what values can a JSP form "action" take? - forms

Question

What can a JSP form action be?
I have a Login.jsp page for the user to end the details.
Can i give the servlet class in the form action?
here is the the servlet code.
package mybean;
import java.io.IOException;
import javax.servlet.ServletException;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpSession;
public class LoginServlet extends HttpServlet {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public LoginServlet() {
super();
}
protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
try
{
System.out.println("In the Login Servlet");
LoginBean user = new LoginBean();
user.setUemail(request.getParameter("uemail"));
user.setUpass(request.getParameter("upass"));
user = LoginDAO.login(user);
if(user.isValid())
{
HttpSession session = request.getSession(true);
session.setAttribute("currentSessionUser",user);
response.sendRedirect("LoginSuccess.jsp");
}else
response.sendRedirect("LoginFailed.jsp");
} catch (Throwable exc)
{
System.out.println(exc);
}
}
protected void doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
}
}

Answer 1

As per the specs , it can take any valid URI
This attribute specifies a form processing agent. User agent behavior for a value other than an HTTP URI is undefined.
Can i give the servlet class in the form action ?
Yes if the servlet class name resolves to a valid URL mapped in the web.xml or else you will encounter a 404 .
Let us consider your JSP is at the root of the application, then
<FORM action="someServletName" method="post">
Now this will be resolved as protocol://servername:port/context/someServletName .Now somewhere you should have a mapping for /someServletName , either in web.xml or through annotation to a Servlet or JSP.
<servlet>
<servlet-name>someServletName</servlet-name>
<servlet-path>packageName.servletName</servlet-path>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>someServletName</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/someServletName</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>