[FIXED] JSP Cast request.getParameter to Entity

Issue

This is the scenario

This is the JSP from where I get to the servlet. There is an entity called CurrentUser wich holds multiple fields of information about the user. I want to pass the servlet all the information about the user in a form of entity.

<a href="Controller?action=profile&entity=<%=_currentUser%>"> Information about the current user, like: name, id, profile picture etc... </a>

Inside the servlet:

if(request.getParameter("action").equals("profile")){
        CurrentUser _currentUser= (CurrentUser) request.getParameter("entity");
}

If I do a system.out to see whats inside "entity" parameter i get something like: Package.CurrentUser@abc1235 ... and I cannot cast that, to receive it as an Entity.

incompatible types: String cannot be converted to CurrentUser

Is there any way to get that refference and the info inside those fields?

Solution

Inside the JSP, store your _currentUser entity to the Session as

<% session.setAttribute("entity", _currentUser); %>
<a href="Controller?action=profile">Information ... </a>

Now, inside the Controller Servlet you can retrieve this entity as

if(request.getParameter("action").equals("profile")){
    CurrentUser _currentUser= (CurrentUser) session.getAttribute("entity");
}

Note, that storing the current user object into Session should ideally be done by the Servlet that forwarded the request to the JSP first. Use of Java code scriptlets <% %> inside a JSP is deprecated as JSPs should mostly be used for presentation purposes only.

Answered By - Ravi K Thapliyal
Answer Checked By - Mary Flores (JavaFixing Volunteer)