set a flag represented selected or not (can be a boolean, or an arraylist that holds all selected values), put into your global bean holder (if you have, this is a java bean simple holds all objects that would be created and used during the session), then you can use logic tag to check the flag (logic:equal, empty .... up to you)
Here is my example: 1. Assume you have a session object called "selected" (an arraylist) 2. <logic:empty name="GlobalBeanHolder" property="selected"> <!-- No action will be called here> </logic:empty> <logic:notEmpty name="GlobalBeanHolder" property="selected"> <html:link ......> </logic:notEmpty> 3. This will automatically loaded when the page that includes the codes is loaded. Good luck, wish this can solve your problem