Spring MVC variable resets for no reason - spring

Question

For some reason when I execute a GET request to a certain URI the variable that I need to access in that method loses its memory or points to null.
I have a form where a user can update his personal information. But when he enters a duplicate, it redirects him to a page that lets him know
I have : private static volatile User currentUser;
This field is set when a user logs in and the server performs a GET request to a REST API, which I programmed myself, and returns the User containing his info. This works as expected and the user info is displayed on his home screen.
Code for the above:
#RequestMapping(value = "/login", method = RequestMethod.POST)
public String login(#ModelAttribute Credentials credentials,
RedirectAttributes redirect) {
RestTemplate restTemplate = new RestTemplate();
RoleInfo roleInfo = restTemplate.postForObject(
"http://localhost:9090/users/login", credentials,
RoleInfo.class);
if (roleInfo != null) {
if (roleInfo.isAdmin()) {
redirect.addFlashAttribute("credentials", credentials);
return "redirect:/adminHome";
} else {
redirect.addFlashAttribute("credentials", credentials);
return "redirect:/getBasicUser";
}
} else {
return "login_fail";
}
}
#RequestMapping(value = "/getBasicUser", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public <T> String getBasicUser(#ModelAttribute Credentials credentials,
Model model, RedirectAttributes redirect) {
RestTemplate restTemplate = new RestTemplate();
String url = "http://localhost:9090/users/getBasicUser?username="
+ credentials.getUsername();
ResponseEntity<User> responseEntity = restTemplate.exchange(
url,
HttpMethod.GET,
new HttpEntity<T>(createHeaders(credentials.getUsername(),
credentials.getPassword())), User.class);
User user;
user = responseEntity.getBody();
currentUser = user;
System.out.println("current user: " + currentUser.getUsername());
if (user != null) {
userName = credentials.getUsername();
passWord = credentials.getPassword();
redirect.addFlashAttribute("credentials", credentials);
redirect.addFlashAttribute("user", user);
return "redirect:/basicHome";
} else {
return "register_fail";
}
}
So on "basicHome" he can view his information. Also on that page is a link to a form where he can edit the information:
#RequestMapping(value = "/edit", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public String getEditProfilePage(Model model) {
model.addAttribute("currentUser", currentUser);
System.out.println("current use firstname: " + currentUser.getFirstname());
model.addAttribute("user", new User());
return "edit_profile";
}
If an edit is successful he is returned back to his home page with the updated information.
The problem comes when he enters invalid info. He should be redirected back to the "/edit" URI and the currentUserfield should still hold his information but is actually null.
Here is the "/edit" PUT function:
#RequestMapping(value = "/edit", method = RequestMethod.PUT)
public <T> String editProfile(#ModelAttribute("user") User user,
#ModelAttribute("credentials") Credentials credentials,
RedirectAttributes redirect) {
RestTemplate restTemplate = new RestTemplate();
String url = "http://localhost:9090/users/update?username=" + userName;
HttpHeaders headers = createHeaders(userName,
passWord);
#SuppressWarnings({ "unchecked", "rawtypes" })
HttpEntity<T> entity = new HttpEntity(user, headers);
ResponseEntity<User> responseEntity = restTemplate.exchange(url,
HttpMethod.PUT, entity, User.class);
User returnedUser = responseEntity.getBody();
currentUser = returnedUser;
if (returnedUser != null) {
redirect.addFlashAttribute("user", returnedUser);
redirect.addFlashAttribute("credentials", credentials);
return "redirect:/basicHome";
} else {
return "redirect:/editFail";
}
}

Answer 1

I figured out what I had to do. I basically made "user" a session object in: #SessionAttributes("user")