Catching a NullPointerException

[Jason Kwok]

Hi,

I have a servlet that processes a simple search after a user submits a string through a form. It works perfectly except when an ' is included. For example: O'toole. When it's included I get a NullPointerException.

I've tried to redirect the exception in my servlet like this:

catch(NullPointerException f)
{
RequestDispatcher view = request.getRequestDispatcher("results.jsp");
request.setAttribute("NPExc", f);
view.forward(request, response);
}

In the results.jsp page, I check for the error as such:

if(request.getAttribute("NPExc") != null)
{
  %>Your search was unsuccessful. Try again.<%
}    

Finally, here is the error message I get:

org.apache.jasper.JasperException
at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:207)
at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:240)
at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:187)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:809)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.invoke(ApplicationDispatcher.java:627)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.doForward(ApplicationDispatcher.java:382)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.forward(ApplicationDispatcher.java:306)
at acs.controllers.SearchController.doPost(SearchController.java:54)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:716)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:809)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:200)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:146)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:209)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:596)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.java:433)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.invoke(ContainerBase.java:948)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:144)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:596)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.java:433)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.invoke(ContainerBase.java:948)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.invoke(StandardContext.java:2358)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:133)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:596)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorDispatcherValve.invoke(ErrorDispatcherValve.java:118)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:594)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:116)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:594)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.java:433)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.invoke(ContainerBase.java:948)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:127)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:596)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.java:433)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.invoke(ContainerBase.java:948)
at org.apache.coyote.tomcat4.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:152)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java:799)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.processConnection(Http11Protocol.java:705)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.TcpWorkerThread.runIt(PoolTcpEndpoint.java:577)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPool$ControlRunnable.run(ThreadPool.java:683)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:534)
 

root cause 
 
java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.apache.jsp.results_jsp._jspService(results_jsp.java:57)
at org.apache.jasper.runtime.HttpJspBase.service(HttpJspBase.java:92)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:809)
at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:162)
at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:240)
at org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:187)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:809)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.invoke(ApplicationDispatcher.java:627)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.doForward(ApplicationDispatcher.java:382)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationDispatcher.forward(ApplicationDispatcher.java:306)
at acs.controllers.SearchController.doPost(SearchController.java:54)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:716)
at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:809)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:200)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:146)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:209)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:596)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.java:433)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.invoke(ContainerBase.java:948)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:144)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:596)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.java:433)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.invoke(ContainerBase.java:948)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.invoke(StandardContext.java:2358)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:133)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:596)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorDispatcherValve.invoke(ErrorDispatcherValve.java:118)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:594)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:116)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:594)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.java:433)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.invoke(ContainerBase.java:948)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:127)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline$StandardPipelineValveContext.invokeNext(StandardPipeline.java:596)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardPipeline.invoke(StandardPipeline.java:433)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.invoke(ContainerBase.java:948)
at org.apache.coyote.tomcat4.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:152)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java:799)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.processConnection(Http11Protocol.java:705)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.TcpWorkerThread.runIt(PoolTcpEndpoint.java:577)
at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.ThreadPool$ControlRunnable.run(ThreadPool.java:683)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:534)

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Jason

[Ben Souther]

Moved from JSP at the request of the original poster.