getting boolean properties from objects in jsp el

Question

Hello,

I have an instance of the following object in the jsp page context:

Class User{
  private boolean isAdmin;
  public boolean isAdmin(){return isAdmin}
}

How can I query the isAdmin property from the EL? This doesn't seem to work:

${user.admin}

nor does this:

${user.isAdmin}

thanks!

-Morgan

Answer 1

Try this:

${user.Admin}

just in case capitalization is the problem. Sometimes EL does non-obvious things. However, I've usually been able to just use the equivalent of ${user.admin} in my el. Looking at my own code, I have many examples of doing the obvious thing where it works.

Do you have the following methods in your class:

  public boolean isAdmin(){return isAdmin}

  public void isAdmin(boolean newValue) { ... }

or do you have only the getter? If my code, I notice that I do not do the above. My setters all start with set such as:

  public boolean isAdmin(){return isAdmin}

  public void setAdmin(boolean newValue) { ... }

and I am able to use the obvious lowercase solution ${user.admin} in my JSPs. This may depend on which EL processor you're using.

Answer 2

First, you probably need a getter for the User class. If that doesn't help, {user.admin} should work, so I'd check that you have the bean properly referenced in your JSP.

Hope that helps.

Answer 3

simple.

for me, just changing isStuff to getStuff worked always.

of course, that may be against some naming convention, declaration of independence, human rights, etc.. but it workds for me.

Answer 4

Ok. I'm stupid. Vote this question down, ridicule me, etc. The problem was in the method that isAdmin() was delegating to. There was a null pointer exception in that method. In my defense, however, I'll say that the stack trace I got was a bit unclear, and made it look like it was an EL issue rather than a simple null pointer in my code.

Vinegar, your assurances that isAdmin() works even without a property did help me figure this out. Thanks for that.

javax.el.ELException: java.lang.NullPointerException
        at javax.el.BeanELResolver.getValue(BeanELResolver.java:298)
        at javax.el.CompositeELResolver.getValue(CompositeELResolver.java:175)
        at com.sun.el.parser.AstValue.getValue(AstValue.java:138)
        at com.sun.el.ValueExpressionImpl.getValue(ValueExpressionImpl.java:206)
        at org.apache.jasper.runtime.PageContextImpl.evaluateExpression(PageContextImpl.java:1001)
        at org.apache.jsp.WEB_002dINF.jsp.managepermissions_jsp._jspx_meth_c_forEach_1(org.apache.jsp.WEB_002dINF.jsp.managepermissions_jsp:452)
        at org.apache.jsp.WEB_002dINF.jsp.managepermissions_jsp._jspx_meth_c_forEach_0(org.apache.jsp.WEB_002dINF.jsp.managepermissions_jsp:399)
        at org.apache.jsp.WEB_002dINF.jsp.managepermissions_jsp._jspx_meth_form_form_0(org.apache.jsp.WEB_002dINF.jsp.managepermissions_jsp:348)
        at org.apache.jsp.WEB_002dINF.jsp.managepermissions_jsp._jspService(org.apache.jsp.WEB_002dINF.jsp.managepermissions_jsp:197)
        at org.apache.jasper.runtime.HttpJspBase.service(HttpJspBase.java:109)
        at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:802)
        at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:389)
        at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:486)
        at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:380)
        at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:802)
        at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.ServletHolder.handle(ServletHolder.java:502)
        at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler.handle(ServletHandler.java:363)
        at org.mortbay.jetty.security.SecurityHandler.handle(SecurityHandler.java:216)
        at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.SessionHandler.handle(SessionHandler.java:181)
        at org.mortbay.jetty.handler.ContextHandler.handle(ContextHandler.java:766)
        at org.mortbay.jetty.webapp.WebAppContext.handle(WebAppContext.java:417)
        at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.Dispatcher.forward(Dispatcher.java:334)
        at org.mortbay.jetty.servlet.Dispatcher.forward(Dispatcher.java:126)
        at org.springframework.web.servlet.view.InternalResourceView.renderMergedOutputModel(InternalResourceView.java:240)
        at org.springframework.web.servlet.view.AbstractView.render(AbstractView.java:252)
        at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.render(DispatcherServlet.java:1173)
        at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:901)
        at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doService(DispatcherServlet.java:809)
        at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:523)
        at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doPost(FrameworkServlet.java:463)
        at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:709)