unable to read cookie javascript

Question

I am setting cookie server-side, using java code

response.addCookie("test1","test1");

I found this code to retrieve cookie using javascript

(function(){
    var cookies;

    function readCookie(name,c,C,i){
        if(cookies){ alert("all cookies"+cookies); return cookies[name]; }

        c = document.cookie.split('; ');
        cookies = {};

        for(i=c.length-1; i>=0; i--){
           C = c[i].split('=');
           cookies[C[0]] = C[1];
        }
        alert("required cookie"+cookies[name]);
        return cookies[name];
    }

    window.readCookie = readCookie; // or expose it however you want
})();

I am calling this function as

alert(readCookie('test1'));

but every time I get the alert as undefined.. I checked the chrome's cookie file and my cookie is set there as

localhosttest1test1/service/login

Can someone explain why am I getting this error?

Answer 1

The code seems to work (I tested it in Firefox, Chrome and MSIE, by creating some cookie with JavaScript, eg, document.cookie = "test1=bla" , and it displays "required cookiebla"). Maybe the cookie you set from the server is marked as HttpOnly , so that JavaScript has no access to it?

Answer 2

I had a similar problem when I submitted a link that went to a different path. ie, the page I was clicking the link was /pathOne/somePlace , but the link went to /pathTwo/someOtherPlace . The cookie that was written was only valid on /pathTwo/* . To correct for this I did :

Cookie testCookie = new Cookie("test1","test1");
testCookie.setPath (request.getContextPath ());
response.addCookie (testCookie);

hope that helps.