JSP Expression Language

1. JSP Expression Language Celsina Bignoli bignolic@smccd.net

2. Expression Language • Introduced as part of standard JSP in version 2.0 • simple expression language for accessing variables • starts with the ${ delimiter and ends with } ${anExpression} • Case sensitive. All keywords are lowercase

3. Using Expressions • in static text • The value of the expression is computed and inserted into the current output • In any standard or custom tag attribute that can accept an expression <some:tag value="${expr}"/> • The expression is evaluated and the result is coerced to the attribute's expected type <some:tag value="some${expr}${expr}text${expr}"/> • The expressions are evaluated from left to right. Each expression is coerced to a String and then concatenated with any intervening text. The resulting String is then coerced to the attribute's expected type.

4. Variables • The web container evaluates a variable that appears in an expression by looking up its value according to the behavior of PageContext.findAttribute(String). • For example, when evaluating the expression ${product}, the container will look for product in the following scopes: • page • request • session • application • If product is not found, null is returned.

5. Variables • Properties of variables are accessed using the “. “ operator and can be nested arbitrarily • For example: • ${pageContext.session} • ${myBean.attribute1.attribute2}

6. Implicit Variables • pageContext: The context for the JSP page. Provides access to various other objects including: • session: The session object for the client. • request: The request triggering the execution of the JSP page. • response: The response returned by the JSP page.

7. Implicit Variables • param: Maps a request parameter name to a single value • <c:out value=“${param.userName}” /> • paramValues: Maps a request parameter name to an array of values • header: Maps a request header name to a single value • headerValues: Maps a request header name to an array of values • cookie: Maps a cookie name to a single cookie • initParam: Maps a context initialization parameter name to a single value

8. Implicit Variables • pageScope: Maps page-scoped variable names to their values • requestScope: Maps request-scoped variable names to their values • sessionScope: Maps session-scoped variable names to their values • applicationScope: Maps application-scoped variable names to their values

9. Literals • The JSP expression language defines the following literals: • Boolean: true and false • Integer: as in Java • Floating point: as in Java • String: with single and double quotes; " is escaped as \", ' is escaped as \', and \ is escaped as \\. • Null: null

10. Literals • the JSP expression language provides the following operators: • Arithmetic: +, - (binary), *, / and div, % and mod, - (unary) • Logical: and, &&, or, ||, not, ! • Relational: ==, eq, !=, ne, <, lt, >, gt, <=, ge, >=, le. Comparisons can be made against other values, or against boolean, string, integer, or floating point literals. • Empty: The empty operator is a prefix operation that can be used to determine whether a value is null or empty. • Conditional: A ? B : C. Evaluate B or C, depending on the result of the evaluation of A.

11. Reserved Words • The following words are reserved for the JSP expression language and should not be used as identifiers: and   eq   gt   true   instanceof or    ne   le   false  empty not   lt   ge   null   div   mod

12. Example • ${4.0 > 3} true • ${empty param.add} true if parameter add in the request is null or empty string • ${pageContext.request.contextPath} The context path • ${sessionScope.cart.numberOfItems} The value of the numberOfItems property of the session-scoped attribute named cart