jsp servlet pass variable in table row to servlet without form - database

Question

<table id="searchTable"><%
for (int i=0; i<userList.size();i++){
User user=userList.get(i);%>
<tr>
<td id="leftSearchResult">
<span class="resultUsername">Name: <%=user.getUserName()%></span></br>
</td>
<td>
<!--Button to visit profile here-->
</td>
</tr>
<%}%>
</table>
I have this search user function, and for each result a table row is created with the username of the user. What I want to do is that when you press the visit profile button in the table row it will send the username in that row to the servlet. How do I do that? Also, can you pass variables to servlets without the use of forms? I know how to retrieve data from forms to the servlet with request.getParameter(), but not sure what to do in this situation. (The userList array is an arraylist of User objects retrieved from the database when you perform the search function. Did not include that code portion here.)

Answer 1

Use a link with a request parameter. And learn not to use scriptlets in JSPs. Use the JSP EL and the JSTL instead:
<table id="searchTable">
<c:forEach items="${userList}" var="user">
<tr>
<td id="leftSearchResult">
<span class="resultUsername">
Name: <c:out value="${user.userName}"/>
</span>
</td>
<td>
<a href="<c:url value="/userDetails">
<c:param name="userId" value="${user.id}"/>
</c:url>">Details</a>
</td>
</tr>
</c:forEach>
</table>
The above will generate a link with a URL like /userDetails?userId=1234, and the servlet mapped to /userDetails will then be able to access the user ID using request.getParameter("userId").