Select tag always returns null

Question

I am trying to create a search module to search shop details from database based on the criteria in select that user chooses

index.scala.html

@import helper._
@import helper.twitterBootstrap._

@main(Html("Home")) {
  <!-- Main component for a primary marketing message or call to action -->
  <div class="jumbotron">
    <h1>Shop Directory</h1>
    <p>Lets you search a nearby Shop and get to know their location</p>
    <p>Search Shop by Product or Shop name</p>

    <form class="form-inline" action="@routes.SearchController.search()" method="post">
      <input type="text" class="form-inline input-lg" placeholder="Product/Shop name" name="keyword" required="keyword required">

      <select class="form-inline input-lg" id="Select1" name="criteria">
        <option value="">-:Select Criteria:-&nbsp;</option>
        <option value="shop">Shop</option>
        <option value="product">Product</option>
      </select>
      <button class="btn btn-lg btn-primary" role="button">Search</button>
    </form>
  </div>
}

Search.java

package viewmodels;

public class Search {
  public String keyword;
  public String criteria;
}

SearchResult.java

package viewmodels;

import models.Shop;
import play.mvc.Controller;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public class SearchResult extends Controller {
  public String criteria;
  public String keyword;

  public List<Shop> shops;

  public SearchResult() {
    shops = new ArrayList();
  }
}

SearchController.java

package controllers;

import models.Product;
import models.Shop;
import play.data.DynamicForm;
import play.data.Form;
import play.mvc.Controller;
import viewmodels.Search;
import viewmodels.SearchResult;
import java.util.List;
import play.mvc.Result;
import static play.data.Form.*;

public class SearchController extends Controller {

  public static Result search() {

    Form<Search> requestData = form(Search.class).bindFromRequest();

    Search datatosearch = requestData.get();
    // String criteria="shop";
    String criteria = datatosearch.criteria;

    SearchResult result = new SearchResult();
    result.criteria = criteria;
    result.keyword = datatosearch.keyword;

    if (criteria == "shop") {
      List<Shop> shops = Shop.findByShopName(datatosearch.keyword);
      result.shops.addAll(shops);
    }
    else if (criteria == "product") {
      List<Shop> shops = Product.findByShopName(datatosearch.keyword);
      result.shops.addAll(shops);
    }

    return ok(views.html.search.results.render(result));
  }
}

if I do String criteria="shop" or String criteria="product" in my SearchController.java then it works fine, meaning my model query is correct, but if I execute the above code with String criteria = datatosearch.criteria it shows a blank screen.

I am using play framework, I am really stuck at this and any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

You are comparing strings with the == operator which is a no-no. Change your string comparisons to use String.equals so you are actually comparing the values instead of object references.

if (criteria.equals("shop") {
  ...
}
else if (criteria.equals("product") {
  ...
}

You probably also want to add some validation to check that criteria isn't NULL .