Web hit counter

Question

Can someone lead me in the right direction to making a hit counter in Java Studio Creator? The counter in staticText1 should increment every time some one hits the submit button. I didnt increment yet because I am getting errors when I try to parse it.
public String button1_action() {
        // TODO: Process the button click action. Return value is a navigation
        // case name where null will return to the same page.
        String counter = (String)staticText1.getValue();       
        Cookie cookie = new Cookie(counter, "1");
        int counter = 1;
        cookie.setMaxAge(60*60*24*30);
        HttpServletResponse response =
                (HttpServletResponse)getExternalContext().getResponse();
        response.addCookie(cookie);
        staticText1.setValue(counter);
        return null;
public void prerender() {
        HttpServletRequest request = (HttpServletRequest)getExternalContext().getRequest();
I really dont know if I am doing is right.  I know I need to parse the counter in an int but I need a lead in the right direction.  Can anyone help?

Answer 1

I moved everything to the prerender method. And I made a few updates. However all i get is Blah. Anyone at all know how to fix this?
public void prerender() {
        staticText1.setValue("Blah");
        HttpServletRequest request = (HttpServletRequest)getExternalContext().getRequest();
        Cookie [] cookies = request.getCookies();
        if(cookies.length>1){
        for(int i=0;i<cookies.length-1;i++){
           Cookie cookie = cookies;
String counter = (String)staticText1.getValue();
Cookie cookie = new Cookie(counter,"1");
HttpServletResponse response =
(HttpServletResponse)getExternalContext().getResponse();
response.addCookie(cookie);
int count = 0;
count++;
try{
count = Integer.parseInt(counter);
}catch(NumberFormatException nfe){}
cookie.setMaxAge(60*60*24*30);
staticText1.setValue(counter);}