About the book:
JSP Tag Libraries is a bible for serious JSP developers. The reader will become acquainted with the world of custom JSP tags--new JSP technology that is beginning to have an enormous impact on the way people are developing JSP.
JSP tags are Java components that can be used from within a JSP file. By representing these components as tags, code authors can open up their JSP development to the everyday content developer as well as improve their code reuse and separation between presentation and business logic.
The book is fully loaded with many real-world tags including tags to perform
iterations, access databases, EJBs, email systems and JavaBeans. To make
the tag usage even more real, the book also offers two full-scale case studies in which the reader will see how tags can be used in the context of:
- e-Commerce applications
- WAP applications that work with current cellular phones
This book covers all aspects of JSP Tag development for Scriptlet-free generation of online content. It focuses on reusable component-centric design via JavaBeans and custom tags to separate presentation from implementation.
JSP Tag Libraries includes the following:
- Working with Java beans from within custom JSP tags
- Performing conditions with custom JSP tags
- Iterating with custom JSP tags
- Database access custom JSP tags
- J2EE integration and custom JSP tags
- Two full scale use cases demonstrating custom tag usage in e-Commerce and WAP applications
In Chapter 3:
- JSP custom tags defined
- Setting up a development environment
- Hello World (the tag way)
- Compiling, deploying, and testing
Thus far we have seen how servlets and JSPs can be used to build a web application.
These technologies go some distance toward making web development easier, but
do not yet facilitate the separation of Java from HTML in a reusable way. Custom
tags make this possible by bundling Java code into concise, HTML-like fragments
recognizable by presentation developers. Custom tags are therefore an attractive
choice for Java-based web applications and in this chapter, we'll introduce custom
tags and walk through examples of their development and use. We'll also look at
how to set up a development environment and deploy, test, and troubleshoot tags.
This chapter takes a mountain-top view of custom JSP tags in order to provide a
clear, high-level look at the subject's landscape. Later chapters will dive deeper and
home in on each of the topics touched upon here. So don't be concerned if the
finer details are left for later explanation. The goal now is to jumpstart your tag
development and ensure that you're sufficiently comfortable with the basics so that
you may start building tags on your own.
Chapter 3 Contents:
Part 1
- Developing your first tags
- 3.1 What are JSP custom tags?
- 3.1.1 Anatomy of a tag
- 3.1.2 Using a tag in JSP
- 3.1.3 The tag library descriptor
- 3.2 Why tags?
- 3. 2. 1 Comparisons of scriptlets and custom tags
- 3. 3 Setting up a development environment
- 3.3.1 Installing the JDK
- 3.3.3 Testing your Tomcat installation
Future Installments:
Part 2
- 3. 4 Hello World example
- 3.4.1 Compiling the tag
- 3.4.2 Creating a tag library descriptor (TLD)
- 3.4.3 Testing HelloWorldTag
- 3.4.4 Did it work?
- 3.4.5 A tag with attributes
- 3.4.6 Packaging tags for shipment
- 3. 5 A tag with a body
- 3.5.1 LowerCaseTag handler
- 3. 6 Summary
Chapter 10
Part 3
- Iterating with Tags
- 10.1 Iterating with tags 101
- 10. 1. 1 Iteration example: SimpleForeachTag
Part 4
- 10.2 Generalized iterating tags
- 10.2.1 A generic iteration interface
- 10.2.2 IterationTagSupport
- 10.3 IterateTag
- 10.3.1 Design considerations for IterateTag
- 10.3.2 Wrapping iterators
Part 5
- 10.4 Look, Mom! No scriptlets— IterateTag in action
- 10.4.1 Printing the shopping cart with scriptlets
- 10.4.2 Printing the shopping cart with IterateTag
- 10.5 Making it easier on the JSP author
- 10. 5. 1 Building a better tag
- 10.5.2 The design
- 10.5.3 FieldGetter and ReflectionFieldGetter
- 10.5.4 Integrating FieldGetter with IterationTagSupport
- 10.5.5 Updating IterateTag to perform field substitution
- 10.5.6 Field substitution in action
- 10.6 JSP1.2 and IterationTag
- 10.6.1 IterationTag
- 10.7 Summary
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