> all samples of the displaytag library that I have come across , >involve storing the entire resultset from the query in the session
Really? I use displaytag all the time through the equivalent of request scope. Just pass it a list in the same way you would use a Struts2 select list (http://struts.apache.org/2.2.1/docs/select.html). If passing the whole list is problematic, you can also use the external paging/sorting option of displaytag ( http://www.displaytag.org/1.2/tut_externalSortAndPage.html). - Eric