One thing to Consider about custom tags that is not to do with programming
as much as communications. If any one is working in a team environment and
creates a component the matter of documentation is less complex if you are
describing a list of parameters as apposed to describing the methods and
properties of the component. One additional resource available to users of
the JRun or Cold Fusion Studio products is the ability to describe a
component in vtml (visual tool markup language). In the UltraDev family of
editors you can right click on a custom tag described in this manor and
choose a visual editor that displays the parameters and optionally has
inline help documentation if it was created that way.
I know it is a hassle to learn yet another markup language just for the
purposes of describing your controls so about a year ago I wrote a custom
tag wizard to help me quickly create those tag editors. The tag wizard was
written for Cold Fusion before I stated making the transition to JSP and as
soon as I get some additional time on my hands I plan to update it to
accommodate more of the JSP stuff. Below is a link to an article about it on
Allaire's site. The tag wizard is free to the public.
NOTE: to use the tag wizard to create xml style tags for your custom
taglib's you can still do it with these additional steps.
1. Enter the name of the tag without the prefix [ TEST ] not [ MYTAG:TEST ]
2. After you receive an email from the wizard with your custom tag disregard
the readme.txt file
3. Create a MYTAG directory under {%JRun Install%}:\Program
Files\Allaire\[%JRun% | %CF% ]\Extensions\TagDefs where %JRun Install%
refers to your install path of the editor and MYTAG refers to your custom
tag library name
4. Open the vtm file you created and edit the line. <WIZSET TagName =
DefaultCase('mytag:test')> where mytag refers to the name you chose for your
custom tag library.
5. To refresh the editor and load the custom dialog press CTRL+SHFT+ALT+C
6. Type in the name of your tag in the editor like <mytag:test> then right
click and choose edit tag.
Article:
http://www.allaire.com/handlers/index.cfm?ID=21342&Method=Full&Title=A%20Wiz
ard%20for%20Writing%20Those%20Tag%20Dialog%20Editors&Cache=False
Custom tag wizard:
http://www.netwebapps.com/mytags/main.cfm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Glenn Wearen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2001 9:18 AM
Subject: Re: Custom Tags or Beans
| I forgot that most people in this list are not in my time zone, so I got
the
| low-down on Tags Vs Beans myself.
|
| I found http://java.oreilly.com/news/jsptips_1100.html 'Choosing Between
| Beans and Custom Actions' had a fair discussion about it, also this lists
| archive had some debate about the topic before, somebody pointed out that
| one of best reasons for using custom-tags is that it allows
web-developers
| who don't understand Java to write JSP.
|
| apologies for anybody who took time to respond to my question, my minds
made
| up to stick with beans because it suits ME!
|
| Glenn
|
|
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|
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|
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Some relevant FAQs on JSP/Servlets can be found at:
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http://www.esperanto.org.nz/jsp/jspfaq.html
http://www.jguru.com/jguru/faq/faqpage.jsp?name=JSP
http://www.jguru.com/jguru/faq/faqpage.jsp?name=Servlets
