Java Server Page (JSP)
What is JSP?
JSP technology is used to create web application just like Servlet
technology. It can be thought of as an extension to Servlet because it
provides more functionality than Servlet such as expression language, jstl
etc.
Advantages of JSP
1) Extension to Servlet
2) Easy to maintain
3) Fast Development: No need to recompile and redeploy
4) Less code than Servlet
Life Cycle of a JSP Page
The JSP page follows these phases:
Translation of JSP Page
Compilation of JSP Page
Class loading (class file is loaded by the class loader)
Instantiation (Object of the Generated Servlet is created).
Initialization ( jspInit() method is invoked by the container).
Request processing ( _jspService() method is invoked by the container).
Destroy ( jspDestroy() method is invoked by the container).
Note: jspInit(), _jspService() and jspDestroy() are the life cycle methods of
JSP.
Directory Structure of JSP
The directory structure of JSP page is same as Servlet. We contains the JSP page
outside the WEB-INF folder or in any directory.
Scripting Elements
The scripting element provides the ability to insert java code inside the JSP. There are
three types of scripting elements:
Scriptlet tag
Expression tag
Declaration tag
JSP Scriptlet Tag
A Sriptlet tag is used to execute java source code in JSP. Syntax is as follows:
<% java source code %>
You can write XML equivalent of the above syntax as follows:
<jsp:scriptlet>
code fragment
</jsp:scriptlet>
Simple Example of JSP Scriptlet Tag
In this example, we are displaying a welcome message.
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <% out.print("welcome to jsp"); %>
4. </body>
5. </html>
Example of JSP Scriptlet tag that prints the user name
In this example, we have created two files index.html and welcome.jsp. The index.html
file gets the username from the user and the welcome.jsp file prints the username with
the welcome message.
index.html
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <form action="welcome.jsp">
4. <input type="text" name="uname">
5. <input type="submit" value="go"><br/>
6. </form>
7. </body>
8. </html>
welcome.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <%
4. String name=request.getParameter("uname");
5. out.print("welcome "+name);
6. %>
7. </form>
8. </body>
9. </html>
JSP Expression Tag
The code placed within expression tag is written to the output stream of the response.
So you need not write out.print() to write data. It is mainly used to print the values of
variable or method.
Syntax of JSP Expression Tag
<%= statement %>
You can write XML equivalent of the above syntax as follows:
<jsp:expression>
expression
</jsp:expression>
Example of JSP Expression Tag
In this example of JSP expression tag, we are simply displaying a welcome message.
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <%= "welcome to jsp" %>
4. </body>
5.
6. </html>
Note: Do not end your statement with semicolon in case of expression tag.
Example of JSP expression tag that prints current time
To display the current time, we have used the getTime() method of Calendar class. The
getTime() is an instance method of Calendar class, so we have called it after getting the
instance of Calendar class by the getInstance() method.
index.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. Current Time: <%= java.util.Calendar.getInstance().getTime() %>
4. </body>
5. </html>
Example of JSP expression tag that prints the user name
In this example, we are printing the username using the expression tag. The index.html
file gets the username and sends the request to the welcome.jsp file, which displays the
username.
index.html
1. <html>
2. <body>
3.
4. <form action="welcome.jsp">
5. <input type="text" name="uname"><br/>
6. <input type="submit" value="go">
7. </form>
8. </body>
9. </html>
welcome.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <%= "Welcome "+request.getParameter("uname") %>
4. </form>
5. </body>
6. </html>
JSP Declaration Tag
The JSP declaration tag is used to declare fields and methods. The code written inside
the JSP declaration tag is placed outside the service() method of auto generated Servlet.
So it doesn't get memory at each request.
Syntax of JSP declaration tag
The syntax of the declaration tag is as follows:
<%! field or method declaration %>
You can write XML equivalent of the above syntax as follows:
<jsp:declaration>
code fragment
</jsp:declaration>
Difference between the JSP scriptlet tag and JSP
declaration tag ?
JSP Scriptlet Tag JSP Declaration Tag
TheJSP scriptlet tag can only declare The JSP declaration tag can declare variables
variables not methods. as well as methods.
The declaration of scriptlet tag is placed The declaration of JSP declaration tag is
inside the _jspService() method. placed outside the _jspService() method.
Example of JSP declaration tag that declares field
In this example of JSP declaration tag, we are declaring the field and printing the value
of the declared field using the JSP expression tag.
index.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3.
4. <%! int data=50; %>
5. <%= "Value of the variable is:"+data %>
6.
7. </body>
8. </html>
Example of JSP declaration tag that declares method
In this example of JSP declaration tag, we are defining the method which returns the
cube of given number and calling this method from the JSP expression tag. But we can
also use JSP scriptlet tag to call the declared method.
index.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3.
4. <%!
5. int cube(int n){
6. return n*n*n*;
7. }
8. %>
9.
10. <%= "Cube of 3 is:"+cube(3) %>
11.
12. </body>
13. </html>
JSP Implicit Objects
There are 9 JSP implicit objects. These objects are created by the web containers that
are available to all the JSP pages. The available implicit objects are out, request, config,
session, application etc.
A list of the 9 implicit objects is given below:
Object Type
out JspWriter
request HttpServletRequest
response HttpServletResponse
config ServletConfig
application ServletContext
session HttpSession
pageContext PageContext
page Object
exception Throwable
config implicit object
In JSP, config is an implicit object of type ServletConfig. This object can be used to get
configuration information for a particular JSP page. This variable information can be
used for one JSP page only.
Example of config implicit object:
index.html
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <form action="welcome">
4. <input type="text" name="uname">
5. <input type="submit" value="go"><br/>
6. </form>
7. </body>
8. </html>
web.xml file
1. <web-app>
2.
3. <servlet>
4. <servlet-name>sonoojaiswal</servlet-name>
5. <jsp-file>/welcome.jsp</jsp-file>
6.
7. <init-param>
8. <param-name>dname</param-name>
9. <param-value>sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver</param-value>
10. </init-param>
11.
12. </servlet>
13.
14. <servlet-mapping>
15. <servlet-name>sonoojaiswal</servlet-name>
16. <url-pattern>/welcome</url-pattern>
17. </servlet-mapping>
18.
19. </web-app>
welcome.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <%
4.
5. out.print("Welcome "+request.getParameter("uname"));
6.
7. String driver=config.getInitParameter("dname");
8. out.print("driver name is="+driver);
9.
10.
11. %>
12. </body>
13. </html>
pageContext implicit object
In JSP, pageContext is an implicit object of type PageContext class. The pageContext
object can be used to set, get or remove attribute from one of the following scopes:
page
request
session
application
In JSP, page scope is the default scope.
Example of pageContext implicit object
index.html
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <form action="welcome.jsp">
4. <input type="text" name="uname">
5. <input type="submit" value="go"><br/>
6. </form>
7. </body>
8. </html>
welcome.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <%
4.
5. String name=request.getParameter("uname");
6. out.print("Welcome "+name);
7.
8. pageContext.setAttribute("user",name,PageContext.SESSION_SCOPE);
9.
10. <a href="second.jsp">second jsp page</a>
11.
12. %>
13. </body>
14. </html>
second.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <%
4.
5. String name=(String)pageContext.getAttribute("user",PageContext.SESSION_SCO
PE);
6. out.print("Hello "+name);
7.
8. %>
9. </body>
10. </html>
JSP directives
The jsp directives are messages that tells the web container how to translate a JSP
page into the corresponding servlet.
There are three types of directives:
page directive
include directive
taglib directive
Syntax of JSP Directive
<%@ directive attribute="value" %>
JSP page directive
The page directive defines attributes that apply to an entire JSP page.
Syntax of JSP page directive
<%@ page attribute="value" %>
Attributes of JSP page directive
import
contentType
extends
info
buffer
language
isELIgnored
isThreadSafe
autoFlush
session
pageEncoding
errorPage
isErrorPage
1) import
The import attribute is used to import class, interface or all the members of a package.
It is similar to import keyword in java class or interface.
Example of import attribute
1. <html>
2. <body>
3.
4. <%@ page import="java.util.Date" %>
5. Today is: <%= new Date() %>
6.
7. </body>
8. </html>
2) contentType
The contentType attribute defines the MIME(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) type
of the HTTP response.The default value is "text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1".
Example of contentType attribute
1. <html>
2. <body>
3.
4. <%@ page contentType=application/msword %>
5. Today is: <%= new java.util.Date() %>
6.
7. </body>
8. </html>
3) extends
The extends attribute defines the parent class that will be inherited by the generated
servlet. It is rarely used.
4) info
This attribute simply sets the information of the JSP page which is retrieved later by
using getServletInfo() method of Servlet interface.
Example of info attribute
1. <html>
2. <body>
3.
4. <%@ page info="composed by Sonoo Jaiswal" %>
5. Today is: <%= new java.util.Date() %>
6.
7. </body>
8. </html>
The web container will create a method getServletInfo() in the resulting servlet. For
example:
1. public String getServletInfo() {
2. return "composed by Sonoo Jaiswal";
3. }
5) buffer
The buffer attribute sets the buffer size in kilobytes to handle output generated by the
JSP page. The default size of the buffer is 8Kb.
Example of buffer attribute
1. <html>
2. <body>
3.
4. <%@ page buffer="16kb" %>
5. Today is: <%= new java.util.Date() %>
6.
7. </body>
8. </html>
6) language
The language attribute specifies the scripting language used in the JSP page. The default
value is "java".
7) isThreadSafe
Servlet and JSP both are multithreaded.If you want to control this behaviour of JSP
page, you can use isThreadSafe attribute of page directive.The value of isThreadSafe
value is true.If you make it false, the web container will serialize the multiple requests,
i.e. it will wait until the JSP finishes responding to a request before passing another
request to it.If you make the value of isThreadSafe attribute like:
<%@ page isThreadSafe="false" %>
The web container in such a case, will generate the servlet as:
1. public class SimplePage_jsp extends HttpJspBase
2. implements SingleThreadModel{
3. .......
4. }
8) errorPage
The errorPage attribute is used to define the error page, if exception occurs in the
current page, it will be redirected to the error page.
Example of errorPage attribute
1. //index.jsp
2. <html>
3. <body>
4.
5. <%@ page errorPage="myerrorpage.jsp" %>
6.
7. <%= 100/0 %>
8.
9. </body>
10. </html>
9) isErrorPage
The isErrorPage attribute is used to declare that the current page is the error page.
Note: The exception object can only be used in the error page.
Example of isErrorPage attribute
1. //myerrorpage.jsp
2. <html>
3. <body>
4.
5. <%@ page isErrorPage="true" %>
6.
7. Sorry an exception occured!<br>
8. The exception is: <%= exception %>
9.
10. </body>
11. </html>
Include directive
The include directive is used to include the contents of any resource it may be JSP file,
html file or text file. The include directive includes the original content of the included
resource at page translation time (the JSP page is translated only once so it will be
better to include static resource).
Advantage of Include directive
Code Reusability
Syntax of include directive
1. <%@ include file="resourceName" %>
Example of include directive
In this example, we are including the content of the header.html file. To run this
example you must create an header.html file.
1. <html>
2. <body>
3.
4. <%@ include file="header.html" %>
5.
6. Today is: <%= java.util.Calendar.getInstance().getTime() %>
7.
8. </body>
9. </html>
JSP Action Tags (Action Elements)
There are many JSP action tags or elements. Each tag is used to perform some specific
tasks. The action tags basically are used to control the flow between pages and to use
Java Bean. Jsp action tags are as follows:
jsp:forward
jsp:include
jsp:useBean
jsp:setProperty
jsp:getProperty
jsp:plugin
jsp:param
jsp:fallback
The jsp:useBean, jsp:setProperty and jsp:getProperty tags are used for bean
development. So we will see these tags in bean developement.
jsp:forward action tag
The jsp:forward action tag is used to forward the request to another resource it may be
jsp, html or another resource.
Syntax of jsp:forward action tag without parameter
1. <jsp:forward page="relativeURL | <%= expression %>" />
Syntax of jsp:forward action tag with parameter
1. <jsp:forward page="relativeURL | <%= expression %>">
2. <jsp:param name="parametername" value="parametervalue | <%=expression%
>" />
3. </jsp:forward>
Example of jsp:forward action tag without parameter
In this example, we are simply forwarding the request to the printdate.jsp file.
index.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <h2>this is index page</h2>
4.
5. <jsp:forward page="printdate.jsp" />
6. </body>
7. </html>
printdate.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <% out.print("Today is:"+java.util.Calendar.getInstance().getTime()); %>
4. </body>
5. </html>
Example of jsp:forward action tag with parameter
In this example, we are forwarding the request to the printdate.jsp file with parameter
and printdate.jsp file prints the parameter value with date and time.
index.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <h2>this is index page</h2>
4.
5. <jsp:forward page="printdate.jsp" >
6. <jsp:param name="name" value="javatpoint.com" />
7. </jsp:forward>
8.
9. </body>
10. </html>
printdate.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3.
4. <% out.print("Today is:"+java.util.Calendar.getInstance().getTime()); %>
5. <%= request.getParameter("name") %>
6.
7. </body>
8. </html>
jsp:include action tag
The jsp:include action tag is used to include the content of another resource it may be
jsp, html or servlet.
The jsp include action tag includes the resource at request time so it is better for
dynamic pages because there might be changes in future.
Advantage of jsp:include action tag
code reusability
Syntax of jsp:include action tag without parameter
1. <jsp:include page="relativeURL | <%= expression %>" />
Syntax of jsp:include action tag with parameter
1. <jsp:include page="relativeURL | <%= expression %>">
2. <jsp:param name="parametername" value="parametervalue | <%=expression%
>" />
3. </jsp:include>
Example of jsp:include action tag without parameter
In this example, index.jsp file includes the content of the printdate.jsp file.
File: index.jsp
1. <html>
2. <body>
3. <h2>this is index page</h2>
4.
5. <jsp:include page="printdate.jsp" />
6.
7. <h2>end section of index page</h2>
8. </body>
9. </html>
File: printdate.jsp
1. <% out.print("Today is:"+java.util.Calendar.getInstance().getTime()); %>
Setting Cookies with JSP
HTML File
<html>
<body>
<form action="main.jsp" method="GET">
First Name: <input type="text" name="first_name">
<br />
Last Name: <input type="text" name="last_name" />
<input type="submit" value="Submit" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
main.jsp
<%
Cookie firstName = new Cookie("first_name", request.getParameter("first_name"));
Cookie lastName = new Cookie("last_name", request.getParameter("last_name"));
// Set expiry date after 24 Hrs for both the cookies.
firstName.setMaxAge(60*60*24);
lastName.setMaxAge(60*60*24);
response.addCookie( firstName );
response.addCookie( lastName );
%>
<html>
<body>
<center>
<h1>Setting Cookies</h1>
</center>
<ul>
<li><p><b>First Name:</b>
<%= request.getParameter("first_name")%>
</p></li>
<li><p><b>Last Name:</b>
<%= request.getParameter("last_name")%>
</p></li>
</ul>
</body>
</html>
Reading Cookies with JSP
<html>
<body>
<center>
<h1>Reading Cookies</h1>
</center>
<%
Cookie cookie = null;
Cookie[] cookies = null;
// Get an array of Cookies associated with this domain
cookies = request.getCookies();
if( cookies != null ){
out.println("<h2> Found Cookies Name and Value</h2>");
for (int i = 0; i < cookies.length; i++){
cookie = cookies[i];
out.print("Name : " + cookie.getName( ) + ", ");
out.print("Value: " + cookie.getValue( )+" <br/>");
}
}else{
out.println("<h2>No cookies founds</h2>");
}
%>
</body>
</html>
Delete Cookies with JSP
To delete cookies is very simple. If you want to delete a cookie then you simply need to
follow up following three steps:
Read an already existing cookie and store it in Cookie object.
Set cookie age as zero using setMaxAge() method to delete an existing cookie.
Add this cookie back into response header.
Example:
<html>
<body>
<center>
<h1>Reading Cookies</h1>
</center>
<%
Cookie cookie = null;
Cookie[] cookies = null;
// Get an array of Cookies associated with this domain
cookies = request.getCookies();
if( cookies != null ){
out.println("<h2> Found Cookies Name and Value</h2>");
for (int i = 0; i < cookies.length; i++){
cookie = cookies[i];
if((cookie.getName( )).compareTo("first_name") == 0 ){
cookie.setMaxAge(0);
response.addCookie(cookie);
out.print("Deleted cookie: " +
cookie.getName( ) + "<br/>");
}
out.print("Name : " + cookie.getName( ) + ", ");
out.print("Value: " + cookie.getValue( )+" <br/>");
}
}else{
out.println(
"<h2>No cookies founds</h2>");
}
%>
</body>
</html>
HttpSession Object
PageCounter Example
<%@ page import="java.io.*,java.util.*" %>
<%
// Get session creation time.
Date createTime = new Date(session.getCreationTime());
// Get last access time of this web page.
Date lastAccessTime = new Date(session.getLastAccessedTime());
String title = "Welcome Back to my website";
Integer visitCount = new Integer(0);
String visitCountKey = new String("visitCount");
String userIDKey = new String("userID");
String userID = new String("ABCD");
// Check if this is new comer on your web page.
if (session.isNew()){
title = "Welcome to my website";
session.setAttribute(userIDKey, userID);
session.setAttribute(visitCountKey, visitCount);
}
visitCount = (Integer)session.getAttribute(visitCountKey);
visitCount = visitCount + 1;
userID = (String)session.getAttribute(userIDKey);
session.setAttribute(visitCountKey, visitCount);
%>
<html>
<head>
<title>Session Tracking</title>
</head>
<body>
<center>
<h1>Session Tracking</h1>
</center>
<table border="1" align="center">
<tr bgcolor="#949494">
<th>Session info</th>
<th>Value</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>id</td>
<td><% out.print( session.getId()); %></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Creation Time</td>
<td><% out.print(createTime); %></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Time of Last Access</td>
<td><% out.print(lastAccessTime); %></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>User ID</td>
<td><% out.print(userID); %></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Number of visits</td>
<td><% out.print(visitCount); %></td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
Database Operation in JSP
SELECT Operation
Following example shows how we can execute SQL SELECT statement using JTSL in JSP
programming:
<%@ page import="java.io.*,java.util.*,java.sql.*"%>
<%@ page import="javax.servlet.http.*,javax.servlet.*" %>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" prefix="c"%>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/sql" prefix="sql"%>
<html>
<head>
<title>SELECT Operation</title>
</head>
<body>
<sql:setDataSource var="snapshot" driver="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"
url="jdbc:mysql://localhost/TEST"
user="root" password="pass123"/>
<sql:query dataSource="${snapshot}" var="result">
SELECT * from Employees;
</sql:query>
<table border="1" width="100%">
<tr>
<th>Emp ID</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<c:forEach var="row" items="${result.rows}">
<tr>
<td><c:out value="${row.id}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.first}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.last}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.age}"/></td>
</tr>
</c:forEach>
</table>
</body>
</html>
INSERT Operation
Following example shows how we can execute SQL INSERT statement using JTSL in JSP
programming:
<%@ page import="java.io.*,java.util.*,java.sql.*"%>
<%@ page import="javax.servlet.http.*,javax.servlet.*" %>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" prefix="c"%>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/sql" prefix="sql"%>
<html>
<head>
<title>JINSERT Operation</title>
</head>
<body>
<sql:setDataSource var="snapshot" driver="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"
url="jdbc:mysql://localhost/TEST"
user="root" password="pass123"/>
<sql:update dataSource="${snapshot}" var="result">
INSERT INTO Employees VALUES (104, 2, 'Nuha', 'Ali');
</sql:update>
<sql:query dataSource="${snapshot}" var="result">
SELECT * from Employees;
</sql:query>
<table border="1" width="100%">
<tr>
<th>Emp ID</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<c:forEach var="row" items="${result.rows}">
<tr>
<td><c:out value="${row.id}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.first}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.last}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.age}"/></td>
</tr>
</c:forEach>
</table>
</body>
</html>
DELETE Operation
Following example shows how we can execute SQL DELETE statement using JTSL in JSP
programming:
<%@ page import="java.io.*,java.util.*,java.sql.*"%>
<%@ page import="javax.servlet.http.*,javax.servlet.*" %>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" prefix="c"%>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/sql" prefix="sql"%>
<html>
<head>
<title>DELETE Operation</title>
</head>
<body>
<sql:setDataSource var="snapshot" driver="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"
url="jdbc:mysql://localhost/TEST"
user="root" password="pass123"/>
<c:set var="empId" value="103"/>
<sql:update dataSource="${snapshot}" var="count">
DELETE FROM Employees WHERE Id = ?
<sql:param value="${empId}" />
</sql:update>
<sql:query dataSource="${snapshot}" var="result">
SELECT * from Employees;
</sql:query>
<table border="1" width="100%">
<tr>
<th>Emp ID</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<c:forEach var="row" items="${result.rows}">
<tr>
<td><c:out value="${row.id}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.first}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.last}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.age}"/></td>
</tr>
</c:forEach>
</table>
</body>
</html>
UPDATE Operation
Following example shows how we can execute SQL UPDATE statement using JTSL in JSP
programming:
<%@ page import="java.io.*,java.util.*,java.sql.*"%>
<%@ page import="javax.servlet.http.*,javax.servlet.*" %>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" prefix="c"%>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/sql" prefix="sql"%>
<html>
<head>
<title>DELETE Operation</title>
</head>
<body>
<sql:setDataSource var="snapshot" driver="com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"
url="jdbc:mysql://localhost/TEST"
user="root" password="pass123"/>
<c:set var="empId" value="102"/>
<sql:update dataSource="${snapshot}" var="count">
UPDATE Employees SET last = 'Ali'
<sql:param value="${empId}" />
</sql:update>
<sql:query dataSource="${snapshot}" var="result">
SELECT * from Employees;
</sql:query>
<table border="1" width="100%">
<tr>
<th>Emp ID</th>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Age</th>
</tr>
<c:forEach var="row" items="${result.rows}">
<tr>
<td><c:out value="${row.id}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.first}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.last}"/></td>
<td><c:out value="${row.age}"/></td>
</tr>
</c:forEach>
</table>
</body>
</html>
