Passing variables from one action to another is a frequently asked question. The answer is to use either hidden fields or a session object.
The story starts with searching the database. My application offers options to search the database by author, title of the article, article ID, or ..... I have a drop-down list in my JSP for visitors to make a selection. By clicking on one of those options, the property "dispatch" is set. And the visitor fills out the text field to set "keyValue". With both "dispatch" and keyValue forwarded to an "action"; say, Action ONE, the desired articles can be retrieved from the database. So far so good. What I have handled next is the "author's page" of the web site. An author can only view his own articles and perform update, delete, save, ... functions. I use the hidden field technique to handle it. The property "dispatch" is arbitrarily set as "author" (needless to say) and keyValue can be obtained by String username = request.getRemoteUser(); And, <html:hidden property="dispatch" value="author"/> <html:hidden property="keyValue" value="<%=username%>"/> are forwarded to the same action (Action ONE) for processing. Again, no problem. Now, the application has another user case - editors. An editor only retrieve and view all articles in his/her own field of specialization. I arbitrarily set "dispatch" as "field_of_specialization" and use the hidden field technique: <html:hidden property="dispatch" value="field_of_Specialization"/> Nonetheless, the way to get the "value" the editor's field of specialization is from the database. Because editors are registered members of the web site, the application should be able to look for his/her profile and obtain his/her field of specialization in the database once an editor successfully logs into the web site. Therefore, it takes an "action" (Action TWO) that tells the business tier to find the "keyValue" in the database. And should I put the "keyValue" in a session object. I have tried to handle this situation again and again in many different ways. I am very frustrated and need help -- how does a user go from by clicking a button in a JSP to go to Action TWO (get the keyValue) and then forward this keyValue and <html:hidden property="dispatch" value="field_of_Specialization"/> to Action ONE for retrieving the desired articles from the database? __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
