The "input" tag extension library lets you present HTML <form> elements that are tied to the ServletRequest that caused the current JSP page to run, or to a JavaBean. That is, using this library, you can easily prepopulate form elements with prior values that the user has chosen -- or with default values for the first time a user hits a web page. This is useful when you need to present the same page to the user several times (e.g., for server-side validation).
You can also automatically build up <select> boxes, making it easier to build data-driven forms. And even if you don't present the same page multiple times, you may want form elements that have default values; this library lets you do that without writing excessive logic.
What is the "Input" tag library? Read more.
This custom tag library requires no software other than a servlet container that supports the JavaServer Pages Specification, version 1.1 or higher. Plus any requirements for additional API packages.
Follow these steps to configure your web application with this tag library:
<taglib> <taglib-uri>http://jakarta.apache.org/taglibs/input-1.0</taglib-uri> <taglib-location>/WEB-INF/taglibs-input.tld</taglib-location> </taglib>
To use the tags from this library in your JSP pages, add the following directive at the top of each page:
<%@ taglib uri="http://jakarta.apache.org/taglibs/input-1.0" prefix="input" %>
where "input" is the tag name prefix you wish to use for tags from this library. You can change this value to any prefix you like.
form | Creates a form tag |
text | Displays a one-line text-entry box |
password | Displays a one-line password-entry box |
textarea | Displays a multiline textarea |
hidden | Creates a hidden form field |
select | Displays a select list |
option | Displays a select option |
radio | Displays a radio button |
checkbox | Displays a checkbox |
form | Availability: 1.1 | ||||
Creates a form tag. See Usage page. |
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Tag Body | JSP | ||||
Restrictions |
None |
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Attributes | Name | Required | Runtime Expression Evaluation | Availability | |
name | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
form name |
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attributes | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra form attributes |
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attributesText | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra form attributes as text |
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bean | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
id of the bean to use as the default bean for input elements in the form |
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method | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
form method |
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action | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
form action. The url will be passed through response.encodeURL(String) to add session tracking if necessary. |
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encType | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
form encoding type |
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Variables | None | ||||
Examples | None |
text | Availability: 1.0 | ||||
Displays a one-line text-entry box. See Usage page. |
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Tag Body | empty | ||||
Restrictions |
None |
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Attributes | Name | Required | Runtime Expression Evaluation | Availability | |
name | Yes | Yes | 1.0 | ||
text box name |
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default | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
text box default value |
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attributes | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
extra text box attributes |
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attributesText | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra text box attributes as text |
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bean | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
id of the bean to get default value from. Empty string means no bean (not even the default from the form tag, if supplied) |
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size | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
size of the text box |
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Variables | None | ||||
Examples | None |
password | Availability: 1.1 | ||||
Displays a one-line password-entry box. See Usage page. |
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Tag Body | empty | ||||
Restrictions |
None |
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Attributes | Name | Required | Runtime Expression Evaluation | Availability | |
name | Yes | Yes | 1.1 | ||
password box name |
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default | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
password box default value |
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attributes | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra password box attributes |
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attributesText | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra text box attributes as text |
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bean | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
id of the bean to get default value from. Empty string means no bean (not even the default from the form tag, if supplied) |
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size | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
size of the password box |
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Variables | None | ||||
Examples | None |
textarea | Availability: 1.0 | ||||
Displays a multi-line text-entry box. The body of the textarea tag will be used as the default value if the default attribute is not provided. See Usage page. |
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Tag Body | JSP | ||||
Restrictions |
None |
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Attributes | Name | Required | Runtime Expression Evaluation | Availability | |
name | Yes | Yes | 1.0 | ||
textarea name |
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default | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
textarea default value |
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attributes | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
extra textarea attributes |
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attributesText | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra text box attributes as text |
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bean | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
id of the bean to get default value from. Empty string means no bean (not even the default from the form tag, if supplied) |
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cols | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
the number of columns in the text area |
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rows | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
the number of rows in the text area |
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Variables | None | ||||
Examples | None |
hidden | Availability: 1.1 | ||||
Creates a hidden form field. See Usage page. |
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Tag Body | empty | ||||
Restrictions |
None |
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Attributes | Name | Required | Runtime Expression Evaluation | Availability | |
name | Yes | Yes | 1.1 | ||
hidden field name |
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default | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
hidden field default value |
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attributes | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra hidden field attributes |
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attributesText | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra hidden field attributes as text |
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bean | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
id of the bean to get default value from. Empty string means no bean (not even the default from the form tag, if supplied) |
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Variables | None | ||||
Examples | None |
select | Availability: 1.0 | ||||
Displays a select list. See Usage page. |
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Tag Body | JSP | ||||
Restrictions |
None |
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Attributes | Name | Required | Runtime Expression Evaluation | Availability | |
name | Yes | Yes | 1.0 | ||
select name |
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default | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
select default value |
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defaults | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
The default and defaults attributes for select are concatenated together (if they are both specified). The defaults attribute may be a String[], Map or Collection. |
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attributes | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
extra select attributes |
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attributesText | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra radio button attributes as text |
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bean | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
id of the bean to get default value from. Empty string means no bean (not even the default from the form tag, if supplied) |
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multiple | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
whether multiple choices are permitted by the select box (true|false) |
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size | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
select box size |
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options | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
options map for select. The key is the option label and the value is the option value. |
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optionLabels | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
options labels for select |
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optionValues | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
options values for select |
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Variables | None | ||||
Examples | None |
option | Availability: 1.1 | ||||
Displays a select option. The body of the option tag becomes the label of the option. If the value attribute is not provided then the body also becomes the value of the option. See Usage page. |
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Tag Body | JSP | ||||
Restrictions |
None |
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Attributes | Name | Required | Runtime Expression Evaluation | Availability | |
value | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
the option value |
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attributes | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra option attributes |
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attributesText | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra option attributes as text |
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Variables | None | ||||
Examples | None |
radio | Availability: 1.0 | ||||
Displays a radio button. See Usage page. |
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Tag Body | empty | ||||
Restrictions |
None |
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Attributes | Name | Required | Runtime Expression Evaluation | Availability | |
name | Yes | Yes | 1.0 | ||
radio button name |
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default | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
radio button default value. |
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value | Yes | Yes | 1.0 | ||
value can be empty, but it must be present |
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attributes | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
extra radio button attributes |
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attributesText | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra radio button attributes as text |
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bean | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
id of the bean to get default value from. Empty string means no bean (not even the default from the form tag, if supplied) |
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Variables | None | ||||
Examples | None |
checkbox | Availability: 1.0 | ||||
Displays a checkbox. See Usage page. |
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Tag Body | empty | ||||
Restrictions |
None |
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Attributes | Name | Required | Runtime Expression Evaluation | Availability | |
name | Yes | Yes | 1.0 | ||
checkbox name |
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default | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
The two "defaults" for checkbox are concatenated together to form an array of size (defaults.length + 1), or 1 if defaults.length is null or isn't present |
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defaults | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
The two "defaults" for checkbox are concatenated together to form an array of size (defaults.length + 1), or 1 if defaults.length is null or isn't present |
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value | Yes | Yes | 1.0 | ||
value can be explicitly empty, or it can be absent, in which case it defaults to "on" |
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attributes | No | Yes | 1.0 | ||
extra checkbox attributes |
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attributesText | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
extra check box attributes as text |
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bean | No | Yes | 1.1 | ||
id of the bean to get default value from. Empty string means no bean (not even the default from the form tag, if supplied) |
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Variables | None | ||||
Examples | None |
See the example application input-examples.war for examples of the usage of the tags from this custom tag library.
Java programmers can view the java class documentation for this tag library as javadocs.
Review the complete revision history of this tag library.