request.getAttribute returning null

Hi guys, I'm trying to develop my first web application. I am having trouble with my servlet; in particular, my request.getAttribute method
for my property file is returning null. Here is my code:

uploadData.java

package org.nfis.ahpd.controller;

import javax.servlet.*;
import javax.servlet.http.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;

public class UploadData extends HttpServlet{

public void doPost(HttpServletRequest request,
					HttpServletResponse response)
					throws IOException, ServletException
	{
		
		processRequest(request, response);
		
	}
	
	public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,
					HttpServletResponse response)
					throws IOException, ServletException  
	{
		
		processRequest(request, response);
	}
	
	public void processRequest(HttpServletRequest request,
							HttpServletResponse response)
							throws IOException, ServletException  
	{
		InputStream inputStream = getServletContext().getResourceAsStream("ahdp_fr.properties");
		Properties props = new Properties();
		props.load(inputStream);
		
		request.setAttribute("props", props);
		
		RequestDispatcher view = request.getRequestDispatcher("uploadData.jsp");
		
		view.forward(request, response);
		inputStream.close();
		 
	}
}

In my uploadData.jsp

Thank you in advance

The Java code in the JSP is just for debug purposes, right?

How do you know it's null?

In case you want to print the value of the property, you should change the JSP like this:
(notice there is no ";" in the second line)

Thank you, but I am still get a null pointer exception when I run the .jsp on tomcat.

Some background...

I have a page called uploadData.jsp. I want to provide the French and English versions of this page for the user, thus I have variables in my .jsp that
I will be replaced from the ahpd_fr.properties file. Here is the entire .jsp file. It is not complete but it is enough to debug this one task.

<%@ page import="java.util.*" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<div id="Logo"><a href="index_eng.html"><img src="images/main_logo.gif" alt="NFIS" width="118" height="32" border="0" /></a></div>
      <div id="Mnu">
        
        <div id="MnuSeparator"></div>
        <ul class="Mnu2">
          <li><a href="index.jsp">menu_Home</a></li>
          <li><a href="about.jsp">menu_About</a></li>
          <li><a href="uploadData.jsp">menu_UploadSrcData</a></li>

<li><a href="lang_switch.php">Français</a></li>
        </ul>
       
      </div>
      <div id="sign_in">
        
        <div id="div_sign_in" class="sign_in_content"></div>

</div>
      <div id="ads"> <a href="http://www.ccfm.org/index_e.php" target="_blank"></a> </div>
      <div id="Notices"><a href="important_notices_eng.html">var_ImpNotice</a></div>
    </div>
    <div id="Col2">
    <div id="Bcrums">title_UploadSrcData / </div>

<div class="prop"> </div>
      <div id="Content"> 
        <h1>title_AHPD</h1>
	  
	    <div id="About"> <strong>body_UploadData</strong> <br/>body_HowToSubmit
	    </div>
	   <div id="mainContent">
	<noscript><p class="jsalert">Please enable JavaScript when viewing AHPD.</p></noscript>
	    
	    
	<form method="post" action="uploadData.do">
	   	<p>body_Jurisdiction: </p>
		<select id="jurisdiction" name="jurisdiction">
		  <option selected="selected" value=""></option>
		      	
		        	<option value="CA">Canada</option>
		        
		        	<option value="AB">Alberta</option>
		        
		        	<option value="BC">British Columbia</option>
		        
		        	<option value="MB">Manitoba</option>
		        
		        	<option value="NB">New Brunswick</option>
		        
		        	<option value="NL">Newfoundland</option>
		        
		        	<option value="NS">Nova Scotia</option>
		        
		        	<option value="NT">Northwest Territories</option>
		        
		        	<option value="ON">Ontario</option>
		        
		        	<option value="PE">Prince Edward Island</option>
		        
		        	<option value="QC">Quebec</option>
		        
		        	<option value="SK">Saskatchewan</option>     
		</select>
		<input type="submit">
	</form>
	<span class="selectRequiredMsg">body_SelectJurisdiction</span>
	   	  body_Year:
	   	  <span id="spryselect2"/>
			<select name="year" id="year">
			
			<input type="hidden" value="surveyReportQuery" name="query"/>
			<input type="hidden" value="survey_report_select.jsp" name="page"/>
			<input type="hidden" value="report3" name="report"/>
	        <input type="submit" value="Submit" id="submit" name="submit"/>
	    	</select>
	      	
	    <div class="fieldgroup">       	          
			<div class="field fld_data" id="so_formfield_dnf_class_values_student_document__uploaded_file__0__data_">
				<div class="label">
				<label for="dnf_class_values_student_document__uploaded_file__0__data_">body_File</label><span style="color: red;" class="req-indicator">*</span>
				</div>
		     	<div class="blurb">body_SelectZip
		     	</div>
			    <div class="widget"><input type="file" class="input-file" value="0" name="dnf_class_values_leftbracket_student_document_rightbracket__leftbracket_uploaded_file_rightbracket__leftbracket_0_rightbracket__leftbracket_data_rightbracket_" id="dnf_class_values_student_document__uploaded_file__0__data_" js_required_field="File"/>
			    </div>
		    </div>
		</div>
		</div>
		</div>
		</div>
		</div>
	</div>

<br/>
       var_AccessR
       
        <%Properties props = (Properties)request.getAttribute("props");%>
		<%=props.getProperty("menu_Home")%>
 		
 
  	 <div>  </div>
     <div class="clear"></div>
     <div id="Lastupdate">Last Updated: 
     10.05.2010
     </div>
 
<div id="Footer"></div>
</body>
</html>

Why aren't you using the JSTL to handle internationalization?

My manager suggested this approach. I am a mechanical engineering student on a software development co-op so I am hesitant
to clear my own path. Either way, if I use the JSTL for internationalization, I would still need to make the translations myself and
pull them from a properties file, would I not?

The JSTL handles all that for you.