request.setattribute vs. form.set

If I have a form bean, named "NameForm" and a form property/text field named "text1". I can use nameForm.set("text1", somestring) in the action servlet to set the property of the text field. Isn't request.setattribute the same, or is there a difference?

/C

Code Exception,

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[ July 17, 2007: Message edited by: Merrill Higginson ]

Name change: done.

Can anyone help me with my question above?

Thanks,
Matt

Matthew,

Thanks for taking the time to change your profile.

Originally posted by Code Exception:
I can use nameForm.set("text1", somestring) in the action servlet to set the property of the text field. Isn't request.setattribute the same, or is there a difference?

No, they're not at all the same. When you use request.setAttribute, you're putting a reference to an object in the HTTPServletRequest object, which is a completely different thing than setting a property on a form bean. You also retrieve the result differently.

Example 1: Property in DynaActionForm
in Action class
nameForm.set("text1", somestring);
In JSP:
<bean:write name="nameForm" property="text1" />

Example 2: Attribute of Request
in Action class:
request.setAttribute("text1", somestring);
in JSP:
<bean:write name="text1" scope="request" />

Thanks for your detailed reply, that was exactly what I needed.

/Matt

After looking through some code, I realized it's not crystal clear yet. The "object" in request.setAttribute(...) is created in the action class upon request and is there given an attribut/content, which in turn is used in the jsp? Why can't this be done with a DynaFormBean?
It's a bit difficult to know the differences and usages between property, attribute, parameter and name.

Hope you can help me with this,
Matt

Originally posted by Matthew Anderson:
Why can't this be done with a DynaFormBean?

The point is that you can use either method in your Action class to create data and put it in a place so that the JSP will have access to it. While either method works, in a Struts application it's generally preferable to put data in the ActionForm bean rather than as an attribute of the request. It just keeps things more organized. Besides, some Struts custom tags only work with an ActionForm bean property and not with a request attribute.

Maybe I'm not understanding, but how is putting a reference in the HTTPServletRequest object a completely different thing than setting a property on a form bean? Doesn't the form bean end up in the HTTPServletRequest object too?

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Code Exception:
I can use nameForm.set("text1", somestring) in the action servlet to set the property of the text field. Isn't request.setattribute the same, or is there a difference?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No, they're not at all the same. When you use request.setAttribute, you're putting a reference to an object in the HTTPServletRequest object, which is a completely different thing than setting a property on a form bean. You also retrieve the result differently.

Example 1: Property in DynaActionForm
in Action class
nameForm.set("text1", somestring);
In JSP:
<bean:write name="nameForm" property="text1" />

Example 2: Attribute of Request
in Action class:
request.setAttribute("text1", somestring);
in JSP:
<bean:write name="text1" scope="request" />

Originally posted by Annie Jones:
Doesn't the form bean end up in the HTTPServletRequest object too?

Not necessarily. The form bean will be in either request scope or session scope, depending on how you configured the Action in the struts-config.xml file. While it is true that the form bean itself is in some scope and therefore is similar to placing some other object in request or session scope, the Struts API calls are different in each case, as I already explained in my previous post.