Maintain session when calling servlet from form in a JSP

Question

I have the following set up:
index.jsp calls login servlet from the action tag in a form.
Login servlet handles the login, stores the user info and db connection in the session and uses forward(req,res) to call another jsp.
That jsp has a form where user enters search info and in that form's action tag there is a search servlet. In the search servlet I am unable to access the session.
Is there any way to pass the session to the servlet from that jsp using a form/action?

Answer 1

I've read elsewhere that if you go from a jsp to a servlet that the >request object is cleared of any attributes from the previous request.which is correct. But arent we speaking about session object here? A request object is valid for a request - ie the phase from where the server receieves a hit for a resource upto the point it sends the output for that request.
A session spans multiple requests.
it doesn't retrieve the session info and gives me a null pointer >exception when I try to use the connection object stored in the session.Bad bad bad . Why do you store Connection objects in session? Create them when necessary or use a connection pool. Do you for example clean up the connections when the session expires. What if its a 30 minute session and the user hits every say 15 minutes with a request. Why do you need to hold on to the Connection in the intervening interval when the user's session is inactive?
gives me a null pointer exception when I try to use the connection object stored in the session.which means that the Connection object is null - not the session object.
That last line is where I get the null pointer exception. And that is
Statement stmt = con.createStatement();?
Same answer as above.
If the session object was null,
userSession.getAttribute("connection");would have thrown a NPE.
ram.