JSTL

[meena latha]

Hi all.

I am trying to use jstl in my jsp.
Below is the code i wanted in jstl form.

String s  ="links";
char c=s.charAt(1);

I am trying to put this in jstl tag.

<c:set var="a" value="${links}"/>
<c:set var ="b" value="${a.charAt(1)}"/>

I am not able to use charAt the way i have mentioned above.
Is there any other solution for this.

Any help may be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Ramya

[Stefan Evans]

Quite correct, you can't call java methods like that. EL can only access the getters/setters of an object.

What are you trying to accomplish this for? It might be easier to encapsulate the data in an object.
For instance, if you have a username, and you are wanting to get the first initial of their name then provide two methods on a user object:
getFirstName()
getInitial().

The implementation of getInitial might just return getFirstName().charAt(0);
In JSTL you could then use ${user.firstName}, ${user.initial}

The alternative if you have a JSP2.0 container and can use JSTL1.1 is to use a function.
note: Your first set statement was incorrectly translated from the original java. You should not use the ${ } around a static value.

  
<c:set var="a" value="links"/>
<c:set var ="b" value="${fn:substring(a, 0, 1)}"/>

Cheers,
evnafets

[meena latha]

Thanks a lot.
That was really helpful