© 2010 Marty Hall

Creating Custom JSP Tag

Libraries: The Basics
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2 Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

© 2010 Marty Hall

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 Agenda
• What are tags?
g Whyy use them?
• 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
JSP-based
based tags (tag files)
– Components of a tag library
– Basic tags
– Tags that use attributes
– Tags that use body content
4

© 2010 Marty Hall

Intro

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5 Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.
 Uses of JSP Constructs

• Scripting elements calling servlet

Simple code directly
Application
• Scriptingg elements calling
g servlet
code indirectly (by means of utility
classes)
• Beans
B
• Servlet/JSP combo (MVC)
• MVC with
ith JSP expression
i language
l
Complex • Custom tags
Application • MVC with
ith beans,
b custom
t tags,
t andd
a framework like JSF 2.0
6

Tag Examples
Blah, blah, blah. <mytags:showDate/>
Blah blah
Blah, blah, blah
blah. <mytags:showDate format="short"/>
format "short"/>
Blah, blah, blah.

<mytags:emphasize color="red" blink="true" size="100">

This is a very important message
</mytags:emphasize>

Blah, blah, blah.

<mytags:translate language="spanish">
Hello World
</mytags:translate>

7
 © 2010 Marty Hall

Java-Based Tags

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8 Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

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
– IImports
t a tag
t library
lib (referencing
( f i URL off descriptor
d i t file)
fil )
– Defines tag prefix
9
– Uses tags
 Defining a Simple Tag Handler
Class
• Extend the SimpleTagSupport class
• Import needed packages
– import javax.servlet.jsp.*;
import javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.*;
javax servlet jsp tagext *;
import java.io.*;
• Override doTag
g
– 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
worryy about race conditions, even if yyou have instance
variables

10

Defining a Simple Tag Handler

Class: Example
package coreservlets.tags;

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

public class SimplePrimeTag extends SimpleTagSupport {

protected int length = 50;

public
bli void
id d
doTag()
T () th
throws J
JspException,
E ti IOE
IOException
ti {
JspWriter out = getJspContext().getOut();
BigInteger prime =
Primes nextPrime(Primes random(length));
Primes.nextPrime(Primes.random(length));
out.print(prime);
}
11 }
 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
E h tag
t defined
d fi d by
b tag element
l t with:
ith
– description, which gives short info. Optional.
– name,
name which defines the base tag name.
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
12

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 ersion>1 0</tlib ersion>
<tlib-version>1.0</tlib-version>
<short-name>csajsp-taglib</short-name>

<tag>
<description>Outputs 50-digit
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
13
– Place TLD file somewhere under WEB-INF
 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"
prefix csajsp %
%>
– Define a tag prefix (namespace)
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
prefix="csajsp"
fi " j " %>
• Use the tags
– <prefix:tagName />
• Tag name comes from TLD file
• Prefix comes from taglib directive
– E.g., <csajsp:simplePrime
j i l i /> /

14

Using simplePrime Tag

...
<BODY>
<H1>Some 50-Digit Primes</H1>

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

uri= /WEB INF/tlds/csajsp taglib.tld
tld"
prefix="csajsp" %>
<UL>
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime/>
j p p /
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime/>
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime/>
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime/>
j p p
</UL>

</BODY>
</HTML>

15
 Using simplePrime Tag:
Result

16

Assigning Attributes to Tags

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

17
 Attributes:
The Tag Handler Class
• Use of an attribute called attribute1
simply
i l results
l ini a call
ll to a method
h d called
ll d
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
bli void
id setAttribute1(String
ib ( i value1)
l ){
doSomethingWith(value1);
18 }

Attributes: PrimeTag.java
package coreservlets.tags;

public class PrimeTag extends SimplePrimeTag {

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

19
 Attributes:
The Tag Library Descriptor File
• The tag element must contain a nested
attribute element
l t
• 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).
(false)
– rtexprvalue, an optional attribute that indicates whether
p
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.
20

TLD File for PrimeTag

...
<taglib ...>>
...
<tag>
<description>Outputs an N-digit
N digit prime</description>
<name>prime</name>
<tag-class>coreservlets.tags.PrimeTag</tag-class>
<body content>empty</body content>
<body-content>empty</body-content>
<attribute>
<name>length</name>
<required>false</required>
equ ed a se / equ ed
</attribute>
</tag>
...
</taglib>

21
 Using prime Tag
...
<BODY>
<H1>Some N-Digit Primes</H1>

<%@ taglib
g uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
j p g
prefix="csajsp" %>
<UL>
<LI>20-digit: <csajsp:prime length="20"/>
<LI>40-digit:
40 di i <csajsp:prime
j i l
length="40"/>
h 40 /
<LI>80-digit: <csajsp:prime length="80"/>
<LI>Default (50-digit): <csajsp:prime/>
</UL>

</BODY>
</HTML>

22

Using prime Tag: Result

23
 Including the Tag Body
• Simplest tags
– <prefix:tagName/>
• Tags with attributes
– <prefix:tagName
fi N att1="val1"
1 " l1" ... //>
• Now
– <prefix:tagName>
Scriptless JSP Content
</prefix:tagName>

– <prefix:tagName att1="val1" ... >

Scriptless JSP Content
</prefix:tagName>
24

Including Tag Body:

The Tag Handler Class
• Call getJspBody().invoke(null);
g p y() ( )
public void doTag() throws ... {
JspWriter out = getJspContext().getOut();
out.print("...");
getJspBody().invoke(null);
p ( );
out.print("...");
}

25
 Including Tag Body:
HeadingTag java
HeadingTag.java
public class HeadingTag extends SimpleTagSupport {
private String
p g align;
g
private String bgColor;
private String border;
private String fgColor;
private String font;
private String size;

public void setAlign(String align) {

this align = align;
this.align
}

public void setBgColor(String bgColor) {

thi b C l
this.bgColor = b
bgColor;
C l
}

public void setBorder(String border) {

this.border = border;
}…
26

Including Tag Body:

HeadingTag java (Continued)
HeadingTag.java
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"
;\n +
" font-size: " + size + "px; " +
"\">\n");
// Output content of the body
getJspBody().invoke(null);
out.println("</SPAN></TH></TR></TABLE>" +
"<BR CLEAR=\"ALL\"><BR>");
}
}

27
 Using Tag Body:
The Tag Library Descriptor File
• Only difference is body-content element
– Should
Sh ld bbe scriptless
i tl i
instead
d off empty:
t
<tag>
<name>…</name>
<tag-class>
<tag class>…</tag
</tag-class>
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, other custom tags,
and p
page
g directives
• No explicit scripting allowed (<%= ... %>)
– tagdependent: body content is processed by tag
28

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>
<body-content>scriptless</body-content>
<attribute>
<name>align</name>
<required>true</required>
</attribute>
<attribute>
<name>bgColor</name>
a e bgCo o / a e
<required>true</required>
</attribute>
...
</tag>

29
 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>
30

Using heading Tag:

Results

31
 Optional Tag Bodies
• First examples
– 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
32

Optional Tag Bodies:

DebugTag java
DebugTag.java
public class DebugTag
p g g extends SimpleTagSupport
p g pp {
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);
}
}
}

33
 TLD File for DebugTag
...
<tag>
<description>
Conditionally outputs enclosed body
</description>
<name>debug</name>
<tag-class>coreservlets.tags.DebugTag</tag-class>
<b d
<body-content>scriptless</body-content>
t t> i tl </b d t t>
</tag>
...

34

Using debug Tag

<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
prefix="csajsp"
prefix= csajsp %>
Top of regular page. Blah, blah, blah.
Yadda, yadda, yadda.
<csajsp:debug>
<H2>Debug Info:</H2>
********************<BR>
-Remote
R t HHost:
t ${${pageContext.request.remoteHost}<BR>
C t t t t H t}<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.
35
 Using debug Tag: Results

36

© 2010 Marty Hall

Using a Pseudo-URI
Instead of TLD Location

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37 Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.
 The <uri> Tag in TLD Files
• TLD files can define fake addresses
<?xml
? l version="1.0"
i "1 0" encoding="UTF-8"
di " 8" ??>
<taglib ...> ...
<uri>http://anything/you/want</uri>
• JSP pages import TLD using fake address
<%@ taglib uri="http://anything/you/want" ...%>
• Note: this address is totally made up: it just matches what is in the TLD file.
JSP page does not connect to the Web to look for this address.
• Advantages
– Can move/rename TLD file with no JSP code changes
• You can even bundle tag libraries in JAR files under WEB
WEB-INF/lib
INF/lib and put
TLD files in META-INF in the JAR files
– If you write JSP pages using XML syntax, you can use an additional xmlns
entry to the root element and omit the @taglib declaration.
• Disadvantage
– Confusing: JSP authors don’t know where TLD file is
38

Example:
p The <uri> Tag
g
• TLD File • JSP (Approach 1)
– In
I WEB
WEB-INF/tlds/file.tld
INF/ ld /fil ld <%@ t
taglib
lib
uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/file.tld"
<?xml ... ?> prefix="myPrefix" %>
<taglib ...> ...
<uri> <myPrefix:myTag/>
http://foo.com/bar ...
</uri>
• JSP (A
(Approach
h 2)
<tag> <%@ taglib
<name>myTag</name> uri="http://foo.com/bar"
<tag-class>...</tag-class>
g g prefix="myPrefix"
prefix myPrefix %>
<body-content> ...
empty or scriptless <myPrefix:myTag/>
</body-content> ...
</tag>
</taglib>

39
 © 2010 Marty Hall

JSP-Based Tags
((Tag
g Files))

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40 Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

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,
formatting use JSP to create output
• Analagous to when you use JSP pages
• Pros
– Very good for complex text formatting
– Very concise
• Cons
C
– Not good for complicated logic
– Runs only in JSP 22.0
0 and later
• Java-based versions had “classic” syntax that worked in
older servers (e.g., BEA WebLogic 8.1, Oracle 9i AS)
41
 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 th
thatt refers
f tto specific
ifi llocation
ti off TLD file
fil
• 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
42

Tag
g Files
• Look just like regular JSP files, except
– Must bbe llocated
M d iin (or
( under)
d ) WEB-INF/tags
WEB INF/
– Must be named blah.tag, not blah.jsp
– You use <%@ tag ... %> instead of <%@ page ... %>
– You use predefined variable jspContext instead of pageContext
• But you can cast it to PageContext
• Other variables (request, response, etc.) are the same
• Example
WEB-INF/tags/date.tag some-page.jsp

<%@ tag import="java.util.*" %> <%@ taglib

Date is <%= new Date() %> tagdir="/WEB-INF/tags"
prefix="test"
prefix= test %>
...
<test:date/>
43
 Java-Based Tags: Code
(Simple Standalone Tag)
package coreservlets.tags;

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

public class SimplePrimeTag extends SimpleTagSupport {

protected int length = 50;

public
bli void
id doTag()
d T () th
throws J
JspException,
E ti IOE
IOException
ti {
JspWriter out = getJspContext().getOut();
BigInteger prime =
Primes nextPrime(Primes random(length));
Primes.nextPrime(Primes.random(length));
out.print(prime);
}
44 }

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 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>

45
 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><
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime/>
j i l P i />
</UL>
</BODY></HTML>

46

Java-Based Tags: Result

(Simple Standalone Tag)

47
 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)) %>

48

Tag Files: Usage in JSP

(Simple Standalone Tag)
...
<BODY>
<H1>Some 50-Digit Primes</H1>

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

tagdir /WEB INF/tags
prefix="csajsp" %>
<UL>
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime2/>
j p p /
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime2/>
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime2/>
<LI><csajsp:simplePrime2/>
j p p
</UL>
</BODY></HTML>

49
 Tag Files: Result
(Simple Standalone Tag)

50

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 tag file with @attribute
• Can
C also
l lilistt required
i d and
d rtexprvalue
t l (d(default
f lt ffalse)
l )
– Attribute value automatically stored in scoped variable
((for access from expression
p language)
g g ) and in local
variable (for access from Java code)
– No TLD file
51
 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) {
thi l
this.length
th = 50
50;
}
}
}

52

Java-Based Tags: TLD File

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

53
 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):
g ) <csajsp:prime
j p p /
/>
</UL>
</BODY></HTML>

54

Java-Based Tags: Results

(Tag with Attributes)

55
 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)) %>

56

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):
g ) <csajsp:prime2/>
j p p /
</UL>
</BODY></HTML>

57
 Tag Files: Results
(Tag with Attributes)

58

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
JSP-based
based tags (tag files)
– Use <jsp:doBody/> to output tag body
– No major syntax changes
– Access to attributes still much simpler

59
 Java-Based Tags: Code
(Tag with Body)
public class HeadingTag extends SimpleTagSupport {
private String
p g align;
g
private String bgColor;
private String border;
private String fgColor;
private String font;
private String size;

public void setAlign(String align) {

this align = align;
this.align
}

public void setBgColor(String bgColor) {

thi b C l
this.bgColor = b
bgColor;
C l
}

public void setBorder(String border) {

this.border = border;
}…
60

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"
;\n +
" font-size: " + size + "px; " +
"\">\n"); //
// Output content of the body
getJspBody().invoke(null);
out.println("</SPAN></TH></TR></TABLE>" +
"<BR CLEAR=\"ALL\"><BR>");
}
}

61
 Java-Based Tags: TLD File
(Tag with Body)
...
<tag>
g
<description>Formats enclosed heading</description>
<name>heading</name>
<tag-class>coreservlets.tags.HeadingTag</tag-class>
<body content>scriptless</body content>
<body-content>scriptless</body-content>
<attribute>
<name>align</name>
<required>true</required>
</attribute>
<attribute>
<name>bgColor</name>
<required>true</required>
</attribute>
...
</tag>

62

Java-Based Tags: Usage in JSP

(Tag with Body)
<BODY>
<%@ taglib
g uri="/WEB-INF/tlds/csajsp-taglib.tld"
/ / / j p g
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>
63
 Java-Based Tags: Results
(Tag with Body)

64

Tag Files: Tag Code

(Tag with Body)
<%@ attribute name="align" required="true" %>
<%@ attribute name="bgColor"
name= bgColor required=
required="true"
true %>
<%@ attribute name="border" required="true" %>
<%@ attribute name="fgColor" required="true" %>
<%@ attribute name="font" required="true" %>
<%@ attribute name="size" required="true" %>
<TABLE ALIGN="${align}"
BGCOLOR "${b C l }"
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>
65
 Tag Files: Usage in JSP
(Tag with Body)
<BODY>
<%@ taglib
g tagdir="/WEB-INF/tags"
g / / g
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>
66

Tag Files: Results

(Tag with Body)

67
 © 2010 Marty Hall

Wrap-Up

Customized Java EE Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/

Servlets, JSP, JSF 2.0, Struts, Ajax, GWT 2.0, Spring, Hibernate, SOAP & RESTful Web Services, Java 6.
68 Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.

Open Source Tag Libraries

• JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL)
– Covered
C d in
i later
l t lecture
l t
• AjaxTags
– Simple
p Ajax
j functionalityy without writingg JavaScript
p
• http://ajaxtags.sourceforge.net/
• DisplayTag
– Super
Super-fancy
fancy table creator
• http://displaytag.sourceforge.net/1.2/
• Listing of other open-source tag libraries
– http://java-source.net/open-source/jsp-tag-libraries
http://ja a so rce net/open so rce/jsp tag libraries
• Google queries and searching
• Google maps wrappers
• Menus
• Paging of large data sets
• Fancy UIs
69
 Summary: Java-Based Tags
• Tag handler class
– Extend
E t d SimpleTagSupport
Si l T S t
– Override doTag
– Get the JspWriter with getJspContext().getOut()
– U the
Use h JspWriter
J W i to generate output
– Output tag body with getJspBody().invoke(null);
– Define setBlah for each attribute named blah
• TLD File (/WEB-INF/.../somefile.tld)
– <tag> ... </tag>
• Contains description (optional), name, tag-class,
b d
body-content,
t t attribute
tt ib t (one
( for
f each h attribute)
tt ib t )
– <uri>http://fake-address</uri> (optional)
• JSP File
– <%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/.../somefile.tld" prefix="blah" %>
• Or <%@ taglib uri="http://fake-address" prefix="blah" %>
70
– <blah:tagName/> or <blah:tagName>...</blah:tagName>

Summary: Tag Files

• Tag File
– /WEB-INF/tags/tagName.tag
– Create chunk of JSP that generates the output
– Declare
l attributes
ib with
i h <%@
%@ attribute
ib ...%>
%
– Output attributes with ${attributeName}
– Output the tag body with <jsp:doBody/>
– Refactor Java code so methods take strings as args
• JSP File
– <%@ taglib tagdir="/WEB-INF/tags prefix="blah" %>
– <blah:tagName/>
g or
<blah:tagName>...</blah:tagName>
71
 © 2010 Marty Hall

Questions?

Customized Java EE Training: http://courses.coreservlets.com/

Servlets, JSP, JSF 2.0, Struts, Ajax, GWT 2.0, Spring, Hibernate, SOAP & RESTful Web Services, Java 6.
72 Developed and taught by well-known author and developer. At public venues or onsite at your location.