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Unit7 Jsp Part II

This document provides an overview of JSP application development, focusing on generating dynamic content through various elements such as directive elements, Java Beans, scripting elements, and standard tag libraries. It explains the use of JSP directives for page configuration, the concept of Java Beans for separating business logic from presentation, and the role of scripting elements for embedding Java code. Additionally, it covers error handling, debugging, and the management of control and data between multiple pages in a web application.

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2 views35 pages

Unit7 Jsp Part II

This document provides an overview of JSP application development, focusing on generating dynamic content through various elements such as directive elements, Java Beans, scripting elements, and standard tag libraries. It explains the use of JSP directives for page configuration, the concept of Java Beans for separating business logic from presentation, and the role of scripting elements for embedding Java code. Additionally, it covers error handling, debugging, and the management of control and data between multiple pages in a web application.

Uploaded by

Akhilesh Ahirwar
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UNIT-7: JSP APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

GENERATING DYNAMIC CONTENT:

Dynamic contents means the contents that get changed based on the user inputs or states of
external system or on some runtime conditions. JSP helps in handling such conditions. There are
various ways by which JSP handles the dynamic contents such as use of:

1. Directive elements
2. Java Beans
3. Scripting elements
4. Standard tag libraries
5. Standard and custom actions
6. Expression language.
1. Directive Elements:
Directive elements are used to specify the information about the page.
Syntax:
<%@ directivename attr1=”value1” attr2=”value2” %>
The directive names and attribute names are case sensitive.
Examples of some directives are:
 Page
 Include
 Taglib
 Attribute
 Tag
 Variable
i. Page directive:
This directive can only be used in JSP pages, not tag files. It defines page dependent
attributes, such as scripting language, error page, buffer requirements.
Syntax:
<%@ Page [autoflush=”true/false”] [buffer=”skb/NNkb/None]
[ContentType=”MIMEType”] [errorPage=”page or ContextRelativePath”] [extends=”classname”]
[import=”packagelist”] [info=”info” ][isErrorPage=”true/false”] [isThreadSafe=”true/false”]
[language=”java/language”] [pageEncoding=”encoding”] [session=”true/false”] %>
Example:
<%@ page language=”java” ContentType=”text/html” %>

ii. Include directive:

It includes a static file, merging its content with the including page before the combined
results is converted to JSP page implementation class.

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E-mail:[email protected]
Syntax:

<%@ include file=”page or contextRelativePath” %>

Example:

<%@ include file=”home.html” %>

iii. Taglib directive:


Declares a tag library, containing custom actions that are used in the page.
Syntax: <%@

taglib prefix=”prefix” [Uri=”tagliburi/ tagdir =”contextRelativePath”]

%>

Example:

<%@ taglib prefix=”ora” Uri=”orataglib” %>

<%@ taglib prefix=”mylib” tagdir=”/WEB-INF/tags/mylib” %>

iv. Attribute directive:

This directive can only be used in tag files. It declares the attributes that tag file supports.

Syntax:

<%@ attribute name=”attrname”


[description=”desc”][required=”true/false”][fragment=”true/false”/type=”attrDataType”] %>

Example:

<%@ attribute name=”date” type=”java.util.Date” %>

v. Tag directive:
This directive can only be used in tag files.
Syntax:
<%@ tag [body-content=”empty/scriptless/tagdependent”] [description=”desc”] [display-
name=”displayname”] [dynamic-attributes=”attrcolvar”] [import=”packagelist”]
[language=”java/language”] [page-encoding=”encoding”] %>
Example:
<%@ tag body-content=”empty” %>

vi. Variable directive:


It is similar to variable declarations.

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Syntax:
<%@ variable name-given=”attrname”/name-from-attribute=”attrname” alias=”varname”
%>

Sample program for directive elements:

Scripting.jsp file:

<%@ page import="java.util.Date"%>

<html>

<head><title>Scripting elements example</title></head>

<body>

<%! int count=0; %>

<% count++;

out.println("You are accessing this page for "+count+ "times");

out.println(new Date().toString());

%>

<%= count %>

</body>

</html>

Web.xml file:

<web-app>

</web-app>

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
Output:

2. Java Beans:
Java beans are reusable components. We can use simple java beans in a JSP. This
helps us in keeping the business logic separate from presentation logic. Beans are used in
the JSP pages as instance of a class. We must specify the scope of the bean in the JSP
page. Here scope of the bean means the range time span of the bean for its existence in
the page.
There are various scopes using which the bean can be used in the JSP page.
i. Page scope: The bean object gets disappeared as soon as the current page gets
discarded. The default scope for a bean in the JSP page is page scope.
ii. Request scope: the bean object remains in the existence as long as the request object is
present.
iii. Session scope: A session can be defined as the specific period of time the user spends
in browsing the site. Then the time spent by the user in starting and quitting the site is
one session.
iv. Application scope: during application scope the bean will gets stored to
ServletContext. Hence particular bean is available to all the servlets in the same web
application.

Application scope is the broadest scope provided by the JSP.

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
Object Scopes
Before we look at JSP syntax and semantics, it is important to understand the
scope or visibility of Java objects within JSP pages that are processing a
request.
Objects may be created implicitly using JSP directives, explicitly through
actions,or, in rare cases, directly using scripting code. The instantiated objects
can be associated with a scope attribute defining where there is a reference to
the object and when that reference is removed. The following diagram indicates
the various scopes that can be associated with a newly created object:

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E-mail:[email protected]
Sample program for java beans in jsp:

Getname.html file:

<HTML>

<BODY>

<FORM METHOD=POST ACTION="SaveName.jsp">

What's your name? <INPUT TYPE=TEXT NAME=username SIZE=20><BR>

What's your e-mail address? <INPUT TYPE=TEXT NAME=email SIZE=20><BR>

What's your age? <INPUT TYPE=TEXT NAME=age SIZE=4>

<P><INPUT TYPE=SUBMIT>

</FORM>

</BODY>

</HTML>

Nextpage.jsp file:

<jsp:useBean id="user" class="user.UserData" scope="session"/>

<HTML>

<BODY>

You entered<BR>

Name: <%= user.getUsername() %><BR>

Email: <%= user.getEmail() %><BR>

Age: <%= user.getAge() %><BR>

</BODY>

</HTML>

Savename.jsp file:

<jsp:useBean id="user" class="user.UserData" scope="session"/>

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<jsp:setProperty name="user" property="*"/>

<HTML>

<BODY>

<A HREF="NextPage.jsp">Continue</A>

</BODY>

</HTML>

Web.xml file:

<web-app>

</web-app>

Output:

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
3. Scripting elements:
Scripting allows us to embed java code in a JSP page and scripting elements
(scriptlets, declaration and expressions) allows us to do scripting. Scripting elements are
executed at request processing time and are used for a variety of purposes including
manipulation of objects, perform calculation on runtime variables values, etc.
4. Standard tag libraries:
JSTL stands for JSP standard tag libraries. This tag library is useful for performing
some common task such as condition execution, loop execution, data processing and so
on. JSTL allows the programmer to embed the logic in JSP page without using java code.
The tag library makes use of some standard set of tags. To install JSTL in tomcat just
copy the jstl.jar and standard.jar files in the lib folder of WEB-INF directory to your
tomcat. Some tags are : <c:out>, <c:set>, <c:if>, <c:choose> etc.

5. Standard and custom actions:


The standard actions are those actions that can be defined by the JSP specification
itself. Following are some of the standard actions:
Action element Description

<jsp:usebean> This tag is used to instantiate the object of java bean


<jsp:setProperty> This tag is used to set the property value for java bean
<jsp:getProperty> This tag is used to get the property value from java bean
<jsp:include> This tag works as a sub-routine. It includes the response from the servlet or
JSP when the request is being processed.
<jsp:param> For adding the specific parameter to the request this tag is used.

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
<jsp:forward> This tag helps in forwarding the current request to servlet or to JSP page.
<jsp:plugin> This tag is used to generate the HTML code and to embed the applet into
it.
<jsp:attribute> This tag sets the value of action attribute.
<jsp:element> This tag generates the XML elements dynamically.
<jsp:text> This tag is used to handle template text. When JSP pages are written as
XML documents then this tag is used.
<jsp:body> This tag is used to set the body element.

Custom actions allow us to create user- defined tags.


6. Expression language:

Expression language is all about generating dynamic content, without indulging in


the complexity of a programming language. Hence it is used to write script-free pages. It is
used by the JSP programmer in order to avoid the usage of java code for accessing data. The
EL statements are always used within {…..} along with the prefix $.

IMPLICIT JSP OBJECTS:

The objects which we access in our JSP page, without any explicit declaration are called as
implicit objects. Implicit objects are exposed by the JSP container and can be seen in the
generated servlet of a JSP page.
Implicit objects are advantageous because, they don’t require the JSP authors to explicitly
declare and initialize a few of the servlet objects, which is a difficult task.

Object Class/Interface Description


application javax.servlet.ServletConfig Represents the context for the
JSP page servlet, in which
session javax.servlet.http.HttpSession This variable is used to access
current client’s session.
request javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest It provides the method for
accessing the information made
by current request.
Response javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse It provides the methods related
to adding cookies, session,
setting headers.
PageContent javax.servlet.jsp.PageContent It provides access to several JSP
attributes.
Page Java.lang.object This variable is assigned to
instance of JSP implementation
class.
Out Javax.Servlet.jsp.JspWriter It provides methods related to
I/O.

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E-mail:[email protected]
Exception Java.lang.Throwable This object is used for handling
error pages and contain
information about runtime
errors.
config Javax.servlet.ServletConfig It helps in passing the
information to the servlet or JSP
page during initialization.

Conditional processing:
Sometimes to built the complex logic we require conditional statements. We can embed
JAVA conditional statements in JSP. This task can be done by scriptlets. The syntax for
scriptlets is:
<% any java code %>
Sample program for conditional processing:
<%@ page language=”java” ContentType=”text/html” %>
<html>
<head><title>Introduction to scriptlet</title></head>
<body>

<h1>
<% out.println(“JSP is very interesting”); %>
</h1>
</body>
</html>
Web.xml file:

<web-app>
</web-app>
Output:

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
Displaying Values Using An Expression To Set An Attribute:
The JSP expressions are used to insert java values directly into the output. The syntax of
using expression is as follows:
<%= Expression code %>
This expression gets evaluated at runtime and then the result will get displayed on the web
browser. Thus tags <%= and %> is used.
Sample program for using an expression:

Scripting.jsp file:

<%@ page import="java.util.Date"%>

<html>

<head><title>Scripting elements example</title></head>

<body>

<%! int count=0; %>

<% count++;

out.println("You are accessing this page for "+count+ "times");

out.println(new Date().toString());

%>

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
<%= count %>

</body>

</html>

Web.xml file:

<web-app>

</web-app>

Directory structure:

Output:

There are some predefined variables that can be used while defining the expressions. These
variables can be used along with the implicit object.

Declaring Variables And Methods:

JSP allow us to use the user defined variables and methods using declaration. The variables
and methods can be used along with scriptlets and expression. The syntax for declaration is as
follows:

<%! Any java code %>

Sample program for declaring variables and methods:

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E-mail:[email protected]
<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html" %>

<% String msg="Hello"; %>

<%! public String MyFunction(String msg)

return msg;

%>

<html>

<head>

<title>Use of Method</title>

</head>

<body>

<%

out.println("Before function call:"+msg); %>

<br>

After function call: <%= MyFunction("Web Technologies") %>

</body>

</html>

Web.xml file:

<web-app>

</web-app>

Output:

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
Error Handling & Debugging:

While developing any application we may come across several errors. We may get some
syntactical errors during development of JSP pages.
Errors are of two types:

1. Element syntax error


2. Expression language syntax error
1. Element syntax error:
Element syntax errors may encounter due to:
 Improperly terminate directive.
 Improperly terminate action
 Mistyped attribute
 Missing endquote in attribute values.
2. Expression language syntax error:
Expression language syntax error may occur due to:
 Missing both curly braces
 Missing end curly brace
 Misspelled property name
 Misspelled parameter name.

Sample program for error handling:


<%@ page language=”java” contentType=”text/html”>
<%@ page import=”java.util.*” %>
<html>
<body>Today’s date is:

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<%= new Date().toString() %>
</body>
</html>
Error will be:

Debugging JSP actions:


Sometimes after fixing all the syntactical errors, still the application does not work
properly due to logical errors. Logical errors may not be highlighted by the tomcat explicitly.
The runtime errors can be handled by using exceptions and gracefully the JSP application can be
terminated. Types:

 Logical error
 Dealing with runtime errors
 Catch exceptions

Passing Control & Data Between Pages:


Normally any web application is a client server application and it requires to handle
multiple pages. These multiple pages may access same kind of information. When multiple
pages access the same kind of information, the most required thing is data consistency. When
particular request is being processing the data should remain same. While handling any web
application JSP technologies allow some kind of partitions.

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
The logic is classified into three partitions:

 Request processing
 Business logic
 Presentation logic.

This three partitioned architecture is known as “Model View Controller (MVC) model.

We will make use of bean class in which the methods for getting and setting the counter value
are written. There will be three JSP pages. On the first JSP page we will use the instance of a
bean and increment the counter value, when the counter reaches the value 100 then the control
will be passed to another JSP page using <jsp:forward> action. From their the control will be
passed to third page by using the hyperlink used in second page.

Sharing data between JSP pages using session object:


There are some web applications in which user moves from one page to another, then it
becomes necessary for data consistency. To achieve this we use an implicit object called session.
Using session we can save the data of a particular page.
Step-1: we will create the main page on which we will accept username and password.
first_page.jsp file:
<%@ page language=”java” %>
<html>

<head>

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<title>registration form</title>
</head>
<body>
<form method=”post” action=”second_page.jsp”>

<strong>User name:</strong>
<input type=”text” name=”username”><br>
<strong>Password:</strong>
<input type=”password” name=”password”>
<input type=”submit” value=”Enter”>
</form>

</body>
</html>
second_page.jsp file:
<%@ page language=”java” %>
<%
String username=request.getParameter(“username”);

String password=request.getParameter(“password”);
session.setAttribute(“username”,username);
session.setAttribute(“password”,password);
%>
<html>
<head>

<title>session object</title>
</head>
<body>
<h3><a href=”third_page.jsp”>click here to view the other session</a>
</h3>

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
</body>
third_page.jsp file:
<%@ page language=”java” % >
<% String username=(String)session.getAttribute(“username”);

String password=(String)session.getAttribute(“password”);
%>
<html>
<head><title>end of session page</title></head>
<body>
<strong>User Name is:<%= username %></strong>

<br>
<strong>Password is:<%= password %></strong>
</body>
</html>
Output:

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
Sharing data between JSP pages using application data:
Data need to be shared between different components types like servlets, filters. JSP pages
when they need by any application. This is used by servlets while creating java beans and
passing them to JSP pages that are responsible for displaying those beans.

Memory usage considerations:


When object gets saved in session scope and application scope they consume some
memory in server process.

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
In application scope we can put the number of objects and by counting memory
consumptions of each object. So, total memory usage can be calculated as sum of memory
consumptions made by all objects. Thus we can have full control over number of objects placed
in application scope.

The memory usage calculation for session scope is bit complex. Because total number of
objects in session scope, depends upon number of concurrent sessions. Hence to compute
memory usage in current session we must know certain things such as:

 Size of the object


 Number of concurrent sessions
 How long a session lasts.

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
Lecture

Implicit Objects

Features of Implicit Objects:

 Jsp implicit objects are used in a JSP page to make the page dynamic.
 The dynamic content can be created and accessed by using Java objects with in the scripting
elements.
 JSP implicit objects are predefined objects that are accessible to all JSP Pages.
 These objects are called implicit objects because you don’t need to instantiate these objects.
 The jsp container automatically instantiates these object while writing the script content in the
scriplet and expression tags.

Types of Implicit objects:

During the translation of a JSP page,the JSP engine initiates Nine most commonly used implicit objects in
the _jspService() method.

These JSP Implicit objects are:

S.no Variable Name Java Type


1 application javax.servlet.ServletContext
2 config javax.servlet.ServletConfig
3 exception java.lang.Throwable
4 out javax.servlet.jsp.JspWriter
5 page java.lang.Object
6 PageContext javax.servlet.jsp.PageContext
7 request javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest
8 response javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse
9 session javax.servlet.http.HttpSession

Working with Implicit Objects:

This application contains the following web pages:

1. Home.html -Represent the index page of the application


2. Request.jsp -Displays the welcome message
3. PageContext.jsp -Demonstrates the use of the pageContext implicit object.
4. Other.jsp -Demonstrate the use of other implicit objects such as
page,session,out,application and config.

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
<!-- Home.html -->
<html>
<body>
<form action="request.jsp">
Name : <input type="text" name="name">
<input type="submit" value="Invoke JSP"/>
</form>
</body>
</html>

<!-- request.jsp -->


<html>
<head><title>
Using Implicit Objects
</title></head>
<body>

Hello, <b><%=request.getParameter("name")%></b><br/><br/>
Your request details are <br/><br/>
<table border="1">
<tr><th>Name</th><th>Value</th></tr>
<tr><td>request method</td>
<td><%= request.getMethod() %></td></tr>
<tr><td>request URI</td>
<td><%= request.getRequestURI() %></td></tr>
<tr><td>request protocol</td>
<td><%= request.getProtocol() %></td></tr>
<tr><td>browser</td>
<td><%= request.getHeader("user-agent") %></td></tr>
</table>
<%if (session.getAttribute("sessionVar")==null) {
session.setAttribute("sessionVar",new Integer(0));
}%>

<table>
<tr><th align=left>Would you like to see use of remaining imlplicit objects?</th></tr>
<tr>
<form name=form1 action="pageContext.jsp" method="post">
<td><input type="radio" name="other" value="Yes">Yes</td>
<td><input type="radio" name="other" value="No" > No</td></tr>
<tr><td><input type="submit" value="Submit"></td></tr>

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E-mail:[email protected]
</form>
</table>

</body></html>

<!-- pageContext.jsp -->


<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE> Intermediate </TITLE></HEAD>

<BODY>
<%
if("Yes".equals(request.getParameter("other")))
{
pageContext.forward("other");
}
%>
</BODY>
</HTML>

<!-- other.jsp -->


<html><body>
<%!int count;
public void jspInit() {
ServletConfig sc=getServletConfig();

count=Integer.parseInt( sc.getInitParameter("count"));
System.out.println("In jspInit");

}
%>

Count value without using config implicit object: <b> <%=count%></b> <br/>
<%
this.log("log message");
((HttpServlet)page).log("anothermessage");
ServletContext ct = config.getServletContext();
out.println("Value of sessionVar
is:"+"&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>"+session.getAttribute("sessionVar")+"</b><br/>");

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out.println("Server name and version using config implicit
object:"+"&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>"+ct.getServerInfo()+"</b><br/>");
out.println("Value of context parameter param1 get using application implicit object:"
+"&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>"+application.getInitParameter("param1")+"</b><br/>");
out.println("Count value retrieved using config implicit object:"
+"&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>"+config.getInitParameter("count")+"</b>");
%>

</body> </html>

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology
E-mail:[email protected]
Custom Tags in JSP
Custom tags are user-defined tags. They eliminates the possibility of scriptlet tag and separates
the business logic from the JSP page.

The same business logic can be used many times by the use of custom tag.

The custom tags used in the JSP Page are translated into servlet.

Advantages of Custom Tags

The key advantages of Custom tags are as follows:

1. Eliminates the need of srciptlet tag The custom tags eliminates the need of scriptlet tag
which is considered bad programming approach in JSP.
2. Separation of business logic from JSP The custom tags separate the the business logic
from the JSP page so that it may be easy to maintain.
3. Reusability The custom tags makes the possibility to reuse the same business logic again
and again.
4. Readability The use of custom tags enhances the readability of the used codes in a JSP
page.The readability increases by encapsulating the use of the Java codes in a JSP page.
5. Maintainability this feature enables the user to reduce the duplicity of codes present in a
JSP page.

Syntax to use custom tag

There are two ways to use the custom tag. They are given below:

A)First Way
<prefix:tagname attr1=value1....attrn=valuen />

B)Second Way

<prefix:tagname attr1=value1....attrn=valuen >


body code
</prefix:tagname>

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
Tag Library Descriptor (TLD)

A tag library is a collection of events that encapsulate some functionality to be used from with in
a JSP Page

A tag library is made available to a JSP page through a taglib directive that identifies the tag
library through a URI.

Syntax:

<%@taglib prefix="P" uri="example.tld"%>

Elements of TLD

description
display-name
icon
name
path
example
tag-extension
uri
tlib-version
validator
listener

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JSP Custom Tag API

The javax.servlet.jsp.tagext package contains classes and interfaces for JSP custom tag API. The JspTag is the
root interface in the Custom Tag hierarchy.

JspTag interface
The JspTag is the root interface for all the interfaces and classes used in custom tag. It is a marker interface.

Tag interface

The Tag interface is the sub interface of JspTag interface. It provides methods to perform action at the start and
end of the tag.

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E-mail:[email protected]
Fields of Tag interface

There are four fields defined in the Tag interface. They are:

Field Name Description


public static int EVAL_BODY_INCLUDE it evaluates the body content.
public static int EVAL_PAGE it evaluates the JSP page content after the custom tag.
public static int SKIP_BODY it skips the body content of the tag.
public static int SKIP_PAGE it skips the JSP page content after the custom tag.

Methods of Tag interface

The methods of the Tag interface are as follows:

Method Name Description


public void it sets the given PageContext object.
setPageContext(PageContext pc)
public void setParent(Tag t) it sets the parent of the tag handler.
public Tag getParent() it returns the parent tag handler object.
public int doStartTag()throws it is invoked by the JSP page implementation object. The JSP
JspException programmer should override this method and define the business logic
to be performed at the start of the tag.
public int doEndTag()throws it is invoked by the JSP page implementation object. The JSP
JspException programmer should override this method and define the business logic
to be performed at the end of the tag.
public void release() it is invoked by the JSP page implementation object to release the state.

IterationTag interface

The IterationTag interface is the sub interface of the Tag interface. It provides an additional method to
reevaluate the body.

Field of IterationTag interface

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E-mail:[email protected]
There is only one field defined in the IterationTag interface.

 public static int EVAL_BODY_AGAIN it reevaluates the body content.

Method of Tag interface

There is only one method defined in the IterationTag interface.

 public int doAfterBody()throws JspException it is invoked by the JSP page implementation object
after the evaluation of the body. If this method returns EVAL_BODY_INCLUDE, body content will
be reevaluated, if it returns SKIP_BODY, no more body content will be evaluated.

TagSupport class

The TagSupport class implements the IterationTag interface. It acts as the base class for new Tag Handlers. It
provides some additional methods also.

Example of JSP Custom Tag


In this example, we are going to create a custom tag that prints the current date and time. We are
performing action at the start of tag.

For creating any custom tag, we need to follow following steps:

1. Create the Tag handler class and perform action at the start or at the end of the tag.
2. Create the Tag Library Descriptor (TLD) file and define tags
3. Create the JSP file that uses the Custom tag defined in the TLD file

1) Create the Tag handler class

To create the Tag Handler, we are inheriting the TagSupport class and overriding its
method doStartTag().To write data for the jsp, we need to use the JspWriter class.

The PageContext class provides getOut() method that returns the instance of JspWriter class. TagSupport
class provides instance of pageContext bydefault.

// MyTagHandler.java

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
package com.cmrcet.customtags;
import java.util.Calendar;
import javax.servlet.jsp.JspException;
import javax.servlet.jsp.JspWriter;
import javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.TagSupport;

public class MyTagHandler extends TagSupport


{

public int doStartTag() throws JspException


{
JspWriter out=pageContext.getOut();
try
{
out.print(Calendar.getInstance().getTime());
}
catch(Exception e)
{
System.out.println(e);
}
return SKIP_BODY;
}

2) Create the TLD file

Tag Library Descriptor (TLD) file contains information of tag and Tag Hander classes. It must be contained
inside the WEB-INF directory.

File: mytags.tld
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>

<!DOCTYPE taglib
PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD JSP Tag Library 1.2//EN"
"http://java.sun.com/j2ee/dtd/web-jsptaglibrary_1_2.dtd">

<taglib>
<tlib-version>1.0</tlib-version>

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E-mail:[email protected]
<jsp-version>1.2</jsp-version>
<short-name>simple</short-name>
<uri>http://tomcat.apache.org/example-taglib</uri>

<tag>
<name>today</name>
<tag-class>com.cmrcet.customtags.MyTagHandler</tag-class>
</tag>
</taglib>

3) Create the JSP file

Let's use the tag in our jsp file. Here, we are specifying the path of tld file directly. But it is recommended to
use the uri name instead of full path of tld file.

It uses taglib directive to use the tags defined in the tld file.

//Index.jsp

<%@ taglib uri="WEB-INF/mytags.tld" prefix="m" %>

Current Date and Time is: <m:today/>

Directory Structure:

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
Output:

Tag Handler Life Cycle


If the container encounters a custom tags during the display of a JSP page, many events take
place, beginning with the instantiation of the tag handler as shown in Figure 1

Figure1 Tag handler life cycle.

Execution of the methods implemented within tag handler classes is triggered by these events
along the tag handler life cycle. The sequence of method invocation within the tag handler life
cycle is as follows:

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
 Once a JSP tag is encountered, the methods setPageContext() and setParent() are
invoked to set up an environment context for the tag handler. These methods don't have
to be implemented if you're using the tag support abstract classes
(TagSupport and BodyTagSupport) for development (as opposed to the tag interfaces).
 Next, the setter methods for tag attributes are invoked. Tag handlers must define setters
and getters for all attributes.
 Next, the doStartTag() method is invoked. This method is commonly used to initialize
any resources for execution of your tag logic. This method should return one of three
different values depending on the nature of your tag body, assuming that a tag body is
implemented:
o Tag.SKIP_BODY should be returned if you're implementing a simple (empty body)
tag. On return of this value, the doEndTag() method is invoked.
o Returning Tag.EVAL_BODY_INCLUDE causes evaluation and inclusion of tag body
contents. Only classes implementing the Tag interface or extending
the TagSupport class may return this value. On return of this value,
the doEndTag() method is invoked.
o Tag.EVAL_BODY_TAG causes evaluation of the tag body, followed by invocation of
the doInitBody() method. Only classes implementing the BodyTag Interface or
extending the BodyTagSupport class may return this value.
 If EVAL_BODY_TAG is returned, the setBodyContent()method is invoked. This method
creates a reference to the BodyContent (a JspWriter) buffer, which may be used by
the doAfterBody() method for processing later in the life cycle. The BodyContentbuffer
contains all output from the tag, including any body content, if any. (At this point, the
client does not have access to any output derived from the tag). If the tag is writing output
to the JSP page, that output must be written to the parent-scoped JspWriter (via
the getEnclosingWriter() method) before the end of the doEndTag() method. You
don't have to implement the setBodyContent() method if you're implementing
the BodyTagSupport class. This class has the convenience of
thegetBodyContent() method, which provides a reference to BodyContent.
 If EVAL_BODY_TAG is returned, the doInitBody() method is invoked. This method is
invoked immediately prior to the body tag being evaluated for the first time. This method
is commonly used to prepare scripting variables or place content into
theBodyContent JspWriter. As discussed earlier, content placed into the BodyContent is
buffered and isn't available to the JSP page at this point.
 If EVAL_BODY_TAG is returned, the doAfterBody method is invoked. This method is
invoked immediately after the tag body is evaluated and added to the BodyContent. This
method is commonly used to process work based on the results of the body tag
evaluation. To access the evaluated body, use the getBodyContent() method if you
extended the BodyTagSupport class, or use the setBodyContent() method if you
implemented the BodyTag interface (you should have stored a BodyContent instance).

NOTE

The JSP 1.2 spec provides a javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.IterationTag interface, which


enables you to reprocess the tag body if desired. This reprocessing would most likely be driven
by a preset condition, much like iteration or loop logic.

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]
The doAfterBody() method returns one of two different values depending on the nature of your
tag body:

 Tag.SKIP_BODY should be returned if no further processing of the tag body is required.


Upon return of this value, the doEndTag() method is invoked.
 Tag.EVAL_BODY_TAG (IterationTag.EVAL_BODY_AGAIN) causes evaluation of the tag
body again. The result of the tag body evaluation is appended to the BodyContent.
The doAfterBody() method is invoked again.

To write to the surrounding scope, you can obtain a writer using


method BodyTagSupport.getPreviousOut() ormethod BodyContent.getEnclosingWriter(
) as discussed earlier. Both methods return the same JspWriter. Because the BodyContent is
appended on each iteration through the tag body, you should write to this surrounding scope only
when you've decided to return Tag.SKIP_BODY.

At this point in the life cycle, the writer in the pageContext() is returned to the
parent JspWriter.

Next, the doEndTag() method is invoked. This method is commonly used to perform post–body
tag processing, close server-side resources, or to write output to the surrounding scope using
the pageContext.getOut() method.

The doEndTag() method returns one of two different values depending on the nature of your
page:

 Tag.EVAL_PAGE causes evaluation of the remaining JSP page.


 Tag.SKIP_PAGE terminates evaluation of the remaining JSP page.

To conclude the tag handler life cycle, the release() method is invoked just before the tag
handler instance is made available for garbage collection.

K.Yellaswamy ,AssistantProfessor|CMR College of Engineering & Technology


E-mail:[email protected]

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