© 2007 Marty Hall

Creating Custom JSP Tag

Libraries: The Basics

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© 2007 Marty Hall

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Struts, JSF, Ajax, Java 5, Java 6, and customized
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Taught by the author of Core Servlets and JSP, More
Servlets and JSP, and this tutorial. Available at
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4 Developed and taught byon-site at your
well-known author organization.
and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.
 Agenda
• Java-based tags
– Components of a tag library
– Basic tags
– Tags that use attributes
– Tags that use body content
– Tags that optionally use body content
• JSP-based tags (tag files)
– Components of a tag library
– Basic tags
– Tags that use attributes
– Tags that use body content
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Uses of JSP Constructs

• Scripting elements calling servlet

Simple code directly
Application
• Scripting elements calling servlet
code indirectly (by means of utility
classes)
• Beans
• Servlet/JSP combo (MVC)
• MVC with JSP expression language
Complex • Custom tags
Application • MVC with beans, custom tags, and
a framework like Struts or JSF
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 Components That Make Up a
Tag Library
• The Tag Handler Class
– Java code that says what to output
– Must implement javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.SimpleTag
– Usually extends SimpleTagSupport
– Goes in same directories as servlet class files and beans
• The Tag Library Descriptor File
– XML file describing tag name, attributes, and
implementing tag handler class
– Goes under WEB-INF
• The JSP File
– Imports a tag library (referencing URL of descriptor file)
– Defines tag prefix
7
– Uses tags J2EE training: http://courses.coreservlets.com

Defining a Simple Tag Handler

Class
• Extend the SimpleTagSupport class
• Import needed packages
– import javax.servlet.jsp.*;
import javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.*;
import java.io.*;
• Override doTag
– Obtain the JspWriter with getJspContext().getOut()
– Use the JspWriter to generate output
– Code gets called at request time
• Tag instances are not reused like servlet instances, so no
worry about race conditions, even if you have instance
variables

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 Defining a Simple Tag Handler
Class: Example
package coreservlets.tags;

import javax.servlet.jsp.*;
import javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.math.*;
import coreservlets.Primes;

public class SimplePrimeTag extends SimpleTagSupport {

protected int length = 50;

public void doTag() throws JspException, IOException {

JspWriter out = getJspContext().getOut();
BigInteger prime =
Primes.nextPrime(Primes.random(length));
out.print(prime);
}
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Defining a Simple Tag Library

Descriptor
• Start with XML header
• Top-level element is taglib
– Just use tlib-version and short-name as in example
• Each tag defined by tag element with:
– description, which gives short info. Optional.
– name, which defines the base tag name.
– tag-class, which gives the fully qualified class name of
the tag handler.
– body-content, which specifies if tag is standalone or
contains content between start and end tag.
• You can have multiple tag entries in each TLD file
• Put TLD file somewhere under WEB-INF
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 TLD File for SimplePrimeTag
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<taglib xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee
http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-jsptaglibrary_2_0.xsd"
version="2.0">
<tlib-version>1.0</tlib-version>
<short-name>csajsp-taglib</short-name>
<tag>
<description>Outputs 50-digit primes</description>
<name>simplePrime</name>
<tag-class>coreservlets.tags.SimplePrimeTag</tag-class>
<body-content>empty</body-content>
</tag>
...
</taglib>
• Don't memorize XML header and standard
part; download and modify online version
– The important thing is to know how to write tag entries
11
– Place TLD file somewhere under WEB-INF
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Accessing Custom Tags From

JSP Files
• Import the tag library
– Specify location of TLD file
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
prefix="csajsp" %>
– Define a tag prefix (namespace)
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
prefix="csajsp" %>
• Use the tags
– <prefix:tagName />
• Tag name comes from TLD file
• Prefix comes from taglib directive
– E.g., <csajsp:simplePrime />

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 Using simplePrime Tag
...
<BODY>
<H1>Some 50-Digit Primes</H1>

<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"

prefix="csajsp" %>
<UL>
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime />
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime />
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime />
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime />
</UL>

</BODY>
</HTML>

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Using simplePrime Tag:

Result

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 Assigning Attributes to Tags
• Allowing tags like
– <prefix:name
attribute1="value1"
attribute2="value2"
...
attributeN="valueN"
/>
• Tags are still standalone
– No body between start and end tags

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Attributes:
The Tag Handler Class
• Use of an attribute called attribute1
simply results in a call to a method called
setAttribute1
– Attribute value is supplied to method as a String
• Example
– To support

<prefix:tagName attribute1="Test" />

add the following to tag handler class:

public void setAttribute1(String value1) {

doSomethingWith(value1);
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 Attributes: PrimeTag.java
package coreservlets.tags;

public class PrimeTag extends SimplePrimeTag {

public void setLength(String length) {
try {
this.length = Integer.parseInt(length);
} catch(NumberFormatException nfe) {
this.length = 50;
}
}
}

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Attributes:
The Tag Library Descriptor File
• The tag element must contain a nested
attribute element
• The attribute element has three further-
nested elements
– name, a required element that defines the case-sensitive
attribute name.
– required, a required element that stipulates whether the
attribute must always be supplied (true) or is optional
(false).
– rtexprvalue, an optional attribute that indicates whether
the attribute value can be a JSP expression like
<%= expression %> (true) or whether it must be a fixed
string (false). The default value is false.
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 TLD File for PrimeTag
...
<taglib ...>
...
<tag>
<description>Outputs an N-digit prime</description>
<name>prime</name>
<tag-class>coreservlets.tags.PrimeTag</tag-class>
<body-content>empty</body-content>
<attribute>
<name>length</name>
<required>false</required>
</attribute>
</tag>
...
</taglib>

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Using prime Tag

...
<BODY>
<H1>Some N-Digit Primes</H1>

<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"

prefix="csajsp" %>
<UL>
<LI>20-digit: <csajsp:prime length="20" />
<LI>40-digit: <csajsp:prime length="40" />
<LI>80-digit: <csajsp:prime length="80" />
<LI>Default (50-digit): <csajsp:prime />
</UL>

</BODY>
</HTML>

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 Using prime Tag: Result

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Including the Tag Body

• Simplest tags
– <prefix:tagName />
• Tags with attributes
– <prefix:tagName att1="val1" ... />
• Now
– <prefix:tagName>
Scriptless JSP Content
</prefix:tagName>

– <prefix:tagName att1="val1" ... >

Scriptless JSP Content
</prefix:tagName>
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 Including Tag Body:
The Tag Handler Class
• Call getJspBody().invoke(null);
public void doTag() throws ... {
JspWriter out = getJspContext().getOut();
out.print("...");
getJspBody().invoke(null);
out.print("...");
}

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Including Tag Body:

HeadingTag.java
public class HeadingTag extends SimpleTagSupport {
private String align;
private String bgColor;
private String border;
private String fgColor;
private String font;
private String size;

public void setAlign(String align) {

this.align = align;
}

public void setBgColor(String bgColor) {

this.bgColor = bgColor;
}

public void setBorder(String border) {

this.border = border;
}…
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 Including Tag Body:
HeadingTag.java (Continued)
public void doTag() throws JspException, IOException {
JspWriter out = getJspContext().getOut();
out.print("<TABLE ALIGN=\"" + align + "\"\n" +
" BGCOLOR=\"" + bgColor + "\"\n" +
" BORDER=" + border + "\">\n");
out.print("<TR><TH>");
out.print("<SPAN STYLE=\"color: " + fgColor + ";\n" +
" font-family: " + font + ";\n" +
" font-size: " + size + "px; " +
"\">\n");
// Output content of the body
getJspBody().invoke(null);
out.println("</SPAN></TH></TR></TABLE>" +
"<BR CLEAR=\"ALL\"><BR>");
}
}

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Using Tag Body:

The Tag Library Descriptor File
• Only difference is body-content element
– Should be scriptless instead of empty:
<tag>
<name>…</name>
<tag-class>…</tag-class>
<body-content>scriptless</body-content>
</tag>
• Legal values for body-content
– empty: no body content
• Body content is ignored even if supplied
– scriptless: body content is included
• Can contain plain text, EL elements, and page directives
only
• No explicit scripting allowed (<%= ... %>)
– tagdependent: body content is processed by tag
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 heading Tag: TLD File
<tag>
<description>Formats enclosed heading</description>
<name>heading</name>
<tag-class>coreservlets.tags.HeadingTag</tag-class>
<body-content>scriptless</body-content>
<attribute>
<name>align</name>
<required>true</required>
</attribute>
<attribute>
<name>bgColor</name>
<required>true</required>
</attribute>
...
</tag>

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Using heading Tag

…<BODY>
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
prefix="csajsp" %>
<csajsp:heading align="LEFT" bgColor="CYAN"
border="10" fgColor="BLACK"
font="Arial Black" size="78">
First Heading
</csajsp:heading>
<csajsp:heading align="RIGHT" bgColor="RED"
border="1" fgColor="YELLOW"
font="Times New Roman" size="50">
Second Heading
</csajsp:heading>
<csajsp:heading align="CENTER" bgColor="#C0C0C0"
border="20" fgColor="BLUE"
font="Arial Narrow" size="100">
Third Heading
</csajsp:heading>
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 Using heading Tag:
Results

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Using heading Tag:

More Results

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 Optional Tag Bodies
• First examples had no tag bodies
– body-content: empty
– doTag does not call invoke(null)
• Most recent examples always included
tag bodies
– body-content: scriptless
– doTag calls invoke(null)
• Now: decide at request time whether or not
to include tag body
– body-content: scriptless
– doTag conditionally calls invoke(null)
• Depending on run-time information
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Optional Tag Bodies:

DebugTag.java
public class DebugTag extends SimpleTagSupport {
public void doTag() throws JspException, IOException {
PageContext context = (PageContext)getJspContext();
HttpServletRequest request =
(HttpServletRequest)context.getRequest();
// Output body of tag only if debug param is present.
if (request.getParameter("debug") != null) {
getJspBody().invoke(null);
}
}
}

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 TLD File for DebugTag
...
<tag>
<description>
Conditionally outputs enclosed body
</description>
<name>debug</name>
<tag-class>coreservlets.tags.DebugTag</tag-class>
<body-content>scriptless</body-content>
</tag>
...

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Using debug Tag

<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
prefix="csajsp" %>
Top of regular page. Blah, blah, blah.
Yadda, yadda, yadda.
<csajsp:debug>
<H2>Debug Info:</H2>
********************<BR>
-Remote Host: ${pageContext.request.remoteHost}<BR>
-Session ID: ${pageContext.session.id}<BR>
-The foo parameter: ${param.foo}<BR>
********************<BR>
</csajsp:debug>
<P>
Bottom of regular page. Blah, blah, blah.
Yadda, yadda, yadda.

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 Using debug Tag: Results

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Tag Files:
Custom Tags Using JSP Syntax
• Two Approaches
– When there is lots of logic, use Java to create output
• Analagous to when you use servlets
– When there is lots of formatting, use JSP to create output
• Analagous to when you use JSP pages
• Pros
– Very good for complex text formatting
– Very concise
• Cons
– Not good for complicated logic
– Runs only in JSP 2.0
• Java-based versions had "classic" syntax that worked in
36
older servers (e.g., BEA WebLogic 8.1, Oracle 9i AS)
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 Simple Standalone Tags
• Java-based approach requires three pieces
– Java code that overrides doTag to generate output
• Strengths and weaknesses generally similar to those of
servlets, but more cumbersome
– Tag Library Descriptor (TLD) file that maps Java class
name to tag name
– JSP page that refers to specific location of TLD file
• JSP-based approach requires two pieces
– JSP code (tag file) that shows result
• /WEB-INF/tags/someName.tag
– No TLD file: tag name taken from tag-file name
– JSP page that refers to directory containing tag file
• /WEB-INF/tags or a subdirectory thereof
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Java-Based Tags: Code

(Simple Standalone Tag)
package coreservlets.tags;

import javax.servlet.jsp.*;
import javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.math.*;
import coreservlets.Primes;

public class SimplePrimeTag extends SimpleTagSupport {

protected int length = 50;

public void doTag() throws JspException, IOException {

JspWriter out = getJspContext().getOut();
BigInteger prime =
Primes.nextPrime(Primes.random(length));
out.print(prime);
}
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 Java-Based Tags: TLD File
(Simple Standalone Tag)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<taglib xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee
http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-jsptaglibrary_2_0.xsd"
version="2.0">
<tlib-version>1.0</tlib-version>
<short-name>csajsp-taglib</short-name>

<tag>
<description>Outputs 50-digit primes</description>
<name>simplePrime</name>
<tag-class>coreservlets.tags.SimplePrimeTag</tag-class>
<body-content>empty</body-content>
</tag>
...
</taglib>

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Java-Based Tags: Usage in JSP

(Simple Standalone Tag)
...
<BODY>
<H1>Some 50-Digit Primes</H1>
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
prefix="csajsp" %>
<UL>
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime />
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime />
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime />
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime />
</UL>
</BODY></HTML>

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 Java-Based Tags: Result
(Simple Standalone Tag)

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Tag Files: Tag Code

(Simple Standalone Tag)
• WEB-INF/tags/simplePrime2.tag
– Directory name is not arbitrary; must be in
/WEB-INF/tags or a subdirectory thereof

<%= coreservlets.Primes.nextPrime
(coreservlets.Primes.random(50)) %>

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 Tag Files: Usage in JSP
(Simple Standalone Tag)
...
<BODY>
<H1>Some 50-Digit Primes</H1>

<%@ taglib tagdir="/WEB-INF/tags"

prefix="csajsp" %>
<UL>
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime2 />
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime2 />
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime2 />
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime2 />
</UL>
</BODY></HTML>

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Tag Files: Result

(Simple Standalone Tag)

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 Tags with Attributes
• Java-based tags
– For each attribute, add setAttributeName method to the
Java class
– Attribute value usually explicitly stored in instance
variable (field) of Java class
– List each attribute explicitly in TLD file

• JSP-based tags (tag files)

– Each attribute listed in the tag file
– Attribute value automatically stored in scoped variable
(for access from expression language) and in local
variable (for access from Java code)
45
– No TLD file
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Java-Based Tags: Code

(Tag with Attributes)
package coreservlets.tags;

public class PrimeTag extends SimplePrimeTag {

public void setLength(String length) {
try {
this.length = Integer.parseInt(length);
} catch(NumberFormatException nfe) {
this.length = 50;
}
}
}

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 Java-Based Tags: TLD File
(Tag with Attributes)
…
<tag>
<description>Outputs an N-digit prime</description>
<name>prime</name>
<tag-class>coreservlets.tags.PrimeTag</tag-class>
<body-content>empty</body-content>
<attribute>
<name>length</name>
<required>false</required>
</attribute>
</tag>
…

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Java-Based Tags: Usage in JSP

(Tag with Attributes)
…
<BODY>
<H1>Some N-Digit Primes</H1>
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
prefix="csajsp" %>
<UL>
<LI>20-digit: <csajsp:prime length="20" />
<LI>40-digit: <csajsp:prime length="40" />
<LI>80-digit: <csajsp:prime length="80" />
<LI>Default (50-digit): <csajsp:prime />
</UL>
</BODY></HTML>

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 Java-Based Tags: Results
(Tag with Attributes)

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Tag Files: Tag Code

(Tag with Attributes)
<%@ attribute name="length" required="false" %>
<%
int len = 50;
try {
len = Integer.parseInt(length);
} catch(NumberFormatException nfe) {}
%>
<%= coreservlets.Primes.nextPrime
(coreservlets.Primes.random(len)) %>

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 Tag Files: Usage in JSP
(Tag with Attributes)
…
<BODY>
<H1>Some N-Digit Primes</H1>
<%@ taglib tagdir="/WEB-INF/tags"
prefix="csajsp" %>
<UL>
<LI>20-digit: <csajsp:prime2 length="20" />
<LI>40-digit: <csajsp:prime2 length="40" />
<LI>80-digit: <csajsp:prime2 length="80" />
<LI>Default (50-digit): <csajsp:prime2 />
</UL>
</BODY></HTML>

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Tag Files: Results

(Tag with Attributes)

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 Tags with Bodies
• Java-based tags
– Change body-content from empty to scriptless (in TLD)
– Call getJspBody().invoke(null)
– Still need setter method and TLD entry for every attribute

• JSP-based tags (tag files)

– Use <jsp:doBody/> to output tag body
– No major syntax changes
– Access to attributes still much simpler

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Java-Based Tags: Code

(Tag with Body)
public class HeadingTag extends SimpleTagSupport {
private String align;
private String bgColor;
private String border;
private String fgColor;
private String font;
private String size;

public void setAlign(String align) {

this.align = align;
}

public void setBgColor(String bgColor) {

this.bgColor = bgColor;
}

public void setBorder(String border) {

this.border = border;
}…
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 Java-Based Tags: Code
(Tag with Body -- Continued)
public void doTag() throws JspException, IOException {
JspWriter out = getJspContext().getOut();
out.print("<TABLE ALIGN=\"" + align + "\"\n" +
" BGCOLOR=\"" + bgColor + "\"\n" +
" BORDER=" + border + "\">\n");
out.print("<TR><TH>");
out.print("<SPAN STYLE=\"color: " + fgColor + ";\n" +
" font-family: " + font + ";\n" +
" font-size: " + size + "px; " +
"\">\n"); //
// Output content of the body
getJspBody().invoke(null);
out.println("</SPAN></TH></TR></TABLE>" +
"<BR CLEAR=\"ALL\"><BR>");
}
}

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Java-Based Tags: TLD File

(Tag with Body)
...
<tag>
<description>Formats enclosed heading</description>
<name>heading</name>
<tag-class>coreservlets.tags.HeadingTag</tag-class>
<body-content>scriptless</body-content>
<attribute>
<name>align</name>
<required>true</required>
</attribute>
<attribute>
<name>bgColor</name>
<required>true</required>
</attribute>
...
</tag>

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 Java-Based Tags: Usage in JSP
(Tag with Body)
<BODY>
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
prefix="csajsp" %>
<csajsp:heading align="LEFT" bgColor="CYAN"
border="10" fgColor="BLACK"
font="Arial Black" size="78">
First Heading
</csajsp:heading>
<csajsp:heading align="RIGHT" bgColor="RED"
border="1" fgColor="YELLOW"
font="Times New Roman" size="50">
Second Heading
</csajsp:heading>
<csajsp:heading align="CENTER" bgColor="#C0C0C0"
border="20" fgColor="BLUE"
font="Arial Narrow" size="100">
Third Heading
</csajsp:heading>
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Java-Based Tags: Results

(Tag with Body)

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 Tag Files: Tag Code
(Tag with Body)
<%@ attribute name="align" required="true" %>
<%@ attribute name="bgColor" required="true" %>
<%@ attribute name="border" required="true" %>
<%@ attribute name="fgColor" required="true" %>
<%@ attribute name="font" required="true" %>
<%@ attribute name="size" required="true" %>
<TABLE ALIGN="${align}"
BGCOLOR="${bgColor}"
BORDER="${border}">
<TR><TH>
<SPAN STYLE="color: ${fgColor};
font-family: ${font};
font-size: ${size}px;">
<jsp:doBody/></SPAN>
</TABLE><BR CLEAR="ALL"><BR>
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Tag Files: Usage in JSP

(Tag with Body)
<BODY>
<%@ taglib tagdir="/WEB-INF/tags"
prefix="csajsp" %>
<csajsp:heading2 align="LEFT" bgColor="CYAN"
border="10" fgColor="BLACK"
font="Arial Black" size="78">
First Heading
</csajsp:heading2>
<csajsp:heading2 align="RIGHT" bgColor="RED"
border="1" fgColor="YELLOW"
font="Times New Roman" size="50">
Second Heading
</csajsp:heading2>
<csajsp:heading2 align="CENTER" bgColor="#C0C0C0"
border="20" fgColor="BLUE"
font="Arial Narrow" size="100">
Third Heading
</csajsp:heading2>
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 Tag Files: Results
(Tag with Body)

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Open Source Tag Libraries

http://jakarta.apache.org/taglibs/
• JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL)
– Covered in later lecture
• Internationalization (I18N)
• Database access
• Sending email
• JNDI
• Date/time
• Populating/validating form fields
• Perl regular expressions
• Extracting data from other Web pages
• XSL transformations
• Etc.
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 Summary
• For each custom (Java-based) tag, you need
– A tag handler class (usually extending SimpleTagSupport)
– An entry in a Tag Library Descriptor file
– A JSP file that imports it, specifies prefix, and uses it
• Simple tags
– Generate output in doTag, body-content is empty
• Attributes
– Define setAttributeName method.
– Add attribute entries to TLD file.
• Body content
– body-content is scriptless
– doTag calls getJspBody().invoke(null)
• Tag Files
– In tagName.tag, outline what result should look like
• Refer to attributes with ${attributeName}
• Refer to tag body with <jsp:doBody/>
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© 2007 Marty Hall

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