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Java Server Pages
JSP
• Uses regular HTML for most of the page.
• Servlet code is marked with special tags.
• The entire JSP page gets translated into a
servlet (once) and for each request, it is
the servlet which actually gets invoked.
JSPs..
• The logic to generate dynamic content is
kept separate from the static presentation
by encapsulating it in external
components.
• Portable – can be moved across platforms
and web-servers without any changes.
• Completely leverage the servlet API.
Problem with Servlets
• Written in Java. Therefore cluttered with
numerous print statements while building
html.
• Too much emphasis on the programming
language to create a simple GUI.
JSP…
• A JSP page typically consists of static
HTML components, special JSP tags and
optional snippets of code written in java
language, known as “Scriptlets”.
• Much easier to write and maintain.
• It is a standard extension defined on top of
servlets.
JSPs…
• Two phases of operation – a translation
phase and a request processing phase.
• The translation phase is carried out only
once (unless the JSP changes), while the
request processing phase will occur on
every request.
• The first request for the JSP results in the
translation phase where the JSP is
converted into a servlet.
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JSPs JSP Lifecycle

• At request phase, the servlet is used to
process the request. The actual JSP is
nowhere in picture during the request
phase.
1. The user goes to a JSP page (ending with .jsp). The web
browser makes the request via the Internet.
2. The JSP request gets sent to the Web server.
3. The Web server recognises that the file required is
special (.jsp), therefore passes the request to the JSP
Servlet Engine.
4. If the JSP file has been called the first time, the JSP file
is parsed, otherwise go to step 7.
5. The next step is to generate a special Servlet from the
JSP file. All the HTML required is converted to println
statements.
6. The Servlet source code is compiled into a class.
7. The Servlet is instantiated, calling the init and service
methods.
8. HTML from the Servlet output is sent via the Internet.
9. HTML results are displayed on the user’s web browser.

JSP Lifecycle… JSP Lifecycle…

JSP Architecture… JSP Syntax

• JSP program consists of a combination of
HTML tags and JSP tags.
• A JSP tag begins with <% and ends with
%>.
• Tags are embedded into the HTML
component of a JSP program and are
processed by the JSP virtual engine such
as Tomcat.

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JSP syntax…
• Java code associated with JSP tags are
executed when encountered by tomcat.
The results are sent to the browser.
• Five types of tags – comment tag,
declaration statement tag, directive tag,
expression tag and the scriptlet tag.
JSP tags - declaration
• The declaration tag begins with a “<%!”
and ends with a “%>”.
• Embedded between these two tags are
declarations of variables, objects, methods
etc that should be available to other
components of the JSP program.
Directive…
• Ex:
• <%@ page import=“import java.sql.*”; %>
• <%@ include file=“file.html” %>
• <%@ taglib url=“mypage.tld” %>
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JSP tags - comment
• A comment tag opens with a “<%--” and
ends with a “--%>”
• The actual comment falls in between these
two tags.
JSP tags – directive
• A Directive tag opens with a “<%@”.
• It is a command to the JSP engine to
perform specific tasks such as importing a
java package.
• The tag ends with “%>”.
• Three common directives – import, include
and taglib
JSP tags - Expression
• The expression tag opens with a “<%=“
and ends with a “%>”.
• It is used for an expression statement
whose result replaces the expression tag
when the JSP virtual engine resolves JSP
tags.
• It closes with a “%>”
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JSP tags – Scriptlets
• Opens with a “<%” and ends with a “%>”
and contains java loops and control
statements
Methods
• Methods are defined within JSP tags.
• Similar to variable declarations, method
definitions are also placed between the
“<%!” and the “%>” tags.
• Methods can be overloaded.
• Methods are called within the expression
evaluation tags ( <%=)
• Controls.jsp
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• HelloWorld.jsp
• JSP2.java (change jsp page and demo
too)
Control statements
• Content displayed on a browser window
can be made truly dynamic by changing
program flow.
• Two control statements can be used within
JSP pages – the “if” and the “switch”.
• Their operation mirrors their operation in
the java language.
Loops
• Three kinds of loops normally used – The
for loop, while loop and the do-while loop.
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Predefined variables
• request – HttpServletRequest • Loops.jsp
• response – HttpServletResponse
• out – Writer used to send output to client. • The function calls that are used in a
• session – the HttpSession associated servlet can be used within the jsp as well.
with the request
• application – the ServletContext as
obtained via getServletContext()

Calling methods Calling methods…

• Methods defined within the JSP can be called • FetchSys.jsp
without any scope.
• For methods defined in external classes, the
• FetchParams.java
class has to be imported with the “page”
directive. The method (if static) can then be
called using the “class” scope.
• If the method is non-static, an object of the class
needs to be created in a “declaration” section
and then the method must be called on the
object.

System properties Cookies

• os.name • The Cookie methods can be used in the
• os.version same way as in servlets.
• path.separator • The setMaxAge() may be used to persist
• file.separator the cookie beyond the current session.
• java.version
• java.vendor • Ex: setcookie.jsp and getcookie.jsp
• java.vendor.url etc

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Session objects Session objects

• Attributes can be shared across jsp pages • sessions1.jsp and sessions2.jsp
within the same browser session using the
“session” in-built object.
• This can be very useful in an application
which uses different JSPs for different
functionalities.
• The “session” object is an HttpSession. So
the usual methods (as used in servlets)
can be called on it.

Exception Handling Exception Handling…

• When a JSP encounters an error, it prints
the error stack on the browser window.
This can sometimes be clumsy.
• A clean way of handling errors/exceptions
is to use a separate “error” page for
exceptions. This page can be used
whenever an exception occurs. The JSP
can redirect the flow to the error handling
page when an exception occurs.
• The “errorPage” attribute of the “page”
directive can be used.
• Ex: <%@ page errorPage=“myerror.jsp
%>
• Within the error page, the inbuilt
“exception” object can be used. To access
this object, the isErrorPage attribute is set
to true in the page directive.
• <%@ page isErrorPage=“true” %>

Exception Handling
• FetchSysProp.jsp and myerror.jsp