how to add extra columns into existing table?

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

I've been trying very very hard to custom jforum to implement a forum for my own community. One of those works is to insert a new column into 'jforum_users' table for an extra user property, say, 'gender'. (I know there is a 'gender' column in this table, just for example)

Here is what I've done:


1.Update User.java to identify the new table structure

	private String gender;
              ...
        public int getGender() {
	return this.gender;
        }
              ...
        public void setGender(String gender) {
	this.gender = gender;
	} 

2.Update 'fillUserFromResultSet' and 'update' methods in GenericUserDAO.java,

3.rewrite statements in *.sql file

4.I changed the user_form.htm and add the following code

<tr>
   <td class="row1"><span class="gen">${I18n.getMessage("User.gender")}:</span></td>
   <td class="row2">
         <input type="radio" value="1" ><#if u.getGender() == "M">checked="checked"</#if> name="gender" /> 
	 <span class="gen">${I18n.getMessage("User.male")}</span>   
	 <input type="radio" ><#if u.getGender() == "F">checked="checked" </#if> value="0" name="gender" /> 
	 <span class="gen">${I18n.getMessage("User.female")}</span>
   </td>
</tr>

5.Of cause I changed en_US.properties...


I thought it would work out. Ooops! When editting personal information through the 'user_form.htm' I got the following exception:


if u.getGender() [on line 119, column 79 in default/user_form.htm] ---------- Java backtrace for programmers: ---------- freemarker.core.InvalidReferenceException: Expression isGenderMale is undefined on line 119, column 84 in default/user_form.htm. at freemarker.core.TemplateObject.assertNonNull(TemplateObject.java:124) at freemarker.core.TemplateObject.invalidTypeException(TemplateObject.java:134) at freemarker.core.MethodCall._getAsTemplateModel(MethodCall.java:114) at freemarker.core.Expression.getAsTemplateModel(Expression.java:89) at freemarker.core.Expression.isTrue(Expression.java:138) at freemarker.core.ConditionalBlock.accept(ConditionalBlock.java:77) at freemarker.core.Environment.visit(Environment.java:196) at freemarker.core.MixedContent.accept(MixedContent.java:92) at freemarker.core.Environment.visit(Environment.java:196) at freemarker.core.Environment.process(Environment.java:176) at freemarker.template.Template.process(Template.java:232) at net.jforum.JForum.processCommand(JForum.java:236) at net.jforum.JForum.service(JForum.java:203) at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:810) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:252) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:173) at net.jforum.util.legacy.clickstream.ClickstreamFilter.doFilter(ClickstreamFilter.java:59) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:202) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:173) at org.jboss.web.tomcat.filters.ReplyHeaderFilter.doFilter(ReplyHeaderFilter.java:96) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:202) at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:173) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:213) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:178) at org.jboss.web.tomcat.security.SecurityAssociationValve.invoke(SecurityAssociationValve.java:175) at org.jboss.web.tomcat.security.JaccContextValve.invoke(JaccContextValve.java:74) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:126) at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:105) at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:107) at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:148) at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java:869) at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11BaseProtocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.processConnection(Http11BaseProtocol.java:664) at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.PoolTcpEndpoint.processSocket(PoolTcpEndpoint.java:527) at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.MasterSlaveWorkerThread.run(MasterSlaveWorkerThread.java:112) at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:595)



I've read the document for freemarker. However the deeper i dig, the more confused I am! Freemarker seems to fetch information from the data model of jforum. I tracked the 'context' hash map, and found the u.gender was right there with correct value, so I changed the code in user_form.htm into

<tr>
   <td class="row1"><span class="gen">${I18n.getMessage("User.gender")}:</span></td>
   <td class="row2">
         <input type="radio" value="1" ><#if u.gender == "M">checked="checked"</#if> name="gender" /> 
	 <span class="gen">${I18n.getMessage("User.male")}</span>   
	 <input type="radio" ><#if u.gender == "F">checked="checked" </#if> value="0" name="gender" /> 
	 <span class="gen">${I18n.getMessage("User.female")}</span>
   </td>
</tr>

The exception was still there telling that u.gender is undefined! Now I am somewhat depressed!What the entity of jforum data model, and how can I get access to it at all?

I am quite a rookie on programming, still growing though. With respect and the feeling of being exhausted I hope guys in this community can help me out. Thanks.
[originally posted on jforum.net by workinghard]

[Migrated From Jforum.net]

I just made one more experiment. It seems to work.

	public boolean isGenderMale() {
		return this.gender=="M";
	}
	
	public boolean isGenderFemale() {
		return this.gender=="F";
	}

in the user_form.htm are <#if u.isGenderMale() and isGenderFemale correspondingly. Seems that '<#if' expression only recognize boolean value... am i right?
[originally posted on jforum.net by workinghard]