an d it pro v ides th e sa m e
kin d of fu n ction ality as an if-else lad d er, b u t in a m u ch ea sier form . H ere's w h at
th e switch state m en t looks like in gen eral:

switch (expression) {
case value1:
statement1;
[break;]
case value2:
statement2;
[break;]
case value3:
statement3;
[break;]
.
.
.
default:
default_statement;

Week 1 – Page 84
}

H ere, th e valu e of th e expression, w h ich m u st be of typ e byte, char, short, or int,

is co m p a red a gain st th e variou s test valu es in th e case state m ents: value1, value2,
an d so on . If th e exp res sion m atch es on e of th e test valu es in th e case statem e nts,
th e code a ssociated w ith th at case statem e n t is execute d. If ex ecution reache s a
break state m ent, th e switch state m en t en ds.

Lis ting 3 .6 sh ow s a n ex a m p le in w h ich th e code displays th e d ay of th e w eek b a sed

on a nu m e ric valu e u sin g a switch state m ent.

Listing 3.6 Using the switch Statement (ch03_06.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using the switch Statement</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using the switch Statement</H1>
<%
int day = 3;

switch(day) {
case 0:
out.println("It\'s Sunday.");
break;
case 1:
out.println("It\'s Monday.");
break;
case 2:
out.println("It\'s Tuesday.");
break;
case 3:
out.println("It\'s Wednesday.");
break;
case 4:
out.println("It\'s Thursday.");
break;
case 5:
out.println("It\'s Friday.");
break;
default:
out.println("It must be Saturday.");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 3.5 .

Week 1 – Page 85
 Figure 3.5. Using the switch statement.

Take a look at th is switch state m ent; n ote th at each case statem e n t in th e switch
statem e n t m atch e s a p a rticu lar valu e of th e day varia ble. If th e valu e in day m atche s
th at given in a specific case state m ent, th e cod e in th at case statem en t is execu ted,
u p to th e break statem ent, w h ich en d s th e switch state m ent:

int day = 3;

switch(day) {
case 0:
out.println("It\'s Sunday.");
break;
case 1:
out.println("It\'s Monday.");
break;
case 2:
out.println("It\'s Tuesday.");
break;
case 3:
out.println("It\'s Wednesday.");
break;
case 4:
out.println("It\'s Thursday.");
break;

Week 1 – Page 86
 case 5:
out.println("It\'s Friday.");
break;
default:
out.println("It must be Saturday.");
}

You can h a ve m u ltiple state m ents in each case statem e n t if you so d esire:

case 1:
out.println("It\'s Monday.<BR>");
out.println("Have you had your coffee yet?<BR>");
out.println("Time to go to work...<BR>");
break;

N ote also th e (option al) default state m en t at th e en d of th e switch state m en t in

th e ex a m p le— if n o case statem e n t is execu ted, th e code in th e default state m ent,
if th ere is on e, is execu ted. Y ou can even n est switch state m ents, ju st like if
statem e nts.

If y ou don 't place a break state m en t at th e en d of a case statem e nt, e xecution w ill
continu e w ith th e cod e in th e n ext case state m ent. S o m etim es th at's u sefu l, as w h en
you w an t to execute th e sa m e code for m u ltiple case test valu es, a s you see in
Lis ting 3 .7 .

Listing 3.7 Testing for Multiple Conditions (ch03_07.jsp )

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Testing for Multiple Conditions</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Testing for Multiple Conditions</H1>
<%
int temperature = 64;

switch(temperature) {
case 60:
case 61:
case 62:
out.println("Sorry, too cold!");
break;
case 63:
case 64:
case 65:
out.println("Pretty cool.");
break;
case 66:
case 67:
case 68:
case 69:

Week 1 – Page 87
 out.println("Nice!");
break;
case 70:
case 71:
case 72:
case 73:
case 74:
case 75:
out.println("Fairly warm.");
break;
default:
out.println("Too hot!");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 3.6 , w h e re w e see th at th e te m p eratu re

is pretty cool.

Figure 3.6. Testing for multiple conditions in a switch statement.

T h at co m p letes ou r look at bra n ch in g state m en ts; n ext, w e'll loo k at loop s.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 88
Loops
Loops a re basic pro gra m m in g con stru cts th at let y ou h a n d le task s b y ex ecutin g
specific cod e ov er an d over. F or ex a m p le, y ou m igh t w an t to h a n d le th e ite m s in a
set of data by w orkin g w ith each item in su ccession , or k eep pe rform in g a task until
a particu lar cond ition becom es true.

T h ere a re a nu m b e r of d iffere n t loo p state m ents in Java, an d w e'll take a loo k at

th em all h ere, sta rtin g w ith th e for loo p.

The for Loop

In Jav a , th e basic loo p state m en t is th e for statem e nt, w h ich is a very gen e ral loo p
statem e nt. It's u su ally u sed to let you ex ecu te cod e u sin g a loo p in d ex. E ach tim e
th ro ug h th e loo p, th e loo p in d ex w ill h ave a differen t valu e, an d y ou ca n u se th e loo p
ind ex to access a differe n t d ata item in you r data set; su ch as w h en you u se th e loo p
ind ex as an ind ex into an arra y.

H ere's w h at th e for loop loo ks like in gen eral:

for (initialization_expression; end_condition; iteration_expression) {

statement;
}

T h e initialization_expression is ex ecuted befo re th e loop is ex ecu ted th e first

tim e; end_condition is che ck ed every tim e th ro u g h th e loo p, an d w h e n it beco m e s
false, th e loo p en d s; a n d iteration_expression is executed a fter ea ch tim e
th ro ug h th e loo p. statement m ak es u p th e bod y of th e loo p , h oldin g th e cod e y ou
w a n t executed ea ch tim e th rou g h th e loo p (n ote th at statement can b e a com p ou n d
statem e nt, in clu d in g several sin gle state m e nts in side cu rly braces).

For exa m p le, you can in itialize a loo p in d ex in th e initialization_expression,

pro vide a test for end in g th e loo p w h en th at test be co m es false in th e
end_condition, an d p rovide som e w ay of ch a n g in g — u su ally in cre m en tin g — th e loo p
ind ex in th e iteration_expression.

Let's m ak e th is con crete w ith an exa m p le. In th is ca se, th e cod e w ill execute a for
loo p 10 tim es. H ere, th e cod e a ssig n s a loo p in dex varia ble n a m ed loopIndex th e
valu e 1 to sta rt (as you can see in th e in itialization exp ression loopIndex = 1) an d
en d th e loo p w h en th at loo p in d ex exceeds 10 (as y ou can see in th e e n d con d ition
loopIndex <= 10, w h ich beco m e s false w h en loopIndex is greater th an 10). T h is
m e an s th at th e loo p bo d y w ill execute exa ctly 10 tim es. E a ch tim e after th e cod e in
th e body of th e loo p ex ecute s, th e code in cre m ents loopIndex b y on e (in th e
iteration expression , w h ich is loopIndex++ here ), as you see in Listin g 3.8 .

Listing 3.8 Using the for Statement (ch03_08.jsp)

Week 1 – Page 89
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using the for Statement</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using the for Statement</H1>
<%
int loopIndex;

for (loopIndex = 1; loopIndex <= 10; loopIndex++) {

out.println("This is iteration number "
+ loopIndex + "<BR>");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 3.7 .

Figure 3.7. Using a for loop.

H ere's an oth e r exa m p le , sho w in g h ow for loo p s an d a rray s n atu rally go tog eth e r. In
th is case, th e code w ill u se a for loo p to su m u p th e gra d es of a nu m b er of stu d ents
in an array an d com p ute th e stu d ents' av era g e gra de. In th is case, th e co d e sta rts

Week 1 – Page 90
loopIndex at 0 an d in cre m e nts it each tim e th roug h th e loo p, so you can access a
n ew stud e nt's g ra de ea c h tim e th ro u g h th e loo p . N ote th at in ad d ition to initializin g
th e loo p ind ex to 0 in th e in itialization expressio n of th e for loo p, th e c ode also
declare s th e loo p ind ex at th e sa m e tim e via int loopIndex = 0, w h ich is a h a n d y
sh ortcu t th at Java allow s (othe rw ise, y ou'd h av e to d e clare loopIndex befo re u sin g it
in th e loo p), as y ou see in Listin g 3.9 .

Listing 3.9 Finding Average Grades (ch03_09.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Finding Average Grades</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Finding Average Grades</H1>
<%
double grades[] = {88, 98, 73, 56, 86, 64};
double sum, average;

sum = 0;

for (int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < grades.length; loopIndex++)

{
sum += grades[loopIndex];
}

average = sum / grades.length;

out.println("Average grade = " + average);

%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Tak e a loo k at th e for state m en t in th is exa m p le:

for (int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < grades.length; loopIndex++) {

sum += grades[loopIndex];
}

T h is code loo ps ov er all ite m s in th e grades array an d ad d s th e m , leav in g th e resu lt

in th e variable n a m e d sum. T h e loop in d ex sta rts at 0 (b eca u se of th e in itialization
exp re ssion int loopIndex = 0) an d is steadily in cre m ented ea ch tim e th ro ug h th e
loo p, end in g after th e last item in th e array is processed (be ca u se of th e en d
cond ition loopIndex < grades.length— as w e saw in D ay 2, you can u se th e
length data m e m b er to fin d th e len gth of an array). Y ou can see th e re su lts of th is
cod e in Figu re 3.8 .

Figure 3.8. Using a for loop on an array.

Week 1 – Page 91
You can u se very gen eral expression s in th e ex pression s in a for loo p. For exa m p le,
Java lets y ou separate e xpression s in th e p arenth eses in a for loo p w ith co m m a s, as
you see in Listin g 3.1 0 , w h ere th e code su p po rts tw o loo p ind exes.

Listing 3.10 Using Two Loop Indexes (ch03_10.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Two Loop Indexes</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Two Loop Indexes</H1>
<%
for (int loopIndex = 0, doubleIndex = 0; loopIndex <= 10;
loopIndex++, doubleIndex = 2 * loopIndex) {
out.println("loopIndex: " + loopIndex +
" doubleIndex: " + doubleIndex + "<BR>");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Fig u re 3.9 .

Week 1 – Page 92
 Figure 3.9. Using two loop indexes.

You can b e ev en trick ier if you w a nt — for in stan ce, you d on 't h av e to give a for loo p
an y body at all. Y ou can see an exa m p le in w h ich th e code a verag es all th e ele m ents
of an a rray in a for loo p w ith ou t an y code in its body in Listin g 3.1 1 .

Listing 3.11 Using the for Loop (ch03_11.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using the for Statement</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using the for Statement</H1>
<%
int array[] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}, sum = 0;

for (int loopIndex = 0;

loopIndex < array.length;
sum += array[loopIndex++]);

out.println("The average = " + sum / array.length);

%>
</BODY>

Week 1 – Page 93
</HTML>

E xp ertise w ith th is loo p com es in tim e; for n ow , w e h a ve w h at w e ne ed to kno w .

T h at tak es ca re of th e for loo p — n ext u p is th e while loo p.

The while Loop

A while loop k ee p s ex e cutin g th e state m en t in its body (w h ich m ay b e a co m p ou n d

statem e nt, w ith a n u m ber of sing le state m e nts in side cu rly braces) w h ile a p a rticu lar
cond ition evalu ates to true. H ere's w h at a while loo p looks like in gen e ral:

while(condition)
statement

N ote th at if th e condition is n ot true, th e body of th e loo p is n ot ev en ex ecuted

on ce.

H ere's an exa m p le p uttin g th e while loo p to w ork; in th is case, th e cod e w ill display
a valu e, th en subtra ct o n e fro m it th e n e xt tim e th ro u g h th e loo p , as lo n g as th at
valu e stays p ositive. W h en th e valu e beco m e s 0, th e while loop stops, beca u se th e
cond ition u sed (value < 0) h as be co m e false, as you see in Listin g 3.1 2 .

Listing 3.12 Using a while Loop (ch03_12.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using the while Loop</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using the while Loop</H1>
<%
int value = 5;

while (value > 0) {

out.println("The value is now " + value-- + ".<BR>");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e cou ntd ow n in Fig u re 3.1 0 .

Figure 3.10. Using the while loop.

Week 1 – Page 94
 H ere's an oth e r while loop exa m p le, th is tim e calcu latin g
facto rials. T h e factorial of a positive integer is th e p rod u ct of
th at integer w ith all th e positive integers less th an it — for
exa m p le, th e factorial of 6 is 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = 72 0.

You can see h ow to fin d th e fa c to rial of 6 w ith a while loo p— e ach tim e th ro ug h th e
loo p's b ody, th e cod e find s th e cu rren t prod u ct an d m ov es on to th e n ex t low er
in teger until it h as foun d th e w h ole fa cto rial, as you see in Listin g 3.1 3 .

Listing 3.13 Finding a Factorial (ch03_13.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Finding a Factorial</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Finding a Factorial</H1>
<%
int value = 6, factorial = 1, temporaryValue = value;

while (temporaryValue > 0) {

factorial *= temporaryValue;
temporaryValue--;

Week 1 – Page 95
 }

out.println("The factorial of " + value + " is " + factorial +

".");
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 3.1 1.

Figure 3.11. Finding a factorial.

T h ere's an oth er type of while loo p in Jav a — th e do-while loo p, an d th a t's ne xt.

The do-while Loop

T h e do-while loo p is ju st like a while loo p , except th at th e test cond ition is

evalu ated at th e en d of th e loo p, n ot at th e b egin n in g . H e re's w h at th e do-while
loo p loo ks like (as b efore, state m en t can b e a com p ou n d state m en t w ith a nu m b er of
sin gle state m ents in side cu rly brac es):

do
statement
while(condition);

Week 1 – Page 96
O n e situ ation in w h ich you w ou ld u se a do-while loo p in stead of a while loo p is
w h en you ne ed th e b od y of th e loo p to b e ru n a t least on ce. F or exa m p le, th e
follow in g is a case in w h ich th e valu e th e cod e is testin g is n ot even ava ilable for
testin g u n til th e en d of th e loo p, w h ich m ea n s a while loo p w ou ld n ot b e
ap p ro p riate:

int values[] = {1, 2, 3, 0, 5}, test, index = 0;

do {
test = 5 * values[index++];
} while (test < 15);

O n th e othe r h a n d , th ere a re tim es w h en you sh ou ld u se a while loo p in stead of a

do-while loo p, as in cases in w h ich th e body of th e loo p sh ou ld n 't even ru n on ce if
th e test cond ition is n ot true. Tak e a look at th is ca se, w h ere a do-while loo p
evalu ates th e recipro cal of a valu e, b u t can on ly test if th e valu e at th e en d of t h e
loo p is n onzero :

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Finding Reciprocals</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Finding Reciprocals</H1>
<%
double values[] = {4, 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4};
int loopIndex = 0;

do {
out.println("The reciprocal = " + 1 / values[loopIndex] +
".<BR>");
} while (values[loopIndex++] != 0);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th is w ay w e w on 't av oid atte m ptin g to fin d th e recipro cal of 0, w h ich w ill cau se
m ath e m atical pro ble m s. It's b ette r he re to u se a while loo p to test for 0 before th e
body of th e loo p is executed, as you see in Listin g 3.1 4 .

Listing 3.14 Finding Reciprocals (ch03_14.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Finding Reciprocals</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>

Week 1 – Page 97
 <H1>Finding Reciprocals</H1>
<%
double values[] = {4, 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4};
int loopIndex = 0;

while (values[loopIndex] != 0){

out.println("The reciprocal = " + 1 / values[loopIndex++] +
".<BR>");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Using the break Statement to End a Loop

You can also u se th e break state m en t to en d a loo p, as in Listin g 3.1 5 , w h ere th e

cod e en d s a loo p if a su m beco m es g re ate r th a n 12.

Listing 3.15 Using the break Statement (ch03_15.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using the break Statement</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using the break Statement</H1>
<%
double array[] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10};
int sum = 0;

for(int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex <

array.length; loopIndex++) {

sum += array[loopIndex];
if (sum > 12) break;
out.println("Looping...<BR>");
}
out.println("The sum exceeded the maximum allowed value.");
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 3.1 2 , w h e re th e loo p keep s loo pin g
un til th e valu e in sum ex ceeds 12 , w h en w e u se th e break statem en t to en d th e loo p.

Figure 3.12. Using the break statement.

Week 1 – Page 98
A s y ou can see, th e break state m en t gives you control over th e execution of a loo p.
In fa ct, Ja va also h as an oth er state m e n t th at gives y ou sim ilar control — th e continue
statem e nt.

Using the continue Statement to Skip Iterations

You can u se th e continue state m en t to sk ip to th e n ext iteration of a loop. W h y

w ou ld you w a n t to d o th at? Y ou m ig h t en cou nte r so m e data in th e d ata set you're
w orkin g on th at you d on 't w an t to p rocess, for exa m p le, so you can u se th e
continue state m en t to m ov e on to th e n ext loop iteration .

H ere's an exa m p le to sh ow ho w th at w ork s — h ere, th e code is prin tin g ou t

recipro cals, an d it sh ou ld av oid tryin g to prin t ou t th e recipro cal of 0. If th e cu rren t
loo p in d ex eq u als 0, you can ju st skip th e cu rren t iteration an d m ove on to th e n ext
on e, as you see in Listin g 3.1 6 .

Listing 3.16 Skipping an Iteration (ch03_16.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using the continue Statement</TITLE>
</HEAD>

Week 1 – Page 99
 <BODY>
<H1>Using the continue Statement</H1>
<%
for(double loopIndex = 6; loopIndex > -6; loopIndex--) {
if (loopIndex == 0) continue;
out.println("The reciprocal of " + loopIndex +
" is " + (1 / loopIndex) + ".<BR>");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 3.1 3 — n ote th at th e display sk ips over
th e lin e w h ere it w ou ld try to calcu late th e reciprocal of 0.

Figure 3.13. Using the continue statement.

A n d th at co m p letes ou r loo k at loo ps in Java. W e'v e ta ken a loo k at for loo ps, while
loo ps, an d do-while loop s, an d w e've see n th e break an d continue sta tem ents to
brea k ou t of loo p s a n d continu e on to th e n ext iteration for extra p ow er. N ow let's
tu rn to th e last topic for today — cre atin g m etho d s.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 100

Creating Methods
W e've b e en u sin g m eth ods ev er sin ce p rin tin g ou t ou r first m essage w ith
out.println, so w e're fa m iliar w ith th e con cept — a m eth od contain s co d e th at you
can ex ecute by callin g th at m eth od:

<% out.println("Hello there!"); %>

In th is case, th e cod e is passin g th e text "Hello there!" to out.println, an d th at

m eth od w rites th at text to th e W eb p a ge.

N ow it's tim e to get th is pow er for ou rselv es. H ere's h ow y ou create a m eth od in
Java:

[access] [static] type methodName (argument_list)

.
.
.
}
To d eclare an d d e fin e a m eth od in Java, you ca n u se an
access sp ecifier, w h ich can be public, private, or
protected. T h e se acces s sp ecifiers a re u sed w h en you 're
creatin g Java classes, a n d w e'll see m ore a b ou t th e m in D ay
11 , "C reatin g M ore Pow erfu l JavaB ea n s." T h e k eyw ord static
is also all a bou t w orkin g w ith classes, an d lets p ro g ra m m e rs
u se you r m eth od w ith ou t creatin g an object from it. W e w on 't
n ee d th at h ere, so w e'll also defer th at to D a y 1 1 .
N ext, y ou m u st sp ecify th e retu rn ty p e of a m eth od, w h ich is
specified by type in th e precedin g code. T h e retu rn type
in dicates w h at kin d of data th e m eth od retu rn s w h en you call
it. For exa m p le, if you h ave a m eth od n a m ed addem th at you
pass tw o integers to , an d it a dd s th ose intege rs an d retu rn s
th e su m — of typ e int— th e retu rn typ e for th e m eth od w ill be
int. R etu rn typ e s in clu de an y valid type, su ch a s th e sim ple
data types int, float, double, an d so on . Y ou can also retu rn
an arra y, u sin g retu rn types like int[], double[], an d so on .
If y ou r m eth od d oes n ot retu rn a valu e, u se th e retu rn type
void.

N ext, y ou give th e m eth od's n a m e an d place th e list of th e a rgu m ents y ou inten d to

pass to th e m eth od afte r th at n a m e. N ote th at yo u m u st sp e cify th e ty pe of each
arg u m e nt, a s in th is case, in w h ich th e cod e is d eclarin g th e addem m eth od (to w h ich
you pass tw o integers), an d it's n a m in g th ose in tege rs op1 an d op2 (for "op e ra n d 1"
an d "op e ra n d 2"):

int addem(int op1, int op2)

Week 1 – Page 101

T h e a ctu al bo dy of th e m eth od — th e code th at w ill be ex ecuted w h en y ou call th e
m eth od — is en closed in a cod e block (delim ited w ith cu rly braces, { an d }) follow in g
th e m eth od 's d eclaration . N ote in p articu lar th a t you m u st d eclare m eth ods in JS P
declaration s (su rrou n de d by <%! an d %>), an d n ot in scriptlets (w h ich are su rroun d ed
by <% an d %>):

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating a Method</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating a Method</H1>
<%!
int addem(int op1, int op2)
{
.
.
.
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th e cod e h as n a m e d th e tw o integers passed to th is m eth od p a rt of th e m eth od

declaration , an d n ow y o u can refer to th o se integers in th e bo dy of th e m eth od w ith
th ose n a m es. T o retu rn th eir su m fro m th is m eth od, you c an u se th e return
statem e nt:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating a Method</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating a Method</H1>
<%!
int addem(int op1, int op2)
{
return op1 + op2;
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th e cod e in a m eth od like addem isn 't ru n u ntil you call it. O n th e oth er h a n d , th e
cod e in a gen e ral scriple t, outside an y m eth od, is ru n a s soo n as th e p a ge is loaded.
Lis ting 3 .1 7 sh ow s h ow to call th e n ew addem m eth od, a dd 2 + 2 , an d d isplay th e
resu lt.

Week 1 – Page 102

Listing 3.17 Creating a Method (ch03_17.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Creating a Method</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Creating a Method</H1>
<%!
int addem(int op1, int op2)
{
return op1 + op2;
}
%>

<%
out.println("2 + 2 = " + addem(2, 2));
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 3.1 4 , w h e re w e're u sin g th e fu ll pow er
of Java to tell u s th at 2 + 2 = 4 .

Figure 3.14. Creating a method.

Week 1 – Page 103

H ere's so m eth in g to n ote — b ecau se y ou m u st d e clare m eth o d s in JS P declaration s,
n ot scriplets, th e code in you r m eth od s d oes no t h ave a ccess to th e bu ilt -in JS P
objects like out. T h at m igh t a pp e ar to b e a seriou s d raw b ack if you w a n t to sen d text
to a W eb p ag e from a m eth od, b u t you can ge t aro un d th is pro ble m if you pass th e
out obje ct to a m eth o d. W e'll see h ow th is w ork s later tod a y.

Declaring Multiple Methods

You can d eclare m u ltiple m eth o ds in th e sa m e JS P declaration , as seen in Listin g

3.1 8. T h is exa m p le declares a m eth od n a m ed subractem th at su btracts on e integer
from a n othe r an d retu rn s th e differen ce.

Listing 3.18 Declaring Multiple Methods (ch03_18.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Declaring Multiple Methods</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Declaring Multiple Methods</H1>
<%!
int addem(int op1, int op2)
{
return op1 + op2;
}

Week 1 – Page 104

 int subtractem(int op1, int op2)
{
return op1 - op2;
}
%>

<%
out.println("2 + 2 = " + addem(2, 2) + "<BR>");
out.println("8 - 2 = " + subtractem(8, 2) + "<BR>");
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 3.1 5 .

Figure 3.15. Declaring and using multiple methods.

Using Built-In JSP Methods

T h e Java class th at JS P pa ges a re b u ilt on , HttpJspBase, h as tw o m eth ods b u ilt into

it th at are a u to m atically called at specific ti m es in th e lifecycle of a JS P -en a bled
pa ge. T h e first m eth od , jspInit, is auto m atically called w h en th e p a ge is first
created, a n d th e secon d , jspDestroy, is autom atically called w h en th e pa ge is
u n loaded a n d d e stroy ed by th e serv er.

Week 1 – Page 105

 T h e pu rp ose of jspInit is to let you ru n in itialization code for
th e pa ge, a n d th e p u rp o se of jspDestroy is to let y ou ru n
clean -u p code a fte r th e pa ge is don e , w h ich can in volve
open in g an d closin g d atab ase con n ec tion s. H ere 's an exa m p le
u sin g jspInit to set a varia ble to 5 w h en th e p a ge loads, an d
settin g th at variable to 0 w h en th e pa g e is d e stroy ed. N ote
th at n eith er jspInit no r jspDestroy tak e an y arg u m e nts or
retu rn a valu e. A lso, n ote th at in th is case w e h a v e to u se th e
public keyw ord, b e ca u se w e're a ctu ally ov errid in g (overridin g
m e an s red efin ing , as y ou'll see in D ay 11 ) th e jspInit an d
jspDestroy m eth o d s. B ecau se the y w ere d eclared in
HttpJspBase w ith th e public keyw ord, Java in sists th at you
u se th at sa m e keyw ord h ere w h en red e fin in g the se m eth ods
(m ore on th e public ke yw ord in D ay 11 ), a s y o u see in
Lis ting 3 .1 9 .

Listing 3.19 Using jspInit and jspDestroy (ch03_19.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using jspInit and jspDestroy</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using jspInit and jspDestroy</H1>
<%!
int number;

public void jspInit()

{
number = 5;
}
public void jspDestroy()
{
number = 0;
}
%>

<%
out.println("The number is " + number + "<BR>");
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

A n d th at's all it tak es— n ow th is pa ge h as b oth initialization an d clean -u p cod e th at

th e serv er run s auto m atically at th e righ t tim e.

Recursion

It's also w orth kn ow in g th at JS P m eth o ds can call th e m selv es,

a process called recu rsion . T h is isn 't n ecessary kn ow led g e for

Week 1 – Page 106

 th e w ork w e'll do in th is book, so y ou can skip it if you like.

You 'v e alread y seen ho w factorials w ork (for ex a m p le, th e factorial of 6 is 6 x 5 x 4 x

3 x 2 x 1 = 720), a n d fa ctorials len d th e m selves to recu rsion . T h is exa m ple su pp orts
a m eth od n a m e d factorial th at you p ass an integer to, an d it retu rn s an integer. If
th e integer w e're p asse d is 1, w e're all don e, b ecau se th e fa cto rial of 1 is 1, so w e
retu rn th at v alu e:

int factorial(int n)
{
if (n == 1) {
return n;
}
.
.
.
}

O th erw ise, all w e h a v e to do is retu rn th e cu rre n t n u m b er— sa y th at's n, m u ltiplied

by th e fa cto rial of n-1 (w h ich w e can fin d by ca llin g th e factorial m eth od ag ain ):

int factorial(int n)
{
if (n == 1) {
return n;
}
else {
return n * factorial(n - 1);
}
}

H ere's h ow th is m eth od loo ks in an exa m p le, in w h ich th e code is callin g it to fin d th e

facto rial of 6, as you see in Listin g 3.2 0 .

Listing 3.20 Using Recursion (ch03_20.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Recursion</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Recursion</H1>
<%!
int factorial(int n)
{
if (n == 1) {
return n;
}
else {
return n * factorial(n - 1);

Week 1 – Page 107

 }
}
%>

<%
out.println("The factorial of 6 is " + factorial(6));
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Figu re 3.1 6 , w h e re w e see th at th e factorial of
6 is 720.

Figure 3.16. Using recursion.

Scope

W h en y ou discu ss th e creation of m eth o ds, th e issu e of scop e

beco m e s im p orta nt. A n ite m 's scop e is th e a rea of you r
pro g ra m in w h ich you can refere n ce it— th at is, it's w h e re an
ite m in visible. For ex a m p le, in th e follow in g code, th e variable
n a m e d number is d e clare d outside a n y m eth od , so it's
accessible in side th e b o d y of an y m eth o d:

<%!
int number;

Week 1 – Page 108

public void jspInit()
{
number = 5;
}

public void jspDestroy()

{
number = 0;
}
%>

H o w ev er, if y ou h ad d e clared number in side a m eth od, it w ou ld be priv a te to th at

m eth od, an d you cou ldn 't access it in th e oth er m eth od:

<%!

public void jspInit()

{
int number;
number = 5;
}

public void jspDestroy()

{
//Can't use number here!
.
.
.
}
%>

In th is w ay, d eclarin g variables in m eth ods lim its th e scope of th ose va riables, w h ich
com p a rtm entalizes y ou r cod e — if a va riable is lim ited to a m eth o d, the re's less
ch a n ce th at oth er code m ig h t in a dvertently affe ct its valu e.

Note

You 'll see m ore on scop e later in th e b o ok — for exa m p le, in D ay 6,

"C reatin g JS P C o m p on e nts: JavaB e an s," you'll see ho w to lim it th e scop e of
you r d ata to a W eb pa g e or a n entire W eb ap p lication .

Passing Objects to Methods

W h en y ou pass sim p le d ata item s like integers o r floatin g -

poin t valu es to a m eth o d , a copy of th ose v alu es is m a de, an d
th e copy is actu ally passed to th e m eth od . T h at's called th e
act of passin g by valu e . H ow ever, w h en you pa ss an object to
a m eth od, a copy of th e obje ct is n ot m a de (b e c au se so m e
objects can b e h u g e); in stead, th e location of th e object in

Week 1 – Page 109

 m e m o ry is p assed to th e m eth o d. T h at's called passin g by
referen ce.

T h at's im p ortan t to kno w , b e ca u se w h en an object is p assed b y referen ce, y ou th en

h ave direct access to th at object — if you ch an g e som e data in th e object in you r
m eth od, you 'll be ch an g in g th e data in th e origin al object p assed to th e m eth od
(w h ich doe sn't h a p p en w h en you pass by valu e ).

Let's tak e a look at an exa m ple to m ak e th is clearer — h ere, you can pas s an array
(rem e m b e r th at a rra ys an d strin g s are both objects) to a m eth od n a m e d doubler.
T h at m eth od w on't retu rn a n y th in g , bu t it w ill doub le th e valu e of ea ch elem en t in
th e array. B ecau se th e arra y w a s passed by referen ce, th at w ill do u ble each ele m en t
in th e origin al array a s w ell. H e re's h ow th at looks w h en you d eclare doubler to tak e
an integer array:

void doubler(int a[])

{
.
.
.
}

A n d in th e body of doubler, y ou m igh t loo p ov e r th e a rray an d d ou b le e ach valu e:

void doubler(int a[])

{
for (int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < a.length; loopIndex++) {
a[loopIndex] *= 2;
}
}

A n d th at's all it tak es— th e fin al code displays b oth th e origin al valu es in th e a rray
an d valu es after th e call to doubler, as you see in Listin g 3.2 1 .

Listing 3.21 Passing Arrays to Methods (ch03_21.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Passing Arrays to Methods</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Passing Arrays to Methods</H1>
<%!
void doubler(int a[])
{
for (int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < a.length;
loopIndex++) {
a[loopIndex] *= 2;
}

Week 1 – Page 110

 }
%>

<%
int array[] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};

out.println("Before the call to doubler...<BR>");

for (int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < array.length;
loopIndex++) {
out.println("array[" + loopIndex + "] = " +
array[loopIndex] + "<BR>");
}

doubler(array);

out.println("After the call to doubler...<BR>");

for (int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < array.length;
loopIndex++) {
out.println("array[" + loopIndex + "] = " +
array[loopIndex] + "<BR>");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of th is cod e in Fig u re 3.1 7 — n ote th at each elem e n t in th e
arra y th at w e passed to doubler w as ind ee d d o ub le d, even th oug h doubler didn 't
retu rn an y valu es.

Figure 3.17. Passing arrays to methods.

Week 1 – Page 111

Passin g objects to m eth ods is esp e cially valu able w h en it co m e s to w orkin g w ith
bu ilt-in objects like th e out obje ct (w h ich are oth erw ise n ot accessible to you in
m eth ods, be cau se m eth ods h av e to b e d e clared in JS P declaration s, n ot scriptlets).

H ere's an exa m p le th at pass es th e out object to a m eth od

n a m e d printem, so th at m eth od can display som e text in a
W eb pa g e. N ote th at w e h ave to sp ecify th e typ e of object
w e're p assin g to printem, an d as w e sa w in D ay 2, out is an
object of th e Java javax.servlet.jsp.JspWriter class. In
ad d ition , n ote th e throws java.io.IOException clau se
ad d ed to th e d eclaration of printem. W e n ee d th is clau se,
beca u se if th ere's b ee n an error, th e out obje ct can "throw "
an exception of th e java.io.IOException class— th at's h ow
Java h a n d les runtim e errors, as w e're g oin g to see in D ay 8,
"H a nd lin g Errors." B eca u se th e out object can th ro w an
exception of th e java.io.IOException class, y ou're g ettin g a
sn eak p eek at ex ception h an d lin g h ere b y a d d in g th e throws
java.io.IOException clau se to th e d eclaration of printem
(Java w ill in sist th at w e do th is), as y ou see in Listin g 3.2 2 .

Listing 3.22 Passing the out Object to a Method (ch03_22.jsp)

Week 1 – Page 112

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Passing the out Object to a Method</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Passing the out Object to a Method</H1>
<%!
void printem(javax.servlet.jsp.JspWriter out) throws
java.io.IOException
{
out.println("Hello from JSP!");
}
%>

<%
printem(out);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

A s y ou can see in Figu re 3.1 8 , y ou can u se th e out obje ct in a m eth od .

Figure 3.18. Passing the out object to a method.

Week 1 – Page 113

H ere's an oth e r easier w ay of doin g th is — you ca n sim ply declare a n ew variable, su ch
as out2, in th e JS P d eclaration , cop y out to out2 in scriptlet code , th en u se out2 in
th e m eth od s in th e declaration as you see in Listin g 3.2 3 .

Listing 3.23 Using the out Object (ch03_23.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Passing the out Object to a Method</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Passing the out Object to a Method</H1>
<%!
javax.servlet.jsp.JspWriter out2;

void printem() throws java.io.IOException

{
out2.println("Hello from JSP!");
}
%>

<%
out2 = out;
printem();
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Summary
A n d th at's it for b ra n ch ing , loo pin g , an d creatin g m eth od s tod ay . T h is d iscu ssion w as
all abou t a ddin g m ore p ow er to you r Java a rsen al.

W e started by ta kin g a loo k at b ra n ch in g state m ents th at en able y ou to m ak e

decision s in code. Y ou can u se if state m ents in JS P for th is p u rp o se: if th e con d ition
given in an if statem en t is true, th e code in th e bod y of th e if statem en t is
ex ecuted, a n d n ot othe rw ise. W e also saw th at if state m ents cou ld h a ve else
clau ses, a n d th at th e b o d y of an else clau se is ex ecuted if th e if state m e nt's
cond ition is false. A n d w e saw ho w to create if-else la d d ers th at cou ld h an dle
m u ltiple true/false con d ition s.

T h e switch statem en t tak es u p w h e re if-else lad d ers leave off, b ecau se su ch

lad d er state m ents can b eco m e v ery aw k w ard to pro g ra m w h en th ey get large. T h e
switch state m en t lets y ou ch eck a data item a g ain st on e or m ore case statem e nts,
an d if th ere's a m atch , th e code in th e bo dy of th e m atch in g case state m e n t is
ex ecuted. W e also sa w th at switch state m ents cou ld h ave a d efau lt sta tem en t w ith

Week 1 – Page 114

cod e to execute if n o ca se m atch ed.

You also too k a loo k at th e ava ilable loo p state m e nts toda y — th e for loo p, th e while
loo p, an d th e do-while loo p. loop state m ents let y ou loo p ov er you r code, executin g
th at code m u ltiple tim es on y ou r d ata .

A s w e'v e seen , th e for loo p is a very g en e ral loo p th at is m ost often u s ed w ith a
loo p ind ex th at you can in cre m en t (or d ecrem en t) each tim e th ro ug h th e loo p. T h e
while loo p k ee p s execu tin g th e cod e in its body w h ile th e cond ition you give it
re m ain s true, an d th e do-while loo p is th e sa m e as th e while loo p, ex cept th at th e
loo p's cond ition is ch eck ed at th e en d of th e loo p , n ot at th e begin n in g as in th e
while loo p.

Fin ally, w e took a look a t creatin g m eth o ds in JS P. M eth ods let you org a n ize you r
cod e into discrete un its, w h ich is great w h en y o u r code g ets lon g . Id eally, each
m eth od sh ou ld h a n dle on e discrete ta sk. Y ou ca n p ass data to m eth ods, process th at
data, an d retu rn oth er data fro m m eth ods.

You also too k a look at u sin g th e bu ilt-in m eth o ds jspInit an d jspDestroy today,
w h ich can be u sed for in itializin g a n d clean in g u p a W eb p ag e . W e also saw th at
w h en you pass a n object to a m eth o d, th at m eth od is passed by refere n ce, w h ich
m e an s th at you h av e direct access to th e object.

To m orro w you 're g oin g to sta rt w orkin g w ith a very p opu lar JS P topic — rea din g th e
data th e u ser sen d s y ou (as typ ed into text field s in a W eb pa g e, for ex am p le) in
you r JS P code . T o d o th at, w e're g oin g to start creatin g so m e real -w orld JS P p a ge s.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Q&A

Q1: A JS P d ec la ra tio n e le m e n t is g o o d fo r d e c la rin g d a ta a n d

m e th o d s — a n y th in g e lse ?

A1: Yes, as y ou'll see in D ay 8, y ou can also d e clare Java classes in a JS P

declaration ele m ent.

Q2: C a n a m e th o d re tu rn m u ltip le v a lu e s?

A2: S o m e lan g u a ges like P e rl let you retu rn m u ltiple valu es fro m a m eth od . In
Java, y ou can d o th at b y retu rn in g an array , or by creatin g a cu stom
object th at h olds th e d a ta valu es you w ant, bu t you can 't retu rn m u ltiple
sin gle valu es from a m e th od in Java.

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 115

[ T eam L iB ]

Workshop
T h is w ork sh op tests w h eth er y ou un d erstan d all th e con cepts y ou learn ed tod a y. It's
a goo d idea to m a ster tod ay's con cepts b y h on in g you r kn ow led g e he re before
startin g tom o rrow 's m aterial. Y ou can fin d th e a n sw ers to th e q u iz q u estion s in
A pp e n d ix A .

Quiz

1: If y ou w a nted to m atch a String valu e a g ain st fiftee n po ssible oth er

string s, w h ich w ou ld you u se, an if-else lad d e r or a switch state m e nt ?

2: H o w do you m ak e su re certain code is alw ays ru n in a switch statem e n t if

n o case state m en t is ex ecuted ?

3: W h at a re th e th ree exp ression s in side th e p aren th eses of an if statem e nt,

an d w h at do th ey do ?

4: W h at state m en t lets y ou en d a loo p ea rly?

5: W h at's th e differen ce b e tw ee n p a ssin g by valu e an d passin g by referen c e?

Exercises

1: O n e th in g Java lacks is a h a nd y m et h od n a m e d square th at retu rn s th e

squ are of valu es y ou p a ss to it. C re ate su ch a m eth od no w th at takes an
int valu e an d retu rn s a long valu e (w h y sh ou ld you retu rn a long valu e ?)
h oldin g th e squ are of th e integer. A n d don't forg et to test it ou t w ith a few
test valu es!

2: Factorials can get p retty big pretty fa st. M odify th e factorial code in tod a y's
cod e so it avoids tryin g to fin d a facto rial th at is larger th an can fit into an
int varia ble. T h e larg e s t possible integer valu e is Integer.MAX_VALUE in
Jav a. (H int: In th e cu rre n t sta ge of th e fa cto rial cod e, ch eck to see if yo u're
goin g to exceed Integer.MAX_VALUE by u sin g cond ition al state m ents to
com p a re th e valu e return ed by factorial(n-1) to Integer.MAX_VALUE /
n, w h e re n is th e n u m b e r y ou're a b ou t to m u ltiply factorial(n-1) by.)

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 116

Day 4. Reading Data from Web
Pages: Buttons and Text Fields
Tod ay , th e glov es com e off an d w e g et dow n to som e seriou s JS P p ro g ra m m in g — th e
kin d th at JS P w as b u ilt for. In th e p reviou s tw o days, w e'v e be en g earin g u p ou r Ja va
exp ertise, an d n ow w e'll pu t it to w ork as w e cre ate JS P prog ra m s th at let th e u ser
sen d data to u s.

W e'll do th at by see in g h ow to w ork w ith H TM L controls today

an d to m o rrow . C on tro ls are th ose b u ilt-in H TM L ele m ents th at
th e u ser can interact w ith a n d enter data in , su ch as button s,
ch eck bo xes, text fields (so m etim es called text boxes b ecau se
th at's w h at th ey're called in variou s pro g ra m s, bu t th e tru e
H T M L n a m e is text field), drop -dow n lists, an d so on . W e're
goin g to p u t th ese H T M L contro ls to w ork sta rtin g n ow . H ere's
an ov erview of today's topics:

 S u p p ortin g H TM L contro ls
 W orkin g w ith H TM L form s
 S u b m ittin g form s to th e serv er
 U sin g req u est obje cts
 U sin g text fields an d sub m it bu tton s
 U sin g text areas, pass w ord con tro ls, an d h id d en controls
 U sin g button s

Tod ay's w ork w ill start b y see in g h ow to place H TM L controls in H TM L W eb p a ge s,

u sin g H TM L form s. A s y ou p rob ably kn ow , H T M L form s a ren't visible in W eb pa g es;
th ey're pu rely H TM L con stru cts th at en close H T M L controls. W e'll n ee d form s to
h a n dle H T M L controls in ou r W eb pa g e s, b eca u s e brow sers in sist th at contro ls be
em b e dd ed in form s. Y ou 'll learn abou t creatin g H T M L form s an d con figu rin g th em as
you ne ed th e m .

W h en th e u ser clicks a sub m it b utton in ou r W e b pa ges, all th e d ata in th e variou s

controls (su ch as text in th e text fields) is sen t back to th e serv er. In JS P, y ou can
get access to th at d ata u sin g th e bu ilt -in request obje ct (an obje ct of th e Java
javax.servlet. http.HttpServletRequest class). Y ou'll see th e request obje ct
today an d w h at it can d o for you as w e extract th e data th e u ser h as se nt.

T h at's w h at th is an d th e n ext day are all abou t — a d d in g H TM L controls to W e b p ag es

an d rea din g th e data th e u ser entere d into th ose controls. L et's start w ith an
ov erview of exactly w h a t H T M L controls are av a ilable to u s.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

HTML Controls
It tu rn s ou t th at the re a re plenty of H T M L controls availa ble. H ere's th e list, in clu din g

Week 1 – Page 117

th e H TM L elem e n t y ou u se to cre ate th em — n ote in particu lar th at m a n y H TM L
controls are created w ith th e <INPUT> elem e nt, u sin g a differe n t valu e for th e TYPE
attribute to create th e v ariou s differen t controls:

 T ext fields (<INPUT TYPE="TEXT">)— T he se contro ls let th e u ser ente r a n d

edit a lin e of text. T h ey're th e m ost com m on te xt-oriented H T M L contro ls.
 B utton s (<INPUT TYPE="BUTTON">)— T h e sta n d ard clicka ble b utton s yo u see
in so m a n y W eb p ag es th ese day s.
 C h eck box es (<INPUT TYPE="CHECKBOX">)— U su ally display ed as a sm a ll box
w ith a ch eck m a rk in it. T h e u ser can tog g le th e ch eck m a rk on or off by
click in g th e ch eck b ox.
 R a dio button s (<INPUT TYPE="RADIO">)— U su a lly display ed as a circle th at,
w h en selected, displays a dot in th e m iddle, the se con tro ls act m u ch like
ch eck bo xes, ex cept th a t th ey w ork in m utu ally exclu sive g rou p s; on ly o n e
radio button m ay b e selected at a tim e.
 File u ploa din g contro ls ( <INPUT TYPE="FILE">)— A llow th e u ser to up load
files to th e server.
 H id d en controls (<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN">)— H id d en contro ls store d ata th at
is n ot visible to th e u ser (u n less sh e view s th e p age's H TM L sou rce).
 Passw ord contro ls (<INPUT TYPE="PASSWORD">)— Like a text field, bu t th is
control m asks ea ch typ e d ch aracte r by sim p ly displayin g an asterisk (*)
in stead of th e ch ara cter itself. T h at m ea n s th is control is goo d for typin g in
pass w ord s, b eca u se if som e on e is peekin g over you r sh ou lder, h e ca n't read
you r p assw ord on th e scree n . (W a tch in g you r fing ers on th e keyb oard is, of
course, an oth er m atter.)
 R eset button s (<INPUT TYPE="RESET">)— R e se t button s are g reat for
com p lex form s, b e ca u se th ey let th e u sers clear all th e data th ey'v e ente red
to sta rt over.
 S u b m it b utton s (<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT">)— T h e sub m it b utton is a very
im p orta n t contro l in form s, b eca u se w h en y ou click th is b utton , all th e data in
th e form (th at is, all th e data in th e controls in th e form ) is sen t to a W e b
serv er for m ore p rocessing .
 Im a g e controls (<INPUT TYPE="IMAGE">)— Ju st like sub m it button s, ex cept
th ey are im ages th e u s e r can click. T h e actu al location th at th e u ser clicked in
th e im a ge is also sen t to th e serv er w ith th e re st of th e data from th e form .
 S election lists (<SELECT>)— A lso called select controls, the se controls w ork
m u ch like dro p -d ow n list box es.
 C u sto m iza ble B utton s ( <BUTTON>)— T h is ele m e n t is a button th at can d isplay
im a ges an d othe r H T M L in side itself.
 T ext areas (<TEXTAREA>)— T h e se contro ls a re tw o -dim e n sion al text fields,
en a blin g th e u ser to enter m o re th an on e lin e of text. T ext a rea s can also
sup p ort text w ra p p in g .

T h e ne xt step is to start add in g th ese controls to W eb pa g es an d m ak in g u se of th em

in JS P code. To place an H T M L control in a W eb pa ge, y ou n e ed to en close it in an
H T M L form .

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 118

HTML Forms
H T M L controls m u st be en closed in H TM L form s , w h ich you create w ith th e <FORM>
ele m ent. F or exa m p le, if you w an t to ad d a text field to a W eb pa ge u sin g th e
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT"> elem ent, th at ele m en t m u st be in side a form :

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Enter Your Data!</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Enter Your Data!</H1>
<FORM NAME="form1" ACTION="jsp1.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="text">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Click Me!">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Tip

Th e <FORM> ele m en t h a s be en a ro u n d sin ce th e first v ersion s of both

Inte rn et E xplore r an d N etsca p e N av igator. T ech n ically speak ing , you do n't
n ee d a form to display H T M L controls for Inte rn et E x plorer. H ow ever, w e'll
n ee d form s to ind icate w h ere th e data in ou r H TM L controls is to be sent. In
N etscap e N av igator, y ou n ee d form s — th e b ro w ser w on't display controls
u n less the y're in an H T M L form .

T h e attributes of th e <FORM> ele m en t a re goin g to be very im p ortan t to u s, b e ca u se

th ey'll let u s in dicate w h ere th e d ata in ou r W eb page is to b e sent. H ere a re th e
attributes of th e <FORM> elem e n t an d w h at th e y do:

 ACCEPT-CHARSET— Ind icates a list of p ossible lang u age ch ara cter sets for th e
form data. T h is attrib u te is su pp o rted b y th e W orld W ide W eb C on sortiu m
(W 3C ) for th e <FORM> elem e nt, b u t is n ot sup p o rted in Inte rn et E xplorer or
N etscap e N av igator yet.
 ACTION— T h is attribute gives th e U R L th at w ill h an d le th e form d ata. N ote
th at you can om it th is a ttrib ute, in w h ich case its d e fa u lt is th e U R L of th e
cu rren t do cu m ent. S et to an U R L .
 CLASS— T h e style class of th e elem ent. Inte rn et E xplorer on ly.
 DIR— G ives th e directio n of direction ally -n eutra l text (text th at d o esn 't h ave
in h ere n t direction , so yo u sh ou ld read it). P ossib le valu es are LTR (left-to-
righ t text or table), an d RTL (righ t-to-left text or ta ble). Inte rn et E xplore r
on ly.
 ENCTYPE— S ets th e M IM E (M u ltip u rpose In tern et M ail E xten sion ) type u sed to

Week 1 – Page 119

 en cod e th e n a m e/v alu e pairs w h en sen t to th e a ction U R L. W e w on't u se th is
un til later in th e boo k , su ch as in D ay 20 , "C re a ting Im a g es on the S erv er an d
H andling Intern et P rog ra m m in g ." T h e defa u lt is "application/x-www-form-
urlencoded", bu t you can also u se "multipart/form-data", w h ich cre ates
m u ltip art form s, as fo r <INPUT TYPE="FILE"> elem ents.
 ID— A un iqu e alph an u m eric identifier for th e form elem e nt, w h ich you can
u se to refer to it. Inte rn et E x plorer on ly.
 LANG— B ase la ng u a ge u sed for th e form ele m en t. Intern et E xplor er on ly.
 LANGUAGE— S criptin g lang u age u se d for th e form elem e nt. In tern et E x plore r
on ly.
 METHOD— S pe cifies th e m eth od or p rotocol for send in g d ata to th e targ e t
action U R L. T h e GET m e th od is th e defau lt. T h is m eth od sen d s all form
n a m e/v alu e p air in form ation in an U R L th at loo ks like
URL?name=value&name=value&name=value, as w e'll discu ss today . O n th e
oth er h a n d , u sin g th e POST m eth o d, th e conten ts of th e form a re en cod ed, a s
w ith th e GET m eth od, b u t are sen t in en viro n m en t variables. S et to GET (th e
defa u lt) or POST.
 NAME— H olds a n a m e fo r th e form , so th at you can referen ce it in clien t -side
cod e (su ch a s Java S crip t). S et to an alp h a n u m e ric string .
 STYLE— In lin e style in dicatin g h ow to ren d e r th e contents of th e <FORM>
ele m ent.
 TARGET— Ind icates a n a m e d fra m e for th e b ro w ser to display th e form resu lts
in . S ee th e section "U sin g N a m e d Targ ets" tom orro w .
 TITLE— H olds ad d ition al in form ation (as m ig h t be display ed in too l tips) for
th e ele m ent. Intern et E xplore r on ly.

T h e im p orta n t attrib utes of th e <FORM> elem e n t are co m in g u p n ext.

The ACTION Attribute

You u se th e ACTION attribu te to sp ecify w h ere th e data in th e controls in a form a re

sen t to w h en th e form 's sub m it button is click ed . Fo r exa m p l e, to sen d th e d ata in a
form to http://www.starpowder.com/jsps/jsp1.jsp, y ou w ou ld set th e ACTION
attribute to th at U R L:

<FORM NAME="form1" ACTION="http://www.starpowder.com/jsps/jsp1.jsp"

METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="text">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Click Me!">
</FORM>

You can also sp ecify a U R L relative to th e directory th e curren t d ocu m e n t is in . For

exa m p le, to sen d a form 's d ata to jsp1.jsp in th e sa m e directo ry a s th e curren t
docu m e nt, you can set th e ACTION attribute th is w ay:

<FORM NAME="form1" ACTION="jsp1.jsp" METHOD="POST">

<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="text">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Click Me!">
</FORM>

Week 1 – Page 120

Y ou can also o m it th e ACTION attribute. If you d o, th e d ata in th e form is sen t back
to th e exa ct sa m e U R L as th e curren t d ocu m e n t.

The METHOD Attribute

T h e METHOD attrib ute en ables you to sp ecify th e w ay y ou sen d th e form 's data back
to th e server. T h ere a re tw o p ossible setting s fo r th is attribute — GET an d POST, an d
JS P can h an d le both .

If y ou u se th e GET m eth od, th e data in th e form is treated as text an d a p p en d ed to

th e U R L th at th e b ro w se r n av ig ates to . T h e serv er w ill decod e th at data ap p en ded to
th e U R L an d p a ss it on to ou r JS P cod e.

For exa m p le, say th at y ou h ave tw o text fields in a form , an d th at you've n a m e d

th ese text fields (u sin g th e NAME attrib ute of th e <INPUT TYPE="TEXT"> elem e nt)
text1 an d text2, to let th e u ser ente r h is first a n d last n a m es:

<FORM NAME="form1" ACTION="http://www.starpowder.com/jsps/jsp1.jsp"

METHOD="GET">
First Name:
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="text1">
Last Name:
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="text2">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>

If th e u s er enters Ralph in text1 an d Kramden in text2, an d th en clicks th e sub m it

button , th is is th e kin d of U R L th e b row ser w ill n av igate to:

http://www.starpowder.com/jsps/jsp1.jsp?text1=Ralph&text2=Kramden

T h is w ay certain ly w ork s, bu t it's n ot exa ctly private — all you r form 's da ta is ou t in
th e op en .

You can also u se th e POST m eth od, w h ich w ork s ju st as w ell as GET as far a s w e a re
con cern ed, b u t en cod es th e data as p art of th e a ctu al H ypertext T ran sfer P roto col
(H TTP) req ue st sen t to th e server. T h is m ea n s th at th e data is n ot visible to th e u ser
in th e b row ser. T h ere a re n o real disa dvanta ges to u sin g POST, except p erh aps th at
you can 't b o ok m a rk POST U R Ls an d exp ect an y n ee d ed form d ata to be sen t w h en
you open th at bo ok m a rk (as w ill h a p p en if you u se a GET U R L). A s far a s w e're
con cern ed, JS P can h an dle eith er GET or POST, so th ere's very little diffe ren ce for ou r
cod e he re.

The TARGET Attribute

T h e <FORM> ele m ent's TARGET attribute en a bles you to sp ecify w he re th e resu lts sen t
back by th e serv er w ill ap p ear. B y defau lt, w h e n you click th e su b m it b utton an d th e
serv er send s back a n ew W eb pa ge , th e n ew p age replaces th e cu rre n t page.

Week 1 – Page 121

H o w ev er, you can displa y th e n ew W eb p ag e in a n ew w ind o w if you p re fer, by
settin g th e TARGET attribute to _blank. H e re are th e p redefin ed valu es you can u se
for th e TARGET attrib ute:

 _blank— D isplay a n ew pa ge in a n ew bla n k w in d ow .

 _parent— D isplay a n ew pa ge in th e pa ren t of th e curren t fra m e.
 _self— R eplac es th e cu rren t w in d ow 's content.
 _top— R eplaces th e curren t contents of th e entire b row ser w ind o w .

You can also display th e n ew W eb p ag e sen t ba ck by th e server in a n a m e d H T M L

fra m e; you 'll see an exa m p le of th is to m o rrow .

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Submitting Forms
You can sub m it a form to th e serv er n ow ; th is first exa m p le w ill ju st display a sub m it
button (an <INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT"> ele m ent), w h ich H TM L u ses to sen d a form 's
data to th e serv er, a s y ou see in Listin g 4.1 .

Listing 4.1 Submitting a Form (ch04_01.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Submitting a Form</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Submitting a Form</H1>
<FORM NAME="form1" ACTION="ch04_02.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Click Me!">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ote th at sub m it b utton s don 't n eed to h a ve th e ca ption "S u b m it" — yo u can u se an y
caption by settin g th e VALUE attribute. W h en th e u ser clicks th e su b m it button , an
H T T P req ue st is sen t to ch04_02.jsp on th e server, w h ich w ill ju st ack n ow ledg e th at
th e u ser click ed th e su b m it b u tton , as y ou see in Listin g 4.2 .

Listing 4.2 Getting Data From the Server (ch04_02.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Back From the Server</TITLE>

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 </HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Back From the Server</H1>
You clicked the button!
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e H T M L p a ge w ith th e sub m it bu tton in Figu re 4.1 . W h en th e u ser

clicks th at b utton , an H TTP requ est is sen t to ch04_02.jsp on th e serv er, w h ich
retu rn s th e W eb pa ge y ou see in Figu re 4.2 .

Figure 4.1. Using a submit button.

Figure 4.2. Acknowledging an HTTP request.

Week 1 – Page 123

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Sending Data to the Server

T h e ne xt step is to sen d som e data to th e serve r an d rea d it th ere. F or exa m p le, say
th at you h ave a text field in a W eb pa ge th at you w a n t th e u ser to ente r h is n a m e in ,
as y ou see in Listin g 4.3 .

Listing 4.3 Submitting Text Fields (ch04_03.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Submitting Text Fields</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Submitting Text Fields</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch04_05.jsp" METHOD="POST">
Please enter your name:
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="text1">
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" value="Submit">

Week 1 – Page 124

 </FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ote in p articu lar th at th is code u ses th e NAME attribute to give th e tex t field a n a m e,
text1. O n th e server, w e'll be a ble to access th e text in th e text field u sin g th at
n a m e. Y ou can see th is W eb pa g e in Figu re 4.3 . W h en th e u ser ente rs h is n a m e an d
clicks S u b m it, w e'll read th e text h e h a s entered back on th e serv er .

Figure 4.3. Submitting text fields.

To rea d th e d ata in th e text field text1, w e'll u se th e b u ilt-in JS P request obje ct.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using request Objects

T h e request obje ct give s u s a ccess to th e data sen t to u s fro m H T M L fo rm s. It's an
object of type javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest, w h ich is b uilt on top of
javax.servlet.ServletRequest, w h ich m ea n s th e request object in clud es all th e
m eth ods in both javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest an d

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javax.servlet.ServletRequest.

You can see th e m eth od s of javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest in Ta ble

4.1 , an d th e m eth od s of javax.servlet.ServletRequest in Ta ble 4.2 . Tog eth e r,
th ese tw o ta bles h old th e m eth o ds ava ila ble in th e response object th at w e'll be
u sin g tod ay. Y ou can se e all th ese m eth o d s for th e sak e of referen ce — th is boo k w ill
u se m a n y , b u t n ot all, of th em in t h is an d th e com in g d ays.

N ote th at w e h av en 't seen som e of th e obje ct types retu rn ed fro m th ese m eth o ds
yet, su ch a s java.util.Enumeration, bu t th e details on th ese kind s of obje cts a re
com in g u p soo n (w e'll see h ow to u se java.util.Enumeration in D ay 5 , "R ea din g
D ata fro m W eb pa g e s: C h eck B ox es, R a dio B u tton s, an d S elect C ontro ls"). N ote also
th e w ord d ep recated in th is ta ble, in th is sen se m e an in g th at an item is con sidered
obsolete. A lth ou g h still available, dep recated item s w ill be replaced in com in g Java
version s.

Table 4.1. Methods of javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest

M e th o d D o e s T h is
java.lang.Object getAttribute R etu rn s th e valu e of th e n a m ed attrib ute
(java.lang.String name) as an object.
java.util.Enumeration R etu rn s an enu m e ration contain in g th e
getAttributeNames() n a m es of th e attrib utes in th is H T T P
req u est.
java.lang.String R etu rn s th e n a m e of th e ch a racter
getCharacterEncoding() en codin g u sed in th e bo d y of th is req ue st.
int getContentLength() R etu rn s th e length (in bytes) of th e b ody
of th e H TTP req u e st (or –1 if th e length is
n ot kn ow n ).
java.lang.String R etu rn s th e M IM E typ e of th e bo dy of th e
getContentType() req u est, or null if th e type is n ot kn ow n .
ServletInputStream R etu rn s th e body of th e req u est a s bin ary
getInputStream() data u sin g a ServletInputStream (see
Day 15 for m o re on Ja va read ers an d
strea m s).
java.util.Locale getLocale() R etu rn s th e preferred locale th at th e clien t
u ses; for exa m p le, en_US m e an s U S
E ng lish .
java.util.Enumeration R etu rn s an enu m e ration of Locale objects
getLocales() in dicatin g th e locales th at are accepta ble
to th e b row ser.
java.lang.String getParameter R etu rn s th e valu e of a requ e st p ara m eter
(java.lang.String name) as a String, or null if th e p ara m ete r d oes
n ot exist.
java.util.Map getParameterMap() R etu rn s a Java Map obje ct h oldin g th e

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java.util.Enumeration
getParameterNames()
java.lang.String[]
getParameterValues
(java.lang.String name)
java.lang.String getProtocol()
java.io.BufferedReader
getReader()
java.lang.String getRealPath
(java.lang.String path)
java.lang.String getRemoteAddr()
java.lang.String getRemoteHost()
java.lang.String getScheme()
java.lang.String getServerName()
int getServerPort()
boolean isSecure()
void
removeAttribute(java.lang.String
name)
void
setAttribute(java.lang.String
name, java.lang.Object)
void setCharacterEncoding
(java.lang.String env)
Week 1 – Page 127
para m eters in th is requ est.
R etu rn s an enu m e ration of String objects
contain in g th e n a m es of th e para m eters
contain ed in th is requ es t.
R etu rn s an a rray of String obje cts
contain in g all th e valu es th e given requ e st
para m eter h as, or null if th e para m eter
does n ot exist.
R etu rn s th e n a m e an d v ersion of th e
pro to col th e req u est u se s in th is form :
protocol/majorVersion.minorVersion
(for exa m p le, H TTP /1.1 ).
R etu rn s th e body of th e req u est a s
ch aracter d ata u sin g a Java
BufferedReader obje ct (see Day 15 for
m o re on Java rea de rs a n d strea m s).
D ep recated. A s of version 2.1 of th e Java
S ervlet A PI, u se ServletContext.getReal
Path(java.lang.String) in stea d.
R etu rn s th e Inte rn et P rotocol (IP) a dd ress
th at th e req u est co m es fro m .
R etu rn s th e n a m e of th e clien t th at sen t
th e req u est.
R etu rn s th e n a m e of th e proto col u sed in
th is requ est; for exa m p le: H TT P , H T T P S , or
FTP.
R etu rn s th e h ostn a m e o f th e server th at
received th e req ue st.
R etu rn s th e po rt nu m b e r on w h ich this
req u est w a s received.
R etu rn s true if th is req u est w a s m a d e
u sin g a secure ch a nn el, su ch as H T TP S ,
an d false othe rw ise.
R e m o ves an attribute from th is requ est
(m ore on req ue st attrib utes la ter).
S tores an attrib ute in th is req ue st (m o re
on req ue st attributes later).
O v errides th e n a m e of th e ch a racter
en codin g u sed in th e bo d y of th is requ e st.
 Table 4.2. Methods of javax.servlet.ServletRequest
M e th o d
java.lang.String getAuthType()
java.lang.String getContextPath()
Cookie[] getCookies()
long
getDateHeader(java.lang.String
name)
java.lang.String getHeader
(java.lang.String name)
java.util.Enumeration
getHeaderNames()
java.util.Enumeration getHeaders
(java.lang.String name)
int getIntHeader(java.lang.String
name)
java.lang.String getMethod()
java.lang.String getPathInfo()
java.lang.String
getPathTranslated()
java.lang.String getQueryString()
java.lang.String getRemoteUser()
java.lang.String
getRequestedSessionId()
java.lang.String getRequestURI()
java.lang.StringBuffer
Week 1 – Page 128
D o e s T h is
R etu rn s th e n a m e of th e auth entication
sch e m e u sed to protect th e pa ge.
R etu rn s th e part of th e requ est U R L th at
in dicates th e context of th e req u est. W e'll
see m ore a b ou t requ e st con texts later.
R etu rn s an a rray contain in g all th e Cookie
objects sen t w ith th is re qu est.
R etu rn s th e valu e of th e s pe cified requ e st
h ea de r corresp on d in g to a Jav a Date
object.
R etu rn s th e valu e of th e sp e cified req ue st
h ea de r as a String.
R etu rn s an enu m e ration of all th e h ea d e r
n a m es th is re qu est con tain s.
R etu rn s all th e valu es of th e in dicated
req u est he a de r as an Enumeration of
String obje cts.
R etu rn s th e valu e of th e sp e cified req ue st
h ea de r as an int.
R etu rn s th e n a m e of th e H T T P m eth od
w ith w h ich th is requ est w as m ad e, for
exa m p le, GET, POST, or PUT.
R etu rn s an y extra p ath in form ation
associated w ith th e U R L sen t fo r th is
req u est.
R etu rn s an y extra p ath in form ation ,
tran slatin g it into a real path .
R etu rn s th e qu e ry strin g th at is contain ed
in th e req u est U R L after th e p ath .
R etu rn s th e login of th e u ser m ak in g th is
req u est if th e u ser h as b ee n auth e nticated
(or null if th e u ser h a s n ot be en
auth en ticated).
R etu rn s th e session ID of th e re qu e st.
R etu rn s th e p art of th is req u est's U R L
from th e p ro tocol n a m e to th e qu ery
string .
R etu rn s th e U R L th e clien t u sed to m ak e
getRequestURL() th e req u est.
java.lang.String getServletPath() R etu rn s th e part of th is req u est's U R L th at
calls th e servlet.
HttpSession getSession() R etu rn s th e cu rre n t session associated
w ith this requ est; or if th e req u e st do es
n ot h ave a session , crea tes on e.
HttpSession getSession(boolean R etu rn s th e curren t session associated
create) w ith th is req u est.
java.security.Principal R etu rn s th e n a m e of th e cu rre n t
getUserPrincipal() auth en ticated u ser.
boolean Ind icates w h eth e r th e requ ested session
isRequestedSessionIdFromCookie() ID cam e from a cookie.
boolean D ep recated. A s of V ersion 2.1 of th e Java
isRequestedSessionIdFromUrl() S ervlet A PI, u se th e
isRequestedSessionIdFromURL()
m eth od in stead.
boolean Ind icates w h eth e r th e requ ested session
isRequestedSessionIdFromURL() ID cam e from th e re qu e st U R L.
boolean Ind icates w h ethe r th e session ID is still
isRequestedSessionIdValid() valid.
boolean Ind icates w h eth e r th e u ser is in clud ed in
isUserInRole(java.lang.String th e sp ecified logical "ro le" (ro les a re p a rt
role) of auth entication sch e m es th at in d icate
w h at gro u p a u ser is associated w ith ).

T h e request obje ct h old s a great d eal of in form ation th at is u sefu l to JS P

pro g ra m m e rs. Y ou can see a sa m p le pa ge th at d isplays so m e of th at in form ation in
Lis ting 4 .4 .

Listing 4.4 Decoding an HTTP request (ch04_04.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Decoding an HTTP Request</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1> Request Information </H1>
JSP request method: <%= request.getMethod() %>
<BR>
URL for the request: <%= request.getRequestURI() %>
<BR>
Protocol of the request: <%= request.getProtocol() %>
<BR>
Server name: <%= request.getServerName() %>
<BR>

Week 1 – Page 129

 Path: <%= request.getServletPath() %>
<BR>
Server port: <%= request.getServerPort() %>
<BR>
Remote address: <%= request.getRemoteAddr() %>
<BR>
Remote host: <%= request.getRemoteHost() %>
<BR>
Locale: <%= request.getLocale() %>
<BR>
User agent: <%= request.getHeader("User-Agent") %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e resu lts of th is in Figu re 4.4 , displayin g su ch in form ation as th e form
m eth od, serv e r po rt, an d so on .

Figure 4.4. Deciphering the request object.

N ote in particu lar th e u ser a gen t in form ation yo u see in Figu re 4.4 , w h ich gives y ou
access to th e typ e of b row ser th e u ser is u sing . In Fig u re 4 .4 , you see Intern et
E xplorer 6 .0, an d you can see th at in th e text retu rn ed b y th e call to
request.getHeader("User-Agent"):

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0; COM+ 1.0.2204; .NET

CLR 1.0.3512)

You can u se Java String m eth od s (see Table 2.3 ) to extra ct th e type a n d version of
th e u ser's b row ser from th is data. B ecau se b ro w sers h ave differen t ca pa bilities, th is
in form ation is often essential w h en you 're creatin g W eb pa ges to sen d back to th e

Week 1 – Page 130

u ser— for exa m p le, you can tailor you r W eb p ag e on e w a y for Inte rn et E xplorer, an d
an oth er for N etsca pe N a vigator:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Determining User Agent</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Determining User Agent</H1>
<%
if(request.getHeader("User-Agent").indexOf("MSIE") >= 0){
out.println("You're using Internet Explor er.");
//Internet Explorer code.
}
if(request.getHeader("User-Agent").indexOf("Netscape") >= 0){
out.println("You're using Netscape Navigator.");
//Netscape Navigator code.
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Tip

Th e u ser age n t text is th e sa m e a s in th e userAgent pro p erty of th e

navigator obje ct th at y ou can a ccess u sin g Jav a S cript in th e bro w ser. In
Inte rn et E xplore r, you 'll alw ays fin d "MSIE" follow ed by th e version of th e
bro w ser in th is text. In N etscap e N av igator, y ou'll fin d "Netscape" follow ed
by th e v ersion n u m ber. In earlier v ersion s of N e tsca pe N av ig ator, y ou w on't
fin d "Netscape"— in stead, u se th e v ersion nu m b er, w h ich you'll fin d righ t
after th e text "Mozilla/".

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Reading Data on the Server

In JS P code, y ou u se th e request obje ct's getParameter m eth od to rea d data fro m
H T M L controls. Fo r exa m p le, w e n a m e d th e tex t field in ou r exa m p le text1:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Submitting Text Fields</TITLE>
</HEAD>

Week 1 – Page 131

 <BODY>
<H1>Submitting Text Fields</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch04_05.jsp" METHOD="POST">
Please enter your name:
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="text1">
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" value="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

O n th e server, you can get th e d ata th at th e u ser p u t in th at text f ield by p assin g

th at n a m e to request.getParameter, as you se e in Listin g 4.5 .

Listing 4.5 Reading Data from Text Fields (ch04_05.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Data From Text Fields</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Data From Text Fields</H1>
Your name is
<% out.println(request.getParameter("text1")) ; %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th at's all it tak es— u sin g th e exp ression request.getParameter("text1"), w e can

retrieve th e text in th e text fie ld n a m e d text1, as y ou see in Figu re 4.5 .

Figure 4.5. Reading text from a text field.

Week 1 – Page 132

T h at's ho w it w orks in gene ral— you can u se th e request.getParameter m eth od to
retrieve data from H T M L contro ls, p a ssin g th at m eth od th e n a m e you'v e given to th e
control. In th is case, th e text field w as n a m ed text1, an d passin g th at n a m e to
request.getParameter retu rn s th e data th at w a s in th e text field (th e d ata is
retu rn ed as a Ja v a strin g).

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Text Fields

A s w e'v e seen , you can retrieve th e data in a text field w ith th e
request.getParameter m eth od. Y ou can d o m ore th an ju st retriev e th e data fro m
controls like text fields; you can also in sert data in th ose contro ls w h en you sen d
th em b ack fro m th e server.

In th is case, for exa m p le, th e code w ill let th e u ser click a b utton , an d w h en h e d oes,
it w ill display a m essa ge in a text field. Y ou can see th e H TM L p a g e in Listin g 4.6 .

Listing 4.6 Inserting Text into Text Fields (ch04_06.html )

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Inserting Text into Text Fields</TITLE>
</HEAD>

Week 1 – Page 133

 <BODY>
<H1>Inserting Text into Text Fields</H1>
<FORM NAME="form1" ACTION="ch04_07.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Click Me!">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You see th is pa ge in Figu re 4 .6 .

Figure 4.6. Web page with a text field.

W h en th e u ser clicks th e S ub m it b utton , you ca n sim ply sen d back th e sa m e p ag e

from th e serv er, except w ith th e m essa g e in th e text field, w h ich you ca n set w ith
th e text field's VALUE attribute, as you see in Listin g 4.7 .

Listing 4.6 Putting Text into Text Fields (ch04_07.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Inserting Text into Text Fields</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Inserting Text into Text Fields</H1>
<FORM NAME="form1">
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" VALUE="Hello from JSP!">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Click Me!">
</FORM>
</BODY>

Week 1 – Page 134

</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 4.7 — w h en th e u ser clicks th e b utton , th e m e ssa g e
"Hello from JSP!" ap p ea rs in th e text field. T h is gives you r cod e th e feel of clien t -
side pro g ra m m in g , bu t it's really serve r-side pro gra m m in g — to m ak e th a t m essa ge
ap p ea r ta kes a roun d -trip to th e serv er, w h ich can take tim e. If you n e e d m o re
im m ediate resu lts w ith ou t w aitin g a n d do n't n ee d to access Java on th e serv er, u se a
scriptin g lan gu a ge su ch as Java S cript in th e bro w ser.

Figure 4.7. Inserting text into a text field.

W h en th e u ser enters text into a text field, you can read th at text in yo u r code an d
com p a re it ag ain st variou s text string s, an d n ow th at w e're dealin g w ith th e text
in put, w h ich brin g s u p an im p ortan t poin t abou t Java strin g h an dling . To co m p a re
tw o string s, you sh ou ld u se th e String class's equals m eth o d, n ot th e == relation al
ope rato r w e saw in D ay 2 . Fo r exa m p le, he re's h ow y ou can ch eck w h eth er th e u ser
h as typed "JSP rules!" in a text field:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Checking Your Response</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Checking Your Response</H1>
<%
if(request.getParameter("text1").equals("JSP rules!")){
out.println("You typed JSP rules!");
}
else {

Week 1 – Page 135

 out.println("You didn't type JSP rules!");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Tip

If a form on ly h as a text field an d n o oth er controls (in clu din g n o su b m it

button ), th e brow s er co n vention is to su b m it th e data fro m th e text field
w h en th e u ser presses th e <Enter> k ey — n o sub m it b u tton is n ee ded.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Text Areas

T ext areas a re like text fields, except th at you can ente r m u ltiple lin es o f text. A lso
u sin g text area s in code is m u ch like u sin g text fields as w el l; you can see an
exa m p le th at displays a text a rea n a m e d textarea1— th e u ser can ente r text a n d
click th e su b m it button to sen d th at text ba ck to th e serv er — in Listin g 4 .8 .

Listing 4.8 Submitting Text Areas (ch04_08.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Submitting Text Areas</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Submitting Text Areas</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch04_09.jsp" METHOD="POST">
Please enter your text:
<BR>
<TEXTAREA NAME="textarea1" ROWS="5"></TEXTAREA>
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th is text area in Figu re 4.8 , alon g w ith so m e m u lti-lin e text in it.

Figure 4.8. Using a text area.

Week 1 – Page 136

You can h a nd le th at m u ltilin e text by displayin g it w ith th e lin e break s intact in th e
JS P pa ge, ch04_09.jsp. T h e lin e break s in th e text fro m th e text a rea a re
rep rese n ted b y '\n' ch aracters (see "D eterm in in g S trin g Len gth " in D a y 2). T h at
ch aracter stan d s for a lin e b reak in text a s Java h an d les it, bu t th e bro w ser w ill
ign ore it beca u se it's no t H T M L. To create lin e brea ks in th e b row ser, w e h av e to
replace '\n' ch a racters in th e text fro m th e tex t area w ith th e strin g "<BR>".

T h e p ro ble m w ith doin g th at is th at th e String class replace m eth od (see Table

2.3) on ly en a bles y ou to replace a sin g le ch aracter w ith an oth er sin g le ch aracter (so
th at th e strin g's length w on't ch a n g e). In stea d, w e can u se th e Java StringBuffer
class (w h ich you 'll fin d d ocu m en ted in th e Java docu m e ntation — see "O n lin e JS P
R esou rces" in D ay 1), w h ich sup p orts string s you can m o dify, an d w h ose replace
m eth od en a bles you to su b stitute on e su b strin g for a n oth er. O n th e oth er h a n d , th e
StringBuffer class doe sn't h ave an indexOf m eth od th at en a bles you to sea rch th e
text for '\n' ch a racters (th e StringBuffer m eth ods are g e a red to m o d ifyin g text,
n ot sea rch in g it). S o, to m ake w h at w e w a n t to h a p p en actu ally h ap p e n , w e can start
by sto rin g th e text from th e text are a in a StringBuffer obje ct n a m e d text:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Text Areas</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>

Week 1 – Page 137

 <H1>Reading Text Areas</H1>
You typed:
<BR>
<%
StringBuffer text = new
StringBuffer(request.getParameter("textarea1"));
.
.
.

Th en , to search for th e ch aracter '\n', w e can create a tem p ora ry String obje ct
based on text, an d u se th is n ew obje ct's indexOf m eth od (w h ich return s –1 if '\n'
isn't foun d ):

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Text Areas</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Text Areas</H1>
You typed:
<BR>
<%
StringBuffer text = new
StringBuffer(request.getParameter("textarea1"));

int loc = (new String(text)).indexOf('\n');

.
.
.

A ll th at's left is to replace all '\n' ch aracters w ith "<BR>" u sin g th e text obje ct's
replace m eth o d, a n d y ou can see w h at th at looks like in th e while loo p in Listin g
4.9 .

Listing 4.9 Reading Text from Text Areas (ch04_09.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Text Areas</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Text Areas</H1>
You typed:
<BR>
<%
StringBuffer text = new
StringBuffer(request.getParameter("textarea1"));

int loc = (new String(text)).indexOf('\n');

Week 1 – Page 138

 while(loc > 0){
text.replace(loc, loc+1, "<BR>");
loc = (new String(text)).indexOf('\n');
}
out.println(text);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ow you 're a ble to display th e m u ltilin e text from th e text area in a W e b pa ge u sin g
<BR> ele m ents, as you see in Fig u re 4.9 .

Figure 4.9. Reading text from text areas.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Password Controls

O n e of th e rea son s pe op le u se JS P is to auth e nticate u sers by che ck in g pass w ord s,
an d you can u se p assw o rd con tro ls ( <INPUT TYPE="PASSWORD">) to let th e u ser

Week 1 – Page 139

enter a p assw ord. Y ou can see an exa m p le in Listin g 4.1 0 .

Listing 4.10 Using Password Controls (ch04_10.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Password Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Password Controls</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch04_11.jsp" METHOD="POST">
Please enter your password:
<INPUT TYPE="PASSWORD" NAME="password">
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e p assw o rd control at w ork in Figu re 4 .1 0 .

Figure 4.10. Using password controls.

Week 1 – Page 140

N ow you can ch eck th e pass w ord an d resp on d a ccordin gly, as you see in Listin g
4.1 1.

Listing 4.11 Reading Text from Password Controls (ch04_11.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Password Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Password Controls</H1>
<%
if(request.getParameter("password").equals("Open Sesame"){
out.println("You're in!");
}
else {
out.println("I don't think so!");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th at's all th ere is to it, as y ou see in Fig u re 4.1 1 , w h e re w e'v e read th e passw ord
an d verified th e u ser.

Figure 4.11. Reading text from a password control.

Week 1 – Page 141

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Hidden Controls

H id d en controls let you store text in a W eb pa g e th at th e u se r do esn 't see (un le ss
sh e sp e cifically view s th e H T M L source for th e p age). T h ese controls are a go od
altern ative to u sin g coo kies to sto re pa ge -sp ecific data. You can see an exa m p le
w h ere th e code is storin g so m e text in a h id d en field in Listin g 4.1 2 .

Listing 4.12 Submitting Hidden Fields (ch04_12.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Submitting Hidden Fields</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Submitting Hidden Fields</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch04_13.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="HIDDEN" VALUE="Hello from JSP!">

Week 1 – Page 142

 <INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

A n d you can see a JS P p age th at reads th e text in th e h id d en control in Listin g 4.1 3 .

Listing 4.13 Reading Text from Hidden Controls (ch04_13.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Hidden Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Hidden Controls</H1>
The hidden text is:
<% out.println(request.getParameter("HIDDEN")); %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 4.1 2 .

Figure 4.12. Reading text from a hidden control.

Week 1 – Page 143

H id d en controls can be very u sefu l in JS P pro g ra m m in g , as w e'll see in th e n ext
topic.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Buttons
B esides su b m it button s, you can u se stan d ard H TM L b utton s w ith JS P. H ere's an
exa m p le th at u ses thre e stan d a rd b utton s. W h e n th e u ser clicks on e of th e button s,
ou r JS P code w ill in dicate w h at button w a s click ed.

T h is exa m p le w ork s u sin g so m e Java S cript in th e brow s er (w e'll take a m o re in -

depth look at u sin g Java S cript w ith JS P in D ay 21 , "C lien t-Side P ro gra m m in g an d
D eployin g Y ou r P ro jects"). W h en th e u ser clicks a button , a Ja va S cript fun ction is
called th at sets a h idd en field w ith th e n a m e of th e b utton click ed (su ch as B utton 1),
an d th en su b m its th e fo rm u sin g th e Java S cript submit m eth od. Y ou ca n see w h at
th e code looks like in Listin g 4.1 4 .

Listing 4.14 Using Buttons (ch04_14.html)

Week 1 – Page 144

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Buttons</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Buttons</H1>
<FORM NAME="form1" ACTION="ch04_15.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="buttonName">
<INPUT TYPE="BUTTON" VALUE="Button 1" ONCLICK="button1()">
<INPUT TYPE="BUTTON" VALUE="Button 2" ONCLICK="button2()">
<INPUT TYPE="BUTTON" VALUE="Button 3" ONCLICK="button3()">
</FORM>

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!--
function button1()
{
document.form1.buttonName.value = "button 1"
form1.submit()
}
function button2()
{
document.form1.buttonName.value = "button 2"
form1.submit()
}
function button3()
{
document.form1.buttonName.value = "button 3"
form1.submit()
}
// -->
</SCRIPT>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th is p a ge in Figu re 4.1 3 .

Figure 4.13. Using standard buttons.

Week 1 – Page 145

In th e JS P cod e, all you n ee d to do is recov er th e n a m e of th e b utton th at w as
click ed fro m th e h idd en control an d display it, a s y ou see in Listin g 4.15 .

Listing 4.15 Determining Which Button Was Clicked (ch04_15.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Determining Which Button Was Clicked</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Determining Which Button Was Clicked</H1>
You clicked
<%= request.getParameter("buttonName") %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e resu lts in Figu re 4.1 4 , w h ere, w ith a little h elp fro m h id d en contro ls
an d Java S cript, w e see th at B utton 2 w as click e d . T h at's on e w ay of h a nd lin g
m u ltiple b utton s— stay tun ed for a few m ore.

Figure 4.14. Determining which button was clicked.

Week 1 – Page 146

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

JSP to JSP—Navigating Directly to JSP Pages

S o fa r toda y, w e'v e u se d H T M L p ag es th at y ou n av igate to first, an d JS P pa g e s to
h a n dle in p u t fro m th ose H T M L pa g es. In oth er w ord s, w e'v e u sed intro du ctory H TM L
pa ges to give u sers a cc ess to ou r J S P pa g es.

H o w ev er, it's im p ortan t to realize th at you can n av ig ate directly to JS P p ages, even
w h en you 're sen d in g da ta to th ose pa g es. W h en you open th e JS P pa g e for th e first
tim e, you 're n ot send in g an y data fro m H TM L contro ls to th at pa ge, so
request.getParameter("controlName") w ill retu rn th e Ja va valu e null, w he re
controlName is a con tro l in you r pa ge w h ose da ta you w ant. Y ou can u se th is fact to
determ in e w h ethe r th ere's an y data sen t to y ou from H T M L controls, an d if n ot,
sim ply display an intro d u ctory W eb p ag e th e w a y y ou w a n t th e u sers to see it before
th ey'v e ente red a n y d ata.

For in sta n ce, you can rew rite th e p reviou s exa m ple, p uttin g everyth in g into on e JS P
pa ge — if th e u ser h as clicked a button , you can ind icate w h at button w a s click ed;

Week 1 – Page 147

oth erw ise, y ou can ju st display th e b utton s, as you see in Listin g 4.1 6 .

Listing 4.16 Using Buttons (ch04_16.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Buttons</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<%
if(request.getParameter("buttonName") != null) {
%>
You clicked
<%= request.getParameter("buttonName") %>
<%
}
%>

<FORM NAME="form1" METHOD="POST">

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="buttonName">
<INPUT TYPE="BUTTON" VALUE="Button 1" ONCLICK="button1()">
<INPUT TYPE="BUTTON" VALUE="Button 2" ONCLICK="button2()">
<INPUT TYPE="BUTTON" VALUE="Button 3" ONCLICK="button3()">
</FORM>

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!--
function button1()
{
document.form1.buttonName.value = "button 1"
form1.submit()
}
function button2()
{
document.form1.buttonName.value = "button 2"
form1.submit()
}
function button3()
{
document.form1.buttonName.value = "button 3"
form1.submit()
}
// -->
</SCRIPT>
</BODY>
</HTML>

To see h ow th is w orks, you can n a vigate to

http://localhost:8080/ch04/ch04_16.js p, click a b utton , an d you'll see th e resu lts
in Fig u re 4.1 5 . E v eryth in g is h a n dled by th at on e JS P p ag e — n o intro d u ctory H T M L
pa ge is n ee d ed.

Week 1 – Page 148

 Figure 4.15. Using a literal in Java.

N ote th at th ere a re tim e s w h en th e data in H T M L contro ls m ig h t actu ally retu rn a

valu e of null w h en y ou u se getParameter, so h ere's a m ore g en e ral w a y of testin g
if data w as sen t to you — you can u se th e request obje ct's getParameterNames
m eth od (th at w e'll see tom o rrow ), w h ich retu rn s th e n a m es of th e H T M L contro ls
th at sen t y ou data. If th is m eth od retu rn s null, it's a sure b et th at th er e's n o data
w aitin g for you to p roce ss:

if(request.getParameterNames() != null) {
//Process data from HTML controls
}
else {
//Display introductory Web page
}

In th is exa m p le, w e'v e bee n h an d lin g m u ltiple button s in a form w ith th e aid of
Java S cript. B u t th is isn't a b o ok on Java S cript, it's a b ook on JS P. Isn't th ere a w ay
to h a nd le m u ltiple b utton s ju st u sin g JS P? T he re is — you can u se m u ltiple H TM L
form s.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 149

Using Multiple Forms
A sin gle W eb pa g e can sup p ort m u ltiple H TM L form s, an d th at's often u sefu l. Fo r
exa m p le, on e w ay to su p p ort m u ltiple b utton s in a W eb pa ge is to m ak e th e m all
sub m it bu tton s an d place th e m ea ch in th eir ow n form . W h en th e u se r clicks a
button , th at form 's d ata is sen t to th e serv er. T o distin gu ish betw ee n th e va riou s
form s, you can g ive each form a h id d en control w ith iden tifyin g text th a t you can
read in you r JS P cod e.

For exa m p le, you can see h ow to sup p ort th ree differen t button s in th re e differe n t
form s in Listin g 4.1 7 , w h ere each form contain s h id den text h oldin g th e button 's
n a m e. W h en th e u se r clicks a b utton , ou r cod e can display th e click ed b utton's n a m e
u sin g th at h id d en text.

Listing 4.17 Using Multiple Forms (ch04_17.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Multiple Forms</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Multiple Forms</H1>
<%
if(request.getParameter("buttonName") != null) {

%>
You clicked
<%= request.getParameter("buttonName") %>
<%
}
%>

<FORM NAME="form1" METHOD="POST">

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="buttonName" VALUE="button 1">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Button 1">
</FORM>

<FORM NAME="form2" METHOD="POST">

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="buttonName" VALUE="button 2">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Button 2">
</FORM>

<FORM NAME="form3" METHOD="POST">

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="buttonName" VALUE="button 3">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Button 3">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 4.1 6 .

Week 1 – Page 150

 Figure 4.16. Supporting multiple forms.

In fa ct, th ere's an easie r w ay to d o th is. S u b m it button s are H T M L controls like an y

oth er, w h ich m e an s you can read th e text in th eir VALUE attributes— th at is, th eir
caption s— u sin g getParameter. If you give each su b m it b utton th e sa m e n a m e b u t
differe n t caption s, you can read th ose caption s in ou r JS P code to d ete rm in e w h at
button w as clicked, as y ou see in Listin g 4.1 8 .

Listing 4.18 Using Multiple Forms Using Buttons with Multiple

Names (ch04_18.jsp )

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Multiple Forms</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Multiple Forms</H1>
<%
if(request.getParameter("submit") != null) {
%>
You clicked
<%= request.getParameter("submit") %>
<%

Week 1 – Page 151

 }
%>

<FORM NAME="form1" METHOD="POST">

<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="submit" VALUE="Button 1">
</FORM>

<FORM NAME="form2" METHOD="POST">

<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="submit" VALUE="Button 2">
</FORM>

<FORM NAME="form3" METHOD="POST">

<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" NAME="submit" VALUE="Button 3">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou see th e resu lts in Figu re 4.1 7 , w h ere, th an k s to m u ltiple H TM L form s, w e see

th at B utton 3 w as click e d .

Figure 4.17. Using multiple HTML forms with buttons with

different names.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 152

Summary
You 'v e seen q u ite a lot today. Y ou've gotten sta rted u sin g H T M L controls in W eb
pa ges an d rea din g data from th ose H T M L contro ls in JS P code .

You 'v e learn ed h o w to u se th e va riou s attributes of th e <FORM> elem en t to tailor you r

H T M L form s a s y ou w a n t th e m , a n d to sen d th e data in th e form 's controls b ack to
th e serv er. You u se sub m it b u tton s to a ctu ally sen d th at d ata to th e U R L given in th e
form 's ACTION attribute.

You can d eciph er th e d a ta sen t to y ou in you r JS P code u sin g th e request obje ct,
an d you learn ed th e m e th ods of th at object tod ay. T h e m eth od w e focu sed on toda y
w as th e getParameter m eth od, w h ich lets you read th e d ata fro m va riou s controls.

T h e controls you 've seen today in clu d ed sub m it button s, text fields, tex t area s,
passw ord con tro ls, h idden controls, stan d ard b u tton s, an d reset b utton s. Y ou can
h a n dle all th ese controls w ith th e getParameter m eth od .

You also learn ed h ow to u se m u ltiple form s, an d h ow y ou can u se the m to sup p ort

m u ltiple b utton s in th e sa m e W eb p ag e . A n d w e got a little tricky by storin g form
data in h id d en contro ls, both w ith an d w ith o u t th e h elp of Ja va S cript.

To m orro w , w e'll continu e ou r w ork w ith H T M L controls as w e tu rn to th e oth er

controls th at are ava ilable, fro m ch eck bo xes to select controls.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Q&A

Q1: W h a t if a c o n tro l c a n re tu rn m u ltip le v a lu e s, s u c h a s a m u ltiv a lu e

se le ct c o n tro l? I c a n 't u s e getParameter in s u c h a c a se .

A1: T h ere a re oth er m eth o d s y ou u se in stead — S e e th e topic "U sin g M u ltiple -

S election S elect C o ntrols " in D ay 5.

Q2: C a n I u se th e re q u e st o b je ct in s e c u re c h a n n e ls su c h a s H T T P S ?

A2: Yes. O n e h an d y m eth od if you 're u sin g a secure ch a n n el is th e request

object's isSecure m eth od, w h ich retu rn s true if th is reque st w a s m a d e
u sin g a secure ch an n el, su ch as H T TP S , a n d false othe rw ise.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 153

Workshop
T h is w ork sh op tests w h eth er y ou un d erstan d all th e con cepts y ou learn ed tod a y. It's
a goo d idea to m a ste r today 's con cepts b y h on in g you r kn ow led g e he re before
startin g tom orrow 's m aterial. Y ou can fin d th e a n sw ers to th e q u iz q u estion s in
A pp e n d ix A .

Quiz

1: W h at attrib ute of th e <FORM> ele m en t d o y ou u s e to sp ecify w h ere to se n d

th e form data ?

2: W h at's th e differen ce b e tw ee n th e GET an d POST m eth o d s?

3: N a m e tw o controls th at can sub m it a form 's data back to th e server.

4: W h at Java class is th e request obje ct an object of?

5: W h ich m eth od can y ou u se to determ in e w h at b ro w ser th e u ser h a s?

Exercises

1: G ive th is on e a try — ju st read th e text th at th e u ser h as en tered into a

pass w ord con trol an d re tu rn it in a text field. D oin g so w ill give you p rac tice
in h an dlin g both readin g an d send in g d ata u sin g H T M L controls.

2: Follow in g th e exa m p le in th e topic " U sin g R eq u est O bjects" tod ay, u se th e

request.getHeader("User-Agent") m eth od to che ck w h at b row ser th e
u ser h as. If th e u ser is u sin g Intern et E xplorer, display a greetin g u sin g th e
<MARQUEE> ele m ent; oth erw ise , u se th e <H1> elem e nt.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Day 5. Reading Data from Web

Pages: Check Boxes, Radio Buttons,
and Select Controls
W elcom e to D ay 5! T od ay, w e're goin g to continu e th e w ork w e sta rted yesterday —
w orkin g w ith H TM L con tro ls an d H TTP req ue sts. Y ou'll also learn h ow to deal w ith
ch eck bo xes, ra dio button s, an d select contro ls, as w ell as m a n y othe r topics. T he se
are prim ary H T M L contro ls th at u sers exp ect to see in th e p a ges w e'll sen d th e m .

Week 1 – Page 154

B esides th ese controls, w e'll also take a look at w orkin g w ith im a ge con tro ls, w h ich
let you determ in e w he re th e u se r h as click ed an im a ge. T h at's g reat for im a ge
m a ps— th ose clicka ble im a ges w ith "h otspots" th at perform va riou s action s — w h ich
w e'll also see tod ay . T o im ple m e n t im a ge m a ps, w e'll loo k at th e <jsp:forward>
action , w h ich lets you n av ig ate to n ew U R Ls in you r JS P code . U sin g <jsp:forward>,
you can n a vigate to a n ew U R L w h en th e u ser clicks a h otsp ot in th e im age m ap
corresp on d in g to th at U R L (for exa m p le, ou r im age m ap is goin g to con tain a h otspot
m ark ed "W eathe r," an d w h en th e u ser clicks it, w e'll open a pa ge on th e w eath e r).
H ere's an overview of tod ay 's topics:

 W orkin g w ith ch eck b ox es

 W orkin g w ith radio b utton s
 S electin g an d deselectin g ch eck b ox es an d ra dio button s in code
 W orkin g w ith select con tro ls (creatin g dro p -dow n lists)
 H and lin g im a ge controls an d im a ge m a ps
 Forw a rdin g requ e sts to oth er p ag e s.

Let's sta rt w ith th e H T M L contro ls w e're goin g to see tod a y, b egin n in g w ith H TM L

Week 1 – Page 155

ch eck bo xes.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Check Boxes

You create che ck b ox es w ith th e <INPUT TYPE="CHECKBOX"> ele m ent, a n d you can
u se th e NAME attribute o f th is ele m en t to give th e ch eck bo x a n a m e. In you r code,
you can see w h eth e r a ch eck b ox h as b ee n ch e cked by p assin g its n a m e to
request.getParameter.

H ere's an exa m p le; in th is case, th e cod e w ill add th ree ch eck b o xes to a W eb p ag e
an d n a m e th e m check1, check2, an d check3 (n ote th at th e first ch eck box, check1,
w ill a p p ear ch e ck ed w h en th e p a g e first a pp e a rs, b ecau se th e code u ses th e
stan d alon e CHECKED attribu te for th at ch eck b o x ). Y ou can see th e cod e in Listin g
5.1 .

Listing 5.1 Submitting Check Boxes (ch05_01.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Submitting Check Boxes</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Submitting Check Boxes</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch05_02.jsp" METHOD="post">
<INPUT TYPE="CHECKBOX" NAME="check1" VALUE="check1"
CHECKED>
Checkbox 1
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="CHECKBOX" NAME="check2" VALUE="check2">
Checkbox 2
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="CHECKBOX" NAME="check3" VALUE="check3">
Checkbox 3
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th is W eb p a ge w ith th e che ck b ox es in Figu re 5.1 .

Figure 5.1. Using check boxes and responding to check box

actions.

Week 1 – Page 156

In th e JS P cod e, you ca n exa m in e ea ch ch eck b ox by p assin g its n a m e to
request.getParameter to see w h eth er it h as bee n che ck ed — if a che ck box is
ch ecked, request.getParameter w ill retu rn th e text in th e che ck box 's VALUE
attribute (w h ich is check1, check2, or check3 in th is exa m p le, a s y ou see in th e
VALUE attributes in Listin g 5.1 ), or null if th e ch eck b ox w as n ot ch eck ed, a s you see
in Listin g 5.2 .

Listing 5.2 Reading Check Boxes (ch05_02.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Checkboxes</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Checkboxes</H1>
<%
if(request.getParameter("check1") != null) {
out.println("Checkbox 1 was checked.<BR>");
}
else {
out.println("Checkbox 1 was not checked.<BR>");
}

if(request.getParameter("check2") != null) {
out.println("Checkbox 2 was checked.<BR>");
}
else {

Week 1 – Page 157

 out.println("Checkbox 2 was not checked.<BR>");
}

if(request.getParameter("check3") != null) {
out.println("Checkbox 3 was checked.<BR>");
}
else {
out.println("Checkbox 3 was not checked.<BR>");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ow you can see th e re su lts in Fig u re 5.2 .

Figure 5.2. Examining check boxes in code.

T h at's all it tak es to see w h ethe r a che ck b ox w as ch eck ed or n ot. Y ou'll see m ore
abo u t che ck in g an d un ch eck in g ch eck bo x es in cod e in a few p ag e s.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Radio Buttons

Week 1 – Page 158

R a dio button s ope rate in gro u p s, an d on ly on e radio button in a gro u p can be
selected at a tim e. To create a radio b utton g rou p , you give a set of ra dio button s
th e sa m e n a m e (u sin g th e H TM L NAME attribute). H ow d o y ou tell th e ra dio button s
ap art? Y ou u se th e VALUE attribute, givin g th em differen t valu es.

Tip

You can h a ve m u ltiple radio gro u p s, w h ich w ill ope rate in d epe nd e ntly, in
th e sa m e W eb p ag e. Ju st give all th e radio butto n s in each g r ou p th e sa m e
n a m e, u sin g a differen t n a m e for ea ch g rou p .

You can see an ex a m p le in Listin g 5.3 , in w h ich th e code is ad d in g th ree radio

button s to a W eb pa ge an d n a m in g th e m all radios to g ro u p th e m tog eth er, an d
givin g th em differen t va lu es ( radio1, radio2, a n d radio3).

Listing 5.3 Submitting Radio Buttons (ch05_03.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Submitting Radio Buttons</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Submitting Radio Buttons</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch05_04.jsp" METHOD="post">
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="radios" VALUE="radio1" CHECKED>
Radio Button 1
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="radios" VALUE="radio2">
Radio Button 2
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="radios" VALUE="radio3">
Radio Button 3
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Submit ">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 5.3 , w h ich sho w s th e th ree ra dio b utton s.

Figure 5.3. Using radio buttons and responding to radio button

actions.

Week 1 – Page 159

You can see w h eth e r a radio b utton h as bee n se lected by p a ssin g th e n a m e radios
to request.getParameter. If th e request.getParameter retu rn s radio1, th e first
radio button w as selected; if it retu rn s radio2, th e secon d ra dio b utto n w as selected ,
an d so on . Y ou can see h ow to determ in e w h ich radio b utton s w ere sele cted in
Lis ting 5 .4 .

Listing 5.4 Reading Radio Buttons (ch05_04.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Radio Buttons</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Radio Buttons</H1>
<%
if(request.getParameter("radios") != null) {
if(request.getParameter("radios").equals("radio1")) {
out.println("Radio button 1 was selected.<BR>");
}
else {
out.println("Radio button 1 was not
selected.<BR>");
}
if(request.getParameter("radios").equals("radio2")) {
out.println("Radio button 2 was selected.<BR>");
}
else {

Week 1 – Page 160

 out.println("Radio button 2 was not
selected.<BR>");
}
if(request.getParameter("radios").equals("radio3")) {
out.println("Radio button 3 was selected.<BR>");
}
else {
out.println("Radio button 3 was not
selected.<BR>");
}
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 5.4 , w he re w e see th at in th is case, on ly th e first

radio button w as selected.

Figure 5.4. Checking radio buttons.

A s you can see, it's easy to d eterm in e w h ich ch eck bo x or radio b utton th e u ser h as
selected . B u t w h at if y ou w a n t to select or d ese lect th ese contro ls y ourself in co de?
T h at's com in g u p n ext.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 161

Selecting and Deselecting Check Boxes and
Radio Buttons in Code
U sin g th e stan d alon e CHECKED attribute, you h a ve control over w h eth e r che ck b ox es
an d radio b utton s a p pe a r selected w h en th eir contain in g W eb p a ge first ap p ea rs.
U sin g this attribute, you can select an d d eselect che ck b ox es an d radio button s in
cod e.

H ere's an exa m p le, w h ich you can see in Figu re 5.5 . T h is exa m p le lets u sers select
w h ich san d w ich th ey w a nt, as y ou can see in th e fig u re. T h e u ser can select a
san d w ich u sin g th e radio button s on th e left, an d ou r p ro g ra m w ill ch eck th e
corresp on d in g in g redien t ch eck bo xes on th e rig h t w h en th e u ser clicks th e S u b m it
button . T h e cod e also d eterm in es w h ich radio b utton w as selected , a n d m ak es su re
th e sa m e ra dio b utton is selected w h en a n ew p age is sen t back to th e bro w ser.

Figure 5.5. Selecting and deselecting check boxes and radio

buttons in code.

S electin g an d deselectin g ch eck b ox es an d ra dio button s in JS P cod e is sim ply a

m atter of u sin g th e CHECKED attribute. In th is e xa m p le, w e w a n t to set th e che ck
boxes to m atch w h ich radio b utton w as selecte d . To do th at, you can d eclare th ree
variables for ea ch of th e th ree ch eck b o xes, check1, check2, an d check3, settin g
each to an e m pty strin g ("") at first:

Week 1 – Page 162

String check1 = "", check2 = "", check3 = "";

If a p a rticu lar radio b utton is selected, su ch as th e on e for tu rkey san d w ich es, w e
can set th e corresp o nd in g ch eck bo x es' varia ble to "CHECKED":

if(request.getParameter("radios").equals("turkey")){
check1 = "CHECKED";
check3 = "CHECKED";
}

T h en w h en w e display each che ck b ox, w e can sim ply in dicate w h eth er or n ot th e

ch eck bo x sh ou ld be ch ecked:

<INPUT TYPE="CHECKBOX" NAME="check3" VALUE="check3"

<%= check3%>
>

You can see th e fu ll cod e for th is exa m p le in Listin g 5.5 .

Listing 5.5 Design Your Sandwich (ch05_05.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Design Your Sandwich!</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<%
String cheese = "", turkey = "", ham = "";
String check1 = "", check2 = "", check3 = "";
if(request.getParameter("radios") != null) {
if(request.getParameter("radios").equals("cheese")){
cheese = "CHECKED";
check2 = "CHECKED";
}
if(request.getParameter("radios").equals("turkey")){
turkey = "CHECKED";
check1 = "CHECKED";
check3 = "CHECKED";
}
if(request.getParameter("radios").equals("ham")){
ham = "CHECKED";
check1 = "CHECKED";
check2 = "CHECKED";
check3 = "CHECKED";
}
}
%>

<H1>Design Your Sandwich!</H1>

Week 1 – Page 163

 <FORM METHOD="POST">
<TABLE BORDER="1" ALIGN="LEFT">
<TR>
<TH>
Sandwich
</TH>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<INPUT TYPE="radio" NAME="radios"
VALUE="cheese"
<%= cheese %>
>
Cheese Sandwich
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="RADIO" NAME="radios" VALUE="turkey"
<%= turkey %>
>
Turkey Sandwich
<BR>
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="RADIO" NAME="radios" VALUE="ham"
<%= ham %>
>
Ham Sandwich
<BR>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>

<TABLE BORDER="1" ALIGN="LEFT">

<TR>
<TH>
Ingredients
</TH>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<INPUT TYPE="CHECKBOX" NAME="check1"
VALUE="check1"
<%= check1 %>
>
Meat
<BR>
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="CHECKBOX" NAME="check2"
VALUE="check2"
<%= check2 %>
>
Cheese
<BR>
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="CHECKBOX" NAME="check3"
VALUE="check3"
<%= check3%>
>
Lettuce

Week 1 – Page 164

 </TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
<BR CLEAR="ALL">
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

W e've got a lot of p ow er over che ck b ox es an d radio b utton s n ow , an d can

determ in e w h ethe r th e u ser h as selected th e m , an d w e can also select an d deselect
th em in code. N ext, ou r discu ssion w ill cover th e u se of sel ect con trols.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Select Controls

S elect contro ls display scrollable lists an d dro p - dow n lists. T h ese kind s of controls
com e in tw o va rieties— th ose th at let you select on e item at a tim e, an d th ose th at
let you select m u ltiple item s. W e'll loo k at sing le -selection select controls first.

You create a select contro l w ith th e <SELECT> elem e nt, en closin g th e item s y ou w a n t
to ap p ea r in th e select control in <OPTION> elem ents. H ere's an e xa m p le in w h ich th e
cod e is creatin g a select control n a m ed select1 w ith th ree ite m s in it: Option 1,
Option 2, an d Option 3:

<SELECT NAME="select1">
<OPTION>Option 1</OPTION>
<OPTION SELECTED>Option 2</OPTION>
<OPTION>Option 3</OPTION>
</SELECT>

Lis ting 5 .6 sh ow s h ow y ou can u se th is con trol in a sa m p le H TM L docu m ent.

Listing 5.6 Submitting a Select Control (ch05_06.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Submitting Select Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Submitting Select Controls</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch05_07.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<SELECT NAME="select1">
<OPTION>Option 1</OPTION>

Week 1 – Page 165

 <OPTION SELECTED>Option 2</OPTION>
<OPTION>Option 3</OPTION>
</SELECT>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see w h at th is W eb p ag e loo k s like in Fig u re 5.6 .

Figure 5.6. Using a select control.

You can read th e selected option in sin gle -selection select con tro ls in you r JS P code
by p assin g th e n a m e of th e contro l to request.getParameter. Listin g 5.7 sho w s th e
cod e th at determ in es w h ich item th e u ser selected in th e select control.

Listing 5.7 Reading Select Controls (ch05_07.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Select Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Select Controls</H1>
You selected
<% out.println(request.getParameter("select1")); %>

Week 1 – Page 166

 </BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 5.7 , w he re w e learn th at w e'v e selecte d O ption 2.

Figure 5.7. Determining a selection in a select control.

A n d th at's h ow you u se sin gle -selection select controls. M u ltiple selection select
controls are co m in g u p n ext.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Multiple-Selection Select Controls

If y ou u se th e MULTIPLE stan d alon e H T M L attribute in a select control, th at control
can accept m u ltiple selection s:

<SELECT NAME="select1" SIZE="5" MULTIPLE>

<OPTION>Option 1</OPTION>
<OPTION SELECTED>Option 2</OPTION>
<OPTION>Option 3</OPTION>

Week 1 – Page 167

 <OPTION>Option 4</OPTION>
<OPTION>Option 5</OPTION>
</SELECT>

Lis ting 5 .8 sh ow s h ow y ou can display a m u ltiple -selection select contro l.

Listing 5.8 Using Multiple-Selection Select Controls

(ch05_08.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Submitting Multiple Selection Select Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Submitting Multiple Selection Select Controls<H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch05_09.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<SELECT NAME="select1" SIZE="5" MULTIPLE>
<OPTION>Option 1</OPTION>
<OPTION SELECTED>Option 2</OPTION>
<OPTION>Option 3</OPTION>
<OPTION>Option 4</OPTION>
<OPTION>Option 5</OPTION>
</SELECT>
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Caution

N ote th at th is code is u sin g th e SIZE attrib ute h ere to display a nu m b er of

ite m s in th e select control at on ce . If y ou don't u se th e SIZE attribute (as w e
didn 't in th e previou s sing le -selection exa m p le), you get a drop -d o w n
list, b u t dro p -dow n lists don 't su p p ort m u ltiple selection s.

You can see th is W eb p a ge in Figu re 5.8 , in w h ich th e u ser is selectin g tw o item s.

(H o w you select m u ltiple ite m s in a select con trol like th is varies by op e ratin g sys te m —
for exa m p le, in W in d ow s, y ou can u se th e C trl key tog ethe r w ith th e m o u se
to select m u ltiple item s by clickin g th e m , or th e S h ift ke y w ith th e m ou se to select a
ran g e of ite m s.)

Figure 5.8. Using a multiple-selection select control.

Week 1 – Page 168

T h e ne xt step is to d ete rm in e w h ich ite m s w e re selected w h en th e S u b m it b u tton
w as click ed an d th e form 's d ata w as sen t to u s on th e serv er. T h is is th e first tim e a
control h as sen t u s m u ltiple valu es, an d th e getParameter m eth od isn't goin g to
w ork h ere (it w ou ld sim ply retu rn th e first selected item ). In stea d , y ou u se th e
req u est object's getParameterValues m eth od in th is case.

A s y ou can see in Table 4.1 , th e getParameterValues m eth od retu rn s a n arra y of

string s corresp on d in g to all th e valu es associate d w ith a contro l. T h at's exactly w h at
you ne ed h ere to get all th e selected ite m s in th e select control. Y ou ca n loo p ov er
th e item s in th e retu rn e d strin g array a n d displa y th em a s you see in Listin g 5.9 .

Listing 5.9 Reading Multiple-Selection Select Controls

(ch05_09.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Multiple Selection Select Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Multiple Selection Select Controls</H1>
You selected:
<BR>
<% String[] items = request.getParameterValues("select1");
for(int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < items.length; loopIndex++){
out.println(items[loopIndex] + "<BR>");
}

Week 1 – Page 169

 %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ow you can determ in e w h ich ite m s th e u ser h a s selected in a m u ltiple-selection

select control, as y ou see in Figu re 5.9 .

Figure 5.9. Determining which options were selected.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Check Box Groups

W e've see n th at you ca n create ra dio button group s by givin g ra dio bu tton s th e sa m e
n a m e; in th e sa m e w ay, you can create ch eck b ox g ro u p s. H ow ev er, ch eck bo x
gro u p s are differen t fro m ra dio b utton grou p s, beca u se m u ltiple ch eck boxes can be
ch ecked at th e sa m e tim e in th e sa m e g rou p . Listin g 5.10 illu strates h ow to create a
ch eck bo x grou p w ith th ree ch eck b oxes, all n am e d checks, b u t w ith differen t
valu es.

Listing 5.10 Submitting Check Boxes (ch05_10.html)

Week 1 – Page 170

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Submitting Check Boxes</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Submitting Check Boxes</H1>
<FORM action="ch05_11.jsp" method="post">
<INPUT TYPE="CHECKBOX" NAME="checks" VALUE="check1"
CHECKED>
Checkbox 1
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="checks" VALUE="check2">
Checkbox 2
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="checkbox" NAME="checks" VALUE="check3">
Checkbox 3
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th is W eb p a ge in Figu re 5.1 0 .

Figure 5.10. Creating a check box group.

Week 1 – Page 171

To d eterm in e w h ich che ck b oxes w ere che ck ed, you can u se
request.getParameterValues an d loo p over th e a rra y th at m eth od retu rn s, a s y ou
see in Listin g 5.1 1 .

Listing 5.11 Reading Check Boxes (ch05_11.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Checkboxes</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Checkboxes</H1>
You checked:
<BR>
<% String[] items = request.getParamete rValues("checks");
for(int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < items.length; loopIndex++){
out.println(items[loopIndex] + "<BR>");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 5.1 1 . U sin g getParameterValues in th is w ay, y ou

can sup po rt ch eck box gro u p s an d determ in e w h ich ch eck bo xes in th e gro u p w ere
ch ecked.

Figure 5.11. Using a check box group.

Week 1 – Page 172

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Uploading Files
A n oth er H T M L control is th e file u pload control ( <INPUT TYPE="FILE">), bu t h ere th e
To m cat server isn't goin g to h elp u s ou t m u ch . To up loa d files you'll u se m u ltip art
form s, w h ich you create w ith th e <FORM> ele m e nt's ENCTYPE attribute:

<FORM ACTION="ch05_13.jsp" METHOD="POST" ENCTYPE ="multipart/for m-

data">
<INPUT TYPE="FILE" NAME="filer">
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>

H o w ev er, To m cat do esn 't su p po rt m u ltip art form s y et, so you h a ve to u se a stan d ard
form , a s y ou see in Listin g 5.1 2 .

Listing 5.12 Uploading Files (ch05_12.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Uploading Files</TITLE>

Week 1 – Page 173

 </HEAD>

<BODY>
<FORM ACTION="ch05_13.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="FILE" NAME="filer">
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Figu re 5.12 sh ow s th e file control created by th is W eb pa g e.

Figure 5.12. Using a file upload control.

T h is file u ploa d control isn't goin g to do m u ch for u s. Listin g 5.1 3 sh ow s you h ow to

recover th e in form ation it sen d s you .

Listing 5.13 Uploading Files (ch05_13.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Uploading Files</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>

Week 1 – Page 174

 <H1>Uploading Files</H1>
You selected
<%= request.getParameter("filer") %>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 5.1 3 , w h ere w e see th at th e file u p load control h as
given u s on ly th e n a m e of th e file w e h ad w ante d to u p load in th is case. P resu m a bly,
file up loa d contro ls w ill be su p po rted in later v ersion s of th e serve r softw are.

Figure 5.13. Getting a filename.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Image Controls
Im a g e controls (<INPUT TYPE="IMAGE">) act m u ch like su b m it button s, ex cept th ey
display im a ges th e u ser can click. T h e location th at th e u se r click ed in th e im a ge is
also sen t to th e serv er w ith th e rest of th e d ata fro m th e form .

H ere's an exa m p le sh ow in g h ow th is w ork s. H ere, th e code w ill u se an im a ge control

to display a clicka ble im age, an d w h en th e u ser clicks it, th e m o u se loca tion is sen t

Week 1 – Page 175

to th e server auto m atically, w ith n o sub m it b u tton n ee d ed. In th e JS P cod e, w e can
determ in e an d display th e m ou se location . Listin g 5.14 details th e H T M L pa ge th at
displays th e im a ge a n d th e im a ge con tro l— n ote th at th is code n a m es th e im ag e
control images.

Listing 5.14 Using Image Controls (ch05_14.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Image Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Image Controls</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch05_15.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="IMAGE" NAME="images" SRC="ch05_14.jpg">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th is pa ge a t w ork in Figu re 5.1 4 , w h ere th e u se r is abou t to click th e

im a ge.

Figure 5.14. Using an image control.

T h e n a m e of ou r im a ge control is images, w h ich m ea n s th at th e ( x, y ) m o u se

Week 1 – Page 176

location is passed to u s as th e req u est p a ra m eters images.x an d images.y. Y ou can
see ho w to display th at m o u se location w h en y ou get it in Listin g 5.1 5 .

Listing 5.15 Reading Image Controls (ch05_15.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Image Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Image Controls</H1>
You clicked the image at
(<%=request.getParameter("images.x")%>,
<%=request.getParameter("images.y")%>).
</BODY>
</HTML>

Th e resu lts ap p ear in Figu re 5.1 5 , w h ere w e se e th e location at w h ich th e u ser

click ed th e im a ge.

Figure 5.15. Reading data from an image control.

B ecau se th ey can re po rt m ou se location s, im a ge controls are often u sed for im a g e

m a ps, tho se clicka ble im a ges w ith h otspots th at w ill take you to differen t U R Ls. In
fact, there is a w ay to sen d th e b ro w ser to a n e w U R L — y ou can u se th e

Week 1 – Page 177

<jsp:forward> action . You 'll see <jsp:forward> first, th en pu t it to w ork in an
im a ge m ap w ith h otspots th at th e u ser can click to n av ig ate to n ew U R L s.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using <jsp:forward>
You can u se th e <jsp:forward> action to forw a rd an H TTP req ue st to a n oth er W eb
pa ge:

<jsp:forward page="relativeURL" />

N ote th e X M L-style tag term in ator he re, />, w h ich you'll see a lot in JSP action
ele m ents. T h is is ju st a sh ortcu t th at lets you o m it a closin g ta g; th e p reviou s li n e of
cod e is th e sa m e as th is version , w h ich u ses th e closin g tag </jsp:forward>:

<jsp:forward page="relativeURL" ></jsp:forward>

H ere, relativeURL is th e U R L of an othe r pa g e a ccessible as part of th e sa m e W eb

ap p lication . For exa m p le, relativeURL can h old th e n a m e of an oth e r H T M L or JS P
file in th e sa m e server d irectory a s th e curren t d ocu m ent.

You can also ch a ng e or ad d n ew p a ra m eters to th e req u est bein g forw a rded to th e

n ew U R L w ith <jsp:param> ele m ents:

<jsp:forward page="relativeURL" >

<jsp:param name="parameterName1" value="parameterValue1" />
<jsp:param name="parameterName2" value="parameterValue2" />
.
.
.
</jsp:forward>

H ere, parameterName1 is th e n a m e of th e first p ara m eter you w an t to set a v alu e

for, an d parameterValue1 is th e valu e you w an t to give th at para m ete r, an d so on .
W e'll see h ow to p ass n ew p a ra m eters on to ne w U R Ls th is w ay in D ay 9, "U sin g
C u sto m JS P Tags."

To create ou r im a ge m a p, all w e'll n ee d to d o is u se <jsp:forward> to sen d th e

bro w ser to a n ew U R L , an d th at's com in g u p n e xt.

Tip

H ere's an oth e r w a y to redirect a b row ser, th is tim e u sin g Java S cript. Y ou

can set th e href p rop e rty of th e location obje ct to redirect th e brow s er to
a n ew U R L. F or ex a m ple , if you w a n t to sen d th e brow se r to

Week 1 – Page 178

 http://www.sun.com, y ou cou ld sen d th is H TM L back to th e b row ser:
<HTML><SCRIPT LANGUAGE =
"JavaScript">location.href="http://www.sun.com"</SCRIPT></HTML >.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating Image Maps

T h is n ew im a ge m ap w ill be base d on an im a ge control n a m ed imagemap; th e code
for th e W eb pa ge th at contain s it ap p ears in Listin g 5.1 6 .

Listing 5.16 Using an Image Map (ch05_16.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Image Maps</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Image Maps</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch05_17.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="IMAGE" NAME="imagemap" SRC="ch05_16.jpg">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e im a ge m a p w e'll be u sin g in Figu re 5.16 (th is im ag e is in clud ed in

th e code you can do w n load for th is boo k). T h e u ser is abou t to click th e W eathe r
h otspot in th is fig u re.

Figure 5.16. An image map.

Week 1 – Page 179

A ll th e u ser h as to d o is click on e of th e h otspots you see in Fig u re 5.1 6 , an d th e
m o u se location w ill be sen t to ou r JS P pa g e , ch05_17.jsp. T h ere w e d e term in e th e
m o u se location w ith th e follow in g code frag m e n t. (N ote th at th e cod e is u sin g th e
Integer.parseInt m eth od to con v ert th e strin g text w e g et fro m
request.getParameter into an integer; see th e n ext topic " U sin g N a m e d Ta rg ets"
for all th e details on con vertin g text to nu m e ric form at, in clu din g th e
Integer.parseInt m eth od.)

<%
int x = Integer.parseInt(request.getParameter("imagemap.x"));
int y = Integer.parseInt(request.getParameter("imagemap.y"));
%>

You can d eterm in e w h ich h otspot th e u ser clicked by ch e ck in g th e m ou se location ;

h ere th e cod e is ch eck in g w h ethe r th e W e ath er h otspot w a s click ed, an d if so,
forw ardin g th e bro w ser to th e W eath er pa g e ( ch05_19.html):

<%
if(x > 98 && x < 209
&& y > 104 && y < 126) {
%>
<jsp:forward page="ch05_19.html" />
<%
}
%>

H ere's w h at th e H T M L for ch05_19.html loo k s like:

Week 1 – Page 180

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Weather</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Weather</H1>
During the day, light. During the night, dark.
</BODY>
</HTML>

Figu re 5.17 de picts w h a t ch05_19.html loo ks lik e in th e brow s er after th e u ser clicks
th e W eath er lin k in th e im a ge m a p.

Figure 5.17. Forwarding to a new URL.

A n d th at's all it tak es— n ow w e're redirectin g bro w sers b a sed on im a ge m a ps. T h e
fu ll code ap p e a rs in Listin g 5.1 7 .

Note

N ote th at th is exa m p le also in clu d es ch05_18.html u p to ch05_23.html, so

th e n ext exa m p le in th e follow in g topic w ill be ch05_24.jsp.

Week 1 – Page 181

Listing 5.17 Reading an Image Map (ch05_17.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Image Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<% int x =
Integer.parseInt(request.getParameter("imagemap.x"));
int y =
Integer.parseInt(request.getParameter("imagemap.y"));
%>

<% if(x > 16 && x < 127

&& y > 39 && y < 61) {
%>
<jsp:forward page="ch05_18.html" />
<%
}
%>

<% if(x > 98 && x < 209

&& y > 104 && y < 126) {
%>
<jsp:forward page="ch05_19.html" />
<%
}
%>

<% if(x > 62 && x < 173

&& y > 71 && y < 93) {
%>
<jsp:forward page="ch05_20.html" />
<%
}
%>

<% if(x > 411 && x < 522

&& y > 35 && y < 57) {
%>
<jsp:forward page="ch05_21.html" />
<%
}
%>

<% if(x > 360 && x < 471

&& y > 67 && y < 89) {
%>
<jsp:forward page="ch05_22.html" />
<%
}
%>

Week 1 – Page 182

 <% if(x > 328 && x < 439
&& y > 98 && y < 120) {
%>
<jsp:forward page="ch05_23.html" />
<%
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Named Targets

H ere's an oth e r im p orta n t aspect a bou t H T M L form s — you can u se th e <FORM>
ele m ent's TARGET attrib ute to ind icate w h ere to sen d th e outp u t of you r JS P cod e .
W e saw yesterd ay th at th ere a re va riou s p red efin ed settin g s for th is attribute, su ch
as _blank w h en you w a n t th e p a ge sen t b a ck from y ou r JS P code to op en a ne w
w in d ow . Y ou can also u se th e TARGET attribute to sen d outp u t fro m JS P cod e to
an oth er fra m e in th e sa m e b row ser w ind o w , an d th at's co m in g u p n ext.

In th is exa m p le, you ca n create th e JS P C alcu lator, sho w n in Fig u re 5.1 8 . In th e top
fra m e, you ente r tw o nu m b e rs to a dd , click th e = button , an d th e serv er w ill sen d th e
resu lts b ack to th e b ottom fra m e as y ou see in th e figu re. (T h is exa m p le is also
specifically desig n ed to sh ow h ow to con vert th e text y ou rea d from H T M L controls
in to nu m eric d ata typ es, su ch a s intege rs — so m eth in g th at's fru strated a lot of JS P
pro g ra m m e rs.)

Figure 5.18. Using targeted frames with JSP.

Week 1 – Page 183

You can see th e m ain W eb p a ge th at displays th e tw o fra m e s in Figu re 5.18 in Listin g
5.1 8 — n ote th at th e cod e n a m e s th e botto m fra m e frame2.

Listing 5.18 Displaying Frames (ch05_24.html)

<HTML>
<FRAMESET ROWS="70%, 30%">
<FRAME SRC="ch05_25.html">
<FRAME NAME="frame2">
</FRAMESET>
</HTML>

You can see th e calcu lator p a rt of th e ap p lication , w h ich go es in th e top fra m e, in

Lis ting 5 .1 9 . N ote th at th e code is u sin g th e form 's TARGET attribute to in dicate th at
th e resu lts of ou r JS P co d e sh ou ld go into frame2, th e b ottom fra m e (th e cod e sets
th e caption of th e = button to "&nbsp;&nbsp;=&nbsp;&nbsp;", w h ere &nbsp; is th e
H T M L code for a n on bre ak in g sp ace, to w iden th at b utton in stead of ju st givin g it th e
n arrow caption =).

Listing 5.19 The JSP Calculator (ch05_25.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<FORM NAME="form1" ACTION="ch05_26.jsp" TAR GET="frame2"
METHOD="POST">

Week 1 – Page 184

 <CENTER>
<H1>The JSP Calculator</H1>
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="op1" VALUE="">
<BR>
+
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="op2" VALUE="">
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="&nbsp;&nbsp;=&nbsp;&nbsp;">
</CENTER>
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Fin ally, you can see th e JS P cod e th at w ill ad d th e tw o nu m b e rs a n d display th e

resu lt in th e bottom fra m e of th e a p p lication in Listin g 5.2 0 .

Listing 5.20 Displaying Numeric Results (ch05_26.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H2>
<CENTER>
The sum is:
<%

out.println(Integer.parseInt(request.getParameter("op1")) +
Integer.parseInt(request.getParameter("op2")));
%>
</CENTER>
</H2>
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ote th at th e valu es w e get fro m request.getParameter are string s, a n d in Java,

you can 't ju st assig n string s to in teger varia bles (an d you can 't u se a ty p e ca st he re,
eith er). In stea d, y ou m u st u se th e Integer class's parseInt m eth o d, w h ich reads
strin g text an d retu rn s a n integer like int integer1 =
Integer.parseInt(request.getParameter("op1") ). O th e r m eth od s to con v ert
string s into nu m b ers in clud e Float.parseFloat, Double.parseDouble, an d so on .
You con v ert th e text y o u read from H T M L controls into nu m b ers by u sin g th ese
m eth ods.

Tip

H o w do you con vert a n u m b er to a text strin g ? You can u se th e String

class's valueOf m eth od like th is: String string1 =
String.valueOf(number), w h e re number is a n u m b er of data type int,

Week 1 – Page 185

 float, double, an d so on .

O u r calcu lator is fu lly fun ction al (as lon g as th e on ly m ath ope ration you w an t to
perform is ad d in g integers, th at is). U sin g n a m e d fra m e s like th is is a cool techn iqu e
to kno w — th e H T M L in th e top fra m e h ere d oesn't ch a n g e, b u t th e H T M L in th e
bottom fra m e can be u p dated fro m th e serv er w h en ev er y ou w a nt.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Getting All Parameter Names

W e've see n a lot abo u t request obje cts yesterd ay an d today . T h ere a re tw o m ore
pow erfu l m eth o ds w e sh ou ld take a loo k at— getParameterNames an d
getHeaderNames— to ad d ev en m ore p ow er to ou r JS P a rsen al. You 'll see
getParameterNames h ere, an d getHeaderNames in th e n ext section .

T h e getParameterNames m eth od retu rn s a Jav a Enumeration object h oldin g th e

n a m es of th e pa ra m eters bein g p assed to you r JS P code. Enumeration o bjects a re
like arra ys in th at th ey h old collection s of ite m s , bu t you u se tw o m eth ods to m ov e
th ro ug h an en u m e ration , rathe r th an u sin g an a rra y ind ex (th ese a re th e on ly tw o
m eth ods th at en u m e ration s sup p ort):

 boolean hasMoreElements()— R etu rn s true if th is enu m eration contain s

m o re elem ents th at you h av en't a ccessed y et.
 Object nextElement()— R etu rn s th e n ext elem e n t of th is enu m eratio n if th is
enu m eration object h as at least on e m o re ele m e n t you h av en 't accessed yet.

H ere's a loo k at an exa m p le to see how to u se getParameterNames to determ in e th e

n a m es of all th e para m e ters sen t to ou r code . Listin g 5.21 sh ow s a sa m ple W eb p ag e
w ith a text field n a m e d text1 an d a select control n a m ed select1 th at you can u se
to test getParameterNames.

Listing 5.21 Getting Parameter Names (ch05_27.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Getting Parameter Names</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Getting Parameter Names<H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch05_28.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="text1">

Week 1 – Page 186

 <BR>
<SELECT NAME="select1" SIZE="5" MULTIPLE>
<OPTION>Option 1</OPTION>
<OPTION selected>Option 2</OPTION>
<OPTION>Option 3</OPTION>
<OPTION>Option 4</OPTION>
<OPTION>Option 5</OPTION>
</SELECT>
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th is p a ge in Figu re 5.1 9 .

Figure 5.19. A test page to use with the getParameterNames

method.

You can see th e JS P pa g e th at w ill accept th e requ est para m eters w e sen d it an d u se
th e getParameterNames m eth od to display th e n a m es of th ose pa ra m eters in Listin g
5.2 2. N ote th at w e're u sin g a Java Enumeration obje ct he re, u sin g th e
hasMoreElements m eth od in a while loo p, an d th e nextElement m eth o d to recov er
su ccessive ele m ents fro m th at Enumeration.

Listing 5.22 Reading Parameter Names (ch05_28.jsp )

<HTML>
<HEAD>

Week 1 – Page 187

 <TITLE>Reading Parameter Names</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Parameter Names</H1>
Parameter Names:
<BR>
<% java.util.Enumeration names = request.getParameterNames();
while(names.hasMoreElements()){
out.println(names.nextElement() + "<BR>");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 5.2 0 , w he re w e see th at th e p a ra m ete rs w e've sen t
to th e server are select1 an d text1, as th ey sh ou ld be.

Figure 5.20. Getting parameter names.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Getting Request Header Information

A n oth er im p orta n t request obje ct m eth od is getHeaderNames,
w h ich gets th e n a m e s of req ue st h ead e rs. T h ese h ead ers sto re

Week 1 – Page 188

 a great deal of in form ation abo u t th e b row ser a n d th e req u est
itself, in clu din g su ch in form ation as th e typ e of bro w ser th e
u ser h as (see "U sin g R e qu est O bjects" in D ay 4 , "R e adin g
D ata Fro m W eb Pag es: B utton s an d T ext Fields,") an d w h at
types of d ata th e b ro w ser accepts. Y ou can u se th ese h ead er
n a m es w ith an oth er m eth od, getHeader, to g et th e h ea d er's
data.

N ext, y ou can tak e a look at th e req ue st h ea d e rs p a ssed to y ou r cod e to see w h at

th ey a re an d w h at th ey can offer you . Listin g 5 .23 sh ow s a sim ple W eb page w ith
ju st a form a n d a su b m it button th at you can u se.

Listing 5.23 Getting Header Data (ch05_29.html)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Getting Header Data</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Getting Header Data</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch05_30.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Submit">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e JS P p a g e th at w ill read an d disp lay th e requ est he a de rs you sen d to
it fro m ch05_29.html in Listin g 5.2 4 .

Listing 5.24 Reading Header Information (ch05_30.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Header Information</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Header Information</H1>
Here are the request headers and their data:
<BR>
<% java.util.Enumeration names = request.getHeaderNames( );
while(names.hasMoreElements()){
String name = (String) names.nextElement();
out.println(name + ":<BR>" + request.getHeader(name) +
"<BR><BR>");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Week 1 – Page 189

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 5.2 1 . A s you see in th at figu re, th e accept h ea de r
in form s y ou w h at kind s of data th e b row se r can accept, th e user-agent h ea de r tells
you w h at b ro w ser th e u ser h as, th e referer he ader tells you th at th e U R L of th e
W eb pa g e th at th e u ser w as ju st loo kin g at w as
http://localhost:8080/ch05/ch05_29.html, an d so on — all u sefu l in form ation .

Figure 5.21. Getting request header data.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Reset Buttons

Week 1 – Page 190

N o discu ssion on H TM L form s w ou ld be com p lete w ith ou t a dd in g reset b u tton s, an d it's
ap p ro priate to en d o u r d iscu ssion on form s w ith th is contro l. T h e u ser ca n click a
reset button to clear all th e data in th e c ontrol in th e form an d reset th em to th eir
defa u lt valu es. Y ou u su a lly a dd a reset button to a form ne xt to th e su b m it bu tton :

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using a Reset Button</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using a Reset Button</H1>
<FORM ACTION="ch04_05.jsp" METHOD="POST">
Please enter your name:
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="text1">
<BR>
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" value="Submit">
<INPUT TYPE="RESET" value="Reset">
</FORM>
</BODY>
<HTML>

Y ou can see th e reset b utton in Figu re 5.2 2 .

Figure 5.22. Adding a reset button to a form.

A n d th at's all it tak es— n ow th e u se r can reset all th e d ata in th e form ju st by clickin g
th is b utton . A lth ou g h n ot m a nd atory , it's a n ice con v en ien ce to h av e a reset button

Week 1 – Page 191

available in you r form s.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Summary
W e've see n a great d eal tod ay. W e to ok a look at w orkin g w ith so m e prim ary H T M L
controls h ere — ch eck b o xes, radio button s, an d select controls.

C h eck box es u su ally op erate ind e pen d ently, an d it's easy to recov er th e d ata fro m a
n a m e d ch eck box w ith th e getParameter m eth od. R a dio button s ope ra te in gro up s,
w h ere y ou give th em th e sa m e n a m e, bu t differen t valu es; an d it's ea sy to fin d
w h ich radio b utton is selected by u sin g th at n a m e w ith getParameter to get th e
valu e of th e selected ra dio button . W e've also see n h ow to select an d d esel ect both
ch eck bo xes an d radio b utton s in code.

C h eck box es can w ork in gro u p s, w he re y ou giv e all ch eck bo xes th e sa m e n a m e b u t

differe n t v alu es. In th at case, you u se th e getParameterValues m etho d , n ot
getParameter, to d eterm in e w h ich ch eck bo x es are ch e ck ed.

W e took a look at u sin g dro p -do w n select controls, as w ell as m u ltiple -selection
select controls, lettin g th e u ser select variou s item s in th ose controls an d
determ in in g w h ich ite m s are selected in code .

W e've also seen h ow to u se im a ge controls a n d create serv er-side im a g e m a ps. T o

create an im a ge m ap, y ou u se th e JS P action <jsp:forward>, w h ich lets you forw a rd
a req u est to an oth er W e b pa ge. Im a ge con tro ls act like su b m it button s, except th at
th ey also pass th e m ou s e location on to th e serv er, w h ich is w h at m ak es it possible
to im ple m en t im a ge m a ps.

W e've see n th at you ca n u se th e <FORM> elem e nt's TARGET attribute to sen d th e

outp u t fro m you r JS P cod e to an oth e r fra m e in a W eb pa ge, a n d w e lea rn ed ho w to
con v ert th e text data w e got from th e getParameter m eth od into n u m b ers.

W e took a look at diss ectin g th e in form ation in a requ est b y gettin g all th e p ara m ete r
n a m es sen t to ou r JS P code u sin g th e getParameterNames m eth od , as w ell as
decip h erin g th e in form a tion in th e requ e st h ead ers w ith th e getHeaderNames
m eth ods.

A t th is point, you'v e gain ed a solid foun d ation in w orkin g w ith requ ests an d H T M L
controls. You kn ow h ow to h a nd le data th e u ser send s, an d h o w to retu rn y ou r ow n
W eb pa g es. N ow th at you r cod e is actu ally doin g som eth in g su b sta n tial, it's ti m e to
start learn in g h ow to org a n ize th at cod e u sin g JavaB e an s.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 192

Q&A

Q1: W h a t if th e u se r o n ly se le cts o n e ite m in a m u lti- s e le ct se lec tio n

co n t ro l? S h o u ld I u se getParameter in th a t c a se ?

A1: N o, you still u se getParameters, bu t th e retu rn ed enu m eration w ill only

h ave on e item in it— th e item th e u ser selected.

Q2: D o im a g e m a p s s e n d a n y o th e r request o b jec t p a ra m e te rs b e s id e s

th e x a n d y m o u s e lo c a tio n ?

A2: N o, th ose a re th e on ly tw o. H ow ever, y ou can u se th e p resen ce of th ose

para m eters to determ in e th at th e im a ge m ap w as clicked, w h ich lets yo u
u se it as a g ra ph ical su bm it b u tton if you w a n t to.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Workshop
T h is w ork sh op tests w h eth er y ou un d erstan d all th e con cepts y ou learn ed tod a y. It's
a goo d idea to m a ster today 's con cepts b y h on in g you r kn ow led g e he re before
startin g tom o rrow 's m aterial. Y ou can fin d th e a n sw ers to th e q u iz q u estion s in
A pp e n d ix A .

Quiz

1: If a control contain s m u ltiple selection s, w h at m eth od d o you u se to get

th ose selection s fro m th e requ e st object?

2: H o w do you create a ra dio button gro u p ?

3: W h at h ap p en s if you d o n't u se th e SIZE attribu te in a select control?

4: If an im ag e contro l is n a m e d image1, w h at a re th e n a m es of th e requ e st

object pa ra m eters h oldin g th e x an d y m o u se location s?

5: H o w can you set re qu es t object p ara m eters w h e n forw a rdin g a requ e st to

an oth er U R L?

Exercises

Week 1 – Page 193

 1: P u t w h at you've learn ed to w ork no w by enh an c in g th e create -you r-ow n
san d w ich exa m p le (Listin g 5.5 ) to read w h at ch eck bo x es are che ck ed an d
display a total price for th e san d w ich (u se $1.0 0 for each ch eck b ox
ch ecked, for exa m p le).

2: D ev elop a JS P p ag e th at displays seven radio contro ls th at let th e u ser

display th e d ay of th e w eek (M on d ay, T u esd a y, an d so on ) — a n d m ak e su re
th at th e cu rren t d ay of th e w eek's rad io button is alrea dy selected w h en th e
pa ge first ap p ea rs. Y ou can do th at w ith th e Date an d Calendar classes
you 'll see to m o rro w — u se th is page directive at th e top of you r cod e: <%@
page import="java.util.*" %>. T h en u se th is cod e: GregorianCalendar
calendar = new GregorianCalendar(); Date date1 = new Date();
calendar.setTime(date1); int day = calendar.get
(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK);, w h ich leav es th e d ay of th e w eek (S un d ay = 1,
M on d ay = 2, an d so on ) in th e varia ble n a m ed day. (Fo r m ore d etails on
dates, see Listin g 6.1 5 , com in g u p to m orrow !)

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Day 6. Creating JSP Components:

JavaBeans
Tod ay , y ou w ill learn h ow to create y ou r ow n Ja v a classes, as w ell as JavaB ea n s. A s
you d evelop you r Java code, it'll get long er a n d long er, an d after a w h ile , it's n ot
goin g to fit easily into scriptlets an y m ore. A s it tu rn s out, JS P servers a re sp ecially
bu ilt to let you r JS P pa g es interact w ith Java classes th at y ou w rite you rself. N ow
th at ou r a pp lication s are g ettin g m ore in volved , w e're g oin g to see h o w th is w ork s.
H ere's an overview of tod ay 's topics:

 C reatin g a n d co m p ilin g Java classes

 C reatin g Java m eth o ds
 U sin g Java classes from JS P
 C reatin g Ja va p ack a ges
 C reatin g a n d u sin g Jav aB ean s
 C reatin g B ea n pro p erties

A s w e'll see , a Java B e a n w ill give you a ccess to pro p erties an d m eth od s th at you can
u se in JS P, called expo sing . T h at is, today w e're goin g to be w orkin g on th e Java p a rt
of Java S erv er Page s, an d you 're goin g to learn h ow to create co m p iled Java classes
accessible fro m JS P.

P uttin g you r cod e in com p iled Java .class files is a g o od idea for sev eral reason s.
First, it en ables y ou to o rga n ize you r cod e an d d ivide it in to m a n a gea ble
com p on ents, w h ich is especially im p orta n t as you r a pp lication s get m o re in volved.
Im a gin e tryin g to p u t tw enty pa g es of Ja va cod e into a scriplet, for ex am p le — it's

Week 1 – Page 194

m u ch easier to h a nd le th at cod e in its ow n Java file an d interact w ith it as ne eded in
JS P. T h e JS P serv er also h as to com p ile th ose 2 0 p ages of code ea ch tim e y ou open
th e pa ge, so th at it also sav es a g reat d eal of tim e to co m p ile you r cod e first an d
save it in a Java .class file.

Tip

You 'll see ho w to create Java classes directly in you r JS P code (in stead of
Java sou rce cod e files a s w e'll do tod ay) in D ay 8, "H a n d lin g Errors," bu t
n ote th at su ch classes a re inten tion ally kept sh ort — for lon ge r Java cod e ,
you u su ally u se a Java B ean .

C reatin g co m p on ents su ch as th is is also h ow JS P sup p o rts cod e reu se. W h eth e r y ou

h av e, say, 10 differen t W eb pa g es th at u se th e sa m e code to a ccess a data base, it's
far m ore efficien t to p u t th at cod e into a co m po n en t su ch as a Java B e a n in stead of
h av in g to repeat th at cod e in each pa g e . B eca u s e an y n u m b e r of W eb p ages can call
th e Java cod e in a Jav a B ean , Jav a B ea n s p rovid e u s w ith co m p on ents th at allow u s to
reu se ou r code a s n ee d e d.

N ow th at w e're tak in g a closer loo k at Java pro g ra m m in g , you'll also learn h ow to

w ork w ith som e Ja v a utility classes today — th e Date an d Calendar classes, w h ich
en a ble you to w ork w ith an d display dates an d tim es, a v ery p opu lar pa rt of W eb
pro g ra m m in g .

T h at's th e p rogra m for today — cre atin g Java co m p o n ents th at can sto re y ou r cod e
an d th at you can intera ct w ith in JS P easily, as w ell as startin g to take a loo k at
som e of th e pow er av a ilable to u s in th e utility classes bu ilt into Java. T oday w e're
goin g to w rite actu al Java pro gra m s, co m p ile th e m ou rselves, an d in stall th em on th e
serv er, so th at w e can reach th em in JS P. W e'll take it step -by-step, an d it all starts
by creatin g a Java class.

Tip

For th e official docu m en tation on Java B ean s, se e

http://jav a.su n.c o m /p ro du cts / ja va b ea ns/do cs /.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating a Java Class

In th is first exa m p le, y o u'll create a Java class n a m ed ch06_01 th at w ill in clud e a
m eth od n a m e d msg th at w ill retu rn th e strin g "Hello from JSP!". W e'll be able to

Week 1 – Page 195

call this m eth od fro m JS P. T o create a Java class, y ou u se th e Java class state m ent,
w h ich looks like th is in g ene ral:

access class classname [extends ...] [implements ...]

{
[access] [static] type variable1;
.
.
.
[access] [static] type variableN;

[access] [static] type method1 (parameter_list)

{
.
.
.
}
.
.
.
[access] [static] type methodN (parameter_list)
{
.
.
.
}
}

W e'll get fa m iliar w ith th e parts of th is statem en t in m o re d etail in D ay 1 1 , "C reatin g

M ore P ow erfu l Java B ean s." T h e a ccess term sp e cifies th e a ccessibility of th e class or
class m e m b ers to th e re st of th e p ro g ra m , a n d can be public, private, or
protected. Y ou u se th e extends an d implements keyw o rds w ith class inh erita n ce,
as w e'll see in D ay 11 .

To create ch06_01.class, w h ich is a co m p iled Java class file, you h a ve to sta rt w ith
th e actu al Java cod e for th is class, w h ich you m u st sto re in a file n a m e d
ch06_01.java. T h e class in th is file w ill be n a m ed ch06_01, a n d you create it w ith
th e Java class state m e nt:

public class ch06_01

{
.
.
.
}
E nter th e p recedin g text into ch06_01.java n ow . Java sou rce
cod e files m u st h ave th e exten sion .java, an d w e m u st n a m e
th is file ch06_01.java b ecau se it contain s a pu b lic class
n a m e d ch06_01. A pu b lic class is accessible to oth er Java code
outside th e cu rren t file, an d you can on ly h ave on e p ub lic
class p e r source code file. If ou r pu b lic class w a s n a m e d

Week 1 – Page 196

 addem, w e'd n ee d to sto re it in a Java sou rce co d e file n a m e d
addem.java. Y ou can also h av e p rivate classes, as w e'll
discu ss later— a p rivate class is on ly accessible in th e sa m e file
th at it's defin ed in , an d you can h a ve as m a n y p rivate classes
in a file as y ou w a nt.

Let's g et sta rted on th e actu al Java code he re, startin g by ad din g a con s tru cto r to
ou r class.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating a Constructor
You u se a con stru cto r to create an obje ct fro m a class. In Ja va, a con stru cto r is a
m eth od w ith th e sa m e n a m e as th e class itself, so th at you can add a con stru ctor to
th e ch06_01 class like th is:

public class ch06_01

{
public ch06_01()
{
}
.
.
.
}

H ere, th e code ad d s a m eth od n a m e d ch06_01 to th e ch06_01 class. T h is p articu lar

con stru cto r d oesn't do a n yth in g ; it's a defa u lt con stru ctor. Later today , you'll see
h ow you can pa ss data to a con stru cto r s u ch as th is to con figu re th e object — in
particu lar, you 'll see ho w to u se th e con stru cto r to set th e text th at th e msg m eth od
w ill retu rn . N ow it's tim e to create th e msg m eth od.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating a Method
T h e msg m eth od is sim p ly sup p osed to retu rn th e text "Hello from JSP!", an d you
don 't pass an y data to it. T h is is a m eth od of th e ch06_01 class, so you can m ak e its
defin ition part of th at class, as you see in Listin g 6.1 .

Week 1 – Page 197

 Listing 6.1 Creating a Method (ch06_01.java)

public class ch06_01

{
public ch06_01()
{
}

public String msg()

{
return "Hello from JSP!";
}
}

N ote th at th is m eth od is declared pu b lic. A pu b lic m eth o d su ch a s th i s can be called

from outside a class an d an y othe r classes base d on th is class. W e h av e to m ak e msg
a pu b lic m eth od so th at it'll be accessible outsid e th e ch06_01 class an d w e can call it
from JS P.

T h at's all you n ee d to start— y ou'v e created a p ub lic clas s, given it a d e fau lt
con stru cto r, an d ad d ed a m eth od, msg, to it. T h e msg m eth od w ill return ou r m essa ge
w h en it's called, so let's take a look at callin g th at m eth od fro m a JS P p age n ow .
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Compiling a Java Class

T h e first step in m ak in g th e msg m eth od a ccessible to ou r JS P cod e is to co m p ile th e file
ch06_01.java, crea tin g th e file ch06_01.class. T h is is a step th at th e JS P server
h as be en tak in g care of for u s, b u t n ow th at w e w a n t to com p ile a Java class, w e'll
h a n dle th is task ourselv es.

In D a y 1, "G ettin g S tarted!," w e set ou r co m p uter's path to in clu de th e Java bin

directory (su ch as C:\jdk1.4\bin), w h ich gives u s a ccess to th e Java too ls th at w e'll
u se he re— in th is case, w e'll u se th e Java co m p iler, javac. M ak e su re th at you're in
th e sa m e directory a s ch06_01.java, an d en ter javac ch06_01.java a t th e
com m a n d p ro m p t to co m p ile ch06_01.java. Fo r exa m p le, in W in d ow s, th at m igh t
loo k like

C:\ch06>javac ch06_01.java

Tip

If y ou h av en 't set you r path as w e discu ssed in D ay 1, y ou can still u se

javac to com p ile Java files if you give th e fu ll path of th at com p iler, w h ich
m igh t loo k like th is in W ind ow s: C:\ch06>C:\jdk1.4\binjavac

Week 1 – Page 198

 ch06_01.java.

T h is w ill co m p ile ch06_01.java an d create ch06_01.class in th e sa m e directory.

T h is n ew file, ch06_01.class, is th e file w e're goin g to n ee d so th at o u r JS P cod e
can call th e msg m eth o d .

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Installing a Compiled Java Class

S o w he re can w e p u t ch06_01.class, so th at w e'll h ave access to it in a W eb pa ge ?
T h e exa m p les for tod a y go into th e webapps\ch06 directo ry in th e T om cat
directories. A s w e saw in D ay 1, directo ries like th e ch06 directo ry n eed a
sub d irectory n a m ed WEB-INF, w h ich itself h as tw o su bd irecto ries, classes an d lib:

webapps
|____ch06
|____WEB-INF
|____classes
|____lib

To give th e JS P p ag es in th e ch06 directory acc ess to Java .class files, th ose .class
files m u st go into th e ch06\WEB-INF\classes directo ry. T h at's all it tak es to give
you r JS P code access to ch06_01.class— ju st p u t th at file into th e ch06\WEB-
INF\classes directo ry. N ow w e're read y to pu t th is n ew Java class to w ork for u s,
an d th at's com in g u p n e xt.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using a Compiled Java Class

O u r n ew Java class, ch06_01, is n ow in stalled — h ow do y ou u se it in a W eb pa g e?
You can start off by im p ortin g th at class into ou r JS P p ag e w ith th e pa g e directive
(th at you first sa w in D a y 1). T h e pa g e directive's im p ort attrib ute en a bles you to
im p ort a Java class to m ake it ava ilable to you r JS P cod e. H ere's ho w you can im p ort
th e ch06_01 class:

<%@ page import="ch06_01" %>

<HTML>
<HEAD>

Week 1 – Page 199

 <TITLE>Using a JavaBean</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
.
.
.
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ow you can create a n ew object of th is class. T h is tim e th e code w ill call this n ew
object messager. T h is object w ill en able u s to call th e msg m eth od to g et th e "Hello
from JSP!" m e ssa g e:

<%@ page import="ch06_01" %>

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using a JavaBean</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<H1>Using a JavaBean</H1>

<% ch06_01 messager = new ch06_01(); %>

.
.
.
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ow you h av e an ob ject of th e ch06_01 class, so you can call th e msg m eth od to get
th e m e ssa g e a n d display it, as y ou see in Listin g 6.2 .

Listing 6.2 Calling a Method (ch06_02.jsp)

<%@ page import="ch06_01" %>

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using a JavaBean</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<H1>Using a JavaBean</H1>

<% ch06_01 messager = new ch06_01(); %>

The message is: <%= messager.msg() %>

</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 6.1 , w he re ou r call to th e msg m eth od w as

su ccessfu l.

Week 1 – Page 200

 Figure 6.1. Calling a compiled Java method.

A t th is point, w e'v e b e e n a ble to create an d com p ile a Java class, in sta ll it w h ere th e
JS P serv er can fin d it, an d call a m eth od in th at class.

N ote th at w e h ad to spe cifically im p ort th e class. A ctu ally, w e

can m ak e th in g s a little easier on ou rselves if w e pu t ou r class
in to a Java pa ck age, an d th at's co m in g u p n ext.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating a Package
Java provides an easy w ay of org an izin g you r classes u sin g Java p acka ges. A n d if
you u se a Ja va p acka ge , you w on 't h ave to u se th e page directive to im p ort you r
classes in JS P.

For exa m p le, you can p u t th e Java cod e ju st d e velop ed into a n ew class th at's p a rt of
a Java packa g e . In th is case, th e packa g e w ill be n a m ed beans. You ca n create th is
pack a g e in a .java file w ith th e package state m e nt, as you see in Listin g 6.3 .

Listing 6.3 Creating a Package (ch06_03.java)

package beans;

Week 1 – Page 201

public class ch06_03
{
public String msg() {
return "Hello from JSP!";
}

public ch06_03()
{
}
}

N ow w h en y ou com p ile th is n ew file, ch06_03.java, y ou'll get ch06_03.class— b u t

th e pu b lic class in th is .class file is n o long er ch06_03. In stead , it's beans.ch06_03,
beca u se it's in th e beans packa g e. T h at's h ow y ou m u st refer to it n ow — as
beans.ch06_03. A n d y o u ca n't pu t it into th e classes directo ry an y m o re ; y ou m u st
pu t it into a directo ry n a m e d classes\beans:

webapps
|____ch06
|____WEB-INF
|____classes
| |____beans
|____lib

In th is w ay, th e disk o rg an ization of you r Ja v a classes reflects th e p ack a ge y ou'v e

pu t you r classes in . Y ou sep a rate p ack a ge n a m es w ith a dot ( .). Fo r ex a m p le, if w e
created a pack a ge n a m ed these.are.my.beans like th is

package these.are.my.beans;

public class ch06_03

{
public String msg() {
.
.
.

th en w e'd store ou r ch06_03.class file in th e directory

classes\these\are\my\beans:

webapps
|____ch06
|____WEB-INF
|____classes
| |____these
| |____are
| |____my
| |____beans
|____lib

Week 1 – Page 202

N ow th at w e've placed ou r n ew class in a pack a ge n a m ed beans, h ow d o w e access
th at class? T h at's com in g u p n ext.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using a Package
A s fa r as ou r JS P p ag e goes, all th at's ch an g ed is th e n a m e of ou r class; in stead of
ch06_03, it's n ow beans.ch06_03. T h at m ea n s all you h ave to do is u se th at as th e
class n a m e, as you see in Listin g 6.4 .

Listing 6.4 Using a Package (ch06_04.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using a Java Package</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using a Java Package</H1>

<% beans.ch06_03 messager = new beans.ch06_03(); %>

The message is: <%= messager.msg() %>

</BODY>
</HTML>

N otice th at th e page dire ctive w e u sed in ou r e a rlier n on -pack a ge exa m p le

ch06_02.jsp is gon e. N ow th at w e'v e p u t ou r Java class into a p acka g e, th e n ew
directory stru ctu re (sp e cifically, th e beans sub d irectory of th e classes directo ry) tells
To m cat w h e re to fin d ch06_03.class. W e d on't n ee d to im p ort an y class at all;
To m cat w ill do th at for u s a uto m atically. Y ou ca n see th e resu lts in Figu re 6 .2 — n ow
w e're org a n izin g ou r Jav a classes into packa g es.

Figure 6.2. Using a class from a Java package.

Week 1 – Page 203

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Passing Data to a Constructor

S o fa r, ou r con stru ctor h as n't don e a n yth in g , bu t it's tim e to ch an g e th at. U su ally
you u se a Ja va class's con stru ctor to con figu re an object w h en y ou cre ate it, an d
w e'll do th at h ere. F or e xa m p le, w e can p a ss th e strin g w e w a n t th e msg m eth od to
retu rn to th e con stru cto r, sto rin g th at strin g in tern ally.

H ere's h ow it m igh t loo k — in th is case, th e con stru cto r for th is class tak es a String
arg u m e n t an d stores it in an intern al variable n a m e d msg. T h e msg m eth od rea ds th e
text an d retu rn s it w h en you call th is m eth o d; y ou can see ho w it all loo ks in Listin g
6.5 .

Listing 6.5 Returning Text from a Method (ch06_05.java)

package beans;

public class ch06_05

{
String msg;

public ch06_05(String message)

{
msg = message;
}

Week 1 – Page 204

 public String msg() {
return msg;
}
}

N ow you can p ass d ata to th is n ew con stru ctor w h en you create a n ew object of th is
Java class, a s y ou can see in Listin g 6.6 .

Listing 6.6 Using a Constructor (ch06_06.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using a Constructor</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using a Constructor</H1>

<% beans.ch06_05 messager = new beans.ch06_05("Hello from JSP!");

%>

The message is: <%= messager.msg() %>

</BODY>
</HTML>

A n d th at's all th ere is to it— n ow you 're able to con figu re th e objects y ou create fro m
Jav a classes w ith a con stru cto r. Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 6.3 .

Figure 6.3. Using a constructor.

Week 1 – Page 205

A ctu ally, th e Java classes w e'v e be en d ev elopin g so far are n ot techn ically
JavaB ea n s, th ey're ju st classes. A Jav a B ean m u st also exp o se pro pe rtie s.

JS P m ak es it easy to in tera ct w ith Java classes an d JavaB ea n s u sin g th e

<jsp:useBean> ele m en t. You can u se th is ele m e n t to creat e objects fro m Java B e an s
(an d th en set an d g et p ro p erty valu es u sin g th at object), an d an in -de pth look at th is
ele m en t is co m in g u p n ext.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using <jsp:useBean>
You 'v e seen th at you ca n create obje cts from Ja va classes w ith ou t an y special effort.
B u t you can also u se th e <jsp:useBean> ele m e n t to do th e sa m e th in g . T h e
<jsp:useBean> ele m en t is a con v en ien ce elem e n t in JS P th at en a bles y ou to create
an object of a Java class an d give it an ID . Y ou can th en u se th at ID w ith tw o oth er
ele m ents, <jsp:getProperty> an d <jsp:setProperty>, to g et an d set pro p erty
valu es.

Let's tak e a look at th e sy ntax of th e <jsp:useBean> ele m ent. A s disc u ssed in th e

Introd u ction , th is boo k u ses th e con v ention s of Java do cu m e ntation for sy ntax su ch
as th is— h ere, | m ea n s "or," ite m s in bold are d e fau lt setting s, item s in squ are
brack ets ([ an d ]) are o ption al, an d you m u st select on e item of th ose th at ap p ear in

Week 1 – Page 206

cu rly braces ({ an d } ):

<jsp:useBean id="ID"
scope="page|request|session|application"
{
class="package.class" [ type="package.class" ]|
beanName="{package.class | <%= expression %>}"
type="package.class" |
type="package.class"
}
{ /> | > other elements </jsp:useBean> }

Let's tak e a look at th e attributes of th is elem e nt:

 id="ID"— A va ria ble th at iden tifies th e b ean . Y ou can u se th e va riable n a m e

in expression s or scriptlets in th e JS P pa g e. If th e bean h a s already b e en
created b y a n oth er <jsp:useBean> ele m ent, th e valu e of id m u st m atch th e
valu e of id u sed w h en th e bean w as create d .
 scope="page|request|session|application"— T h e scop e in w h ich th e
bean exists. T h e d e fa u lt valu e is page. W e'll see m o re on scop e tom orro w .
T h e p ag e scop e m e an s you can u se th e b ean w ith in th e JS P pa ge. T h e
req u est sc ope m ean s yo u can u se th e b ea n fro m an y JS P pa g e p rocessin g th e
sa m e re qu est. T h e session scop e m ean s y ou ca n u se th e be an fro m an y JS P
pa ge in th e sa m e session as th e JS P p a ge th at created th e b ea n , as you 'll see
tom o rrow . T h e a p p lica tion scop e m ea n s y ou ca n u se th e be an fro m an y JS P
pa ge in th e sa m e a p p lication as th e JS P pa g e th at created th e b ea n , a s you 'll
see tom orrow .
 class="package.class"— C reates a bea n fro m a class. T h e class m u st h ave
a pu b lic no -arg u m e n t con stru ctor.
 type="package.class"— If th e bean alrea dy e xists, th is gives th e be a n a
data type oth e r th an th e class it w as created from . T h e typ e m u st be a class
or interfa ce th at th e b e a n is already based on .
 beanName="{package.class | <%= expression %>}"
type="package.class"— C re ates a bean fro m a class. W h en you u se
beanName, th e b ean is created by th e java.beans.Beans.instantiate
m eth od, w h ich w e're n o t goin g to cover h ere.
 other elements— Y ou can in clud e oth er elem e nts in side th e body of
<jsp:useBean>, su ch a s th e <jsp:getProperty> an d <jspSetProperty>
ele m ents.

H ere's an exa m p le th at puts <jsp:useBean> to w ork. W e'v e already see n th is cod e ,

w h ich creates an obje ct from ch06_03.class an d calls th at object's msg m eth od:

<% beans.ch06_03 messager = new beans.ch06_03(); %>

The message is: <%= messager.msg() %>

H ere's h ow to d o th e sa m e th in g w ith <jsp:useBean>. In th is case, you can create a

n ew be an w ith th e ID bean1 fro m th e sa m e class, ch06_03.class (intern ally, Java
actu ally u ses th e new op erator to create th is n ew obje ct). T h en you can refer to th at

Week 1 – Page 207

bean w ith th at ID — for e xa m p le, you can call th e b ean 's msg m eth od as bean1.msg,
as y ou see in Listin g 6.7 .

Listing 6.7 Using a Bean (ch06_07.jsp )

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using &lt;jsp:useBean&gt;</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using &lt;jsp:useBean&gt;</H1>

<jsp:useBean id="bean1" class="beans.ch06_03" />

The message is: <%= bean1.msg() %>

</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th is W eb p a ge in Figu re 6.4, w h ere w e'v e u sed <jsp:useBean> to create

a n ew Jav a object.

Figure 6.4. Using the <jsp:useBean> element.

T h e <jsp:useBean> elem e n t is design ed to b e u sed w ith tw o oth er elem e nts — th e

<jsp:getProperty> an d <jspSetProperty> elem e nts, w h ich en a ble y ou to w ork

Week 1 – Page 208

 w ith bean pro p e rties. W e'll loo k at h ow to create a p ro p erty in a JavaB e an n ext.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating a Read-Only Property

A pro p erty is a data item th at you store in a Ja vaB ea n . Fo r exa m p le, sup p ose you
h ave a p ro p erty n a m e d color. Y ou can store va riou s strin g s, su ch as red, blue, an d
so on in th e color prop erty , an d th e be an can u se th at pro p erty's valu e to con fig u re
th e H TM L it retu rn s fro m othe r m eth o ds.

To sup p ort a Java B ea n pro p erty , y ou u se get a n d set m eth od s. F or ex a m p le, for th e
color pro p erty, you'd a dd getColor an d setColor m eth od s to th e b ea n . N ote th at
you capitalize "color" in getColor an d setColor, even th ou g h th e actu a l pro perty
n a m e is color— Java w ill expect th e se m eth ods to exist, so it can w ork w ith th e
color pro p erty. If y ou r pro p erty w as n a m ed myFavoriteProperty, y ou w ou ld u se
th e get an d set m etho d s getMyFavoriteProperty an d setMyFavoriteProperty.

In th is ca se, you can ad d a prop e rty n a m ed message th at retu rn s ou r m essa ge fro m th e

bea n . Y ou can sta rt by on ly ad d in g a get m eth o d, w h ich m ean s th is p rope rty w ill
be read-o n ly (th ere's n o set m eth od to set its valu e). In p articu lar, th is cod e w ill
en a ble Java to read th e valu e of th is pro p erty w ith a m eth od n a m ed getMessage, as
you see in Listin g 6.8 .

Listing 6.8 Reading a Property Value (ch06_08.java)

package beans;

public class ch06_08

{

private String message = "Hello from JSP!";

public String getMessage()

{
return message;
}

public ch06_08()
{
}
}

N ote th at in a ddition to th e getMessage m eth od , th e cod e h as also de clared a

variable w ith th e sa m e n a m e as th e p ro p erty , message. Java w ill exp ect to fin d a
variable w ith th e sa m e n a m e as th e p ro p erty th is w ay, b e ca u se th at tells Java w h at

Week 1 – Page 209

th e data type of th e p ro p erty is.

You m ig h t also n ote th a t th e code h as d eclared th e strin g variable message to b e

private h ere. T h at m ea n s it's n ot accessible outside objects of th is class— in stea d,
you m u st a ccess its valu e w ith th e getMessage m eth od. If you m a d e th is variable
public in stead (su ch as th is: public String message = "Hello from JSP!";),
you can access it in JS P cod e directly as object.message, as in th is cod e:

<% beans.ch06_05 messager = new beans.ch06_08; %>

The message is: <%= messager.message %>

H o w ev er, th is gives th e JS P cod e direct access to th e message va riable, w h ich m ea n s

it can ch an g e th at varia ble's valu e. T o av oid su ch ta m p e rin g , it h as bec om e sta nd ard
in Java B ean s to u se get an d set m eth ods to create a w ell-defin ed w ay of accessin g
pro p erty valu es— for ex a m p le, if som e JS P cod e tried to set a pro pe rty n a m e d
height to a n egative va lu e, th e pro p erty's set m eth od can detect th at an d n ot s tore
th at valu e in th e pro p erty.

T h at's all w e n ee d to let Java read th e valu e of th is pro p e rty. H ow d o y o u read th at

valu e in JS P? You u se th e <jsp:getProperty> elem ent.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

<jsp:getProperty> : Getting a Property Value

You u se th e <jsp:getProperty> ele m en t to retu rn th e valu e of a p ro p erty . H ere's
th e sy ntax for th is elem ent:

<jsp:getProperty name="ID" property="propertyName" />

H ere are th e attributes of th is ele m ent:

 name="ID"— T h is refers to th e n a m e of th e b ea n as de clared in a

<jsp:useBean> ele m en t.
 property="propertyName"— T h e n a m e of th e bean p rop e rty w h ose va lu e
you w ant. T h e p ro p erty is declared as a va riable in a bean an d m u st h av e a
corresp on d in g get m eth od.

H ere's h ow you can u se <jsp:getProperty> to get th e valu e of th e message

pro p erty — all you h ave to do is u se <jsp:useBean> to create an obje ct n a m e d, say,
bean1, an d th en g et th e valu e of th e message p ro p erty , a s y ou see in Listin g 6.9 .

Listing 6.9 Getting a Property Value (ch06_09.jsp)

<HTML>

Week 1 – Page 210

 <HEAD>
<TITLE>Getting a Property Value</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY> element> element> element>

<H1>Getting a Property Value</H1>

<jsp:useBean id="bean1" class="beans.ch06_08" />

The message is: <jsp:getProperty name="bean1" property="message" />

</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e resu lts in Figu re 6.5 .

Figure 6.5. Getting a property's value.

N ow w e can g et th e valu e of a p ro p erty in a JavaB ea n . It's w orth n otin g th a t you can

also u se <jsp:getProperty> in sid e a <jsp:useBean> ele m ent:

The message is:

<jsp:useBean id="bean1" class="beans.ch06_08">
<jsp:getProperty name="bean1" property="message" />
</jsp:useBean>

N ote, ho w ever, th at th is w ill on ly w ork if th e en closin g <jsp:useBean> elem e n t

creates th e obje ct y ou're accessin g w ith <jsp:getProperty>; if th e object alread y
exists (th at is, w as cre a ted by an oth er <jsp:useBean> elem e nt), th e elem e nts in th e

Week 1 – Page 211

 <jsp:useBean> ele m en t are n ot ex ecu ted.

T h at's ho w to get th e va lu e of a p ro p erty — n ow w h at a bou t settin g a p rope rty's

valu e?
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating a Read/Write Property

To let Java set th e valu e of a p rop e rty, you can u se a set m eth o d. F or exa m p le, to let
ou r JS P cod e set th e m e ssage ou r bean w ill retu rn , w e can ad d a m eth o d n a m e d
setMessage to set th e v alu e of th e message pro p erty . Y ou can see w h at th at m ig h t
loo k like in Listin g 6.1 0 .

Listing 6.10 Creating a Property (ch06_10.java)

package beans;

public class ch06_10

{

private String message = "Hello from JSP!";

public void setMessage(String msg)

{
this.message = msg;
}

public String getMessage()

{
return this.message;
}

public ch06_10()
{
}
}

N ote th e keyw ord this h ere. In Ja va, th is keyw ord a lw ays refers to th e curre n t
object. In oth er w ords, this.message refers to th e private va ria ble message created
an d stored in th is object:

private String message = "Hello from JSP!";

public void setMessage(String msg)

{
this.message = msg;
}

Week 1 – Page 212

Th e this keyw ord is a h an d y on e to kn ow n ow th at you 're creatin g Java obje cts —
you can alw ays u se it in cod e to refer to th e curren t object. A s you 've see n , it's n ot
techn ically n ecessa ry to u se th e this keyw ord w h en you 're referrin g to an obje ct's
data from cod e in th at object (in fact, Java w ill u se it auto m atically if you om it it),
bu t you'll so m etim es se e it don e for clarity. It can also preve n t a m b ig u ity w h en a
fun ction arg u m e n t h as th e sa m e n a m e as a va riable.

To a ctu ally set th e valu e of th e m e ssa g e p ro p erty in JS P cod e, you can u se th e

<jsp:setProperty> ele m e nt.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

<jsp:setProperty> : Setting Property Values

You u se <jsp:setProperty> to set p ro p erty valu es in JS P. Y ou can p a ss you r ow n
valu es, or auto m atically pass valu es fro m th e request obje ct. H ere's th e sy ntax of
th is elem e nt:

<jsp:setProperty name="ID"
{
property="*" |
property="propertyName" [ param="parameterName" ] |
property="propertyName" value="{stringLiteral| <%= expression %>}"
}
/>

H ere are th e attributes of th is ele m ent:

 name="ID"— T h e n a m e of a bean th at h as alrea dy b e en created or located

w ith a <jsp:useBean> elem ent.
 property="*"— S to res all of th e valu es of request obje ct p ara m eters in
bean p rop e rties. T h e n a m es of th e b ean pro pe rties m u st m atch th e n a m es of
th e request pa ra m eters. N ote th at th e requ est para m eters a re alw ays
string s, so Java con v erts th em to th e type of y ou r p rop e rty w ith m etho d s
su ch as Double.valueOf(String) auto m atically.
 property="propertyName" [ param="parameterName" ]— S ets on e b ean
pro p erty to th e valu e of on e request p ara m eter. If th e b ean p ro p erty an d th e
req u est p a ra m eter h ave differen t n a m es, y ou m u st sp e cify both property
an d param. If th ey h av e th e sa m e n a m e, you ca n specify property an d om it
param.
 property="propertyName" value="{string | <%= expression %>}"— S ets
on e b ean p rop erty to a specific valu e. T h e valu e can b e a String or an
exp re ssion th at is evalu ated at runtim e. If th e v alu e is a String, it is
con v erted to th e b ean p ro p erty's d ata type a uto m atically.

H ere's an exa m p le th at puts <jsp:setProperty> to w ork u sin g th e set m eth od

setMessage th at w e've ad d ed to ou r exa m p le. In th is case, w e'll first display th e

Week 1 – Page 213

defa u lt m essa g e th at th is pro pe rty h olds, an d th en u se <jsp:setProperty> to set it
to a ne w m essa ge, as y ou see in Listin g 6.1 1 .

Listing 6.11 Setting a Property Value (ch06_11.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Setting a Property Value</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Setting a Property Value</H1>

<jsp:useBean id="bean1" class="beans.ch06_10" />

The message is: <jsp:getProperty name="bean1"

property="message" />
<BR>
<jsp:setProperty name="bean1" property="message" value="Hello
again!" />

Now the message is: <jsp:getProperty name="bean1"

property="message" />
</BODY>
</HTML>

A n d th at's all it tak es— y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 6.6 , w h ere w e see th at w e
w ere in d ee d able to set a bean 's p rop e rty.

Figure 6.6. Setting a property value.

Week 1 – Page 214

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating Private Methods

H ere's on e m ore th in g w e sh ou ld n ote in p assing . W e'v e stored ou r p rope rty u sin g a
private varia ble in ou r Java code — doin g so h elps h ide th at d ata fro m ex tern al
ta m p erin g . Y ou can also create private m eth o d s th at are pu rely intern al to th e
cu rren t object, an d can n ot be called fro m outside th e obje ct. T h is is a goo d idea if
you 're u sin g m eth ods th at you on ly w a n t to call from in side th e object. S u ch
m eth ods m ig h t h elp in p erform in g intern al calcu lation s, for exa m p le. U sin g private
m eth ods ca n h elp orga n ize you r objects, w ra pp in g u p all th eir fun ction ality into a
self-contain e d entity.

H ere's an exa m p le th at sh ow s h ow th is w ork s — in th is case, you ca n ju st add a

private m eth od n a m ed privateMessage th at w ill retu rn th e object's m e ssa g e , an d
call th e m eth od in th e message pro p erty's get m eth od, a s y ou see in Listin g 6.1 2 .

Listing 6.12 Using a Private Method (ch06_12.java)

package beans;

public class ch06_12

{

Week 1 – Page 215

 private String message = "Hello from JSP!";

public void setMessage(String msg)

{
this.message = msg;
}

public String getMessage()

{
return privateMessage();
}

private String privateMessage()

{
return this.message;
}

public ch06_12()
{
}
}

Y ou can see a JS P pa g e th at u ses th is n ew class in Listin g 6.1 3 .

Listing 6.13 Calling a Private Method (ch06_13.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Calling a Private Method</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Calling a Private Method</H1>

<jsp:useBean id="bean1" class="beans.ch06_12" />

The message is: <jsp:getProperty name="bean1"

property="message" />
<BR>
<jsp:setProperty name="bean1" property="message" value="Hello
again!" />

Now the message is: <jsp:getProperty name="bean1"

property="message" />
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e resu lts in Figu re 6.7 — n ow w e'v e created p rivate m eth o d s pu rely
in tern al to a Java obje ct.

Figure 6.7. Using private methods.

Week 1 – Page 216

N ow th at you 're dig gin g into th e depth s of Jav a , it's a go od idea to tak e a loo k at th e
first of sev eral Java utility classes th at you 'll see th rou gh ou t th e b oo k . T h ese utility
classes are an im p ortan t part of Java pro gra m m ing . H e re y ou'll see th e Date class,
w h ich is in th e p acka g e n a m e d java.util.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Java Utility Classes: Working with Dates

T h e Date class en a bles you to create objects th at rep resen t a sp ecific in sta n t in tim e.
T h is class is a pop u lar o n e in Java pro g ra m m in g am o n g JS P p ro g ra m m e rs, b e ca u se it
en a bles you to keep tra ck of dates an d tim es. F or exa m p le, you can se e a JS P pa ge
th at displays th e date a n d tim e in Listin g 6.1 4 .

Listing 6.14 Using the Date Class (ch06_14.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using the Date Class</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using the Date Class</H1>

Week 1 – Page 217

 The date is: <%= new java.util.Date() %>.
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e resu lts in Figu re 6.8 .

Figure 6.8. Getting the date.

B efore Java v ersion 1.1, you cou ld also u se th e Date class to get th e d a y of th e
m o nth , y ear, h our, an d so on sep a rately, b u t th at's gotten m ore co m p le x. N ow , th e
Calendar class sh ou ld be u sed to get th at kin d of in form ation . T h e origin al m eth ods
in th e Date class a re d e p recated, as you 'll see .

You sh ou ld kn ow th at th ere a re certain con vention s u sed to repre sen t m onth s, day s
of th e m onth , an d so on , in th e Date class:

 A m o nth is rep resented by an integer fro m 0 to 11; 0 is Jan u ary, 1 is

Febru a ry, an d so on , u p to 11, w h ich is D ecem b er.
 A date (day of m onth ) is rep resented by an intege r from 1 to 31.
 A n h ou r is re presented by an integer fro m 0 to 23. T h e h ou r from m idn igh t to
1 a.m . is h ou r 0, an d th e h ou r fro m n o on to 1 p .m . is h ou r 12 , an d so o n .
 A m inute is rep resen ted by an integer fro m 0 to 59.
 A secon d is rep resen ted by an integer from 0 to 61 (th e valu es 60 an d 61 do
occu r! B u t on ly for leap secon d s).

You can see th e Date class's m eth ods in Ta ble 6.1 .

Week 1 – Page 218

 Table 6.1. Date Class Methods
M e th o d D o e s T h is
Date() C reates a Date obje ct a n d in itializes it to th e tim e it w as
created.
Date(int year, int D ep reca ted. R eplaced b y Calendar.set(year + 1900,
month, int date) month, date) or GregorianCalendar(year + 1900,
month, date).
Date(int year, int D ep recated. R eplace d b y Calendar.set(year + int
month, int date, hrs, 1900, month, date, hrs, min) or
int min) GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date,
hrs, min).
Date(int year, int D ep recated. R eplace d b y Calendar.set(year + int
month, int date, hrs, 1900, month, date, hrs, min, sec) or
int min, int sec)
GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date, hrs,
min, sec).
Date(long date) C reates a Date obje ct a n d in itializes it to th e given
nu m b e r of m illisecon d s sin ce Jan u ary 1, 1970,
00 :0 0 :00 G M T.
Date(String s) D ep recated. R eplace d b y DateFormat.parse(String).
boolean after(Date T ests if th is date is after th e sp ecified date.
when)
boolean before(Date T ests if th is date is befo re th e sp ecified date.
when)
Object clone() R etu rn s a copy of th is o bject.
int compareTo(Date C o m p a res tw o Dates for ord erin g .
anotherDate)
int compareTo(Object C o m p a res th is Date to a n oth er obje ct.
o)
boolean equals(Object C o m p a res tw o d ates for equ ality.
obj)
int getDate() D ep recated. R eplace d b y
Calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH).
int getDay() D ep recated. R eplace d b y
Calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK).
int getHours() D ep recated. R eplace d b y
Calendar.get(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY).
int getMinutes() D ep recated. R eplace d b y
Calendar.get(Calendar.MINUTE).
int getMonth() D ep recated. R eplace d b y
Calendar.get(Calendar.MONTH).

Week 1 – Page 219

int getSeconds() D ep recated. R eplace d b y
Calendar.get(Calendar.SECOND).
long getTime() R etu rn s th e nu m b e r of m illisecond s sin ce Janu a ry 1,
197 0, 00 :00 :0 0 G M T re p resented by th is Date object.
int D ep recated. R eplace d b y
getTimezoneOffset() Calendar.get(Calendar.ZONE_OFFSET) an d
Calendar.get(Calendar.DST_OFFSET).
int getYear() D ep recated . R eplaced b y
Calendar.get(Calendar.YEAR) - 1900.
void setDate(int date) D ep recated. R eplac ed b y
Calendar.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, int date).
void setHours(int D ep recated. R eplace d b y
hours) Calendar.set(Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY, int hours).
void setMinutes(int D ep recated. R eplace d b y
minutes) Calendar.set(Calendar.MINUTE, int minutes).
void setMonth(int D ep recated. R eplace d b y
month) Calendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, int month).
void setSeconds(int D ep recated. R eplace d b y
seconds) Calendar.set(Calendar.SECOND, int seconds).
void setTime(long S ets th is Date object to rep rese n t time m illisecond s
time) after Ja nu ary 1 , 1970 0 0:00 :0 0 G M T.
void setYear(int year) D ep recated. R eplac ed b y
Calendar.set(Calendar.YEAR, year + 1900).
String toGMTString() D ep recated. R eplaced b y DateFormat.format(Date
date), u sin g a G M T tim e zon e.
String D ep recated. R eplace d b y DateFormat.format(Date
toLocaleString() date).
String toString() C on verts th is Date obje ct to a String.
long UTC(int year, int D ep recated. R eplace d b y Calendar.set(year + int
month, date, int hrs, 1900, month, date, hrs, min, sec) or
int min, int sec) GregorianCalendar(year + 1900, month, date,
hrs, min, sec), u sin g a U TC tim e zon e, follow ed by
Calendar.getTime().getTime().

A s y ou can see in Table 6.1 , m an y of th e Date class's m eth ods th at let you g et th e
h ou r, d a y, m inute, an d so on a re n ow d ep recated in fav or of th e Calendar class. T h e
rea son is th at th e Date class w as n't p rep ared fo r intern ation alization . U sin g th e Date
class togeth er w ith variou s Calendar classes, o n th e othe r h a nd , en a bles you to
w ork w ith tim es in an y intern ation al locale.

Week 1 – Page 220

 You don 't actu ally u se th e Calendar class directly, you u se a
class de rived fro m it for spe cific locales. C urrently, th ere's
on ly on e su ch class, GregorianCalendar. S ay, for exa m p le,
th at you w an t to get th e cu rre n t y ear. Y ou can d o th at by
creatin g a GregorianCalendar obje ct an d passin g its setTime
m eth od a Date object. T h en to g et th e year in th at Date
object, y ou can u se th e GregorianCalendar ob ject's get
m eth od, p a ssin g it th e Calendar.YEAR field like th is:

GregorianCalendar calendar = new GregorianCalendar();

Date date1 = new Date();
calendar.setTime(date1);
out.println("Calendar.YEAR is " + calendar.get(Calendar.YEAR) +
"<BR>");

T h e fields of a class a re its data m e m b e rs — th at is, variables availa ble p ub licly or to

classes based on th e cu rren t class. W h en a field n a m e is in capital letters (like YEAR),
th at's a Java co n vention — it m ea n s th e field is a con stant, an d its valu e can 't be
ch a ng e d (th ese a re static data m e m be rs, a n d y ou d e clare th e m in Java w ith th e
static keyw ord). You can see th e fields of th e C alen d ar class in Table 6.2 . Y ou can
also set th e tim e in a GregorianCalendar obje ct u sin g th e set m eth od su ch as in
th e follow in g, w h ere th e cod e is settin g th e tim e to 23 :59 (on e m inute b efore
m idn ight) on 11 /31 /20 05:

calendar.set(2005, 11, 31, 23, 59);

Table 6.2. Calendar Class Fields
F ie ld M e a n in g
int AM V alu e of th e AM_PM field for th e p eriod of th e da y from
m idn igh t to ju st before n oo n .
int AM_PM Ind icates w h eth e r th e HOUR is befo re or a fter n o on .
int APRIL V alu e of th e MONTH field for A p ril.
int AUGUST V alu e of th e MONTH field for A u g u st.
int DATE U se in get an d set for th e day of th e m onth .
int DAY_OF_MONTH U se in get an d set for th e day of th e m onth .
int DAY_OF_WEEK U se in get an d set for th e d ay of th e w eek.
int U se in get an d set for th e nu m b e r o f th e d a y of th e
DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH w eek w ith in th e cu rre n t m o nth .
int DAY_OF_YEAR U se in get an d set for th e d ay nu m b e r w ith in th e
cu rren t year.
int DECEMBER V alu e of th e MONTH field for D ecem b e r.
int DST_OFFSET U se in get an d set for th e d ay ligh t sav in g s offset in
m illisecond s.

Week 1 – Page 221

int ERA U se in get an d set for th e era (su ch as A .D . o r B .C . in
th e Ju lian calen d ar).
int FEBRUARY V alu e of th e MONTH field for th e secon d m onth of th e
yea r.
int FIELD_COUNT T h e nu m b e r of distin ct fields recog n ized by get an d
set.
protected int[] fields T h e field valu es for th e cu rrently set tim e for th is
calend ar.
int FRIDAY V alu e of th e DAY_OF_WEEK field for Frid ay.
int HOUR U se in get an d set for th e h ou r of th e m orn in g or
aftern oo n .
int HOUR_OF_DAY U se in get an d set for th e h ou r of th e da y.

protected boolean[] T h e flags th at tell w h ethe r a sp ecified tim e field for th e

isSet calend ar is set.
protected boolean True if th e valu e of tim e is valid.
isTimeSet
int JANUARY V alu e of th e MONTH field for Jan u ary.
int JULY V alu e of th e MONTH field for Ju ly.
int JUNE V alu e of th e MONTH field for Jun e.
int MARCH V alu e of th e MONTH field for M a rch .
int MAY V alu e of th e MONTH field for M ay .
int MILLISECOND U se in get an d set for th e m illisecon d w ith in th e
secon d .
int MINUTE U se in get an d set for th e m in ute w ith in th e h o u r.
int MONDAY V alu e of th e DAY_OF_WEEK field for M ond ay.
int MONTH U se in get an d set for th e m onth .
int NOVEMBER V alu e of th e MONTH field for N ov em b e r.
int OCTOBER V alu e of th e MONTH field for O ctob er.
int PM V alu e of th e AM_PM field for th e p eriod of th e da y from
n oo n to ju st be fore m idn ight.
int SATURDAY V alu e of th e DAY_OF_WEEK field for S atu rd ay .
int SECOND U se in get an d set for th e secon d w ith in th e m inute.
int SEPTEMBER V alu e of th e MONTH field for S epte m b e r.
int SUNDAY V alu e of th e DAY_OF_WEEK field for S u n d ay.
int THURSDAY V alu e of th e DAY_OF_WEEK field for T hu rsd ay.

Week 1 – Page 222

long time T h e cu rrently set tim e for th is calen d ar, exp ressed in
m illisecond s after Jan u a ry 1, 1970, 0:00 :0 0 G M T.
int TUESDAY V alu e of th e DAY_OF_WEEK field for T u esd ay .
int UNDECEMBER V alu e of th e MONTH field for th e th irtee nth m onth of
th e year.
int WEDNESDAY V alu e of th e DAY_OF_WEEK field for W edn e sday.
int WEEK_OF_MONTH U se in get an d set for th e w ee k n u m b er w ith in th e
cu rren t m onth .
int WEEK_OF_YEAR U se in get an d set for th e w ee k n u m b er w ith in th e
cu rren t year.
int YEAR U se in get an d set for th e yea r.
int ZONE_OFFSET U se in get an d set for th e offset from G M T in
m illisecond s.

H ere's an exa m p le p uttin g th ese fields to w ork — you can fin d th e cu rre n t year,
m o nth , an d so on an d th en reset th e Calendar object to 23 :5 9 on 11 /3 1/20 05 an d
display th e variou s Calendar fields again , as y ou see in Listin g 6.1 5 .

Listing 6.15 Using the Calendar Class (ch06_15.jsp)

[View full width]

<%@ page import="java.util.*" %>

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Fields of the Calendar Class</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Fields of the Calendar Class</H1>
<%
String dateString = new String();

GregorianCalendar calendar = new GregorianCalendar();

Date date1 = new Date();
calendar.setTime(date1);

dateString += "Calendar.YEAR is " + calendar.get

(Calendar.YEAR) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.MONTH is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.MONTH) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.WEEK_OF_YEAR is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
WEEK_OF_YEAR) +
"<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.WEEK_OF_MONTH is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
WEEK_OF_MONTH)
+ "<BR>";

Week 1 – Page 223

 dateString += "Calendar.DATE is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.DATE) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
DAY_OF_MONTH) +
"<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR) +
"<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
DAY_OF_WEEK) +
"<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH is "
+ calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.AM_PM is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.AM_PM) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.HOUR is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.HOUR) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
HOUR_OF_DAY) +
"<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.MINUTE is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.MINUTE) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.SECOND is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.SECOND) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.MILLISECOND is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
MILLISECOND) +
"<BR>";

dateString += "Resetting the date!<BR>";

calendar.set(2005, 11, 31, 23, 59);

dateString += "Calendar.YEAR is " +

calendar.get(Calendar.YEAR) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.MONTH is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.MONTH) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.WEEK_OF_YEAR is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
WEEK_OF_YEAR) +
"<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.WEEK_OF_MONTH is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
WEEK_OF_MONTH)
+ "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.DATE is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.DATE) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
DAY_OF_MONTH) +
"<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
DAY_OF_YEAR) +

Week 1 – Page 224

 "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
DAY_OF_WEEK) +
"<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH is "
+ calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK_IN_MONTH) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.AM_PM is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.AM_PM) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.HOUR is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.HOUR) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.HOUR_OF_DAY is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
HOUR_OF_DAY) +
"<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.MINUTE is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.MINUTE) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.SECOND is " +
calendar.get(Calendar.SECOND) + "<BR>";
dateString += "Calendar.MILLISECOND is " + calendar.get
(Calendar.
MILLISECOND) +
"<BR>";
out.println(dateString);
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

You can see th e resu lts in Figu re 6.9 , w h ere y ou see th e y ear, m onth , d ay, an d so
on .

Figure 6.9. Fields of the Calendar class.

Week 1 – Page 225

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Summary
Tod ay you lea rn ed h ow to create Jav a classes, a n d Java B ean s th at sup p ort
pro p erties.

In p a rticu lar, y ou learne d h ow to u se th e Ja va class state m en t to create Java

classes. Y ou also sa w th at you can place a con stru ctor into a class , a n d th at you can
pass data to th at con stru ctor.

T h e <jsp:useBean> elem e n t en a bles you to cre ate an object from a Ja v a class or

JavaB ea n . W e'v e seen th at you can u se th is elem e n t to n a m e an object w h en it's
created, so th at it's accessible elsew h e re in yo u r code .

T h e <jsp:getProperty> ele m en t en ables you to get th e valu e of th e prope rty of a

bea n .

T h e <jsp:setProperty> ele m en t en ables you to set th e valu e of a b ea n's p rop e rties,

in clu din g lettin g you set pro p erties of th e sa m e n a m e as re qu e st para m eters

Week 1 – Page 226

au to m atically.

Fin ally, th e Date class e n a bles you to store d ate s an d tim es. To a ccess th e in divid u al
day, m o nth , year, an d o th er fields in a Date object, you u se a class b a sed on th e
Calendar class, su ch as th e GregorianCalendar class.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Q&A

Q1: A s a JS P p ro g ra m m e r, d o I n e ed to u se Ja v a B e a n s?

A1: N o. You can g et alon g fin e w ith ou t th e m , bu t w h en you r code gets past a
certain size, it's aw k w a rd to st ore in a W eb pa g e. Ja v aB ea n s h elp you
org an ize you r cod e, an d gives you ea sier a ccess to Java directly.

Q2: C a n I u se th e request o b je ct in a J a v a B e a n ?

A2: N o, th at obje ct is n ot accessible in a JavaB ean b y defau lt. H o w e v er, you

can p ass th e request object to a Java B e an if y ou set u p a m eth od in th e
bean to a ccept th at object— see th e E xercises for today.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Workshop
T h is w ork sh op tests w h eth er y ou un d erstan d all th e con cepts y ou learn ed tod a y. It's
a goo d idea to m a ster today 's con cepts b y h on in g you r kn ow led g e he re before
startin g tom o rrow 's m aterial. Y ou can fin d th e a n sw ers to th e q u iz q u estion s in
A pp e n d ix A .

Quiz

1: W h at a re tw o access sp ecifiers y ou can u se in Java classes?

2: H o w do you in vok e th e Java co m p iler?

3: W h at is th e n a m e of th e directo ry in w h ich you place .class files so th at

th ey're a ccessible from JS P?

4: You can in clu d e <jsp:getProperty> an d <jspSetProperty> ele m ents

Week 1 – Page 227

 in side a <jsp:useBean> elem e nt. U n d er w h at circu m sta n ces are th o se
ele m ents n ot execute d?

5: W h y w as th e Date class dep recated?

Exercises

1: C reate a n ew Ja v aB e an an d pass th e request o bject to a m eth od of th a t

bean (th is object is an object of th e Java
javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest cla ss). U sin g th e
request.getParameter m eth od, recov er so m e text fro m a text field an d
pass it back to a JS P pa ge u sin g an oth er m eth o d , an d display th at text.

2: U sin g Date an d Calendar obje cts, p u t togethe r a JS P pa g e th at displays th e

nu m b e r of day s rem ain in g un til you r n e xt birth d ay. (H int: th e DAY_OF_YEAR
field w ill be u sefu l h ere.)

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Day 7. Tracking Users with Sessions

and Cookies
Tod ay you 'll learn ab ou t on e of th e m ost p op u la r u ses of JS P — tra ck in g u sers w ith
session s a n d cookies. T rack in g u sers is a pe ren n ial pro ble m ; w h en a u se r look s at
you r W eb p ag e , h as th a t u ser b e en the re b e fore ? W ill you be re m e m be rin g
som eth in g a bou t h er? W ill you re m e m b er he r presen t pu rch ases an d be ch eck in g
th em out, displayin g the ir total cost? W ill you be cu sto m izin g h er W eb p age in w ays
th at sh e's sp ecified in th e past? T oday you'll see several w ays of trackin g u sers,
in clu din g th e follow in g :

 H id d en text— U sin g h idden con tro ls in a W eb p age is th e easiest w a y o f

associatin g som e in form ation w ith th e u ser th at's n ot directly accessible to
h im . H o w ever, th e h id den text can b e seen if th e u ser looks at th e H T M L for
th e W eb pa ge directly.
 C ookies— T h is is pro b a b ly th e m ost com m on w a y of tra ck in g u sers on th e
Inte rn et. Y ou can sto re in form ation in a u ser's com p uter u sin g cookies, an d
retrieve it w h en y ou ne ed it. Y ou can also sp ecify h ow lon g th e cookie sh ou ld
exist before b ein g deleted by th e brow ser.
 S ession s— S e ssion s a re som eth in g th e serv er offers u s to sup p o rt u ser
track ing , an d th ey're great, alth ou g h th ey can take u p a lot of resou rces on
th e serv er. S ession s let you preserv e data b etw ee n a ccesses to a W eb pa ge
by th e sa m e u ser.
 A pp lication s— A p p lication s a re m u ch like se ssio n s, as you 'll see, bu t th ey're

Week 1 – Page 228

 m o re g en e ral— you can sh are d ata betw een all th e JS P pa g es in a site u sin g
ap p lication s. In othe r w ords, un like session s, a p p lication s can be u sed to
track m u ltiple u sers at th e sa m e tim e.
 S ession s, a pp lication s, a n d Java B ean s— Y ou ca n also set Ja va B ea n s so th ey'll
be in clu ded in a session or ap p lication . N orm ally, th e data in a JavaB e a n is
reset ea ch tim e th e u se r accesses a p ag e a n d creates an obje ct fro m th at
bea n , b u t y ou can in clu de th e b ean in a session or a p p lication so its data is
preserv ed b etw een acce sses by th e sa m e u ser.

T h e first step is to u se H T M L h id d en controls.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Hidden Controls

U sin g H TM L h id d en con tro ls is an ea sy w a y to store data in a W eb pa g e . For
exa m p le, in th is JS P p a ge, th e code w ill let th e u ser set th e text to store in a h id d en
control in a text field:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Hidden Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Hidden Controls</H1>
<%
String text = "";
if(request.getParameter("TEXT1") != null) {
out.println("The hidden text is:" +
request.getParameter("TEXT1"));
text = request.getParameter("TEXT1");
}
%>
.
.
.

Th e cod e stores th e text th e u ser typ e s in th e h id d en c ontro l, as you ca n see in

Lis ting 7 .1 .

Listing 7.1 Reading Hidden Controls (ch07_01.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Hidden Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>

Week 1 – Page 229

 <H1>Reading Hidden Controls</H1>
<%
String text = "";
if(request.getParameter("TEXT1") != null) {
out.println("The hidden text is:" +
request.getParameter("TEXT1"));
text = request.getParameter("TEXT1");
}
%>
<FORM ACTION="ch07_01.jsp" METHOD="POST">
<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="TEXT1">
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="HIDDEN"
VALUE="<%= text%>">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Set Hidden Text">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th is pa ge in Figu re 7.1 , w h ere th e u ser h as entered so m e te xt an d is

abo u t to click th e S et H id d en T ext button .

Figure 7.1. Setting hidden text.

W h en th e u ser clicks th e button , th e JS P cod e stores th e text sh e's en tered in a

h idden control an d displays th at text, a s y ou se e in Figu re 7.2 .

Week 1 – Page 230

 Figure 7.2. Getting hidden text.

T h e u ser can also ta ke a loo k at th e d ata in th e h id d en field directly — all sh e h as to

do is to view th e H T M L source of th e p a g e you see in Figu re 7.2 (u sin g th e V iew ,
S ou rce m en u item in Intern et E x plorer, or th e V iew , Page S o urce m en u item in
N etscap e N av igator). H e re's w h at th at H TM L sou rce loo ks like — n ote th e h id d en
control's text:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading Hidden Controls</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading Hidden Controls</H1>
The hidden text is:Hello there!

<FORM ACTION="hidden.jsp" METHOD="POST">

<INPUT TYPE="TEXT" NAME="TEXT1">
<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="HIDDEN"
VALUE="Hello there!">
<INPUT TYPE="SUBMIT" VALUE="Set Hidden Text">
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

H id d en controls are fin e as fa r a s the y go , bu t th ere a re a nu m b er of o b viou s

Week 1 – Page 231

pro ble m s h ere — you can 't store data in a secu re w ay, a n d you ca n't store data
betw een session s. H o w ever, y ou can g et a ro u n d t h ose pro ble m s w ith cookies.

You m ig h t n ot be su rprised to learn th at the re's a class y ou u se to w ork w ith cookies

in JS P — th e cookie class.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

The Cookie Class

C ookies— you eith er lov e th e m or h a te th e m . T h ey're sm all text string s you sto re on
a u ser's co m p ute r. In th e early days of cookies, peo ple w ere very su spiciou s of th e m ,
bu t th e truth is th at th e y're sim ply text an d can 't ca u se p ro ble m s (un less there are
secu rity pro ble m s in th e u ser's brow s er th at h av e n ot yet be en exploited by
h ack ers).

Tip

A lth ou g h cookies are w idely reg a rded as safe, m a n y u sers are still w ary of
th e m , an d h av e in stru cted th eir b row sers n ot to accept th e m . If you ca n't
set a coo kie in th e client bro w ser you 're w orkin g w it h , you m ig h t try
an oth er m eth od of storin g d ata, su ch a s h id d en controls. T echn ically, a
bro w ser is ex pe cted to sup p ort 20 coo kies for ea ch W eb server; ab o u t 3 00
cookies total— a n d m igh t lim it th e size of ea ch coo kie to 4K B of text.

A cookie's valu e ca n id en tify a u ser, so the y are co m m on ly u sed for session

m a n a ge m e nt. C ookies h ave a n a m e a n d a valu e , an d y ou can u se m eth ods of th e
Cookie class (th e fu ll n a m e, in clu din g th e Java p acka g e, is
javax.servlet.http.Cookie) to get access to th at data. Y ou can also in clu d e
com m e nts in cookies an d set th eir m ax im u m po ssible ages.

You r JS P code sen d s co okies to th e b ro w ser by u sin g th e

HttpServletResponse.addCookie m eth od . T h is m eth od stores d ata in th e H TTP
respon se h ea d e rs it sen d s to th e b row ser, in clu din g th e cook ies you 're creatin g .

T h e b ro w ser retu rn s cookies to y ou by sto rin g data in H TTP req ue st he a ders. Y ou can
get cookie data u sin g th e HttpServletRequest.getCookies m eth od , a s y ou'll see in
th e up co m in g exa m p les .

You 'll see ho w th is all w ork s in detail in toda y's w ork. Y ou can see th e m eth ods of
Cookie obje cts (th at is, th e javax.servlet.http.Cookie class) in Table 7.1 .

Week 1 – Page 232

 Table 7.1. javax.servlet.http.Cookie Methods
M e th o d
Cookie(java.lang.String name,
java.lang.String value)
java.lang.Object clone()
java.lang.String getComment()
java.lang.String getDomain()
int getMaxAge()
java.lang.String getName()
java.lang.String getPath()
boolean getSecure()
java.lang.String getValue()
int getVersion()
void setComment(java.lang.String
comment)
void setDomain(java.lang.String
domain)
void setMaxAge(int expiry)
void setPath(java.lang.String uri)
void setSecure(boolean flag)
void setValue(java.lang.String
value)
void setVersion(int version)
D o e s T h is
C reates a cookie w ith a given n a m e a n d
valu e.
R etu rn s a copy of th e cookie.
R etu rn s th e cookie's com m e nt, or null if
th e coo kie h as n o co m m ent.
R etu rn s th e do m ain n a m e for th e cookie.
R etu rn s th e m ax im u m a ge of th e cookie,
in second s. A valu e of -1 in dicates th e
cookie w ill exist un til brow ser shutd ow n .
R etu rn s th e n a m e of th e cookie.
R etu rn s th e p ath on th e serv er so th at
th e bro w ser retu rn s th e cookie.
R etu rn s true if th e bro w ser is send in g
cookies on ly over a secu re p ro tocol.
R etu rn s th e valu e of th e cookie.
R etu rn s th e v ersion of th e p roto col for
th e coo kie.
S ets a co m m e n t th at d e scribes a cookie's
pu rpose.
S p ecifies th e do m ain for th e cookie.
S ets th e m ax im u m a ge of th e cookie in
secon d s.
S ets th e path for th e co okie (th at is, th e
path by w h ich th e bro w ser w ill sen d th e
cookie).
Ind icates to th e brow ser if cookies sh ou ld
on ly be sen t u sin g a secu re p ro tocol
(su ch as H T TP S ).
A ssig n s a n ew valu e to a cookie after th e
cookie is created .
S ets th e version of th e cookie p roto col
for th e cookie.

S o h ow do you create a cookie? Y ou u se th e addCookie m eth od of th e

HttpServletResponse class, an d th at class is com in g u p n ext.

Week 1 – Page 233

 [ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

The HttpServletResponse Interface

To create cookies, y ou n ee d to u se th e addCookie m eth od of
javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse interfa ce. W h at's
a Java interface? Y ou ca n th in k of an interfa ce a s a class th at
defin es m eth od n a m e s, bu t n ot th eir cod e. Y ou can 't create
objects directly u sin g an interface. In stea d, you m u st base a
class on th at interface — th e interface on ly de fin e s w h at d ata
m e m b e rs a n d m eth o ds th at class w ill h av e. A s w e'll see in D ay
11 , "C reatin g M ore Pow erfu l JavaB ea n s," u sin g in terfaces is as
close a s y ou can co m e in Java to b a sin g a class on m ore th a n
on e othe r class (in obje ct-oriented p ro g ra m m in g term s,
in terfaces repre sen t Jav a's sup p ort for m u ltiple inh eritan ce, as
w e'll see in D ay 13 , "C reatin g M ore P ow erfu l S e rvlets").

S o w he re d oe s th at leave y ou ? F ortun ately, th e serv er h a s don e all th e w ork y ou'll

n ee d h ere— on e of th e b u ilt-in objects ava ila ble to y ou in you r JS P cod e is th e
response obje ct (see "T h e JS P P ro g ra m m in g E n viro n m e n t" in D ay 2, "H an d lin g D ata
an d O p e rato rs"), an d th is is a pre -bu ilt object b a sed on th e
javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse in terfa ce.

Ju st as y ou u se th e request obje ct to see w h at data th e u ser h as sen t to y ou , y ou can

u se th e response object to sen d data back to th e u ser. In th is case, y ou 'll u se th is
object to sen d cook ies b ack to th e b row ser, w h ich w ill store th em . Y ou can see th e
fields of th e javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse interface in Table 7.2 , an d
th e m eth od s of th is inte rface in Ta ble 7.3 . B eca u se th e response object is bu ilt
on th is interface, it sh ares all th e m eth ods of th e interface, an d you'll see h ow to pu t
th em to w ork in th e n ex t topic, creatin g you r ow n cookies w ith th e addCookie
m eth od. Y ou u se th e va riou s field valu es in Table 7.2 if you w an t to sen d a sta tu s
rep ort b a ck to th e b row ser, a s w ith th e sendError or setStatus m eth ods (w h ich w e
w on't d o he re).

Note

T h e con v ention for fields is th at if its n a m e is in ca pital letters, it's a re a d -

on ly con sta n t w ho se valu e do esn't ch a n g e.

Table 7.2. HttpServletResponse Fields

M e th o d D o e s T h is
int SC_ACCEPTED Ind icates th at a requ est w as a ccepted
for p rocessin g , bu t w as n ot co m p leted.

Week 1 – Page 234

int SC_BAD_GATEWAY
int SC_BAD_REQUEST
int SC_CONFLICT
int SC_CONTINUE
int SC_CREATED
int SC_EXPECTATION_FAILED
int SC_FORBIDDEN
int SC_GATEWAY_TIMEOUT
int SC_GONE
int SC_HTTP_VERSION_NOT_SUPPORTED
int SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR
int SC_LENGTH_REQUIRED
int SC_METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED
int SC_MOVED_PERMANENTLY
int SC_MOVED_TEMPORARILY
int SC_MULTIPLE_CHOICES
int SC_NO_CONTENT
int
Week 1 – Page 235
Ind icates th at th e H TTP serv er received
an in valid respon se fro m a server it
con su lted w h en a ctin g as a p rox y or
gatew ay.
Ind icates th e req ue st sen t by th e clien t
w as in correct.
Ind icates th at th e requ e st cann ot b e
com p leted b ecau se of a con flict w ith th e
cu rren t state of th e reso u rce.
Ind icates th e clien t can co ntin u e.
Ind icates th e req ue st su cceed ed an d
created a n ew resou rce on th e serv er.
Ind icates th at th e serve r cann ot m e et
th e req u est in th e Expect requ est
h ea de r.
Ind icates th e serve r can n ot co m p lete
th e req u est.
Ind icates th at th e serve r did n ot receive
a respon se fro m a gate w ay or p roxy
serv er in tim e.
Ind icates th at th e resou rce is n o long er
available.
Ind icates th at th e serve r do es n ot
sup p ort th e H TTP p roto col version u sed
in th e req u est.
Ind icates an error in side th e H TTP
serv er.
Ind icates th at th e requ e st cann ot b e
h a n dled w ith o u t a specified conten t
length .
Ind icates th at th e m eth od sp ecified in
th e R eq ue st-Lin e is n ot allow ed.
Ind icates th at th e resou rce h as m ov ed
to a ne w location .
Ind icates th at th e resou rce h as
tem po rarily m oved to a n oth er location .
Ind icates th at th e resou rce corresp on d s
to an y on e of a set.
Ind icates th at th e requ e st w as
su ccessfu l b u t th ere w a s n o n ew conten t
to retu rn .
Ind icates th at th e m eta in form ation sen t
SC_NON_AUTHORITATIVE_INFORMATION
int SC_NOT_ACCEPTABLE
int SC_NOT_FOUND
int SC_NOT_IMPLEMENTED
int SC_NOT_MODIFIED
int SC_OK
int SC_PARTIAL_CONTENT
int SC_PAYMENT_REQUIRED
int SC_PRECONDITION_FAILED
int
SC_PROXY_AUTHENTICATION_REQUIRED
int SC_REQUEST_ENTITY_TOO_LARGE
int SC_REQUEST_TIMEOUT
int SC_REQUEST_URI_TOO_LONG
int
SC_REQUESTED_RANGE_NOT_SATISFIABLE
int SC_RESET_CONTENT
int SC_SEE_OTHER
int SC_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE
int SC_SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS
int SC_TEMPORARY_REDIRECT
int SC_UNAUTHORIZED
int SC_UNSUPPORTED_MEDIA_TYPE
Week 1 – Page 236
by th e b ro w se r did n ot com e fro m th e
serv er.
Ind icates th at th e resou rce identified by
th e req u est w as n ot a ccepta ble.
Ind icates th at th e requ e sted resou rce
w as n ot a vaila ble.
Ind icates th e H TTP serv er do es n ot
sup p ort th e req u e st.
Ind icates th at a GET op e ration foun d
th at th e resou rce w a s a vailable an d n ot
m o dified.
Ind icates th e req ue st su cceed ed.
Ind icates th at th e serve r h as fu lfilled th e
partial GET requ e st.
R eserved for future u se.
Ind icates th at th e preco nd ition given in
a req u est h ead e r field failed.
Ind icates th at th e clien t m u st
auth en ticate itself w ith th e p roxy .
Ind icates th at th e requ e st entity is
larger th a n th e server can process.
Ind icates th at th e requ e st tim ed out.
Ind icates th at th e R eq u est-U R I field is
too long .
Ind icates th at th e serve r cann ot serv e
th e req u ested data ran g e.
Ind icates th at th e agen t w ill reset th e
display of th e d ocu m ent.
Ind icates th at th e resp o n se to th e
req u est can be fou n d u n d er a differen t
U R I.
Ind icates th at th e H TTP serv er is
ov erloa ded.
Ind icates th e serve r is sw itch in g
pro to cols.
Ind icates th at th e req ue sted resou rce is
tem po rarily at a differen t U R I.
Ind icates th at th e requ e st ne eds H T TP
auth en tication .
Ind icates th at th e requ e st is in a form at

int SC_USE_PROXY
Table 7.3. HttpServletResponse Methods
M e th o d
void addCookie(Cookie cookie)
void addDateHeader(java.lang.String
name, long date)
void addHeader(java.lang.String
name, java.lang.String value)
void addIntHeader(java.lang.String
name, int value)
boolean containsHeader
(java.lang.String name)
java.lang.String encodeRedirectUrl
(java.lang.String url)
java.lang.String encodeRedirectURL
(java.lang.String url)
java.lang.String encodeUrl
(java.lang.String url)
java.lang.String encodeURL
(java.lang.String url)
void sendError(int sc)
void sendError(int sc,
java.lang.String msg)
void sendRedirect (java.lang.String
location)
void setDateHeader(java.lang.String
name, long date)
void setHeader(java.lang.String
name, java.lang.String value)
void setIntHeader(java.lang.String
name, int value)
void setStatus(int sc)
void setStatus (int sc,
Week 1 – Page 237
n ot sup p o rted b y th e re qu ested
resou rce.
Ind icates th at th e requ e sted resou rce
m u st be a ccessed th ro u gh th e p roxy .
D o e s T h is
A dd s th e given cookie to th e resp on se.
A dd s a respon se h ea d e r w ith th e given
n a m e an d date.
A dd s a respon se h ea d e r w ith th e given
n a m e an d valu e.
A dd s a respon se h e ad e r w ith th e given
n a m e an d integer valu e.
R etu rn s a B oolean valu e in dicatin g if a
respon se h ea d e r h as b e en set.
D ep recated. A s of servlet sp ecific ation
version 2.1, u se encodeRedirectURL
(String url) in stead.
E n cod es th e spe cified U R L for u se in
th e sendRedirect m eth od.
D ep recated. A s of servlet sp ecification
version 2.1, u se encodeURL(String
url) in stead.
E n cod es th e spe cified U R L by in clu din g
th e session ID in it.
S en d s an error respon se to th e clien t
u sin g th e given statu s field valu e.
S en d s an error respon se to th e clien t
u sin g th e given field valu e an d text.
S en d s a te m p o ra ry redirect resp on se
to th e b row ser u sin g th e given U R L.
S ets a resp on se h ea d er w ith th e given
n a m e an d date.
S ets a resp on se h ea d er w ith th e given
n a m e an d valu e.
S ets a resp on se h ea d er w ith th e given
n a m e a n d integer valu e.
S ets th e statu s cod e for th is resp on se.
D ep recated. A s of servlet sp ecification
java.lang.String sm) version 2.1, u se setStatus(int) to
sen d an error w ith a description .

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating a Cookie
T h is n ext ex a m p le w ill pu t all th is n ew techn olog y to w ork. H ere, th e cod e w ill create
a cookie an d place som e text in it, an d a n oth er pag e w ill read th e cook ie an d display
th at text. T o create th e cookie, you u se th e Cookie class's con stru ctor, passin g it th e
n a m e of th e cookie (w h ich w ill be message he re) an d th e text in th e coo kie (w h ich
w ill ju st be "H e llo!" in th is case). You can also set th e len gth of tim e th e cookie w ill
exist on th e u ser's co m p uter w ith th e setMaxAge m eth od, w h ich you pa ss a valu e in
secon d s to— to m ak e th e cookie last for a da y, you can pa ss a valu e of 24 * 60 * 60
th is w ay:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Setting a Cookie</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Setting a Cookie</H1>

<%
Cookie cookie1 = new Cookie("message", "Hello!");
cookie1.setMaxAge(24 * 60 * 60);
%>
.
.
.

Th at creates th e cookie, bu t doesn't in stall it in th e bro w ser — to d o th at, y ou u se th e

response obje ct's addCookie m eth od th is w ay:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Setting a Cookie</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Setting a Cookie</H1>

<%
Cookie cookie1 = new Cookie("message", "Hello!");
cookie1.setMaxAge(24 * 60 * 60);
response.addCookie(cookie1);
%>

Week 1 – Page 238

 .
.
.

T h at in stalls th e cookie in th e b row ser. Y ou can also in clu d e a lin k to th e pa ge th at

w ill read th e cookie, a s you see in Listin g 7.2 .

Listing 7.2 Setting a Cookie (ch07_02.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Setting a Cookie</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Setting a Cookie</H1>

<%
Cookie cookie1 = new Cookie("message", "Hello!");
cookie1.setMaxAge(24 * 60 * 60);
response.addCookie(cookie1);
%>

<A HREF="ch07_03.jsp"/>Read the cookie</A>

</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th is pa ge in Figu re 7.3 , w h ere it's a lrea dy set its cookie in th e b row ser.
T h e ne xt step is to read th at cookie's in form ation b ack in .

Figure 7.3. Setting a cookie.

Week 1 – Page 239

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Reading a Cookie
To sto re a cookie in th e u ser's co m p uter, y ou u se th e request object's getCookies
m eth od. T h is m eth od retu rn s an array of Cookie obje cts (or null if th ere are n o
cookies) S o h ow do you read th e cookie n a m ed message? Y ou sta rt w ith th e
getCookies m eth o d , creatin g an array of Cookie obje cts:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading a Cookie</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading a Cookie</H1>

<%
Cookie[] cookies = request.getCookies();
.
.
.

Week 1 – Page 240

 Tip

A re you pa ssed all th e coo kies on th e com p ute r ? N o, you 're on ly passe d th e
cookies th at ca m e fro m th e sa m e d o m ain as th e pag e you 're u sin g th e
getCookies m eth od in .

T h is retu rn s an arra y of cookies, w h ich you can loo p ov er to fin d th e message cookie.
H ere's w h at th at loo p m igh t loo k like:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading a Cookie</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading a Cookie</H1>

<%
Cookie[] cookies = request.getCookies();

for(int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < cookies.length; loopIndex++)

{
.
.
.
}
.
.
.

In side th e b o dy of th e loo p, you can g et th e n a m e of each cookie w ith t h e Cookie

class's getName m eth od, an d its valu e w ith th e getValue m eth od . If th e cod e fin d s
th e message cookie, it d isplays th at cookie's valu e. Y ou can see w h at th at loo ks like
in Listin g 7.3 .

Listing 7.3 Reading a Cookie (ch07_03.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Reading a Cookie</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Reading a Cookie</H1>

<%
Cookie[] cookies = request.getCookies();

Week 1 – Page 241

 for(int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < cookies.length; loopIndex++)
{
if (cookies[loopIndex].getName().equals("message")) {
out.println("The cookie says " +
cookies[loopIndex].getValue());
}
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

N ow th is pa ge is a ble to read th e cookie set in ch07_02.jsp. Y ou can se e w h at th e

resu lts are in Fig u re 7.4 , w he re th e cod e w a s a b le to recover an d displa y th e cookie's
text.

Figure 7.4. Reading a cookie.

N ow you 're settin g a n d rea din g cookies u sin g JS P!

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Setting and Reading a Cookie in the Same Page

T h e p reviou s exa m p le set a cookie in on e p a g e an d read it in a n oth er, b u t som etim es
you m ig h t w an t to set a n d read a cookie in th e sa m e pa g e. Fo r exa m p le, if y ou r
h o m e p ag e allow s th e u ser to cu stom ize so m e a spects of th e p ag e , su ch as its

Week 1 – Page 242

 back g roun d color, y ou can store th at in form atio n in a coo kie. T h e n ext tim e th e u ser
open s y ou r h o m e p ag e, you r code can read th at cookie a n d display th e correct
back g roun d color.

H ere's an ex a m p le to sh ow ho w th is w orks — in th is case, th e cod e w ill set a cookie

n a m e d color to cyan, a n d th e n ext tim e you load th e sa m e pa g e, th e JS P code w ill u se
th at cookie to ch an g e th e ba ck g ro un d color of th e pa g e to cya n . W h en th e p age loa ds,
it w ill ch eck fo r th e cookie n a m ed color, an d if it's foun d , u se its valu e to set th e
back g ro un d color of th e W eb pa g e. H ow ev er, if th at cookie isn't foun d , th e code w ill set
a B oolean va riable n a m ed foundCookie to false, w h ich m ean s it w ill h ave to
create th e cookie:

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Setting and Reading Cookies</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY
<%
Cookie[] cookies = request.getCookies();
boolean foundCookie = false;

for(int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < cookies.length; loopInd ex++)

{
Cookie cookie1 = cookies[loopIndex];
if (cookie1.getName().equals("color")) {
out.println("bgcolor = " + cookie1.getValue());
foundCookie = true;
}
}
.
.
.

If foundCookie is false th e code w ill set th e color cookie. You can test if
foundCookie is false w ith an if statem e n t a n d th e JS P n ot op erator. ! (discu ssed
in D ay 2), w h ich flips th e B oo lean sen se of its a rgu m en t like th is

if(!foundCookie)

w h ere th e body of th e if statem en t is ex ecu ted if th e color cookie w asn't foun d . In

th at case, th e cod e crea tes th e cookie a n d store s it as you see in Listin g 7.4 .

Listing 7.4 Setting and Reading Cookies in the Same Page

(ch07_04.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Setting and Reading Cookies</TITLE>
</HEAD>

Week 1 – Page 243

 <BODY
<%
Cookie[] cookies = request.getCookies();
boolean foundCookie = false;

for(int loopIndex = 0; loopIndex < cookies.length; loopIndex++)

{
Cookie cookie1 = cookies[loopIndex];
if (cookie1.getName().equals("color")) {
out.println("bgcolor = " + cookie1.getValue());
foundCookie = true;
}
}

if (!foundCookie) {
Cookie cookie1 = new Cookie("color", "cyan");
cookie1.setMaxAge(24*60*60);
response.addCookie(cookie1);
}
%>
>
<H1>Setting and Reading Cookies</H1>
This page will set its background color using a cookie.
</BODY>
</HTML>

W h en y ou load th is pa g e th e first tim e, it sets th e color cookie, an d th e pa ge

back g roun d w ill be w h ite. W h en y ou load th e p a ge fro m th en on , until th e coo kie
expires, th e p age re ads th at cookie an d u ses it to tu rn th e pa ge b a ck g ro un d cya n , as
you see in Figu re 7.5 .

Figure 7.5. Setting and reading a cookie using the same page.

Week 1 – Page 244

 T h at gives y ou a g oo d foun d ation on h ow to u se cookies. Y ou've see n h ow to set
cookies an d read th e m back in , u sin g separate pa ges or th e sa m e pa g e . You 'v e seen
h ow to sp ecify h ow lon g th e cookie sh ou ld exist, w h at its n a m e sh ou ld b e, an d w h at its
valu e sh ou ld be. A s you can see , cookies a re g reat for tra ck in g in dividu al u sers —
after all, you're sto rin g data on th e u ser's com p uter; h ow m u ch m ore track in g do
you ne e d?

It tu rn s ou t th at you m igh t ind ee d ne e d m o re track in g — you m igh t w an t to p reserv e

th e data in variou s varia bles in you r code b etw ee n u ser acc esses to th e pa g e .
C ookies can sto re data as text on th e u ser's co m p uter for you , bu t w h a t if you w a n t
to store y ou r data in objects — a n d h ave th ose objects retain th eir valu e betw ee n
pa ge loa din g s? For so m eth in g su ch as th at, you can u se session s.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Sessions
T h e H T T P proto col is by its very n atu re stateless— th at is,
w h en you load a p a ge a nu m b er of tim es in su ccession , th e
serv er starts an e w e ach tim e. If you w an t to tra ck, say, th e
nu m b e r of tim es th e u s er h as acc essed th e pa g e, you n ee d to
specifically store th at d a ta so m ew he re, a s in a coo kie.

T h is is very diffe ren t fro m w ritin g a stan d ard progra m , w h ere y ou're intera ctin g w ith

Week 1 – Page 245

 th e u ser w h ile th e pro g ra m is runn ing , so you can store data in variables an d coun t
on it n ot bein g reset to its defau lt valu es th e ne xt tim e you look at th at data. U sin g
session s, y ou a ctu ally can do th e sa m e th in g in JS P — y ou can interact w ith th e u ser
as th ou g h y ou h ave a session going .

W h at does th at m e an ? D u rin g th e tim e a session is active, you can store data in th e

session , a n d it'll be pres erved on th e serv er in b etw een tim es th e u ser a ccesses y ou r
pa ge. Y ou can set y ou r variables in on e pa ge a c cess, an d th ey'll h old th e sa m e data th e
n ext tim e y ou see th e p ag e , as lon g as th e session h as n't tim ed ou t (se e " S ettin g
S ession T im eo uts " later today). T h e d efau lt tim e T o m cat allow s betw een pa ge
accesses in a session is 30 m in utes.

You can a ccess th e curren t session u sin g th e b u ilt-in JS P

session obje ct, w h ich is based on th e
javax.servlet.http.HttpSession interface. T h e d ata you
store in a ses sion is stored as session attrib utes. Y ou can u se
th e session object's setAttribute m eth od to store data , an d
th e getAttribute m eth od to recov er th at d ata, as lon g as th e
session is active. E a ch s ession is given its ow n ID valu e, an d
w h en a session first b eg in s, th e session obje ct's isNew
m eth od w ill retu rn a valu e of true.

Note

You sh ou ld realize th at it m ig h t n ot be possible for T o m cat to set u p a

session w ith th e bro w se r. T om cat u su ally u ses coo kies to sto re session
in form ation , bu t th e bro w ser m a y h av e cookies tu rn ed off, for exa m p le (in
th at case, T o m cat tries to en cod e th e n eede d in form ation in U R Ls, bu t
som etim es th at is n ot su ccessfu l). If T om cat is n ot able to create a session
w ith th e bro w ser, th e isNew m eth od w ill kee p retu rn in g true every tim e
th e pa ge is accessed, a n d th e session ID w ill b e differen t for e ach pa g e
access. Y ou can also u s e th e isRequestedSessionIdFromURL an d
isRequestedSessionIdFromCookie m eth od s to see h ow T om cat is sto rin g
session in form ation — se e Table 4.2 .

T h ose a re ju st a few of th e m eth od s of th e javax.servlet.http.HttpSession

in terface— you can see th em in Table 7.4 .

Table 7.4. javax.servlet.http.HttpSession Methods

M e th o d D o e s T h is
void addCookie(Cookie cookie) A dd s th e sp ecified cookie to th e respon se
object.
java.lang.Object getAttribute R etu rn s th e object of th e given n a m e in
(java.lang.String name) th is session .

Week 1 – Page 246

java.util.Enumeration
getAttributeNames()
long getCreationTime()
java.lang.String getId()
long getLastAccessedTime()
int getMaxInactiveInterval()
ServletContext
getServletContext()
HttpSessionContext
getSessionContext()
java.lang.Object
getValue(java.lang.String name)
java.lang.String[]
getValueNames()
void invalidate()
boolean isNew()
void putValue(java.lang.String
name, java.lang.Object value)
void
removeAttribute(java.lang.String
name)
void removeValue(java.lang.String
name)
void
setAttribute(java.lang.String
name, java.lang.Object value)
void setMaxInactiveInterval(int
interval)
Week 1 – Page 247
R etu rn s a Java Enumeration of String
objects contain in g th e n a m es of all th e
objects in this session .
R etu rn s th e tim e w h en th is session w a s
created (m eas u red in m illisecond s sin ce
m idn igh t Janu ary 1, 197 0 G M T).
R etu rn s a strin g contain in g th e iden tifier
for th is session .
R etu rn s th e last tim e th e clien t sen t a
req u est in w ith th is session , as th e n u m b e r
of m illisecon d s sin ce m idn igh t Jan u ary 1,
197 0 G M T .
R etu rn s th e m a xim u m tim e, in second s,
w h ich th e server w ill kee p th is session
open b etw een clien t accesses.
R etu rn s th e ServletContext to w h ich th is
session belon g s.
A s of servlet sp e cification version 2.1, th is
m eth od is dep recated .
D ep recated. A s of servlet sp ecification
version 2.2, th is m eth o d is replaced by
getAttribute(java.lang.String).
D ep recated. A s of servlet sp ecification
version 2.2, th is m eth o d is replaced by
getAttributeNames().
In valid ates th is session .
R etu rn s true if th e clien t does n ot yet
kn ow ab ou t th e session .
D ep recated. A s of servlet sp ecification
version 2.2, th is m etho d is replaced by
setAttribute(java.lang.String,
java.lang.Object).
R e m o ves th e obje ct w ith th e sp ecified
n a m e fro m th is session .
A s of servlet sp e cification version 2.2, th is
m eth od is replaced by
removeAttribute(java.lang.String).
C onn ects an object to th is session , u sin g
th e given n a m e.
S p ecifies th e tim e, in second s, betw een
clien t requ e sts b efore th e server w ill
 in valid ate th is session .

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Creating a Session
T h is is all best see n in an exa m p le. T h is n ext ex a m p le w ill sh ow h ow to store th e
nu m b e r of tim es th e u s er h as acc essed th e pa g e in th e curren t session , as w ell as
h ow to get th e session ID , w h en th e session w a s created, an d th e last tim e th e p ag e
w as acc essed in th e cu rren t session . T h is ex a m ple starts w ith th e page directive first
discu ssed in D ay 1, "G e ttin g S tarted!," w ith th e directive's session attribu te set to
true:

<%@page import = "java.util.*" session="true"%>

T h is m ak es su re th at op en in g this pa ge starts a n ew session if su ch a session doesn 't

already exist. T ech n ically sp eak in g , th is page directive is n ot n ecessa ry , beca u se th e
defa u lt for th e session attribute is true, bu t it's in clud ed h e re ju st for com p letene ss
(y ou can o m it it in you r ow n session -b ased cod e ).

T h is exa m p le w ill kee p track of th e nu m b e r of tim es th e u ser h as view e d th e curren t

pa ge in a session attrib ute n a m e d counter. T h e first th in g to do is see if th is
attribute h as already be en set in a form e r pa g e access in th is session , w h ich you can
do w ith th e getAttribute m eth o d.

H ere's so m eth in g to n ote — y ou can 't store th e b asic d ata types su ch a s int in
session attrib utes— you can on ly sto re Java obje cts, w h ich are ba sed on th e
java.lang.Object class (all Java obje cts a re b ased on th e sa m e class). String
objects are fin e to store as attributes — b u t w h at abou t integer valu es su ch as ou r
counter valu e? Java h a s a class to m atch all th e basic data typ es — Integer for int
valu es, Double for double valu es, an d so on . Y ou can create an object u sin g th ese
classes by p assin g a strin g (like 3) to th e class's con stru cto r, or by p assin g a valu e of
th e correspon d in g d ata type to th e class's con stru cto r (for exa m p le: Integer
integerObject = new Integer(3) or Double doubleObject = new
Double(3.14)). You ca n recove r th e data in th e corresp on d in g b asic data form w ith
th e intValue m eth od of th e Integer class, doubleValue m eth od of th e Double
class, an d so on .

T h e counter varia ble w ill be stored a s an Integer obje ct, so h ere's ho w you can
read its valu e fro m th e session obje ct u sin g th e getAttribute m eth o d :

<%@page import = "java.util.*" session="true"%>

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Sessions</TITLE>

Week 1 – Page 248

 </HEAD>

<BODY>
<%
Integer counter =
(Integer)session.getAttribute("counter");
.
.
.

If counter h as n ot b ee n set before, getAttribute w ill retu rn a v alu e of null. T h at

m e an s you can create th e counter valu e, or in cre m en t it if it already exists, an d
store th e n ew valu e in th e session object like th e follow in g:

<%@page import = "java.util.*" session="true"%>

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Sessions</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<%
Integer counter =
(Integer)session.getAttribute("counte r");
if (counter == null) {
counter = new Integer(1);
} else {
counter = new Integer(counter.intValue() + 1);
}

session.setAttribute("counter", counter);
.
.
.

Th at w ay y ou can sto re an d retrieve data in th e session obje ct. Y ou ca n also get th e

cu rren t session ID w ith th e getID m eth od. You get th e tim e th e session w as created
w ith th e getCreationTime m eth o d, a n d y ou get th e tim e th e session w a s last
accessed w ith th e getLastAccessedTime m eth o d. Y ou can see all th is at w ork in
Lis ting 7 .5 .

Listing 7.5 Creating and Using a Session (ch07_05.jsp)

<%@page import = "java.util.*" session="true"%>

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Sessions to Track Users</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<%
Integer counter =
(Integer)session.getAttribute("counter");

Week 1 – Page 249

 if (counter == null) {
counter = new Integer(1);
} else {
counter = new Integer(counter.intValue() + 1);
}

session.setAttribute("counter", counter);
%>
<H1>Using Sessions to Track Users</H1>
Session ID: <%=session.getId()%>
<BR>
Session creation time: <%=new Date(session.getCreationTime())%>
<BR>
Last accessed time: <%=new
Date(session.getLastAccessedTime())%>
<BR>
Number of times you've been here: <%=counter%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts in Figu re 7.6 , w he re th e u ser h as op en e d th is p age a n d

reloaded it a nu m b e r of tim es.

Figure 7.6. Creating and using a session.

U sin g session s su ch as th is is great for storin g a n d recov erin g d ata — it p ro vides y ou

w ith an en viro n m e n t m u ch like a stan d ar d p ro g ra m , w h ere you interact w ith th e u ser
w ith ou t h avin g to w orry abou t h av in g you r data reset.

Week 1 – Page 250

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Setting Session Timeouts

You can u se m eth o d s of th e session object to set th e m a xim u m tim e b etw een pa g e
accesses b e fore th e server en d s th e session :

 getMaxInactiveInterval()— R etu rn s th e m ax im u m tim e interval, in

secon d s, for w h ich th e server w ill kee p th is session open betw een acces ses.
 setMaxInactiveInterval(int interval)— S p ecifies th e tim e, in second s,
betw een u ser req ue sts befo re th e servlet conta in er w ill in v alidate th is session .

If y ou set th e lifetim e of a session to -1, th e session w ill n ever expire.

T h e d efau lt tim eo u t betw ee n u ser a ccesses for session s in To m cat is 3 0 m in utes. Y ou

can ch a ng e th is in T o m cat's web.xml file (sto red as jakarta-tomcat-
4.0.3\conf\web.xml). A ll you h ave to do is ch an g e th e tim e stored in th e
<session-timeout> elem e nt:

<!-- ==================== Default Session Configuration

================= -->

<!-- You can set the default session timeout (in minutes) for all newly
-->
<!-- created sessions by modifying the value below.
-->

<session-config>
<session-timeout>30</session-timeout>
</session-config>

B esides session s, you can als o u se ap p lication s.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Applications
A session en a bles you to tra ck on e u ser at a tim e — an a p p lication en a bles you to
track all JS Ps in th e sa m e site, n o m atte r h ow m an y u sers are u sin g th e m . To access
th e curren t ap p lication , you can u se th e bu ilt -in JS P application object. Like th e
session obje ct, th e application obje ct is bas e d on th e
javax.servlet.http.HttpSession interface. In th e p reviou s exa m p le, you saw h ow
to create a session attribu te n a m e d counter, w h ich stores th e nu m b e r of tim es th e
u ser h as visited th e pa g e in th e curren t session . In th e sa m e w ay, y ou can create an

Week 1 – Page 251

application attribute n a m ed applicationCounter th at h olds th e total nu m b e r of
tim es an yon e in th e sam e a pp lication h as view ed a JS P pa ge:

Integer applicationCounter =
(Integer)application.getAttribute("applicationCounter");
if (applicationCounter == null) {
applicationCounter = new Integer(1);
} else {
applicationCounter = new Integer(applicationCounter.intValue() +
1);
}

application.setAttribute("applicationCounter", applicationCounter);

You can see th is at w ork in Listin g 7.6 , w h ere th e code su pp o rts a counter for th e
nu m b e r of visits in th e cu rren t session , a n d in th e curre n t a p p lication .

Listing 7.6 Using the Application Object (ch07_06.jsp)

[View full width]

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using the Application Object</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using the Application Object</H1>
<%
Integer counter = (Integer)session.getAttribute("counter");
String heading = null;
if (counter == null) {
counter = new Integer(1);
} else {
counter = new Integer(counter.intValue() + 1);
}

session.setAttribute("counter", counter);

Integer applicationCounter =
(Integer)application.getAttribute(
"applicationCounter");
if (applicationCounter == null) {
applicationCounter = new Integer(1);
} else {
applicationCounter = new
Integer(applicationCounter.intValue() + 1);
}

application.setAttribute("applicationCounter",
applicationCounter);
%>

You have visited this page <%=counter%> times.

Week 1 – Page 252

 <BR>
This page has been visited by all users <%=applicationCounter%>
times.
</BODY>
</HTML>

In th is exa m p le, th e session counter k ee p s tra c k of th e nu m b e r of tim e s a u ser h as

visited th e p a ge , an d th e ap p lication counter ke eps track of th e nu m b e r of tim es all
u sers h av e a ccessed th e pa ge . T h is isn't particu larly easy to see on th e sa m e
com p ute r, b ecau se T o m cat w ill coun t you as th e sa m e u ser. H ow ev er, y ou can g et
aro un d th at if you h a p p en to h a ve diffe ren t bro w sers. Fo r exa m p le, you can op en it
in Intern et E xplorer an d reload a fe w tim es, as you see in Figu re 7.7 . If you th en
open it in an oth er b row ser, su ch as N etsca p e N a v igator, you 'll see th at th e
ap p lication cou nter is in dee d keepin g track of u sers a cross session s, a s sh ow n in
Figu re 7.8 .

Figure 7.7. Using the application object.

Figure 7.8. Another user using the application object.

Week 1 – Page 253

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Using Sessions, Applications, and JavaBeans

It tu rn s ou t th at you ca n in stru ct To m cat to sav e Java B ea n s in
a session object a s w ell as in attrib utes. In fact, y ou can
store Ja v aB ea n s in ap p lica tion s as w ell. Y ou do th is w ith th e
<jsp:useBean> ele m en t's scope attribute, w h ich you can set
to on e of the se valu es:
scope="page|request|session|application". T h e term
scop e ind icates w h e re a d ata item is "v isible" (m e an in g it m ay
be referre d to by n a m e) in you r code . T h e d efa u lt scop e for a
bean is p age scope, w h ich m ea n s th e b ea n exists on ly for th e
pa ge scop e. H ow ever, if you set th e scop e of a bean to
session , it is store d w ith th e rest of t h e session's data.

T h e b ean y ou see in Listin g 7.7 m aintain s a pro p erty n a m e d counter th at JS P cod e

can in cre m en t— w e'll se e th at u sin g pa ge scop e , counter is reset to 1 each tim e th e
pa ge loads, b u t u sin g session scop e, counter w ill in cre m en t to 2, 3 , 4 , an d so on as
you reload th e p ag e, be cau se th e b ea n is sto re d in th e session's data.

Week 1 – Page 254

Listing 7.7 A Bean That Maintains a Usage Counter (ch07_07.jsp)

package beans;

public class ch07_07

{

private int counter = 0;

public void setCounter(int value)

{
this.counter = value;
}

public int getCounter()

{
return this.counter;
}

public ch07_07()
{
}
}

You can see a JS P pag e th at u ses th is bean w ith pag e scope in Listin g 7.8 .

Listing 7.8 Using Page Scope for Beans (ch07_08.jsp)

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Beans and Page Scope</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Beans and Page Scope</H1>

<jsp:useBean id="bean1" class="beans.ch07_07" scope="page" />

<%
bean1.setCounter(bean1.getCounter() + 1);
%>
The counter value is: <jsp:getProperty name="bean1"
property="counter" />
</BODY>
</HTML>

A n d you can see th at W eb pa ge at w ork in Figu re 7.9 — n o m atte r h ow m a n y tim es

you reload th is pa ge, th e counter w ill rem ain set to 1, b ecau se th e b e a n h as p a ge
scop e, so it's created an ew each tim e y ou load th e p ag e .

Figure 7.9. Using a bean with page scope.

Week 1 – Page 255

H o w ev er, if y ou give th e b ean session scop e, a s in Listin g 7.9 , it's stored w ith th e
rest of th e session , w h ich m ea n s th e counter valu e w ill be preserved betw ee n pa ge
accesses.

Listing 7.9 Using Session Scope for Beans (ch07_09.jsp )

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Using Beans and Session Scope</TITLE>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<H1>Using Beans and Session Scope</H1>

<jsp:useBean id="bean1" class="beans.ch07_07" scope="session"

/>

<%
bean1.setCounter(bean1.getCounter() + 1);
%>
The counter value is: <jsp:getProperty name="bean1"
property="counter" />
</BODY>
</HTML>

Y ou can see th e resu lts of givin g th e bean session scop e in Figu re 7.1 0 .

Week 1 – Page 256

 Figure 7.10. Using a bean with session scope.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Summary
Tod ay you lea rn ed h ow to tra ck u sers w ith coo k ies an d session s in JS P. Ev eryth in g
started by u sin g H T M L h idd en contro ls to sto re data in th e W eb p a ge sen t to th e
bro w ser a n d th en sen t b ack to th e server. A ltho ug h sto rin g data in h idd en controls
w orks, it's n ot v ery secu re, an d th e data sto red in th ose contro ls is visible if th e u ser
view s th e pa g e's H T M L sourc e.

You learn ed th at you ca n u se cookies to store text d ata on a p erson 's com p uter,
u sin g Cookie objects an d th e response object's addCookie m eth od. Y ou can retriev e
th ose obje cts w ith th e request obje ct's getCookies m eth o d.

T o sup p ort a session , you u se th e session object. A s you 've see n , you can get th e
session's ID , creation tim e, last accessed tim e, an d m o re u sin g session m eth ods.
S ession s let y ou esta blish a w ork able conn e ction w ith th e u ser's brow s er, lettin g you
store data betw ee n pa g e accesses.

You can also u se application obje cts to store data; an a p p lication is b ro a d er th an a

session , b e ca u se session s deal w ith a sin gle u ser, b u t an a p p lication in clud es all th e
u sers u sin g JS P pa ges o n you r site.

Fin ally, you learn ed th at you can store b ean s in sess ion s an d a p p lication s if you set

Week 1 – Page 257

th e scope attribute <jsp:useBean> to th e ap p ropriate valu es.
[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Q&A

Q1: A re th e re a n y d ra w b a c k s to u s in g s e s sio n s ?

A1: Yes, th ey pu t a con side rable strain on th e resou rces of th e serv er if th ere
are m an y session s run n in g at th e sa m e tim e. T h ey can also b e b rok en
un expectedly if th e u se r's conn e ction fails. A ll in all, in pro fession al JS P
ap p lication s, you m u st be p rep a red for cases w h en u sin g a session w ith
th e u ser d o esn 't w ork.

Q2: C a n I sto re o th e r d a ta in co o k ie s b e sid e s th e c o o k ie 's n a m e ,

m a x im u m a g e , a n d v a lu e ?

A2: Yes, you can also u se th e Cookie obje ct's setComment an d getComment
m eth ods to sto re a co m m e n t— a String obje ct— in th e cookie. T h is
com m e n t can expla in th e pu rp ose of th e cookie, for exa m p le.

[ T eam L iB ]

[ T eam L iB ]

Workshop
T h is w ork sh op tests w h eth er y ou un d erstan d all th e con cepts y ou learn ed tod a y. It's
a goo d idea to m a ste r today 's con cepts b y h on in g you r kn ow led g e he re before
startin g tom o rrow 's m aterial. Y ou can fin d th e a n sw ers to th e qu iz qu estion s in
A pp e n d ix A .

Quiz

1: W h at a re th e n a m es of th e Cookie object m eth o ds you u se to fin d a

cookie's n a m e an d value ?

2: W h at is th e defa u lt tim e o u t for a session in th e To m cat server?

3: H o w do you kn ow if T om cat can 't establish a session w ith th e u ser's

bro w se r?

4: W h at possible scope s ca n you u se w ith JavaB e a n s in JS P?

5: W h at is th e defa u lt settin g for th e page directive's session attrib ute?

Week 1 – Page 258

Exercises

1: C reate a sa m p le h o m e p age th at accepts a p erson's n a m e an d birth d ay

u sin g text fields (u se te xt fields for th e n a m e, b irth m onth , an d birth day)
an d stores th at in form ation u sin g a cookie th at lasts a yea r. T h en u se th e
Date an d Calendar classes y ou saw in D ay 6, "C reatin g JS P C o m p on en ts:
JavaB ea n s," to display a greetin g to th e p erson on h is birth d ay.

2: T ry repeatin g th e Java B ean exa m p le in th e topic " U sin g S ession s,

A pplica tions, an d Ja va B ean s ," bu t th is tim e, give th e b e an ap p lication scop e
to create a W eb p a ge coun ter th at u ses th e cou nter in th e bean to in dicate
th e total nu m b er of tim es th e p a ge h as b ee n access ed by an y on e, an d th en
test it out. A lso, u se th e application object's setMaxInactiveInterval
m eth od to set th e ap p lica tion tim eo u t to a secon d or tw o an d w atch w h a t
h a p p en s to th e counte r as th e a p p lication tim es ru n ou t ov er repeated p age
reloads.

[ T eam L iB ]

Week 1 – Page 259