Problem calling setAttribute in my Filter init

[Abiodun Adisa]

I have this code in my init method that attempts to set attribute in the servletContext

public void init(FilterConfig arg0) throws ServletException {
super.init();
Map tempMap=getAllRolesAndPages();
super.getServletContext().setAttribute("roles_X_pages",tempMap);
 
}

But anytime i run the application the Filter returns an error anytime it reaches the setAttribute

SEVERE: Exception starting filter Security Filter
java.lang.NullPointerException
at javax.servlet.GenericServlet.getServletContext(GenericServlet.java:160)
at com.security.SecurityFilter.init(SecurityFilter.java:173)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterConfig.getFilter(ApplicationFilterConfig.java:275)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterConfig.setFilterDef(ApplicationFilterConfig.java:397)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterConfig.<init>(ApplicationFilterConfig.java:108)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.filterStart(StandardContext.java:3696)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.start(StandardContext.java:4343)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChildInternal(ContainerBase.java:791)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.addChild(ContainerBase.java:771)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.addChild(StandardHost.java:525)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployDirectory(HostConfig.java:920)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployDirectories(HostConfig.java:883)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.deployApps(HostConfig.java:492)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.start(HostConfig.java:1138)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.HostConfig.lifecycleEvent(HostConfig.java:311)
at org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleSupport.fireLifecycleEvent(LifecycleSupport.java:117)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.start(ContainerBase.java:1053)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.start(StandardHost.java:719)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.start(ContainerBase.java:1045)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.start(StandardEngine.java:443)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService.start(StandardService.java:516)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.start(StandardServer.java:710)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:566)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:585)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:288)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:413)
Dec 2, 2007 12:58:14 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext start
SEVERE: Error filterStart

Any suggestions would be welcome

[Bear Bibeault]

What is the value of tempMap at the time of the call?

[Abiodun Adisa]

value of tempMap is some values it retrieves from the database, I was able to resolve this by getting the ServletContext using the ServletRe

[Abiodun Adisa]

Originally posted by Abiodun Adisa:
value of tempMap is some values it retrieves from the database, I was able to resolve this by getting the ServletContext using the ServletRe

value of tempMap is some values it retrieves from the database, I was able to resolve this by getting the ServletContext using the ServletRequest of the filter

public void doFilter(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response,FilterChain filterChain){
HttpServletRequest hrequest = (HttpServletRequest) request;
HttpSession session = hrequest.getSession();
session.getServletContext();
 

}

[Ulf Dittmer]

The difference is of course that now you're doing this every time the filter is called, instead of once at filter startup. Is that what you want/need to do?

You can get an instance of ServletContext by calling getServletContext() on the FilterConfig object that's passed to the init method.

[Abiodun Adisa]

Originally posted by Ulf Dittmer:
The difference is of course that now you're doing this every time the filter is called, instead of once at filter startup. Is that what you want/need to do?

You can get an instance of ServletContext by calling getServletContext() on the FilterConfig object that's passed to the init method.

Thanks for your reply, I think i would want to do this once, please how do i obtain the ServletContext in the init method

[Bear Bibeault]

Originally posted by Abiodun Adisa:
Thanks for your reply, I think i would want to do this once, please how do i obtain the ServletContext in the init method

He already told you in the 2nd paragraph.