Creating a Reusable Tag Library

See Also

To create a reusable tag library, you must create a Java Class Library project that contains class-based tag handlers or JSP-based tag files, or both, together with their tag library descriptors (TLD files). Then you export it by packaging it in the web applications that need it. Then use your tags in the appropriate JSP files. Whether or not they're packaged, you can enable code completion by adding the libraries to the classpath of each web application. Because the IDE supports JSP 2.0 TLD files, you can use this procedure to use either tag handlers, tag files, or both.

To create a reusable tag library:

  1. Choose File > New Project. Under Categories, select General. Under Projects, select Java Class Library. Click Next.
  2. Under Project Name, enter the name of your application. Change the Project Location to any folder on your computer.
  3. Click Finish. The IDE creates the project folder. The project is shown in the Projects window.
  4. Create your tag library descriptors (the IDE puts it in the META-INF folder), tag files (the IDE puts it in the META-INF/tags folder), and tag handlers (the IDE puts it in the src folder).
  5. Right click the project node in the Projects window or Files window and choose Build Project from the pop-up menu. The tag library JAR file is created in the project's dist folder.
  6. Right-click the project node of the web application that needs to use the tag library and choose Properties. In the Libraries page, click Add JAR/Folder and browse to your tag library's JAR file. When you do so, you can select the Build Required Projects checkbox in the Libraries page, so that the tag library is automatically rebuilt whenever you build the web project.
  7. Use the library's custom tags in your JSP files.
See Also
About Tag Libraries
Accessing a Custom Tag from a JSP Page
Managing the Classpath

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