Spring MVC - Drop Down Lists

StudentController.java

/**
 * 
 */
package com.luv2code.springdemo.mvc;

import java.util.SortedMap;

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.Model;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ModelAttribute;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;

/**
 * @author Rajib
 *
 */
@Controller
@RequestMapping("/student")
public class StudentController {
	
	@Value("#{countryOptions}")
	private SortedMap<String, String> countryOptions;
		
	/**
	 * @param theModel
	 * @return String
	 */
	@RequestMapping("/showForm")
	public String showForm(Model theModel){
		
		// create a student object
		Student theStudent = new Student();
		
		// add student object to the model
		theModel.addAttribute("student", theStudent);
		
		System.out.println(countryOptions);
		// add the country options to the model 
	    theModel.addAttribute("theCountryOptions", countryOptions);
		
		return "student-form";
	}
	
	/**
	 * @param theStudent
	 * @return String
	 */
	@RequestMapping("/processForm")
	public String processForm(@ModelAttribute("student") Student theStudent){
		
		// log the input
		System.out.println("theStudent : " + theStudent.getFirstName() + " " + theStudent.getLastName() + " " +theStudent.getCountry());
		/*return "student-confirmation";*/
		return "redirect:/student/showForm";
	}
	
}