Way to get session variables into a non-servlet?

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Nino - 14 Mar 2007 22:09 GMT

Hello,

I have several arrays of information that I want sorted through and
updated. They all depend on each other, and thus need to be updated
together. Since I use these arrays in several different JSP files, I
want to run the logic just one time and then use the arrays for
display purposes.

Thus, I have decided to build a JSP waiting page that will load the
information into the arrays, do the logic, and then redirect
accordingly. Problem is that on the waiting page, I don't know how to
approach the logic aspect of the setup. I am currently passing the
arrays via session variables between my JSPs. Is there a way to get my
session variables into a regular Java file (not a servlet call), so I
can just call methods to do the work? Is there a way to call a servlet
without redirecting? I hope I'm making sense. Here is a sample of my
code:

    int uid =
java.lang.Integer.parseInt(""+session.getAttribute("user.id"));
    LoadUserData lsd = new LoadUserData();

    String programsList[][] = lsd.getPrograms(uid,
java.lang.Integer.parseInt(request.getParameter("ep")));
    session.setAttribute("edplan.pl", programsList);

    String requirementsList[][] = lsd.getRequirements(programsList);
    session.setAttribute("edplan.rl", requirementsList);

    String groupsList[][] = lsd.getGroups(requirementsList);
    session.setAttribute("edplan.gl", groupsList);

    String coursesList[][] = lsd.getCourses(requirementsList,
groupsList);
    session.setAttribute("edplan.cl", coursesList);

Right here I want to do something like this:

RunAllLogic ral = new RunAllLogic();
ral.sortArrays();

sortArrays would do the work on the four arrays, save them back into
their session, and then proceed...

The problem with redirecting is that this is all built around a
"Please wait while we load your information..." page...

Hope someone can provide some insight. Feel free to ask questions if
something doesn't make sense, or I have omitted something.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Nino Skilj

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Wojtek - 14 Mar 2007 23:14 GMT

Nino wrote :

> Hello,
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> want to run the logic just one time and then use the arrays for
> display purposes.

A Java web application actually does run as an application. You can use
a Singelton to hold the arrays, which the servlets can access as
required.

Each servlet would have a call to:
-----------------
Application app = Application.getInstance();
app.getStuff();
-----------------

And the skeleton Aplication class:
-----------------
public class Application
{
private static Application cvApp = null;
private static boolean cvIsInitialized = false;

// other non-static properties

private Application()
{
super();
}

private static synchronized Application getInstance()
{
if ( !cvIsInitialized )
{
cvApp = new Application();

// do a bunch of setup stuff using
// cvApp.set???

cvIsInitialized = true;
}

return cvApp;
}

// other non-static methods
}
-----------------

So the first call to getInstance will actually do all the setting up,
and it will blck any other access to it while it works.

Every other call will be really quick.

Signature

Wojtek :-)

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Wojtek - 14 Mar 2007 23:17 GMT

Wojtek wrote :

> private static synchronized Application getInstance()

BLAST!

That should be:

public static synchronized Application getInstance()
~~~~~~

Signature

Wojtek :-)

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Nino - 14 Mar 2007 23:50 GMT

> A Java web application actually does run as an application. You can use
> a Singelton to hold the arrays, which the servlets can access as
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Application app = Application.getInstance();
> app.getStuff();

Maybe it is just my confusion on the subject, but if I run the
information loading code first (say when a user logs on), then I
wouldn't need to reference the Application on each JSP, would I? It
seems that this way the getStuff function would be running the logic
each time the file is called...

> And the skeleton Aplication class:
> -----------------
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> // do a bunch of setup stuff using
> // cvApp.set???

This is part of the problem... How do I do the stuff here without
being able to access the arrays I stored as a session variable? Is
that what .set would do instead? Where can I find reference to .set
and how is it used in storing information and making it accessible
between JSP files?

> return cvApp;

What does cvApp hold? All the arrays?

Sorry if I'm a little slow picking this up. I think I am stuck in the
mindset of what I think I need and am trying to figure out how your
solution solves my problem. Hopefully you can help clarify!

Thanks,
Nino

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Wojtek - 15 Mar 2007 00:06 GMT

Nino wrote :

>> A Java web application actually does run as an application. You can use
>> a Singelton to hold the arrays, which the servlets can access as
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> seems that this way the getStuff function would be running the logic
> each time the file is called...

Yes, but getStuff() returns the information which has been processed
during the application initialization, which is done only once.

>> // do a bunch of setup stuff using
>> // cvApp.set???
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> and how is it used in storing information and making it accessible
> between JSP files?

Well, you could pass the session object, then extract the arrays from
it:
public static synchronized Application getInstance(HttpSession session)

Or you could have the initialization routine generate the arrays
without the need for a session. So instead of generating the arrays in
the first JSP and storing them in the session, the arrays are generated
in the initialize() method and stored in the Application object.

>> return cvApp;
>
> What does cvApp hold? All the arrays?

cvApp holds a reference to the Application object.

The Application object holds all the information which will be accessed
by other JSP pages (or servlets).

Signature

Wojtek :-)

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Nino - 19 Mar 2007 22:40 GMT

> Well, you could pass the session object, then extract the arrays from
> it:
> public static synchronized Application getInstance(HttpSession session)

I suck! I didn't realize it was that easy to pass a session object to
a method. This was extremely helpful... Thank you so much!

> cvApp holds a reference to the Application object.
>
> The Application object holds all the information which will be accessed
> by other JSP pages (or servlets).

What are the memory implications to hold a reference to the
Application object as opposed to holding the information within arrays
in a HttpSession? How would I figure that out?

Thanks again for all your help!

Nino

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Wojtek - 19 Mar 2007 23:54 GMT

Nino wrote :

>> Well, you could pass the session object, then extract the arrays from
>> it:
>> public static synchronized Application getInstance(HttpSession session)
>
> I suck! I didn't realize it was that easy to pass a session object to
> a method. This was extremely helpful... Thank you so much!

Except that you really should look into generating the arrays in the
Application object. Once.

>> cvApp holds a reference to the Application object.
>>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Application object as opposed to holding the information within arrays
> in a HttpSession? How would I figure that out?

If you hold the arrays in the session, then every time that one user
uses the JSP, the server must retrieve the session information from its
persistent storage.

So if that one user hits the page once, then never again, eventually
the session will time out, and the storage requirements will go away.
But then, when another user hits the page, the array will be
re-created. This takes time.

In fact, every new user to the server will create the arrays, so
eventually you will have multiple copies of the arrays, in each user's
session.

If you create the arrays once in the Application object, then reference
them, the arrays are held in the JVM memory space. Each user only gets
a reference to the arrays rather than holding the entire array.

So it is better to create the arrays in the Application, then reference
them for each user.

Signature

Wojtek :-)

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Nino - 20 Mar 2007 01:12 GMT

> If you hold the arrays in the session, then every time that one user
> uses the JSP, the server must retrieve the session information from its
> persistent storage.

Is this pretty bad? Each page currently does a check to make sure the
session is still active and usually makes at least one reference or
call to the session variable... So, if I have a couple arrays and two
variables (say the user name and their id) stored in a session, each
time I call for the user ID, am I accessing the entire session?

> In fact, every new user to the server will create the arrays, so
> eventually you will have multiple copies of the arrays, in each user's
> session.

I guess I didn't make that very clear in my initial statement. Each
array would be different for each user that logs on to the system. Our
system is based on unique information for each unique user. I know
it's a bit much, but that's our selling point. It's also why I wanted
to get away from constant database hits for this information and thus
am storing them in arrays. Do you think there is a better solution?
Does the Application still make sense in this context?

Thanks,
Nino

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Wojtek - 20 Mar 2007 14:44 GMT

Nino wrote :

>> If you hold the arrays in the session, then every time that one user
>> uses the JSP, the server must retrieve the session information from its
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> variables (say the user name and their id) stored in a session, each
> time I call for the user ID, am I accessing the entire session?

The application server retrieves the entire session each time. You then
reach into the session for the information stored there.

>> In fact, every new user to the server will create the arrays, so
>> eventually you will have multiple copies of the arrays, in each user's
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> to get away from constant database hits for this information and thus
> am storing them in arrays.

This was not clear from your first post.

> Do you think there is a better solution?

So when the user first logs in, you get a number of rows from the
database, store the rows in an array, then sort the array. You then put
the array into the session. You do this for a number of tables.

Why are you not ordering (SQL order by/ group by) the rows in the
database call? With proper indexes the database engine will sort and
retrieve rows quite efficiently.

Second, the application server probably stores session information in
some local database. Do a Google for: tomcat session storage and read
the results.

Third, if you are only using some of the information in the arrays,
rather than all the information each time, it may be better to do
database calls rather than storing arrays in the session.

Of course this depends on the size of the arrays. Since your initial
retrieval and sorting takes so long that you need a "Please wait" page,
then I assume that the arrays are quite large. If a thousand users all
click at the same time, your memory usage may grow beyond what you have
available.

If (in thte future) you need to use several servers for load balancing,
then the session information must be passed from server to server:
- user logs in. The load balancer directs the request to ServerA.
ServerA stores the session information in the common session storage
database (which is probably probably on different machine)
- the user clicks on a button. The load balancer directs the request to
ServerB. ServerB asks the common session storage database for that
user's session information.

You need to run some performance tests to see the difference between
hitting the database each time or storing in the session.

BTW, are you using a database connection pool manager? That way you do
not need to incur the overhead of establishing a pipe to the database
each time. Do a Google for: proxool

Finally, using database calls eases syncronization between what is in
the databse vs what is in the arrays. If the user makes a change to
their profile, you need to save it in the database. Then (using your
system) you need to re-create the arrays. So another "Please wait"
page.

> Does the Application still make sense in this context?

So since each user's information is unique to that user, no using an
Applicaton object would not make sense.

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Wojtek :-)

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Way to get session variables into a non-servlet?

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