[opencms-dev] How to show a page with data submitted from a form

[Paul-Inge Flakstad]

Hi Àlex and Steve,

I'll try to explain.

You can't put JSP code in the xmlpage itself and have it run directly. The xmlpage
type is associated with a JSP template, which means when you request the page,
the JSP template is run, and it is this file that produces the output to the screen.

This means that if you need to run some JSP code, just put it in the template.

One way to do this is to copy your existing template (referred to in the property 
"template") and modify it to fit your needs. Of course, you'll end up with two 
(and eventually ninety-eight) JSP templates that are partly duplicates...

So a better way to approach it is to make use of a property whenever you need 
to do "something out of the ordinary". In this property (you would probably 
define your own property for this) you put the path to the JSP file that does 
"something out of the ordinary" - or, in your specific case, processes the form. 
In your regular template, you simply check if the property has a value. If it does, 
you read the value (a path to another JSP file), and simply include that file 
from your template.

The process simplified would go something like this (note #3):
1. Template called because the xmlpage was requested
2. Normal template "head" code stuff
3. Read property "xxx" to check for a value
3.1 If yes, the value should be the path to another file. Include it.
3.1.1 The included file does something (like output form data)
3.2 If no, do nothing, continue to next step
4. Print the xmlpage content (this can of course also be done prior to #3)
5. Normal template "foot" code stuff
6. Done!

This way you can avoid duplicate code, as one template JSP will be 
sufficient. Moreover, you get your form-processing code bits in a separate 
file, keeping things nice and tidy, and - even more interesting - you will be 
able to re-use your created system logic at a later time, by just creating a JSP 
that does the specific task needed. All you'll need to do is put the path to that 
JSP in your property.

(When Steve refers to the "jsp-body" property, it is probably just a property 
he's defined himself for such a purpose. It is simply a placeholder for a path 
to some file, to allow for a more generic solution for including other files 
from a template that is shared by many files. This is why he says that his 
main template is "controlled by page properties". New properties are easily 
created by choosing "Define..." from the advanced properties dialog.)

Note also that included files don't _have_ be JSP files. They can be whatever 
type, as long as you support it by coding the include bit correctly.

I hope this clearified the issue for you. :)

The important thing to remember is that in OpenCms, web pages are typically 
produced by JSP files (templates). This means that if you need to run some 
kind of code, it's just a matter of getting the code into your template in some 
way.

Cheers,
Paul
________________________________________
Fra: opencms-dev-bounces at opencms.org [opencms-dev-bounces at opencms.org] på vegne av Alexandre Magaz Graça [alexm at asic.udl.cat]
Sendt: 19. august 2010 12:02
Til: opencms-dev at opencms.org
Emne: Re: [opencms-dev] How to show a page with data submitted from a form

Hi,

Sorry for the delayed response, I've been in holidays.

Al 29/06/10 13:39, En/na Steve Bryan ha escrit:
> Hi
>
> As an alternative to loading template from the JSP - you could just submit
> to a regular xmlpage (ie action="result.html"). In OpenCms 'html' pages are
> not static and can run jsp code via the template.
>
> You could write a new template for this page or adapt the existing one, to
> do the processing you describe, since the template can run sections of jsp
> to check parameters etc.
>

I don't sure if I understand you. Do you mean I can put code in a
xmlpage? If it is possible, how? I tried adding JSP code, but it didn't
work. Or what you mean is that the xmlpage is associated with a template
which can run code when it's loaded? If that's the case, I'm not sure I
see the advantage. When I submit the form I want the submitted fields to
be shown in the result page, there's nothing else, so the xmlpage would
be empty and the template would hold all the JSP and HTML code to show
the fields.

> In our sites we never have jsps including template - we always have xmlpages
> and these either include content elements, or run jsp, according to logic in
> the main template controlled by page properties (eg 'jsp-body=xxx').
>

What is this jsp-body property? What do you do with it?

Thanks,
Àlex

> Steve
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:41:43 +0200
> From: Alexandre Magaz Gra?a<alexm at asic.udl.cat>
> Subject: [opencms-dev] How to show a page with data submitted from a
>       form
> To: opencms-dev at opencms.org
> Message-ID:<4C288A77.3050901 at asic.udl.cat>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> Hi,
>
> I have an HTML page (page with free text) with a form and I would like
> the data submitted through it to be displayed in another page. My idea
> was to have something like this in the HTML page:
>
> <form ... action="result.jsp">
>
> Then make the JSP process and display the submitted data. The thing is I
> can't find any way of loading the template from the JSP so it looks like
> any other page in the web site.
>
> Is there any way of doing this? Or is my approach just wrong?
>
> I'm using OpenCms 7.0.5.
>
> Thanks,
> ?lex
>
>
>
>
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