Creating an editable table using an array of input tags

Good morning,

I am displaying a table of values on a jsp page using an array of input tags. The name attribute of the tags is dynamically generated to correspond to an array element in my Java bean. The trouble is, the attribute in the bean is not being populated when the page is submitted. The name attribute is currently of the form "cells[i][j]". I have also tried the form "cells" and "cells[]" to no avail.

Has anyone had any luck writing array values back to a bean using the name attribute? Can anyone suggest a better way to create a table, on a web page, which may be edited and the resulting values sent to a bean? Thanks in advance.

Here are the relevant lines of code from the bean:

public class ViewDVO { . . . private String[][] cells; . . . public String[][] getCells() { return cells; } public void setCells(String[][] cells) { this.cells = cells; }

Here is the jsp:

<jsp:useBean id="viewdvo" scope="session" class="com.carrier.pcbmercury.ViewDVO" /> . . . <table class="outline"> <% List<List> inputRecords = pageTables.get(tblIndex); for (int recIndex=0; recIndex < inputRecords.size(); recIndex++) { List inputFields = inputRecords.get(recIndex); %> <tr> <% for (int fieldIndex=0; fieldIndex < inputFields.size(); fieldIndex++) { String cellName = "cells[" + String.valueOf(recIndex) + "][" + String.valueOf(fieldIndex) + "]"; %> <td ><input type="text" name="<%=cellName%>" class="edittable" value="<%=inputFields.get(fieldIndex)%>" size=12/> </td> <% } %> </tr> <% } } %> </table>

This is where I log the values to a file on the next jsp page:

String[][] cells = viewdvo.getCells(); if(cells==null){ viewdao.logError("cells is null"); } else { viewdao.logError("cells length is: " + cells.length); for (int i=0; i < 10; i++) { for (int j=0; j < 10; j++){ viewdao.logError("cells[" + i + "][" + j + "] is: " + cells[i][j]); } } }

Make life easier:
1) Use a List<RowObject> instead of SomeObject[][].
2) Use taglibs and EL instead of scriptlets.
3) Use JSTL's c:forEach to iterate over the List<RowObject>.
4) Use a servlet and the methods provided by HttpServletRequest to set submitted values back.

Thank you. I will give it a try and post the results.

It may take a little effort to pull yourself into the modern era, but trust me, it will be well worth it!