7
JSP Tag Libraries

This chapter discusses custom tag libraries, covering the basic framework that vendors can use to provide their own libraries, and concluding with a comparison of standard runtime tags versus vendor-specific compile-time tags. The chapter is organized as follows:

• Standard Tag Library Framework
• Compile-Time Tags

For complete information about the tag libraries provided with Oracle9i release 2, as summarized in "Overview of JSP Tag Libraries and JavaBeans Provided with Oracle9i", see the Oracle9iAS Containers for J2EE JSP Tag Libraries and Utilities Reference.

Standard Tag Library Framework

Standard JavaServer Pages technology allows vendors to create custom JSP tag libraries.

A tag library defines a collection of custom actions. The tags can be used directly by developers in manually coding a JSP page, or automatically by Java development tools. A tag library must be portable between different JSP container implementations.

For information beyond what is provided here regarding tag libraries and the standard JavaServer Pages tag library framework, refer to the following resources.

• Sun Microsystems JavaServer Pages Specification, Version 1.1
• Sun Microsystems Javadoc for the javax.servlet.jsp.tagext package, at the following Web site:

  http://java.sun.com/j2ee/j2sdkee/techdocs/api/javax/servlet/jsp/tagext/package-summary.html
  
  

  Note: Do not use the servlet.jar file of the Tomcat 3.1 beta servlet/JSP implementation if you are using custom tags. The constructor signature was changed for the class javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.TagAttributeInfo, which will result in compilation errors. Instead, use the servlet.jar file that is provided with Oracle9i release 2 or the production version of Tomcat 3.1.

Overview of a Custom Tag Library Implementation

A custom tag library is made accessible to a JSP page through a taglib directive of the following general form:

<%@ taglib uri="URI" prefix="prefix" %>

Note the following:

• The tags of a library are defined in a tag library description file, as described in "Tag Library Description Files".
• The URI in the taglib directive specifies where to find the tag library description file, as described in "The taglib Directive". It is possible to use URI shortcuts, as described in "Use of web.xml for Tag Libraries".
• The prefix in the taglib directive is a string of your choosing that you use in your JSP page with any tag from the library.

  Assume the taglib directive specifies a prefix oracust:

  <%@ taglib uri="URI" prefix="oracust" %>
  
  

  Further assume that there is a tag mytag in the library. You might use mytag as follows:

  <oracust:mytag attr1="...", attr2="..." />
  
  

  Using the oracust prefix informs the JSP translator that mytag is defined in the tag library description file that can be found at the URI specified in the above taglib directive.

• The entry for a tag in the tag library description file provides specifications about usage of the tag, including whether the tag uses attributes (as mytag does), and the names of those attributes.
• The semantics of a tag--the actions that occur as the result of using the tag--are defined in a tag handler class, as described in "Tag Handlers". Each tag has its own tag handler class, and the class name is specified in the tag library description file.
• The tag library description file indicates whether a tag uses a body.

  As seen above, a tag without a body is used as in the following example:

  <oracust:mytag attr1="...", attr2="..." />
  
  

  By contrast, a tag with a body is used as in the following example:

  <oracust:mytag attr1="...", attr2="..." >
     ...body...
  </oracust:mytag>
  
  

• A custom tag action can create one or more server-side objects that are available for use by the tag itself or by other JSP scripting elements, such as scriptlets. These objects are referred to as scripting variables.

  Details regarding the scripting variables that a custom tag uses are defined in a tag-extra-info class. This is described in "Scripting Variables and Tag-Extra-Info Classes".

  A tag can create scripting variables with syntax such as in the following example, which creates the object myobj:

  <oracust:mytag id="myobj" attr1="...", attr2="..." />
  
  

• The tag handler of a nested tag can access the tag handler of an outer tag, in case this is required for any of the processing or state management of the nested tag. See "Access to Outer Tag Handler Instances".

The sections that follow provide more information about these topics.

Tag Handlers

A tag handler describes the semantics of the action that results from use of a custom tag. A tag handler is an instance of a Java class that implements one of two standard Java interfaces, depending on whether the tag processes a body of statements (between a start tag and an end tag).

Each tag has its own handler class. By convention, the name of the tag handler class for a tag abc, for example, is AbcTag.

The tag library description (TLD) file of a tag library specifies the name of the tag handler class for each tag in the library. (See "Tag Library Description Files".)

A tag handler instance is a server-side object used at request time. It has properties that are set by the JSP container, including the page context object for the JSP page that uses the custom tag, and a parent tag handler object if the use of this custom tag is nested within an outer custom tag.

See "Sample Tag Handler Class: ExampleLoopTag.java" for sample code of a tag handler class.

Custom Tag Body Processing

Custom tags, like standard JSP tags, may or may not have a body. And in the case of a custom tag, even when there is a body, it may not need special handling by the tag handler.

There are three possible situations:

• There is no body.

  In this case, there is just a single tag, as opposed to a start tag and end tag. Following is a general example:

  <oracust:abcdef attr1="...", attr2="..." />
  
  

• There is a body that does not need special handling by the tag handler.

  In this case, there is a start tag and end tag with a body of statements in between, but the tag handler does not have to process the body--body statements are passed through for normal JSP processing only. Following is a general example:

  <foo:if cond="<%= ... %>" >
  ...body executed if cond is true, but not processed by tag handler...
  </foo:if>
  
  

• There is a body that needs special handling by the tag handler.

  In this case also, there is a start tag and end tag with a body of statements in between; however, the tag handler must process the body.

  <oracust:ghijkl attr1="...", attr2="..." >
  ...body processed by tag handler...
  </oracust:ghijkl>
  
  

Integer Constants for Body Processing

The tag handling interfaces that are described in the following sections specify a doStartTag() method (further described below) that you must implement to return an appropriate int constant, depending on the situation. The possible return values are as follows:

• SKIP_BODY if there is no body or if evaluation and execution of the body should be skipped
• EVAL_BODY_INCLUDE if there is a body that does not require special handling by the tag handler
• EVAL_BODY_TAG if there is a body that requires special handling by the tag handler

Handlers for Tags That Do Not Process a Body

For a custom tag that does not have a body, or has a body that does not need special handling by the tag handler, the tag handler class implements the following standard interface:

• javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.Tag

The following standard support class implements the Tag interface and can be used as a base class:

• javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.TagSupport

The Tag interface specifies a doStartTag() method and a doEndTag() method. The tag developer provides code for these methods in the tag handler class, as appropriate, to be executed as the start tag and end tag, respectively, are encountered. The JSP page implementation class generated by the Oracle JSP translator includes appropriate calls to these methods.

Action processing--whatever you want the action tag to accomplish--is implemented in the doStartTag() method. The doEndTag() method would implement any appropriate post-processing. In the case of a tag without a body, essentially nothing happens between the execution of these two methods.

The doStartTag() method returns an integer value. For a tag handler class implementing the Tag interface (either directly or indirectly), this value must be either SKIP_BODY or EVAL_BODY_INCLUDE (described in "Integer Constants for Body Processing" above). EVAL_BODY_TAG is illegal for a tag handler class implementing the Tag interface.

Handlers for Tags That Process a Body

For a custom tag with a body that requires special handling by the tag handler, the tag handler class implements the following standard interface:

• javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.BodyTag

The following standard support class implements the BodyTag interface and can be used as a base class:

• javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.BodyTagSupport

The BodyTag interface specifies a doInitBody() method and a doAfterBody() method in addition to the doStartTag() and doEndTag() methods specified in the Tag interface.

Just as with tag handlers implementing the Tag interface (described in the preceding section, "Handlers for Tags That Do Not Process a Body"), the tag developer implements the doStartTag() method for action processing by the tag, and the doEndTag() method for any post-processing.

The doStartTag() method returns an integer value. For a tag handler class implementing the BodyTag interface (directly or indirectly), this value must be either SKIP_BODY or EVAL_BODY_TAG (described in "Integer Constants for Body Processing"). EVAL_BODY_INCLUDE is illegal for a tag handler class implementing the BodyTag interface.

In addition to implementing the doStartTag() and doEndTag() methods, the tag developer, as appropriate, provides code for the doInitBody() method, to be invoked before the body is evaluated, and the doAfterBody() method, to be invoked after each evaluation of the body. (The body could be evaluated multiple times, such as at the end of each iteration of a loop.) The JSP page implementation class generated by the Oracle JSP translator includes appropriate calls to all of these methods.

After the doStartTag() method is executed, the doInitBody() and doAfterBody() methods are executed if the doStartTag() method returned EVAL_BODY_TAG.

The doEndTag() method is executed after any body processing, when the end tag is encountered.

For custom tags that must process a body, the javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.BodyContent class is available for use. This is a subclass of javax.servlet.jsp.JspWriter that can be used to process body evaluations so that they can re-extracted later. The BodyTag interface includes a setBodyContent() method that can be used by the JSP container to give a BodyContent handle to a tag handler instance.

Scripting Variables and Tag-Extra-Info Classes

A custom tag action can create one or more server-side objects, known as scripting variables, that are available for use by the tag itself or by other scripting elements, such as scriptlets and other tags.

Details regarding scripting variables that a custom tag defines must be specified in a subclass of the standard javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.TagExtraInfo abstract class. This document refers to such a subclass as a tag-extra-info class.

The JSP container uses tag-extra-info instances during translation. (The tag library description file, specified in the taglib directive that imports the library into a JSP page, specifies the tag-extra-info class to use, if applicable, for any given tag.)

A tag-extra-info class has a getVariableInfo() method to retrieve names and types of the scripting variables that will be assigned during HTTP requests. The JSP translator calls this method during translation, passing it an instance of the standard javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.TagData class. The TagData instance specifies attribute values set in the JSP statement that uses the custom tag.

This section covers the following topics:

• Defining Scripting Variables
• Scripting Variable Scopes
• Tag-Extra-Info Classes and the getVariableInfo() Method

Defining Scripting Variables

Objects that are defined explicitly in a custom tag can be referenced in other actions through the page context object, using the object ID as a handle. Consider the following example:

<oracust:foo id="myobj" attr1="..." attr2="..." />

This statement results in the object myobj being available to any scripting elements between the tag and the end of the page. The id attribute is a translation-time attribute. The tag developer provides a tag-extra-info class that will be used by the JSP container. Among other things, the tag-extra-info class specifies what class to instantiate for the myobj object.

The JSP container enters myobj into the page context object, where it can later be obtained by other tags or scripting elements using syntax such as the following:

<oracust:bar ref="myobj" />

The myobj object is passed through the tag handler instances for foo and bar. All that is required is knowledge of the name of the object (myobj).

Scripting Variable Scopes

Specify the scope of a scripting variable in the tag-extra-info class of the tag that creates the variable. It can be one of the following int constants:

• NESTED--if the scripting variable is available between the start tag and end tag of the action that defines it
• AT_BEGIN--if the scripting variable is available from the start tag until the end of the page
• AT_END--if the scripting variable is available from the end tag until the end of the page

Tag-Extra-Info Classes and the getVariableInfo() Method

You must create a tag-extra-info class for any custom tag that creates scripting variables. The class describes the scripting variables and must be a subclass of the standard javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.TagExtraInfo abstract class.

The key method of the TagExtraInfo class is getVariableInfo(), which is called by the JSP translator and returns an array of instances of the standard javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.VariableInfo class (one array instance for each scripting variable the tag creates).

The tag-extra-info class constructs each VariableInfo instance with the following information regarding the scripting variable:

• its name
• its Java type (cannot be a primitive type)
• a boolean indicating whether it is a newly declared variable
• its scope

  Important: In Oracle JSP 1.1.x.x releases, the getVariableInfo() method can return either a fully qualified class name (FQCN) or a partially qualified class name (PQCN) for the Java type of the scripting variable. FQCNs were required in previous releases, and are still preferred in order to avoid confusion in case there are duplicate class names between packages. Note that primitive types are not supported.

See "Sample Tag-Extra-Info Class: ExampleLoopTagTEI.java" for sample code of a tag-extra-info class.

Access to Outer Tag Handler Instances

Where nested custom tags are used, the tag handler instance of the nested tag has access to the tag handler instance of the outer tag, which may be useful in any processing and state management performed by the nested tag.

This functionality is supported through the static findAncestorWithClass() method of the javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.TagSupport class. Even though the outer tag handler instance is not named in the page context object, it is accessible because it is the closest enclosing instance of a given tag handler class.

Consider the following JSP code example:

<foo:bar1 attr="abc" >
   <foo:bar2 />
</foo:bar1>

Within the code of the bar2 tag handler class (class Bar2Tag, by convention), you can have a statement such as the following:

Tag bar1tag = TagSupport.findAncestorWithClass(this, Bar1Tag.class);

The findAncestorWithClass() method takes the following as input:

• the this object that is the class handler instance from which findAncestorWithClass() was called (a Bar2Tag instance in the example)
• the name of the bar1 tag handler class (presumed to be Bar1Tag in the example), as a java.lang.Class instance

The findAncestorWithClass() method returns an instance of the appropriate tag handler class, in this case Bar1Tag, as a javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.Tag instance.

It is useful for a Bar2Tag instance to have access to the outer Bar1Tag instance in case the Bar2Tag needs the value of a bar1 tag attribute or needs to call a method on the Bar1Tag instance.

Tag Library Description Files

A tag library description (TLD) file is an XML document that contains information about a tag library and about individual tags of the library. The name of a TLD file has the .tld extension.

A JSP container uses the TLD file in determining what action to take when it encounters a tag from the library.

A tag entry in the TLD file includes the following:

• name of the custom tag
• name of the corresponding tag handler class
• name of the corresponding tag-extra-info class (if applicable)
• information indicating how the tag body (if any) should be processed
• information about the attributes of the tag (the attributes that you specify whenever you use the custom tag)

Here is a sample TLD file entry for the tag myaction:

<tag>
  <name>myaction</name>
  <tagclass>examples.MyactionTag</tagclass>
  <teiclass>examples.MyactionTagExtraInfo</teiclass>
  <bodycontent>JSP</bodycontent>
  <info>
      Perform a server-side action (one mandatory attr; one optional)
  </info>
  <attribute>
    <name>attr1</name>
    <required>true</required>
  </attribute>
  <attribute>
    <name>attr2</name>
    <required>false</required>
  </attribute>
</tag>

According to this entry, the tag handler class is MyactionTag and the tag-extra-info class is MyactionTagExtraInfo. The attribute attr1 is required; the attribute attr2 is optional.

The bodycontent parameter indicates how the tag body (if any) should be processed. There are three valid values:

• A value of empty indicates that the tag uses no body.
• A value of JSP indicates that the tag body should be processed as JSP source and translated.
• A value of tagdependent indicates that the tag body should not be translated. Any text in the body is treated as static text.

The taglib directive in a JSP page informs the JSP container where to find the TLD file. (See "The taglib Directive".)

For more information about tag library description files, see the Sun Microsystems JavaServer Pages Specification, Version 1.1.

Use of web.xml for Tag Libraries

The Sun Microsystems Java Servlet Specification, Version 2.2 describes a standard deployment descriptor for servlets--the web.xml file. JSP pages can use this file in specifying the location of a JSP tag library description file.

For JSP tag libraries, the web.xml file can include a taglib element and two subelements:

• taglib-uri
• taglib-location

The taglib-location subelement indicates the application-relative location (by starting with "/") of the tag library description file.

The taglib-uri subelement indicates a "shortcut" URI to use in taglib directives in your JSP pages, with this URI being mapped to the TLD file location specified in the accompanying taglib-location subelement. (The term URI, universal resource indicator, is somewhat equivalent to the term URL, universal resource locator, but is more generic.)

Following is a sample web.xml entry for a tag library description file:

<taglib>
   <taglib-uri>/oracustomtags</taglib-uri>
   <taglib-location>/WEB-INF/oracustomtags/tlds/MyTLD.tld</taglib-location>
</taglib>

This makes /oracustomtags equivalent to /WEB-INF/oracustomtags/tlds/MyTLD.tld in taglib directives in your JSP pages. See "Using a Shortcut URI for the TLD File" below for an example.

See the Sun Microsystems Java Servlet Specification, Version 2.2 and the Sun Microsystems JavaServer Pages Specification, Version 1.1 for more information about the web.xml deployment descriptor and its use for tag library description files.

The taglib Directive

Import a custom library into a JSP page using a taglib directive, as follows:

<%@ taglib uri="URI" prefix="prefix" %>

For the URI, you have the following options:

• Specify a shortcut URI, as defined in a web.xml file (see "Use of web.xml for Tag Libraries" above).
• Fully specify the tag library description (TLD) file name and location.

Using a Shortcut URI for the TLD File

Assume the following web.xml entry for a tag library defined in the tag library description file MyTLD.tld:

<taglib>
   <taglib-uri>/oracustomtags</taglib-uri>
   <taglib-location>/WEB-INF/oracustomtags/tlds/MyTLD.tld</taglib-location>
</taglib>

Given this example, the following directive in your JSP page results in the JSP container finding the /oracustomtags URI in web.xml and, therefore, finding the accompanying name and location of the tag library description file (MyTLD.tld):

<%@ taglib uri="/oracustomtags" prefix="oracust" %>

This statement allows you to use any of the tags of this custom tag library in a JSP page.

Fully Specifying the TLD File Name and Location

If you do not want your JSP application to depend on a web.xml file for its use of a tag library, taglib directives can fully specify the name and location of the tag library description file, as follows:

<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/oracustomtags/tlds/MyTLD.tld" prefix="oracust" %>

The location is specified as an application-relative location (by starting with "/", as in this example). See "Requesting a JSP Page" for related discussion of application-relative syntax.

Alternatively, you can specify a .jar file instead of a .tld file in the taglib directive, where the .jar file contains a tag library description file. The tag library description file must be located and named as follows when you create the JAR file (for servlet 2.2):

META-INF/taglib.tld

Then the taglib directive might be as follows, for example:

<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/oracustomtags/tlds/MyTLD.jar" prefix="oracust" %>

End-to-End Example: Defining and Using a Custom Tag

This section provides an end-to-end example of the definition and use of a custom tag, loop, that is used to iterate through the tag body a specified number of times.

Included in the example are the following:

• JSP source for a page that uses the tag
• source code for the tag handler class
• source code for the tag-extra-info class
• the tag library description file

  Note: Sample code here uses extended datatypes in the oracle.jsp.jml package. These types are described in the Oracle9iAS Containers for J2EE JSP Tag Libraries and Utilities Reference.

Sample JSP Page: exampletag.jsp

Following is a sample JSP page that uses the loop tag, specifying that the outer loop be executed five times and the inner loop three times:

exampletag.jsp
<%@ taglib prefix="foo" uri="/WEB-INF/exampletag.tld" %>
<% int num=5; %>
<br>

<foo:loop index="i" count="<%=num%>">
body1here: i expr: <%=i%> i property: <jsp:getProperty name="i" property="value" 
/> 
  <foo:loop index="j" count="3">
  body2here: j expr: <%=j%> 
  i property: <jsp:getProperty name="i" property="value" />
  j property: <jsp:getProperty name="j" property="value" /> 
  </foo:loop>
</foo:loop>

Sample Tag Handler Class: ExampleLoopTag.java

This section provides source code for the tag handler class, ExampleLoopTag. Note the following:

• The doStartTag() method returns the integer constant EVAL_BODY_TAG, so that the tag body (essentially, the loop) is processed.
• After each pass through the loop, the doAfterBody() method increments the counter. It returns EVAL_BODY_TAG if there are more iterations left and SKIP_BODY after the last iteration.

Here is the code:

package examples;

import javax.servlet.jsp.*;
import javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.*;
import java.util.Hashtable;
import java.io.Writer;
import java.io.IOException;
import oracle.jsp.jml.JmlNumber;

public class ExampleLoopTag 
    extends BodyTagSupport
{
    
    String index;
    int count;
    int i=0;
    JmlNumber ib=new JmlNumber();

    public void setIndex(String index)
    {
      this.index=index;
    }
    public void setCount(String count)
    {
      this.count=Integer.parseInt(count);
    }

    public int doStartTag() throws JspException {
        return EVAL_BODY_TAG;
    }

    public void doInitBody() throws JspException {
        pageContext.setAttribute(index, ib);
        i++;
        ib.setValue(i);
    }
    
    public int doAfterBody() throws JspException {
        try {
            if (i >= count) {
                bodyContent.writeOut(bodyContent.getEnclosingWriter());
                return SKIP_BODY;
            } else
                pageContext.setAttribute(index, ib);
            i++;
            ib.setValue(i);
            return EVAL_BODY_TAG;
        } catch (IOException ex) {
            throw new JspTagException(ex.toString());
        }
    }
}

Sample Tag-Extra-Info Class: ExampleLoopTagTEI.java

This section provides the source code for the tag-extra-info class that describes the scripting variable used by the loop tag.

A VariableInfo instance is constructed that specifies the following for the variable:

• The variable name is according to the index attribute.
• The variable is of the type oracle.jsp.jml.JmlNumber (this must be specified as a fully qualified class name).
• The variable is newly declared.
• The variable scope is NESTED.

In addition, the tag-extra-info class has an isValid() method that determines whether the count attribute is valid--it must be an integer.

package examples;
import javax.servlet.jsp.tagext.*;

public class ExampleLoopTagTEI extends TagExtraInfo {
    public VariableInfo[] getVariableInfo(TagData data) {
        return new VariableInfo[] 
            {
                new VariableInfo(data.getAttributeString("index"),
                                 "oracle.jsp.jml.JmlNumber",
                                 true,
                                 VariableInfo.NESTED)
            };
    }

    public boolean isValid(TagData data)
    {
      String countStr=data.getAttributeString("count");
      if (countStr!=null)   // for request time case
      {
        try {
          int count=Integer.parseInt(countStr);
        }
        catch (NumberFormatException e)
        {
          return false;
        }
      }
      return true;
    }
}

Sample Tag Library Description File: exampletag.tld

This section presents the tag library description (TLD) file for the tag library. In this example, the library consists of only the one tag, loop.

This TLD file specifies the following for the loop tag:

• the tag handler class--examples.ExampleLoopTag
• the tag-extra-info class--examples.ExampleLoopTagTEI
• bodycontent specification of JSP

  This means the JSP translator should process and translate the body code.

• attributes index and count, both mandatory

  The count attribute can be a request-time JSP expression.

Here is the TLD file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<!DOCTYPE taglib
        PUBLIC "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD JSP Tag Library 1.1//EN"
        "http://java.sun.com/j2ee/dtds/web-jsptaglibrary_1_1.dtd">

<!-- a tag library descriptor -->

<taglib>
  <!-- after this the default space is
        "http://java.sun.com/j2ee/dtds/jsptaglibrary_1_2.dtd"
   -->
  <tlibversion>1.0</tlibversion>
  <jspversion>1.1</jspversion>
  <shortname>simple</shortname>
<!--
  there should be no <urn></urn> here
-->
  <info>
        A simple tag library for the examples
  </info>

  <!-- example tag -->
  <!-- for loop -->
  <tag>
    <name>loop</name>
    <tagclass>examples.ExampleLoopTag</tagclass>
    <teiclass>examples.ExampleLoopTagTEI</teiclass>
    <bodycontent>JSP</bodycontent>
    <info>for loop</info>
    <attribute>
        <name>index</name>
        <required>true</required>
    </attribute>
    <attribute>
        <name>count</name>
        <required>true</required>
        <rtexprvalue>true</rtexprvalue>
    </attribute>
  </tag>
</taglib>

Compile-Time Tags

Standard tag libraries, as described in the Sun Microsystems JavaServer Pages Specification, Version 1.1, use a runtime support mechanism. They are typically portable, not requiring any particular JSP container.

It is also possible, however, for a vendor to support custom tags through vendor-specific functionality in their JSP translator. Such tags are not portable to other containers.

It is generally advisable to develop standard, portable tags that use the runtime mechanism, but there may be scenarios where tags using a compile-time mechanism are appropriate, as discussed in this section.

General Compile-Time Versus Runtime Considerations

The JSP 1.1 specification describes a runtime support mechanism for custom tag libraries. This mechanism, using an XML-style tag library description file to specify the tags, is covered in "Standard Tag Library Framework".

Creating and using a tag library that adheres to this model assures that the library will be portable to any standard JSP environment.

There are, however, reasons to consider compile-time implementations:

• A compile-time implementation may produce more efficient code.
• A compile-time implementation allows the developer to catch errors during translation and compilation, instead of the end-user seeing them at runtime.

In the future, the Oracle JSP container may support a general framework for creating custom tag libraries with compile-time tag implementations. Such implementations would depend on the Oracle JSP translator, so would not be portable to other JSP environments.

Oracle JML Library: Compile-Time Versus Runtime

Oracle provides a portable tag library called the JSP Markup Language (JML) library. This library uses the standard JSP 1.1 runtime mechanism.

However, the JML tags are also supported through a compile-time mechanism. This is because the tags were first introduced with older JSP versions that preceded the JSP 1.1 specification, when the runtime mechanism was introduced. The compile-time tags are still supported for backward compatibility.

The general advantages and disadvantages of compile-time implementations apply to the Oracle JML tag library as well. There may be situations where it is advantageous to use the compile-time JML implementation as first introduced in older Oracle JSP versions. There are also a few additional tags in that implementation, and some additional expression syntax that is supported.

Both the runtime version and the compile-time version of the JML library are described in the Oracle9iAS Containers for J2EE JSP Tag Libraries and Utilities Reference.