2008 Marty Hall

Using the JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL) with JSF

Originals of Slides and Source Code for Examples: http://www.coreservlets.com/JSF-Tutorial/
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Servlets, JSP, Struts, JSF/MyFaces/Facelets, Ajax, GWT, Java 5 or 6, etc. Spring/Hibernate coming soon. Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

2008 Marty Hall

For live JSF training, please see training courses at http://courses.coreservlets.com/.

Taught by the author of Core Servlets and JSP, More Servlets and JSP, and this tutorial. Available at public venues, or customized versions can be held on-site at your organization.
Courses developed and taught by Marty Hall

Customized Java Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/ Courses developed and taught by EE coreservlets.com experts (edited by Marty)
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Java 5, Java 6, intermediate/beginning servlets/JSP, advanced servlets/JSP, Struts, JSF, Ajax, GWT, custom courses.

Spring, Hibernate, EJB3, Ruby/Rails Servlets, JSP, Struts, JSF/MyFaces/Facelets, Ajax, GWT, Java 5 or 6, etc. Spring/Hibernate coming soon. Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location. Contact [email protected] for details

Agenda
Obtaining JSTL documentation and code The JSTL Expression Language Looping Tags
Looping a certain number of times Looping over data structures Improving Ajax MVC data-handling examples

Conditional Evaluation Tags

Single choice Multiple choices

Database Access Tags Other Tags

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2008 Marty Hall

Overview and Installation

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JSTL Overview
JSTL was based on the Struts looping and logic tags JSTL is not part of the JSP 1.2 or 2.0 Specs
It is a separate specification that requires a separate download

Available only in servers that support servlets 2.3 and JSP 1.2 or later. Cannot be retrofitted into JSP 1.1.

The JSTL expression language is part of JSP 2.0, JSP 2.1, and JSF The JSTL Specification is available in PDF
http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=52
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Downloading JSTL
JSTL 1.1
Home page
http://jakarta.apache.org/taglibs/doc/ standard-doc/intro.html

Download
http://jakarta.apache.org/site/downloads/ downloads_taglibs-standard.cgi

Documentation (Javadoc)
http://java.sun.com/products/jsp/jstl/1.1/docs/tlddocs/

Note
Many server packages (e.g., MyFaces) and IDEs (e.g., MyEclipse) already have JSTL 1.1 bundled

JSTL 1.2
As of 2/2008, only available as part of Java EE 5
Not as a separate download for use in other servers
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Enabling JSTL with MyEclipse

Using bundled JSTL version
File New Web Project, select JSTL 1.1 option

Using latest JSTL version

Download from Apache site Drag jstl.jar and standard.jar onto WEB-INF/lib
They get listed in "Referenced Libraries" I usually rename JAR files to show exact version
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They show up here. But you drop them here.

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Enabling JSTL Manually

Put in Web App
Drop JAR files in the WEB-INF/lib folder of your Web app

Put in CLASSPATH
Add the JAR files to the CLASSPATH used by your development environment Do not add to the CLASSPATH used by the server

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The JSTL Expression Language

Accessed via ${expression} Similar to JavaScript and XPath Provides shorthand notation to access:
Attributes of standard servlet objects Bean properties Map, List, and Array elements

Is standard part of JSP 2.0 and 2.1

In JSTL, EL can be used only in attributes of JSTL tags In JSP 2.0, the EL can be used anywhere
web.xml element and page directive attribute let you disable the EL for backward compatibility

Covered in separate lecture

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2008 Marty Hall

Iteration Tags
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JSF Constructs for Handling Variable-Length Data

Simplest for Page Author

Bean
<h:outputText value="#{cust.withdrawals}" escape="true"/>

Custom tag (non-looping)

<mytags:withDrawalTable customer="${cust}" border="..." headerStyles="..." .../>

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Most Control for Page Author

h:dataTable t:dataList JSTL loop JSP scripting loop

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Looping Tags: Summary

Looping with explicit numeric values
<c:forEach var="name" begin="x" end="y" step="z"> Blah, blah ${name} </c:forEach>

Looping over data structures

Can loop down arrays, strings, collections, maps
<c:forEach var="name" items="array-or-collection"> Blah, blah ${name} </c:forEach>

Looping down delimited strings

forTokens
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Looping Tags: Motivation

JSP without JSTL
<UL> <% for(int i=0; i<messages.length; i++) { String message = messages[i]; %> <LI><%= message %> <% } %> </UL>

JSP with JSTL

<UL> <c:forEach var="message" items="${messages}"> <LI>${message} </c:forEach> </UL>
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Looping with Simple Numeric Values

<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"%> <UL> <c:forEach var="i" begin="1" end="10"> <LI>${i} </c:forEach> </UL>

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Looping with a Designated Step Size

<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"%> <UL> <c:forEach var="seconds" begin="0" end="${pageContext.session.maxInactiveInterval}" step="100"> <LI>${seconds} seconds. </c:forEach> <LI>Timeout exceeded. </UL>

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Looping Down Arrays (Servlet)

public class ArrayServlet extends HttpServlet { public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException { String[] words = { "foo", "bar", "baz"}; request.setAttribute("words", words); String address = "/WEB-INF/results/array-loop.jsp"; RequestDispatcher dispatcher = request.getRequestDispatcher(address); dispatcher.forward(request, response); } }

Note url-pattern in web.xml is /test-array

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Looping Down Arrays

<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"%> <H2>Key Words:</H2> <UL> <c:forEach var="word" items="${words}"> <LI>${word} </c:forEach> </UL> <H2>Values of the test Parameter:</H2> <UL> <c:forEach var="val" items="${paramValues.test}"> <LI>${val} </c:forEach> </UL> Java EE training: http://courses.coreservlets.com

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Note for Older Servers

Examples in this lecture assume JSP 2.0+
JSTL also runs in older servers, but you have to replace direct output of ${foo} with <c:out value="$foo"/>

Previous example (JSP 2.0+)

<UL> <c:forEach var="word" items="${words}"> <LI>${word} </c:forEach> </UL>

Previous example (JSP 1.2)

<UL> <c:forEach var="word" items="${words}"> <LI><c:out value="${word}"/> </c:forEach> </UL>
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${foo} vs. <c:out value="${foo}"/>

c:out runs on older servers
Oracle 9i, BEA WebLogic 8.x, IBM WebSphere 5.x

c:out escapes HTML (XML) characters

<c:out value="<h1>"/> outputs &lt;h1&gt;
Very important if value being output comes from end user. Disable with <c:out value="" escapeXml="false"/>

c:out lets you supply a default value

<c:out value="${foo}" default="explicit value"/> or <c:out value="${foo}" default="${calculatedValue}"/> The default is output when ${foo} evaluates to null

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Looping Down Collections: Notes

Can loop down collections other than arrays
"items" can refer to an array, collection (List, Map, Set, etc.), comma-separated String, Iterator, or Enumeration

Can access sub-elements of local variable

<c:forEach var="bean" items="${collectionOfBeans}"> ${bean.property} </c:forEach> <c:forEach var="collection" items="${collectionOfCollections}"> ${collection[part]} </c:forEach> For details, see separate lecture on the JSP expression language
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Looping Down Arrays: Accessing SubElements (Servlet)

public class ArrayServlet2 extends HttpServlet { public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException { Name[] names = { new Name("Bill", "Gates"), new Name("Larry", "Ellison"), new Name("Sam", "Palmisano"), new Name("Scott", "McNealy"), new Name("Eric", "Schmidt"), new Name("Jeff", "Bezos") }; request.setAttribute("names", names); String[][] sales = { {"2005", "12,459", "15,622"}, {"2006", "18,123", "17,789"}, {"2007", "21,444", "23,555"} }; request.setAttribute("sales", sales); String address = "/WEB-INF/results/array-loop2.jsp"; RequestDispatcher dispatcher = request.getRequestDispatcher(address); dispatcher.forward(request, response); } Note: url-pattern is /test-array2 } Java EE training: http://courses.coreservlets.com

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Looping Down Arrays: Accessing SubElements (Bean)

public class Name { private String firstName; private String lastName; public Name(String firstName, String lastName) { setFirstName(firstName); setLastName(lastName); } public String getFirstName() { return(firstName); } public void setFirstName(String firstName) { this.firstName = firstName; } public String getLastName() { return(lastName); } public void setLastName(String lastName) { this.lastName = lastName; } }
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Looping Down Arrays: Accessing SubElements (JSP)

<H2>Attendees at the coreservlets.com Party</H2> <UL> <c:forEach var="name" items="${names}"> <LI>${name.firstName} ${name.lastName} </c:forEach> </UL> <H2>Comparing Apples and Oranges</H2> <TABLE BORDER="1"> <TR><TH>Year</TH> <TH>Apples Sold</TH> <TH>Oranges Sold</TH></TR> <c:forEach var="row" items="${sales}"> <TR><c:forEach var="col" items="${row}"> <TD>${col}</TD> </c:forEach> </c:forEach> </TABLE>
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Looping Down Arrays: Accessing SubElements (Result)

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Looping Down CommaDelimited Strings

<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"%> <UL> <c:forEach var="country" items="Australia,Canada,Japan,Philippines,Mexico,USA"> <LI>${country} </c:forEach> </UL>

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Looping Down ArbitrarilyDelimited Strings

<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" %> <UL> <c:forTokens var="color" items="(red (orange) yellow)(green)((blue) violet)" delims="()"> <LI>${color} </c:forTokens> </UL>

Point:
forTokens built on forEach: you can build your own custom tags based on JSTL tags
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 2008 Marty Hall

Looping Tags in Action: Ajax Data Handling

Customized Java EE Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/
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Servlets, JSP, Struts, JSF/MyFaces/Facelets, Ajax, GWT, Java 5 or 6, etc. Spring/Hibernate coming soon. Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

Original Version
In "Ajax Data Handling" showed, showed example that displayed lists of cities
JavaScript
Sent out request to server Took data back in XML, JSON, or string format Extracted information and produced HTML table Inserted table into page

HTML
Loaded JavaScript files Had button that trigged the action

Servlet
Produced List of City objects

JSP
Put city info into XML, JSON, or string format
Repeated entries for each city in List

Notes and source code for original example

http://courses.coreservlets.com/Course-Materials/ajax.html
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HTML Code
... <fieldset> <legend>Getting XML Data from Server...</legend> <form action="#"> <label for="city-type-1">City Type:</label> <select id="city-type-1"> <option value="top-5-cities"> Largest Five US Cities</option> <option value="second-5-cities"> Second Five US Cities</option> ... </select> <br/> <input type="button" value="Show Cities" onclick='xmlCityTable("city-type-1", "xml-city-table")'/> </form> <p/> <div id="xml-city-table"></div> Java EE training: http://courses.coreservlets.com </fieldset>...

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Servlet Code
public class ShowCities extends HttpServlet { public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException { response.setHeader("Cache-Control", "no-cache"); response.setHeader("Pragma", "no-cache"); String cityType = request.getParameter("cityType"); List<City> cities = findCities(cityType); request.setAttribute("cities", cities); String format = request.getParameter("format"); String outputPage; if ("xml".equals(format)) { response.setContentType("text/xml"); outputPage = "/WEB-INF/results/cities-xml.jsp"; } ... RequestDispatcher dispatcher = request.getRequestDispatcher(outputPage); dispatcher.include(request, response); }
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Original JSP Code (cities-xml-before-jstl.jsp)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <cities> <city> <name>${cities[0].name}</name> <time>${cities[0].shortTime}</time> <population>${cities[0].population}</population> </city> <city> <name>${cities[1].name}</name> <time>${cities[1].shortTime}</time> <population>${cities[1].population}</population> </city> ... <! Repeated for cities 2 and 3 --> <city> <name>${cities[4].name}</name> <time>${cities[4].shortTime}</time> <population>${cities[4].population}</population> </city> </cities>
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Problems with JSP Code

Repetitive
Almost-identical city entries repeated five times If the city format changes, all five entries need to change

Presumes exactly five cities

Will not work with a different number of cities

Solution
Use JSTL

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Updated JSP Code (cities-xml.jsp)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" %> <cities> <c:forEach var="city" items="${cities}"> <city> <name>${city.name}</name> <time>${city.shortTime}</time> <population>${city.population}</population> </city> </c:forEach> </cities>

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Alternative Version (Using XML Syntax: cities-xml.jspx)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <cities xmlns:c="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"> <c:forEach var="city" items="${cities}"> <city> <name>${city.name}</name> <time>${city.shortTime}</time> <population>${city.population}</population> </city> </c:forEach> </cities>

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XML Data: Results

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JSON Version: Original (cities-json-before-jstl.jsp)

({ "names": ["${cities[0].name}", "${cities[1].name}", "${cities[2].name}", "${cities[3].name}", "${cities[4].name}"], "times": ["${cities[0].shortTime}", "${cities[1].shortTime}", "${cities[2].shortTime}", "${cities[3].shortTime}", "${cities[4].shortTime}"], "populations": ["${cities[0].population}", "${cities[1].population}", "${cities[2].population}", "${cities[3].population}", "${cities[4].population}"] })
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JSON Version: Updated (cities-json.jsp)

<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" %> ({ "names": [<c:forEach var="city" items="${cities}"> "${city.name}", </c:forEach>], "times": [<c:forEach var="city" items="${cities}"> "${city.shortTime}", </c:forEach>], "populations": [<c:forEach var="city" items="${cities}"> "${city.population}", </c:forEach>] })
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JSON Version: Results

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Delimited String Version: Original (cities-string-before-jstl.jsp)

${cities[0].name}#${cities[1].name}#...#${cities[4].name} ${cities[0].shortTime}#...#${cities[4].shortTime} ${cities[0].population}#...#${cities[4].population}

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Delimited String Version: Updated (cities-string.jsp)

<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" %><c:forEach var="city" items="${cities}">${city.name}#</c:forEach> <c:forEach var="city" items="${cities}">${city.shortTime}#</c:forEach> <c:forEach var="city" items="${cities}">${city.population}#</c:forEach>

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String Version: Results

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2008 Marty Hall

Logic Tags
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Conditional Evaluation Tags

One choice: if
<c:if test="${someTest}"> Content </c:if>

Lots of choices: choose

<c:choose> <c:when test="test1">Content1</c:when> <c:when test="test2">Content2</c:when> ... <c:when test="testN">ContentN</c:when> <c:otherwise>Default Content</c:otherwise> </c:choose>

Caution: resist use of business logic!

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The "if" Tag

<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"%> <UL> <c:forEach var="i" begin="1" end="10"> <LI>${i} <c:if test="${i > 7}"> (greater than 7) </c:if> </c:forEach> </UL>

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The "choose" Tag

<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"%> <UL> <c:forEach var="i" begin="1" end="10"> <LI>${i} <c:choose> <c:when test="${i < 4}"> (small) </c:when> <c:when test="${i < 8}"> (medium) </c:when> <c:otherwise> (large) </c:otherwise> </c:choose> </c:forEach> </UL>
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2008 Marty Hall

Using JSTL in JSF Pages

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Output Pages vs. Direct-Access Pages

Output pages
In pages that are the result of a navigation rule (i.e., listed under to-view-id), you can use JSTL as shown on previous slides
Since bean is already in request, session, or application

Direct access pages

JSTL does not know about faces-config.xml, so you cannot refer to beans that are listed there but not yet instantiated
Using direct-access pages is rare in real life, but is very useful for testing when learning JSTL Solution: use h:outputText to refer to bean once first
Declare bean containing array of numbers in faces-config.xml First num: <h:outputText value="#{myBean.numbers[0]}/> <c:forEach var="num" items="${myBean.numbers}>...
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JSF Does Not Know About JSTL Variables

JSTL puts data in page scope This works
<c:forEach var="name" items="${names}"> <LI>${name} </c:forEach> Example assumes this is an output page and "names" set earlier by JSF

This fails
<c:forEach var="name" items="names"> <LI><h:outputText value="#{name}"/> </c:forEach>

Supposedly fixed in JSTL 1.2

But there are no standalone releases of JSTL 1.2 Use facelets instead
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 2008 Marty Hall

Database Access Tags

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Database Access Tags

<sql:setDataSource>
Specifies data source (can also be set by config settings)

<sql:query>
Queries database and stores ResultSet in variable Warning: this usage violates rule of keeping business logic out of presentation layer. Instead, do database access in servlet and pass results to JSP via MVC.

<sql:update> <sql:param> <sql:dateParam> <sql:transaction>

Performs the enclosed <sql:query> and <sql:update> actions as a single transaction

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Aside: The Microsoft Access Northwind Database

Database that comes preinstalled with Microsoft Office

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Using Microsoft Access via ODBC

Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Data Sources, System DSN, and select Add

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Using Microsoft Access via ODBC (Continued)

Select Microsoft Access Driver, Finish, type a name under Data Source Name, and hit Select

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Using Microsoft Access via ODBC (Continued)

Navigate to the Samples directory of MS Office, select Northwind.mdb, hit OK, then hit OK in following two windows

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Using Microsoft Access via ODBC (Continued)

Driver
sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver
Comes bundled with JDK

URL
jdbc:odbc:Northwind
Local access only; for testing. Not for serious applications.

Username
Empty string

Password
Empty string

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sql:setDataSource
You can set a data source globally via configuration settings or application-scoped variables.
Preferred approach in real applications

Or, you can set it on a specific page

<%@ taglib prefix="sql" uri="http://java.sun.com/jstl/sql" %> <sql:setDataSource driver="sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver" url="jdbc:odbc:Northwind" user="" password=""/>

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sql:query
Form 1: use the sql attribute
<sql:query var="results" sql="SELECT * FROM "/>

Form 2: put the query in the body of the tag

<sql:query var="results"> SELECT * FROM </sql:query>

Options
dataSource maxRows startRow

Caution
Embedding SQL directly in JSP may be hard to maintain.
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Simple Example
<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"%> <%@ taglib prefix="sql" uri="http://java.sun.com/jstl/sql" %> <sql:setDataSource driver="sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver" url="jdbc:odbc:Northwind" user="" password=""/>

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Simple Example (Continued)

<sql:query var="employees"> SELECT * FROM employees </sql:query> <UL> <c:forEach var="row" items="${employees.rows}"> <LI>${row.firstname} ${row.lastname} </c:forEach> </UL>

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Simple Example: Results

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 2008 Marty Hall

Other Tags
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Servlets, JSP, Struts, JSF/MyFaces/Facelets, Ajax, GWT, Java 5 or 6, etc. Spring/Hibernate coming soon. Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

URL-Handling Tags
<c:import>
Read content from arbitrary URLs
Insert into page Store in variable Or make accessible via a reader

Unlike <jsp:include>, not restricted to own system

<c:redirect>
Redirects response to specified URL

<c:param>
Encodes a request parameter and adds it to a URL May be used within body of <c:import> or <c:redirect>
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Formatting Tags
<fmt:formatNumber>
Formats a numeric value as a number, currency value, or percent, in a locale-specific manner

<fmt:parseNumber>
Reads string representations of number, currency value, or percent

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<fmt:formatDate> <fmt:parseDate> <fmt:timeZone> <fmt:setTimeZone>

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Internationalization (I18N) Tags

<fmt:setLocale>
Sets Locale

<fmt:setBundle> <fmt:bundle> <fmt:message>

Retrieves localized message from a resource bundle

<fmt:param>

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XML Manipulation Tags

Core
<x:parse>

XPath
<x:if> <x:choose> <x:when> <x:otherwise> <x:forEach>

XSLT
<x:transform> <x:param>
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Summary
JSTL is similar to the old Struts looping and logic tags, but better JSTL is standardized, but not a standard part of JSP
It is supposed to be included with all JSF implementations

Supports a concise expression language

Lets you access bean properties and implicit objects EL is standard part of JSP 2.0, JSP 2.1, and JSF

Looping tags
Explicit numeric values Arrays, collections, maps, strings, etc.

Conditional evaluation tags

Single options Multiple options
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Summary (Continued)
Database Access Tags
Always a bad idea when using MVC approach
With or without a framework like JSF or Struts

sql:setDataSource to specify a database sql:query to perform query Loop down results using iteration tags

Other tags

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Handling URLS Internationalizing pages Formatting strings Manipulating XML

Java EE training: http://courses.coreservlets.com

2008 Marty Hall

Questions?
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73

Servlets, JSP, Struts, JSF/MyFaces/Facelets, Ajax, GWT, Java 5 or 6, etc. Spring/Hibernate coming soon. Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.