Username and password validation from database to jsp view page

Question

If the username and password retrieved from database are incorrect then I would like to show error on jsp page itself instead of re-directing to another page.

Right now I am showing a message from the validation servlet if the username and passwords are invalid. How do I show a message on front end using javascript or anyother tool to jsp view?

Below is my Login form:

<form id="loginform" class="form-horizontal" name="myForm" method="POST" action="ValidateLoginServlet2.do" onSubmit="return validateLogin()">
    <input type="text" class="form-control" name="uname" placeholder="username">                                        
    <input id="login-password" type="password" class="form-control" name="pwd" placeholder="password">
    <input type="submit" value="Login" href="#" class="btn btn-success" />
</form>

And my Validate login servlet:

protected void doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)
            throws ServletException, IOException {
//        processRequest(request, response);
        PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();

        String username = request.getParameter("uname");
        String password = request.getParameter("pwd");
        System.out.println(username);
        System.out.println(password);

        try
        {
            Connection con = OracleDBConnection.getConnection();
            PreparedStatement statement = con.prepareStatement("select firstname, password from registration where firstname =? and password=?");
            statement.setString(1, username);
            statement.setString(2, password);
            ResultSet result = statement.executeQuery();
            if(result.next()){
                response.sendRedirect("LoginSuccessful.jsp");
            }else{
                out.println("username and password are incorrect");
            }
        }catch(Exception e){
            System.out.println("DB related Error");
            e.printStackTrace();
        }   
    }

Solution

You can use a <span> element where you show your error message that you get from your servlet request, here's the JSP page:

<form id="loginform" class="form-horizontal" name="myForm" method="POST" action="ValidateLoginServlet2.do" onSubmit="return validateLogin()">
    <input type="text" class="form-control" name="uname" placeholder="username">                                        
    <input id="login-password" type="password" class="form-control" name="pwd" placeholder="password">
    <input type="submit" value="Login" href="#" class="btn btn-success" />
    <span style="color:red;">${errMsg}</span>
</form>

And in your servlet you set an error message in your else statment like this:

if(result.next()) {
    response.sendRedirect("LoginSuccessful.jsp");
}else{
    request.setAttribute("errMsg", "username and password are incorrect");
    // The following will keep you in the login page
    RequestDispatcher rd = request.getRequestDispatcher("/login.jsp");
    rd.forward(request, response); 
}

And to prevent showing the same error the next login in your if block where the login is successful you can reset the ErrMsg like this:

request.setAttribute("errMsg", "");

Comments

[Shotgun Ninja]

I really hope you're encrypting those passwords before they get stored in the database or compared against DB values...

[kittu]

Do they have to be encrypted? If so, then how?. Could you please give me a hint or a link about it. Thank you

[kittu]

What if cookies are disabled in the client browser?

[kittu]

The else part is getting re-directed to login page as you have mentioned, however <c:out value="${errMsg}"/> error message is not being displayed on the view page

[kittu]

I tried as you said and its not working :/ where does the second part of code goes? It has to be in script tag right?

[cнŝdk]

@kittu Well , simply try ${errMsg} without <c:out> like this: <span style="color:red;">${errMsg}</span>

[Keval]

@kittu yes It has to be in script tag, please check the answer now