Programming Tags That Accept Scripting Elements

Tags that accept scripting elements in attribute values or in the body cannot be programmed as simple tags; they must be implemented as classic tags. The following sections describe the TLD elements and JSP tag extension API specific to classic tag handlers. All other TLD elements are the same as for simple tags.

TLD Elements

You specify the character of a classic tag's body content using the body-content element: 

<body-content>empty | JSP | tagdependent</body-content>

You must declare the body content of tags that do not have a body as empty. For tags that have a body, there are two options. Body content containing custom and core tags, scripting elements, and HTML text is categorized as JSP. All other types of body content--for example, SQL statements passed to the query tag-- are labeled tagdependent.

Tag Handlers

The classes and interfaces used to implement classic tag handlers are contained in the javax.servlet.jsp.tagext package. Classic tag handlers implement either the Tag, the IterationTag, or the BodyTag interface. Interfaces can be used to take an existing Java object and make it a tag handler. For newly created classic tag handlers, you can use the TagSupport and BodyTagSupport classes as base classes. These classes and interfaces are contained in the javax.servlet.jsp.tagext package.

Tag handler methods defined by the Tag and BodyTag interfaces are called by the JSP page's servlet at various points during the evaluation of the tag. When the start element of a custom tag is encountered, the JSP page's servlet calls methods to initialize the appropriate handler and then invokes the handler's doStartTag method. When the end element of a custom tag is encountered, the handler's doEndTag method is invoked for all but simple tags. Additional methods are invoked in between when a tag handler needs to manipulate the body of the tag. For further information, see Tags with Bodies. To provide a tag handler implementation, you must implement the methods, summarized in Table 16-2, that are invoked at various stages of processing the tag.

Table 16-2 Tag Handler Methods 
Tag Type
Interface
Methods
Basic
Tag
doStartTag, doEndTag
Attributes
Tag
doStartTag, doEndTag, setAttribute1,...,N, release
Body
Tag
doStartTag, doEndTag, release
Body, iterative evaluation
IterationTag
doStartTag, doAfterBody, doEndTag, release
Body, manipulation
BodyTag
doStartTag, doEndTag, release, doInitBody, doAfterBody

A tag handler has access to an API that allows it to communicate with the JSP page. The entry points to the API are two objects: the JSP context (javax.servlet.jsp.JspContext) for simple tag handlers and the page context (javax.servlet.jsp.PageContext) for classic tag handlers. JspContext provides access to implicit objects. PageContext extends JspContext with HTTP-specific behavior. A tag handler can retrieve all the other implicit objects (request, session, and application) that are accessible from a JSP page through these objects. In addition, implicit objects can have named attributes associated with them. Such attributes are accessed using [set|get]Attribute methods.

If the tag is nested, a tag handler also has access to the handler (called the parent) associated with the enclosing tag.

How Is a Classic Tag Handler Invoked?

The Tag interface defines the basic protocol between a tag handler and a JSP page's servlet. It defines the life cycle and the methods to be invoked when the start and end tags are encountered.

The JSP page's servlet invokes the setPageContext, setParent, and attribute-setting methods before calling doStartTag. The JSP page's servlet also guarantees that release will be invoked on the tag handler before the end of the page.

Here is a typical tag handler method invocation sequence: 

ATag t = new ATag();
t.setPageContext(...);
t.setParent(...);
t.setAttribute1(value1);
t.setAttribute2(value2);
t.doStartTag();
t.doEndTag();
t.release();

The BodyTag interface extends Tag by defining additional methods that let a tag handler access its body. The interface provides three new methods:

A typical invocation sequence is as follows: 

t.doStartTag();
out = pageContext.pushBody();
t.setBodyContent(out);
// perform any initialization needed after body content is set
t.doInitBody();
t.doAfterBody();
// while doAfterBody returns EVAL_BODY_AGAIN we 
// iterate body evaluation
...
t.doAfterBody();
t.doEndTag();
out = pageContext.popBody();
t.release();

Tags with Bodies

A tag handler for a tag with a body is implemented differently depending on whether or not the tag handler needs to manipulate the body. A tag handler manipulates the body when it reads or modifies the contents of the body.

Tag Handler Does Not Manipulate the Body

If the tag handler does not need to manipulate the body, the tag handler should implement the Tag interface. If the tag handler implements the Tag interface and the body of the tag needs to be evaluated, the doStartTag method must return EVAL_BODY_INCLUDE; otherwise it should return SKIP_BODY.

If a tag handler needs to iteratively evaluate the body, it should implement the IterationTag interface. The tag handler should return EVAL_BODY_AGAIN from the doAfterBody method if it determines that the body needs to be evaluated again.

Tag Handler Manipulates the Body

If the tag handler needs to manipulate the body, the tag handler must implement BodyTag (or must be derived from BodyTagSupport).

When a tag handler implements the BodyTag interface, it must implement the doInitBody and the doAfterBody methods. These methods manipulate body content passed to the tag handler by the JSP page's servlet.

A BodyContent object supports several methods to read and write its contents. A tag handler can use the body content's getString or getReader method to extract information from the body, and the writeOut(out) method to write the body contents to an out stream. The writer supplied to the writeOut method is obtained using the tag handler's getPreviousOut method. This method is used to ensure that a tag handler's results are available to an enclosing tag handler.

If the body of the tag needs to be evaluated, the doStartTag method must return EVAL_BODY_BUFFERED; otherwise, it should return SKIP_BODY.

doInitBody Method

The doInitBody method is called after the body content is set but before it is evaluated. You generally use this method to perform any initialization that depends on the body content.

doAfterBody Method

The doAfterBody method is called after the body content is evaluated. doAfterBody must return an indication of whether to continue evaluating the body. Thus, if the body should be evaluated again, as would be the case if you were implementing an iteration tag, doAfterBody should return EVAL_BODY_AGAIN; otherwise, doAfterBody should return SKIP_BODY.

The following example reads the content of the body (which contains an SQL query) and passes it to an object that executes the query. Because the body does not need to be reevaluated, doAfterBody returns SKIP_BODY. 

public class QueryTag extends BodyTagSupport {
  public int doAfterBody() throws JspTagException {
    BodyContent bc = getBodyContent();
    // get the bc as string
    String query = bc.getString();
    // clean up
    bc.clearBody();
    try {
      Statement stmt = connection.createStatement();
      result = stmt.executeQuery(query);
    } catch (SQLException e) {
      throw new JspTagException("QueryTag: " +
         e.getMessage());
    }
    return SKIP_BODY;
  }
}

release Method

A tag handler should reset its state and release any private resources in the release method.

Cooperating Tags

Tags cooperate by sharing objects. JSP technology supports two styles of object sharing.

The first style requires that a shared object be named and stored in the page context (one of the implicit objects accessible to JSP pages as well as tag handlers). To access objects created and named by another tag, a tag handler uses the pageContext.getAttribute(name, scope) method.

In the second style of object sharing, an object created by the enclosing tag handler of a group of nested tags is available to all inner tag handlers. This form of object sharing has the advantage that it uses a private namespace for the objects, thus reducing the potential for naming conflicts.

To access an object created by an enclosing tag, a tag handler must first obtain its enclosing tag using the static method TagSupport.findAncestorWithClass(from, class) or the TagSupport.getParent method. The former method should be used when a specific nesting of tag handlers cannot be guaranteed. After the ancestor has been retrieved, a tag handler can access any statically or dynamically created objects. Statically created objects are members of the parent. Private objects can also be created dynamically. Such objects can be stored in a tag handler using the setValue method and can be retrieved using the getValue method.

The following example illustrates a tag handler that supports both the named approach and the private object approach to sharing objects. In the example, the handler for a query tag checks whether an attribute named connectionId has been set. If the connection attribute has been set, the handler retrieves the connection object from the page context. Otherwise, the tag handler first retrieves the tag handler for the enclosing tag and then retrieves the connection object from that handler. 

public class QueryTag extends BodyTagSupport {
  public int doStartTag() throws JspException {
    String cid = getConnectionId();
    Connection connection;
    if (cid != null) {
    // there is a connection id, use it
      connection =(Connection)pageContext.
        getAttribute(cid);
    } else {
      ConnectionTag ancestorTag =
        (ConnectionTag)findAncestorWithClass(this,
          ConnectionTag.class);
      if (ancestorTag == null) {
        throw new JspTagException("A query without
          a connection attribute must be nested
          within a connection tag.");
      }
      connection = ancestorTag.getConnection();
      ...
    }
  }
}

The query tag implemented by this tag handler can be used in either of the following ways: 

<tt:connection cid="con01" ... > 
  ... 
</tt:connection>
<tt:query id="balances" connectionId="con01"> 
  SELECT account, balance FROM acct_table 
    where customer_number = ?
  <tt:param value="${requestScope.custNumber}" />
</tt:query>

<tt:connection ... >
  <tt:query cid="balances"> 
    SELECT account, balance FROM acct_table 
    where customer_number = ?
    <tt:param value="${requestScope.custNumber}" />
  </tt:query>
</tt:connection>

The TLD for the tag handler use the following declaration to indicate that the connectionId attribute is optional: 

<tag>
  ...
  <attribute>
    <name>connectionId</name>
    <required>false</required>
  </attribute>
</tag>

Tags That Define Variables

The mechanisms for defining variables in classic tags are similar to those described in Chapter 15. You must declare the variable in a variable element of the TLD or in a tag extra info class. You use PageContext().setAttribute(name, value) or PageContext.setAttribute(name, value, scope) methods in the tag handler to create or update an association between a name that is accessible in the page context and the object that is the value of the variable. For classic tag handlers, Table 16-3 illustrates how the availability of a variable affects when you may want to set or update the variable's value.

Table 16-3 Variable Availability 
Value
Availability
In Methods
NESTED
Between the start tag and the end tag
doStartTag, doInitBody, and doAfterBody.
AT_BEGIN
From the start tag until the end of the page
doStartTag, doInitBody, doAfterBody, and doEndTag.
AT_END
After the end tag until the end of the page
doEndTag

A variable defined by a custom tag can also be accessed in a scripting expression. For example, the web service described in the preceding section can be encapsulated in a custom tag that returns the response in a variable named by the var attribute, and then var can be accessed in a scripting expression as follows: 

<ws:hello var="response" 
    name="<%=request.getParameter("username")%>" />
<h2><font color="black"><%= response %>!</font></h2>

Remember that in situations where scripting is not allowed (in a tag body where the body-content is declared as scriptless and in a page where scripting is specified to be invalid), you wouldn't be able to access the variable in a scriptlet or an expression. Instead, you would have to use the JSP expression language to access the variable.