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Apache Tiles - JSP support - Tag reference report.

Tag reference sheet

Tag library reference for the following tag libraries:

tiles

This tag library provides Tiles tags.

This is version 2.1.

Required attributes are marked with a *

<tiles:addAttribute>

Add an element to the surrounding list. Equivalent to 'putAttribute', but for list element.

Add an element to the surrounding list. This tag can only be used inside 'putListAttribute' or 'addListAttribute' tags. Value can come from a direct assignment (value="aValue")

Can contain: JSP

Attributes

Name Description Type
role

If the user is in the specified role, the tag is taken into account; otherwise, the tag is ignored (skipped).

 String
type

Specify content type: string, template or definition.

  • string : Content is printed directly.
  • template : Content is included from specified URL. Value is used as an URL.
  • definition : Value denote a definition defined in factory (xml file). Definition will be searched in the inserted tile, in a <insertAttribute name="attributeName"> tag, where 'attributeName' is the name used for this tag.
  • object: the value is used as it is.
 String
value

Attribute value. Can be a String or Object.

 String

<tiles:addListAttribute>

Declare a list that will be pass as an attribute.

Declare a list that will be pass as an attribute . List elements are added using the tag 'addAttribute' or 'addListAttribute'. This tag can only be used inside 'insertTemplate', 'insertDefinition' or 'definition' tag.

Can contain: JSP

This tag has no attributes.

<tiles:definition>

Create a definition at runtime.

Create a new definition at runtime. Newly created definition will be available across the entire request.

Can contain: JSP

Attributes

Name Description Type
extends

Name of a parent definition that is used to initialize this new definition. Parent definition is searched in definitions factory.

 String
name

Specifies the name under which the newly created definition bean will be saved.

 String
preparer

Specifies the preparer name to use. The specified preparer will be executed before rendering this newly created definition.

 String
role

Role to check before inserting this definition. If role is not defined for current user, definition is not inserted. Checking is done at insert time, not during definition process.

 String
template

A string representing the URI of a template (a JSP page).

 String

<tiles:destroyContainer>

Destroy the TilesContainer.

Can contain: empty

Attributes

Name Description Type
containerKey

The key of the container to destroy.

If not defined, the destroyed container will be the default container

 String

<tiles:getAsString>

Render the value of the specified template attribute to the current JspWriter

Retrieve the value of the specified template attribute property, and render it to the current JspWriter as a String. The usual toString() conversions is applied on found value.

Throw a JSPException if named value is not found.

Can contain: empty

Attributes

Name Description Type
ignore

If this attribute is set to true, and the attribute specified by the name does not exist, simply return without writing anything. The default value is false, which will cause a runtime exception to be thrown.

boolean
name*

Attribute name.

 String
role

If the user is in the specified role, the tag is taken into account; otherwise, the tag is ignored (skipped).

String

<tiles:importAttribute>

Import attribute(s) in specified context.

Import attribute(s) to requested scope. Attribute name and scope are optional. If not specified, all attributes are imported in page scope. Once imported, an attribute can be used as any other beans from jsp contexts.

Can contain: empty

Attributes

Name Description Type
ignore

If this attribute is set to true, and the attribute specified by the name does not exist, simply return without error. The default value is false, which will cause a runtime exception to be thrown.

 boolean
name

Attribute name. If not specified, all attributes are imported.

 String
scope

Scope into which attribute is imported. Default to page.

 String
toName

Name of the destination bean. If not specified, the name will be the same as specified in name attribute

 String

<tiles:initContainer>

Initialize the TilesContainer.

In order to use the Tiles system, a TilesContainer must be instantiated. This initialization is generally done by the TilesListener (or perhaps the TilesServlet or TilesFilter).

If the intialization needs to be dynamic, you can initialize the container using this tag. Realize however, that this tag MUST be executed prior to invoking any other definitions. Additionally, the initilization may only be done once, and any subsequent invocations will be ignored.

Can contain: JSP

Attributes

Name Description Type
containerFactory

Container Factory implementation used to instantiate the container.

 String
containerKey

The key under which the container will be stored.

If not defined, the container will be the default container

 String

<tiles:insertAttribute>

Inserts the value of an attribute into the page.

This tag can be flexibly used to insert the value of an attribute into a page. As in other usages in Tiles, every attribute can be determined to have a "type", either set explicitly when it was defined, or "computed". If the type is not explicit, then if the attribute value is a valid definition, it will be inserted as such. Otherwise, if it begins with a "/" character, it will be treated as a "template". Finally, if it has not otherwise been assigned a type, it will be treated as a String and included without any special handling.

Example : 

        
          <tiles:insertAttribute name="body" />

Can contain: JSP

Attributes

Name Description Type
defaultValue

This value is evaluated only if value is null and the attribute with the associated name is null.

 String
defaultValueRole

The role to check for the default value. If the user is in the specified role, the default value is taken into account; otherwise, it is ignored (skipped). To be used in conjunction with defaultValue attribute.

 String
defaultValueType

The type of the defaultValue, if it is a string. To be used in conjunction with defaultValue attribute.

 String
flush

True or false. If true, current page out stream is flushed before insertion.

 boolean
ignore

If this attribute is set to true, and the attribute specified by the name does not exist, simply return without writing anything. The default value is false, which will cause a runtime exception to be thrown.

 boolean
name

Name of the attribute to insert. This attribute will be ignored if the value attribute is specified.

 String
preparer The fully qualified name of the preparer. String
role

If the user is in the specified role, the tag is taken into account; otherwise, the tag is ignored (skipped).

 String
value

Attribute object to render directly. If it specified, the name attribute will be ignored.

 String

<tiles:insertDefinition>

Insert a definition.

Insert a definition with the possibility to override and specify parameters (called attributes). A definition can be seen as a (partially or totally) filled template that can override or complete attribute values. <tiles:insertDefinition> allows to define these attributes and pass them to the inserted jsp page, called template. Attributes are defined using nested tag <tiles:putAttribute> or <tiles:putListAttribute>.

You must specify name tag attribute, for inserting a definition from definitions factory.

Example : 

        
          <tiles:insertDefinition name=".my.tiles.defininition flush="true">
             <tiles:putAttribute name="title" value="My first page" />
             <tiles:putAttribute name="header" value="/common/header.jsp" />
             <tiles:putAttribute name="footer" value="/common/footer.jsp" />
             <tiles:putAttribute name="menu" value="/basic/menu.jsp" />
             <tiles:putAttribute name="body" value="/basic/helloBody.jsp" />
          </tiles:insertDefinition>

Can contain: JSP

Attributes

Name Description Type
flush

True or false. If true, current page out stream is flushed before insertion.

 boolean
ignore

If this attribute is set to true, and the attribute specified by the name does not exist, simply return without writing anything. The default value is false, which will cause a runtime exception to be thrown.

 boolean
name*

Name of the definition to insert.

 String
preparer The fully qualified class name of preparer. String
role

If the user is in the specified role, the tag is taken into account; otherwise, the tag is ignored (skipped).

 String
template

A string representing the URI of a template (for example, a JSP page) that will override the one used by the definition itself.

String

<tiles:insertTemplate>

Insert a template.

Insert a template with the possibility to pass parameters (called attributes). A template can be seen as a procedure that can take parameters or attributes. <tiles:insertTemplate> allows to define these attributes and pass them to the inserted jsp page, called template. Attributes are defined using nested tag <tiles:putAttribute> or <tiles:putListAttribute>.

You must specify template attribute, for inserting a template

Example : 

        
          <tiles:insertTemplate template="/basic/myLayout.jsp" flush="true">
             <tiles:putAttribute name="title" value="My first page" />
             <tiles:putAttribute name="header" value="/common/header.jsp" />
             <tiles:putAttribute name="footer" value="/common/footer.jsp" />
             <tiles:putAttribute name="menu" value="/basic/menu.jsp" />
             <tiles:putAttribute name="body" value="/basic/helloBody.jsp" />
          </tiles:insertTemplate>

Can contain: JSP

Attributes

Name Description Type
flush

True or false. If true, current page out stream is flushed before insertion.

 boolean
ignore

If this attribute is set to true, and the attribute specified by the name does not exist, simply return without writing anything. The default value is false, which will cause a runtime exception to be thrown.

 boolean
preparer The fully qualified class name of the preparer. String
role

If the user is in the specified role, the tag is taken into account; otherwise, the tag is ignored (skipped).

 String
template*

A string representing the URI of a template (for example, a JSP page).

String

<tiles:putAttribute>

Put an attribute in enclosing attribute container tag.

Enclosing attribute container tag can be :

  • <initContainer>
  • <definition>
  • <insertAttribute>
  • <insertDefinition>
  • <putListAttribute>
(or any other tag which implements the PutAttributeTagParent interface. Exception is thrown if no appropriate tag can be found.

Put tag can have following atributes :

  • name : Name of the attribute
  • value : value to put as attribute
  • type : value type. Possible type are : string (value is used as direct string), template (value is used as a page url to insert), definition (value is used as a definition name to insert), object (value is used as it is)
  • role : Role to check when 'insertAttribute' will be called.

Value can also come from tag body. Tag body is taken into account only if value is not set by one of the tag attributes. In this case Attribute type is "string", unless tag body define another type.

Can contain: JSP

Attributes

Name Description Type
cascade

If true, the attribute value will be cascaded to nested templates and definitions.

boolean
name*

Name of the attribute.

 String
role

If the user is in the specified role, the tag is taken into account; otherwise, the tag is ignored (skipped).

String
type

Specify content type: string, template or definition.

  • string : Content is printed directly.
  • template : Content is included from specified URL. Value is used as an URL.
  • definition : Value is the name of a definition defined in factory (xml file). Definition will be searched in the inserted tile, in a <tiles:insertAttribute name="attributeName"> tag, where 'attributeName' is the name used for this tag.
  • object: the value is used as it is.
 String
value

Attribute value. Could be a String or an Object.

 String

<tiles:putListAttribute>

Declare a list that will be pass as attribute to tile.

Declare a list that will be pass as attribute to tile. List elements are added using the tags 'addAttribute' or 'addListAttribute'. This tag can only be used inside 'insertTemplate', 'insertDefinition', 'definition' tags.

Can contain: JSP

Attributes

Name Description Type
cascade

If true, the attribute value will be cascaded to nested templates and definitions.

boolean
inherit

If true, the attribute will put the elements of the attribute with the same name of the parent definition before the ones specified here. By default, it is 'false'.

 boolean
name*

Name of the list.

 String

<tiles:setCurrentContainer>

Sets the current Tiles container to use in Tiles tags.

Can contain: empty

Attributes

Name Description Type
containerKey

The key of the container that will be set as "current".

If not defined, the current container will be the default container

 String

<tiles:useAttribute>

Use attribute value inside page.

Declare a Java variable, and an attribute in the specified scope, using its attribute value.

Java variable and attribute will have the name specified by 'id', or the original name if not specified.

Can contain: empty

Attributes

Name Description Type
classname

Class of the declared variable.

 String
id

Declared attribute and variable name.

 String
ignore

If this attribute is set to true, and the attribute specified by the name does not exist, simply return without error. The default value is false, which will cause a runtime exception to be thrown.

boolean
name*

Attribute name.

 String
scope

Scope of the declared attribute. Default to 'page'.

 String