How to get parameters from the URL with JSP

Question

In JSP how do I get parameters from the URL?

For example I have a URL www.somesite.com/Transaction_List.jsp?accountID=5
I want to get the 5.

Is there a request.getAttribute( "accountID" ) like there is for sessions or something similar?

Answer 1

About the Implicit Objects of the Unified Expression Language, the Java EE 5 Tutorial writes:

Implicit Objects

The JSP expression language defines a set of implicit objects:

• pageContext: The context for the JSP page. Provides access to various objects including:
  • servletContext: The context for the JSP page’s servlet and any web components contained in the same application. See Accessing the Web Context.
  • session: The session object for the client. See Maintaining Client State.
  • request: The request triggering the execution of the JSP page. See Getting Information from Requests.
  • response: The response returned by the JSP page. See Constructing Responses.
• In addition, several implicit objects are available that allow easy access to the following objects:
  • param: Maps a request parameter name to a single value
  • paramValues: Maps a request parameter name to an array of values
  • header: Maps a request header name to a single value
  • headerValues: Maps a request header name to an array of values
  • cookie: Maps a cookie name to a single cookie
  • initParam: Maps a context initialization parameter name to a single value
• Finally, there are objects that allow access to the various scoped variables described in Using Scope Objects.
  • pageScope: Maps page-scoped variable names to their values
  • requestScope: Maps request-scoped variable names to their values
  • sessionScope: Maps session-scoped variable names to their values
  • applicationScope: Maps application-scoped variable names to their values

The interesting parts are in bold :)

So, to answer your question, you should be able to access it like this (using EL):

${param.accountID}

Or, using JSP Scriptlets (not recommended):

<%
    String accountId = request.getParameter("accountID");
%>