Sponsored Links
Server-side Java: Advanced form processing using JSP
Use the Memento design pattern with JavaServer Pages and JavaBeans
- Feedback
- Discuss
Typically, form processing involves multiple components operating in the background, with each component responsible for a discrete task such as state management, data validation, database access, and so on. While there are numerous examples that demonstrate form processing with Perl scripts and servlets, using JSPs for this purpose has received little attention. There is a reason for this. Apart from the fact that JSP is a fairly new technology, many view it as being suitable mostly for handling the presentation of dynamic content sourced from either JavaBeans or servlets. However, as you shall soon see, the combination of JSP with JavaBeans can be a force to reckon with when processing HTML forms.
In this article, I will examine the handling of a user registration form using JSP. One of the basic programming tenets of JSP is to delegate as much processing as possible to JavaBean components. My JSP form-handling implementation will demonstrate some interesting features. It will not only provide basic data validation for the registration information input by a user, but will also exhibit stateful behavior. This lets you pre-fill the form's input elements with validated data as the user loops through the submission cycle and finally enters the correct data for all of the input elements. So, without further ado, let's dive into the example.
Take a look at Listing 1, which presents the user with a simple registration form, displayed in Figure 1.
Listing 1. register.html
<html>
<body>
<form action="/examples/jsp/forms/process.jsp" method=post>
<center>
<table cellpadding=4 cellspacing=2 border=0>
<th bgcolor="#CCCCFF" colspan=2>
<font size=5>USER REGISTRATION</font>
<br>
<font size=1><sup>*</sup> Required Fields</font>
</th>
<tr bgcolor="#c8d8f8">
<td valign=top>
<b>First Name<sup>*</sup></b>
<br>
<input type="text" name="firstName" value="" size=15 maxlength=20></td>
<td valign=top>
<b>Last Name<sup>*</sup></b>
<br>
<input type="text" name="lastName" value="" size=15 maxlength=20></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#c8d8f8">
<td valign=top>
<b>E-Mail<sup>*</sup></b>
<br>
<input type="text" name="email" value="" size=25 maxlength=125>
<br></td>
<td valign=top>
<b>Zip Code<sup>*</sup></b>
<br>
<input type="text" name="zip" value="" size=5 maxlength=5></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#c8d8f8">
<td valign=top colspan=2>
<b>User Name<sup>*</sup></b>
<br>
<input type="text" name="userName" size=10 value="" maxlength=10>
</td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#c8d8f8">
<td valign=top>
<b>Password<sup>*</sup></b>
<br>
<input type="password" name="password1" size=10 value=""
maxlength=10></td>
<td valign=top>
<b>Confirm Password<sup>*</sup></b>
<br>
<input type="password" name="password2" size=10 value=""
maxlength=10></td>
<br>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#c8d8f8">
<td valign=top colspan=2>
<b>What music are you interested in?</b>
<br>
<input type="checkbox" name="faveMusic"
value="Rock">Rock
<input type="checkbox" name="faveMusic" value="Pop">Pop
<input type="checkbox" name="faveMusic" value="Bluegrass">Bluegrass<br>
<input type="checkbox" name="faveMusic" value="Blues">Blues
<input type="checkbox" name="faveMusic" value="Jazz">Jazz
<input type="checkbox" name="faveMusic" value="Country">Country<br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#c8d8f8">
<td valign=top colspan=2>
<b>Would you like to receive e-mail notifications on our special
sales?</b>
<br>
<input type="radio" name="notify" value="Yes" checked>Yes
<input type="radio" name="notify" value="No" > No
<br><br></td>
</tr>
<tr bgcolor="#c8d8f8">
<td align=center colspan=2>
<input type="submit" value="Submit"> <input type="reset"
value="Reset">
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</center>
</form>
</body>
</html>
Figure 1 shows the user registration form as it would appear in a browser.
Figure 1. The user registration form
- Feedback
Resources
- Get the source code for the example in jar format
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-03-2000/forms/Forms.jar - Get the source code for the example in zip format
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-03-2000/forms/Forms.ZIP - Download the latest JavaServer Web Development Kit
http://java.sun.com/products/jsp/download.html
Server-side Java: Read the whole series -archived on JavaWorld
- Welcome to the server-side Java series
- Understanding JavaServer Pages Model 2 Architecture
- Create forward-compatible beans in EJB, Part 1
- Create forward-compatible beans in EJB, Part 2
- Use JDBC for industrial-strength performance, Part 1
- Use JDBC for industrial-strength performance, Part 2
- Counting tiers - one, two, or n?
- Build distributed applications with Java and XML
- Internationalize JSP-based Websites
- Patterns for flexible initialization, Part 1
- Patterns for flexible initialization, Part 2
- Advanced form processing using JSP
- Using XML and JSP together
Sponsored Links
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Terms of Service/Privacy
Copyright, 2006-2008 Network World, Inc. All rights reserved.
UsefulBy Anonymous on May 25, 2009, 2:59 pmThe tutorial was very helpful... Detailed step-by-step explanations... Thanks a lot for the nice work...
Reply | Read entire comment
So helpfulBy Anonymous on March 3, 2009, 8:22 amThis page is so helpful, the question that I have is how can I link such a page to a database so that i can add and retrieve data from the database
Reply | Read entire comment
nice cite for begginnerBy Anonymous on February 16, 2009, 12:19 amthis is very helpful site for begginner. it help me very much. thank's to write this tutorial
Reply | Read entire comment
very helpful contentBy Anonymous on February 12, 2009, 8:35 pmvery helpful content
Reply | Read entire comment
Nice citeBy Anonymous on November 4, 2008, 6:59 amI am very much glad and happy by using this site. But I have another problem that...... I have a table having so many fields and I want to add one checkbox for...
Reply | Read entire comment
View all comments