Spring MVC - Form Handling Example

The following example shows how to write a simple web based Hello World application using the Spring MVC Framework. To start with, let us have a working Eclipse IDE in place and follow the subsequent steps to develop a Dynamic Web Application using the Spring Web Framework.

Step	Description
1	Create a project with a name HelloWeb under a package com.tutorialspoint as explained in the Spring MVC - Hello World chapter.
2	Create Java classes Student, StudentController under the com.tutorialspoint package.
3	Create view files student.jsp, result.jsp under the jsp sub-folder.
4	The final step is to create the content of the source and configuration files and export the application as explained below.

Student.java

package com.tutorialspoint;

public class Student {
   private Integer age;
   private String name;
   private Integer id;

   public void setAge(Integer age) {
      this.age = age;
   }
   public Integer getAge() {
      return age;
   }

   public void setName(String name) {
      this.name = name;
   }
   public String getName() {
      return name;
   }

   public void setId(Integer id) {
      this.id = id;
   }
   public Integer getId() {
      return id;
   }
}

StudentController.java

package com.tutorialspoint;

import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ModelAttribute;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;
import org.springframework.web.servlet.ModelAndView;
import org.springframework.ui.ModelMap;

@Controller
public class StudentController {

   @RequestMapping(value = "/student", method = RequestMethod.GET)
   public ModelAndView student() {
      return new ModelAndView("student", "command", new Student());
   }
   
   @RequestMapping(value = "/addStudent", method = RequestMethod.POST)
   public String addStudent(@ModelAttribute("SpringWeb")Student student, 
   ModelMap model) {
      model.addAttribute("name", student.getName());
      model.addAttribute("age", student.getAge());
      model.addAttribute("id", student.getId());
      
      return "result";
   }
}

Here, the first service method student(), we have passed a blank Studentobject in the ModelAndView object with name "command". This is done because the spring framework expects an object with name "command", if we use <form:form> tags in the JSP file. So, when the student() method is called, it returns student.jsp view.

The second service method addStudent() will be called against a POST method on the HelloWeb/addStudent URL. You will prepare your model object based on the submitted information. Finally, a "result" view will be returned from the service method, which will result in rendering result.jsp.

student.jsp

<%@taglib uri="http://www.springframework.org/tags/form" prefix = "form"%>
<html>
   <head>
      <title>Spring MVC Form Handling</title>
   </head>
   
   <body>
      <h2>Student Information</h2>
      <form:form method = "POST" action = "/HelloWeb/addStudent">
         <table>
            <tr>
               <td><form:label path = "name">Name</form:label></td>
               <td><form:input path = "name" /></td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
               <td><form:label path = "age">Age</form:label></td>
               <td><form:input path = "age" /></td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
               <td><form:label path = "id">id</form:label></td>
               <td><form:input path = "id" /></td>
            </tr>
            <tr>
               <td colspan = "2">
                  <input type = "submit" value = "Submit"/>
               </td>
            </tr>
         </table>  
      </form:form>
   </body>
</html>

result.jsp

<%@taglib uri = "http://www.springframework.org/tags/form" prefix = "form"%>
<html>
   <head>
      <title>Spring MVC Form Handling</title>
   </head>
   <body>

      <h2>Submitted Student Information</h2>
      <table>
         <tr>
            <td>Name</td>
            <td>${name}</td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
            <td>Age</td>
            <td>${age}</td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
            <td>ID</td>
            <td>${id}</td>
         </tr>
      </table>  
   </body>
</html>

Once we are done with creating source and configuration files, export your application. Right click on your application, use Export → WAR File option and save the SpringWeb.war file in Tomcat's webapps folder.

Now, start the Tomcat server and make sure you are able to access other webpages from the webapps folder using a standard browser. Now, try a URL– http://localhost:8080/SpringWeb/student and you should see the following screen if everything is fine with the Spring Web Application.

After submitting the required information, click on the submit button to submit the form. You should see the following screen, if everything is fine with your Spring Web Application.