[[mvc-view]]
= View Technologies
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

The use of view technologies in Spring MVC is pluggable, whether you decide to use
Thymeleaf, Groovy Markup Templates, JSPs, or other technologies, is primarily a matter
of a configuration change. This chapter covers view technologies integrated with
Spring MVC. We assume you are already familiar with <<mvc-viewresolver>>.




[[mvc-view-thymeleaf]]
== Thymeleaf
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view-thymeleaf, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

Thymeleaf is a modern server-side Java template engine that emphasizes natural HTML
templates that can be previewed in a browser by double-clicking, which is very helpful
for independent work on UI templates (for example, by a designer) without the need for
a running server. If you want to replace JSPs, Thymeleaf offers one of the most
extensive set of features to make such a transition easier. Thymeleaf is actively
developed and maintained. For a more complete introduction, see the
http://www.thymeleaf.org/[Thymeleaf] project home page.

The Thymeleaf integration with Spring MVC is managed by the Thymeleaf project.
The configuration involves a few bean declarations, such as
`ServletContextTemplateResolver`, `SpringTemplateEngine`, and `ThymeleafViewResolver`.
See http://www.thymeleaf.org/documentation.html[Thymeleaf+Spring] for more details.




[[mvc-view-freemarker]]
== FreeMarker
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view-freemarker, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

http://www.freemarker.org[Apache FreeMarker] is a template engine for generating any
kind of text output from HTML to email and others. The Spring Framework has a built-in
integration for using Spring MVC with FreeMarker templates.



[[mvc-view-freemarker-contextconfig]]
=== View Configuration
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view-freemarker-contextconfig, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

The following example shows how to configure FreeMarker as a view technology:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	@Configuration
	@EnableWebMvc
	public class WebConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {

		@Override
		public void configureViewResolvers(ViewResolverRegistry registry) {
			registry.freemarker();
		}

		// Configure FreeMarker...

		@Bean
		public FreeMarkerConfigurer freeMarkerConfigurer() {
			FreeMarkerConfigurer configurer = new FreeMarkerConfigurer();
			configurer.setTemplateLoaderPath("/WEB-INF/freemarker");
			return configurer;
		}
	}
----

The following example shows how to configure the same in XML:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<mvc:annotation-driven/>

	<mvc:view-resolvers>
		<mvc:freemarker/>
	</mvc:view-resolvers>

	<!-- Configure FreeMarker... -->
	<mvc:freemarker-configurer>
		<mvc:template-loader-path location="/WEB-INF/freemarker"/>
	</mvc:freemarker-configurer>
----

Alternatively, you can also declare the `FreeMarkerConfigurer` bean for full control over all
properties, as the following example shows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="freemarkerConfig" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.freemarker.FreeMarkerConfigurer">
		<property name="templateLoaderPath" value="/WEB-INF/freemarker/"/>
	</bean>
----

Your templates need to be stored in the directory specified by the `FreeMarkerConfigurer`
shown in the preceding example. Given the preceding configuration, if your controller returns a view name
of `welcome`, the resolver looks for the `/WEB-INF/freemarker/welcome.ftl` template.



[[mvc-views-freemarker]]
=== FreeMarker Configuration
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-views-freemarker, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

You can pass FreeMarker 'Settings' and 'SharedVariables' directly to the FreeMarker
`Configuration` object (which is managed by Spring) by setting the appropriate bean properties on
the `FreeMarkerConfigurer` bean. The `freemarkerSettings` property requires a
`java.util.Properties` object, and the `freemarkerVariables` property requires a
`java.util.Map`. The following example shows how to do so:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="freemarkerConfig" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.freemarker.FreeMarkerConfigurer">
		<property name="templateLoaderPath" value="/WEB-INF/freemarker/"/>
		<property name="freemarkerVariables">
			<map>
				<entry key="xml_escape" value-ref="fmXmlEscape"/>
			</map>
		</property>
	</bean>

	<bean id="fmXmlEscape" class="freemarker.template.utility.XmlEscape"/>
----

See the FreeMarker documentation for details of settings and variables as they apply to
the `Configuration` object.



[[mvc-view-freemarker-forms]]
=== Form Handling

Spring provides a tag library for use in JSPs that contains, among others, a
`<spring:bind/>` element. This element primarily lets forms display values from
form-backing objects and show the results of failed validations from a `Validator` in the
web or business tier. Spring also has support for the same functionality in FreeMarker,
with additional convenience macros for generating form input elements themselves.


[[mvc-view-bind-macros]]
==== The Bind Macros

A standard set of macros are maintained within the `spring-webmvc.jar` file for both
languages, so they are always available to a suitably configured application.

Some of the macros defined in the Spring libraries are considered internal (private), but
no such scoping exists in the macro definitions, making all macros visible to calling
code and user templates. The following sections concentrate only on the macros you need
to directly call from within your templates. If you wish to view the macro code
directly, the file is called `spring.ftl` and is in the
`org.springframework.web.servlet.view.freemarker` package.


[[mvc-view-simple-binding]]
==== Simple Binding

In your HTML forms (vm or ftl templates) that act as a form view for a Spring MVC
controller, you can use code similar to the next example to bind to field values and
display error messages for each input field in similar fashion to the JSP equivalent.
The following example shows the `personForm` view that was configured earlier:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<!-- freemarker macros have to be imported into a namespace. We strongly
	recommend sticking to 'spring' -->
	<#import "/spring.ftl" as spring/>
	<html>
		...
		<form action="" method="POST">
			Name:
			<@spring.bind "myModelObject.name"/>
			<input type="text"
				name="${spring.status.expression}"
				value="${spring.status.value?html}"/><br>
			<#list spring.status.errorMessages as error> <b>${error}</b> <br> </#list>
			<br>
			...
			<input type="submit" value="submit"/>
		</form>
		...
	</html>
----

`<@spring.bind>` requires a 'path' argument, which consists of the name of your command
object (it is 'command', unless you changed it in your `FormController` properties)
followed by a period and the name of the field on the command object to which you wish to bind.
You can also use nested fields, such as `command.address.street`. The `bind` macro assumes
the default HTML escaping behavior specified by the ServletContext parameter
`defaultHtmlEscape` in `web.xml`.

The optional form of the macro called `<@spring.bindEscaped>` takes a second argument
and explicitly specifies whether HTML escaping should be used in the status error
messages or values. You can set it to `true` or `false` as required. Additional form handling macros
simplify the use of HTML escaping, and you should use these macros wherever possible.
They are explained in the next section.


[[mvc-views-form-macros]]
==== Input macros

Additional convenience macros for both languages simplify both binding and form
generation (including validation error display). It is never necessary to use these
macros to generate form input fields, and you can mix and match them with simple HTML
or direct calls to the spring bind macros that we highlighted previously.

The following table of available macros shows the FTL definitions and the
parameter list that each takes:

[[views-macros-defs-tbl]]
.Table of macro definitions
[cols="3,1"]
|===
| macro | FTL definition

| `message` (output a string from a resource bundle based on the code parameter)
| <@spring.message code/>

| `messageText` (output a string from a resource bundle based on the code parameter,
  falling back to the value of the default parameter)
| <@spring.messageText code, text/>

| `url` (prefix a relative URL with the application's context root)
| <@spring.url relativeUrl/>

| `formInput` (standard input field for gathering user input)
| <@spring.formInput path, attributes, fieldType/>

| `formHiddenInput` (hidden input field for submitting non-user input)
| <@spring.formHiddenInput path, attributes/>

| `formPasswordInput` (standard input field for gathering passwords. Note that no
  value is ever populated in fields of this type.)
| <@spring.formPasswordInput path, attributes/>

| `formTextarea` (large text field for gathering long, freeform text input)
| <@spring.formTextarea path, attributes/>

| `formSingleSelect` (drop down box of options that let a single required value be
  selected)
| <@spring.formSingleSelect path, options, attributes/>

| `formMultiSelect` (a list box of options that let the user select 0 or more values)
| <@spring.formMultiSelect path, options, attributes/>

| `formRadioButtons` (a set of radio buttons that let a single selection be made
  from the available choices)
| <@spring.formRadioButtons path, options separator, attributes/>

| `formCheckboxes` (a set of checkboxes that let 0 or more values be selected)
| <@spring.formCheckboxes path, options, separator, attributes/>

| `formCheckbox` (a single checkbox)
| <@spring.formCheckbox path, attributes/>

| `showErrors` (simplify display of validation errors for the bound field)
| <@spring.showErrors separator, classOrStyle/>
|===

* In FTL (FreeMarker), `formHiddenInput` and `formPasswordInput` are not actually required,
  as you can use the normal `formInput` macro, specifying `hidden` or `password` as the
  value for the `fieldType` parameter.

The parameters to any of the above macros have consistent meanings:

* `path`: The name of the field to bind to (ie "command.name")
* `options`: A `Map` of all the available values that can be selected from in the input
  field. The keys to the map represent the values that are POSTed back from the form
  and bound to the command object. Map objects stored against the keys are the labels
  displayed on the form to the user and may be different from the corresponding values
  posted back by the form. Usually, such a map is supplied as reference data by the
  controller. You can use any `Map` implementation, depending on required behavior. For
  strictly sorted maps, you can use a `SortedMap` (such as a `TreeMap`) with a suitable `Comparator`
  and, for arbitrary Maps that should return values in insertion order, use a
  `LinkedHashMap` or a `LinkedMap` from `commons-collections`.
* `separator`: Where multiple options are available as discreet elements (radio buttons or
  checkboxes), the sequence of characters used to separate each one in the list (such as
  `<br>`).
* `attributes`: An additional string of arbitrary tags or text to be included within the
  HTML tag itself. This string is echoed literally by the macro. For example, in a
  `textarea` field, you may supply attributes (such as 'rows="5" cols="60"'), or you could pass
  style information such as 'style="border:1px solid silver"'.
* `classOrStyle`: For the `showErrors` macro, the name of the CSS class that the `span` element
  that wraps each error uses. If no information is supplied (or the value is empty),
  the errors are wrapped in `<b></b>` tags.

The following sections outline examples of the macros (some in FTL and some in VTL). Where usage
differences exist between the two languages, they are explained in the notes.

[[mvc-views-form-macros-input]]
===== Input Fields

The `formInput` macro takes the `path` parameter (`command.name`) and an additional `attributes`
parameter (which is empty in the upcoming example). The macro, along with all other form
generation macros, performs an implicit Spring bind on the path parameter. The binding
remains valid until a new bind occurs, so the `showErrors` macro does not need to pass the
path parameter again -- it operates on the field for which a bind was last created.

The `showErrors` macro takes a separator parameter (the characters that are used to
separate multiple errors on a given field) and also accepts a second parameter -- this
time, a class name or style attribute. Note that FreeMarker can specify default
values for the attributes parameter. The following example shows how to use the `formInput`
and `showWErrors` macros:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<@spring.formInput "command.name"/>
	<@spring.showErrors "<br>"/>
----

The next example shows the output of the form fragment, generating the name field and displaying a
validation error after the form was submitted with no value in the field. Validation
occurs through Spring's Validation framework.

The generated HTML resembles the following example:

[source,jsp,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	Name:
	<input type="text" name="name" value="">
	<br>
		<b>required</b>
	<br>
	<br>
----

The `formTextarea` macro works the same way as the `formInput` macro and accepts the same
parameter list. Commonly, the second parameter (attributes) is used to pass style
information or `rows` and `cols` attributes for the `textarea`.

[[mvc-views-form-macros-select]]
===== Selection Fields

You can use four selection field macros to generate common UI value selection inputs in
your HTML forms:

* `formSingleSelect`
* `formMultiSelect`
* `formRadioButtons`
* `formCheckboxes`

Each of the four macros accepts a `Map` of options that contains the value for the form
field and the label that corresponds to that value. The value and the label can be the
same.

The next example is for radio buttons in FTL. The form-backing object specifies a default
value of 'London' for this field, so no validation is necessary. When the form is
rendered, the entire list of cities to choose from is supplied as reference data in the
model under the name 'cityMap'. The following listing shows the example:

[source,jsp,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	...
	Town:
	<@spring.formRadioButtons "command.address.town", cityMap, ""/><br><br>
----

The preceding listing renders a line of radio buttons, one for each value in `cityMap`, and uses a
separator of `""`. No additional attributes are supplied (the last parameter to the macro is
missing). The `cityMap` uses the same `String` for each key-value pair in the map. The map's
keys are what the form actually submits as POSTed request parameters. The map values are the
labels that the user sees. In the preceding example, given a list of three well known cities
and a default value in the form backing object, the HTML resembles the following:

[source,jsp,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	Town:
	<input type="radio" name="address.town" value="London">London</input>
	<input type="radio" name="address.town" value="Paris" checked="checked">Paris</input>
	<input type="radio" name="address.town" value="New York">New York</input>
----

If your application expects to handle cities by internal codes (for example), you can create the map of
codes with suitable keys, as the following example shows:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	protected Map<String, String> referenceData(HttpServletRequest request) throws Exception {
		Map<String, String> cityMap = new LinkedHashMap<>();
		cityMap.put("LDN", "London");
		cityMap.put("PRS", "Paris");
		cityMap.put("NYC", "New York");

		Map<String, String> model = new HashMap<>();
		model.put("cityMap", cityMap);
		return model;
	}
----

The code now produces output where the radio values are the relevant codes, but the
user still sees the more user-friendly city names, as follows:

[source,jsp,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	Town:
	<input type="radio" name="address.town" value="LDN">London</input>
	<input type="radio" name="address.town" value="PRS" checked="checked">Paris</input>
	<input type="radio" name="address.town" value="NYC">New York</input>
----


[[mvc-views-form-macros-html-escaping]]
==== HTML Escaping

Default usage of the form macros described earlier results in HTML elemets that are HTML 4.01
compliant and that use the default value for HTML escaping defined in your `web.xml` file, as
used by Spring's bind support. To make the elements be XHTML compliant or to override
the default HTML escaping value, you can specify two variables in your template (or in
your model, where they are visible to your templates). The advantage of specifying
them in the templates is that they can be changed to different values later in the
template processing to provide different behavior for different fields in your form.

To switch to XHTML compliance for your tags, specify a value of `true` for a
model or context variable named `xhtmlCompliant`, as the following example shows:

[source,jsp,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<#-- for FreeMarker -->
	<#assign xhtmlCompliant = true>
----

After processing
this directive, any elements generated by the Spring macros are now XHTML compliant.

In similar fashion, you can specify HTML escaping per field, as the following example shows:

[source,jsp,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<#-- until this point, default HTML escaping is used -->

	<#assign htmlEscape = true>
	<#-- next field will use HTML escaping -->
	<@spring.formInput "command.name"/>

	<#assign htmlEscape = false in spring>
	<#-- all future fields will be bound with HTML escaping off -->
----




[[mvc-view-groovymarkup]]
== Groovy Markup

The http://groovy-lang.org/templating.html#_the_markuptemplateengine[Groovy Markup Template Engine]
is primarily aimed at generating XML-like markup (XML, XHTML, HTML5, and others), but you can
use it to generate any text-based content. The Spring Framework has a built-in
integration for using Spring MVC with Groovy Markup.

NOTE: The Groovy Markup Template engine requires Groovy 2.3.1+.



[[mvc-view-groovymarkup-configuration]]
=== Configuration

The following example shows how to configure the Groovy Markup Template Engine:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	@Configuration
	@EnableWebMvc
	public class WebConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {

		@Override
		public void configureViewResolvers(ViewResolverRegistry registry) {
			registry.groovy();
		}

		// Configure the Groovy Markup Template Engine...

		@Bean
		public GroovyMarkupConfigurer groovyMarkupConfigurer() {
			GroovyMarkupConfigurer configurer = new GroovyMarkupConfigurer();
			configurer.setResourceLoaderPath("/WEB-INF/");
			return configurer;
		}
	}
----

The following example shows how to configure the same in XML:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<mvc:annotation-driven/>

	<mvc:view-resolvers>
		<mvc:groovy/>
	</mvc:view-resolvers>

	<!-- Configure the Groovy Markup Template Engine... -->
	<mvc:groovy-configurer resource-loader-path="/WEB-INF/"/>
----



[[mvc-view-groovymarkup-example]]
=== Example

Unlike traditional template engines, Groovy Markup relies on a DSL that uses a builder
syntax. The following example shows a sample template for an HTML page:

[source,groovy,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	yieldUnescaped '<!DOCTYPE html>'
	html(lang:'en') {
		head {
			meta('http-equiv':'"Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"')
			title('My page')
		}
		body {
			p('This is an example of HTML contents')
		}
	}
----




[[mvc-view-script]]
== Script Views
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view-script, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

The Spring Framework has a built-in integration for using Spring MVC with any
templating library that can run on top of the
https://www.jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=223[JSR-223] Java scripting engine. We have tested the following
templating libraries on different script engines:

[%header]
|===
|Scripting Library |Scripting Engine
|http://handlebarsjs.com/[Handlebars] |http://openjdk.java.net/projects/nashorn/[Nashorn]
|https://mustache.github.io/[Mustache] |http://openjdk.java.net/projects/nashorn/[Nashorn]
|http://facebook.github.io/react/[React] |http://openjdk.java.net/projects/nashorn/[Nashorn]
|http://www.embeddedjs.com/[EJS] |http://openjdk.java.net/projects/nashorn/[Nashorn]
|http://www.stuartellis.eu/articles/erb/[ERB] |http://jruby.org[JRuby]
|https://docs.python.org/2/library/string.html#template-strings[String templates] |http://www.jython.org/[Jython]
|https://github.com/sdeleuze/kotlin-script-templating[Kotlin Script templating] |http://kotlinlang.org/[Kotlin]
|===

TIP: The basic rule for integrating any other script engine is that it must implement the
`ScriptEngine` and `Invocable` interfaces.



[[mvc-view-script-dependencies]]
=== Requirements
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view-script-dependencies, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

You need to have the script engine on your classpath, the details of which vary by script engine:

* The http://openjdk.java.net/projects/nashorn/[Nashorn] JavaScript engine is provided with
Java 8+. Using the latest update release available is highly recommended.
* http://jruby.org[JRuby] should be added as a dependency for Ruby support.
* http://www.jython.org[Jython] should be added as a dependency for Python support.
* `org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-script-util` dependency and a `META-INF/services/javax.script.ScriptEngineFactory`
 file containing a `org.jetbrains.kotlin.script.jsr223.KotlinJsr223JvmLocalScriptEngineFactory`
 line should be added for Kotlin script support. See
 https://github.com/sdeleuze/kotlin-script-templating[this example] for more details.

You need to have the script templating library. One way to do that for Javascript is
through http://www.webjars.org/[WebJars].



[[mvc-view-script-integrate]]
=== Script Templates
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-script-integrate, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

You can declare a `ScriptTemplateConfigurer` bean to specify the script engine to use,
the script files to load, what function to call to render templates, and so on.
The following example uses Mustache templates and the Nashorn JavaScript engine:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	@Configuration
	@EnableWebMvc
	public class WebConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {

		@Override
		public void configureViewResolvers(ViewResolverRegistry registry) {
			registry.scriptTemplate();
		}

		@Bean
		public ScriptTemplateConfigurer configurer() {
			ScriptTemplateConfigurer configurer = new ScriptTemplateConfigurer();
			configurer.setEngineName("nashorn");
			configurer.setScripts("mustache.js");
			configurer.setRenderObject("Mustache");
			configurer.setRenderFunction("render");
			return configurer;
		}
	}
----

The following example shows the same arrangement in XML:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<mvc:annotation-driven/>

	<mvc:view-resolvers>
		<mvc:script-template/>
	</mvc:view-resolvers>

	<mvc:script-template-configurer engine-name="nashorn" render-object="Mustache" render-function="render">
		<mvc:script location="mustache.js"/>
	</mvc:script-template-configurer>
----

The controller would look no different for the Java and XML configurations, as the following example shows:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	@Controller
	public class SampleController {

		@GetMapping("/sample")
		public String test(Model model) {
			model.addObject("title", "Sample title");
			model.addObject("body", "Sample body");
			return "template";
		}
	}
----

The following example shows the Mustache template:

[source,html,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<html>
		<head>
			<title>{{title}}</title>
		</head>
		<body>
			<p>{{body}}</p>
		</body>
	</html>
----

The render function is called with the following parameters:

* `String template`: The template content
* `Map model`: The view model
* `RenderingContext renderingContext`: The
  {api-spring-framework}/web/servlet/view/script/RenderingContext.html[`RenderingContext`]
  that gives access to the application context, the locale, the template loader, and the
  URL (since 5.0)

`Mustache.render()` is natively compatible with this signature, so you can call it directly.

If your templating technology requires some customization, you can provide a script that
implements a custom render function. For example, http://handlebarsjs.com[Handlerbars]
needs to compile templates before using them and requires a
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyfill[polyfill] to emulate some
browser facilities that are not available in the server-side script engine.

The following example shows how to do so:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	@Configuration
	@EnableWebMvc
	public class WebConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {

		@Override
		public void configureViewResolvers(ViewResolverRegistry registry) {
			registry.scriptTemplate();
		}

		@Bean
		public ScriptTemplateConfigurer configurer() {
			ScriptTemplateConfigurer configurer = new ScriptTemplateConfigurer();
			configurer.setEngineName("nashorn");
			configurer.setScripts("polyfill.js", "handlebars.js", "render.js");
			configurer.setRenderFunction("render");
			configurer.setSharedEngine(false);
			return configurer;
		}
	}
----

NOTE: Setting the `sharedEngine` property to `false` is required when you use non-thread-safe
script engines with templating libraries not designed for concurrency, such as Handlebars or
React running on Nashorn. In that case, Java 8u60 or greater is required, due
to https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8076099[this bug].

`polyfill.js` defines only the `window` object needed by Handlebars to run properly, as follows:

[source,javascript,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	var window = {};
----

This basic `render.js` implementation compiles the template before using it. A production-ready
implementation should also store any reused cached templates or pre-compiled templates.
You can do so on the script side (and handle any customization you need -- managing
template engine configuration, for example). The following example shows how to do so:

[source,javascript,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	function render(template, model) {
		var compiledTemplate = Handlebars.compile(template);
		return compiledTemplate(model);
	}
----

Check out the Spring Framework unit tests,
https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-framework/tree/master/spring-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/view/script[Java], and
https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-framework/tree/master/spring-webmvc/src/test/resources/org/springframework/web/servlet/view/script[resources],
for more configuration examples.




[[mvc-view-jsp]]
== JSP and JSTL

The Spring Framework has a built-in integration for using Spring MVC with JSP and JSTL.



[[mvc-view-jsp-resolver]]
=== View Resolvers

When developing with JSPs, you can declare a `InternalResourceViewResolver` or a
`ResourceBundleViewResolver` bean.

`ResourceBundleViewResolver` relies on a properties file to define the view names
mapped to a class and a URL. With a `ResourceBundleViewResolver`, you
can mix different types of views byusing only one resolver, as the following example shows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<!-- the ResourceBundleViewResolver -->
	<bean id="viewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.ResourceBundleViewResolver">
		<property name="basename" value="views"/>
	</bean>

	# And a sample properties file is uses (views.properties in WEB-INF/classes):
	welcome.(class)=org.springframework.web.servlet.view.JstlView
	welcome.url=/WEB-INF/jsp/welcome.jsp

	productList.(class)=org.springframework.web.servlet.view.JstlView
	productList.url=/WEB-INF/jsp/productlist.jsp
----

`InternalResourceBundleViewResolver` can also be used for JSPs. As a best practice, we
strongly encourage placing your JSP files in a directory under the `'WEB-INF'`
directory so there can be no direct access by clients.

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="viewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.InternalResourceViewResolver">
		<property name="viewClass" value="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.JstlView"/>
		<property name="prefix" value="/WEB-INF/jsp/"/>
		<property name="suffix" value=".jsp"/>
	</bean>
----



[[mvc-view-jsp-jstl]]
=== JSPs versus JSTL

When using the Java Standard Tag Library you must use a special view class, the
`JstlView`, as JSTL needs some preparation before things such as the I18N features can
work.



[[mvc-view-jsp-tags]]
=== Spring's JSP Tag Library

Spring provides data binding of request parameters to command objects, as described in
earlier chapters. To facilitate the development of JSP pages in combination with those
data binding features, Spring provides a few tags that make things even easier. All
Spring tags have HTML escaping features to enable or disable escaping of characters.

The `spring.tld` tag library descriptor (TLD) is included in the `spring-webmvc.jar`.
For a comprehensive reference on individual tags, browse the
{api-spring-framework}/web/servlet/tags/package-summary.html#package.description[API reference]
or see the tag library description.


[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib]]
=== Spring's form tag library

As of version 2.0, Spring provides a comprehensive set of data binding-aware tags for
handling form elements when using JSP and Spring Web MVC. Each tag provides support for
the set of attributes of its corresponding HTML tag counterpart, making the tags
familiar and intuitive to use. The tag-generated HTML is HTML 4.01/XHTML 1.0 compliant.

Unlike other form/input tag libraries, Spring's form tag library is integrated with
Spring Web MVC, giving the tags access to the command object and reference data your
controller deals with. As we show in the following examples, the form tags make
JSPs easier to develop, read, and maintain.

We go through the form tags and look at an example of how each tag is used. We have
included generated HTML snippets where certain tags require further commentary.


[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-configuration]]
==== Configuration

The form tag library comes bundled in `spring-webmvc.jar`. The library descriptor is
called `spring-form.tld`.

To use the tags from this library, add the following directive to the top of your JSP
page:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<%@ taglib prefix="form" uri="http://www.springframework.org/tags/form" %>
----
where `form` is the tag name prefix you want to use for the tags from this library.


[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-formtag]]
==== The Form Tag

This tag renders an HTML 'form' element and exposes a binding path to inner tags for
binding. It puts the command object in the `PageContext` so that the command object can
be accessed by inner tags. All the other tags in this library are nested tags of the
`form` tag.

Assume that we have a domain object called `User`. It is a JavaBean with properties
such as `firstName` and `lastName`. We can use it as the form-backing object of our
form controller, which returns `form.jsp`. The following example shows what `form.jsp` could
look like:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form:form>
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td>First Name:</td>
				<td><form:input path="firstName"/></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td>Last Name:</td>
				<td><form:input path="lastName"/></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td colspan="2">
					<input type="submit" value="Save Changes"/>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</table>
	</form:form>
----

The `firstName` and `lastName` values are retrieved from the command object placed in
the `PageContext` by the page controller. Keep reading to see more complex examples of
how inner tags are used with the `form` tag.

The following listing shows the generated HTML, which looks like a standard form:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form method="POST">
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td>First Name:</td>
				<td><input name="firstName" type="text" value="Harry"/></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td>Last Name:</td>
				<td><input name="lastName" type="text" value="Potter"/></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td colspan="2">
					<input type="submit" value="Save Changes"/>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</table>
	</form>
----

The preceding JSP assumes that the variable name of the form-backing object is
`command`. If you have put the form-backing object into the model under another name
(definitely a best practice), you can bind the form to the named variable, as the
following example shows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form:form modelAttribute="user">
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td>First Name:</td>
				<td><form:input path="firstName"/></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td>Last Name:</td>
				<td><form:input path="lastName"/></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td colspan="2">
					<input type="submit" value="Save Changes"/>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</table>
	</form:form>
----


[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-inputtag]]
==== The `input` Tag

This tag renders an HTML `input` element with the bound value and `type='text'` by default.
For an example of this tag, see <<mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-formtag>>. You can also use
HTML5-specific types, such as `email`, `tel`, `date`, and others.



[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-checkboxtag]]
==== The `checkbox` Tag

This tag renders an HTML `input` tag with the `type` set to `checkbox`.

Assume that our `User` has preferences such as newsletter subscription and a list of
hobbies. The following example shows the `Preferences` class:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	public class Preferences {

		private boolean receiveNewsletter;
		private String[] interests;
		private String favouriteWord;

		public boolean isReceiveNewsletter() {
			return receiveNewsletter;
		}

		public void setReceiveNewsletter(boolean receiveNewsletter) {
			this.receiveNewsletter = receiveNewsletter;
		}

		public String[] getInterests() {
			return interests;
		}

		public void setInterests(String[] interests) {
			this.interests = interests;
		}

		public String getFavouriteWord() {
			return favouriteWord;
		}

		public void setFavouriteWord(String favouriteWord) {
			this.favouriteWord = favouriteWord;
		}
	}
----

The corresponding `form.jsp` could then resemble the following:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form:form>
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td>Subscribe to newsletter?:</td>
				<%-- Approach 1: Property is of type java.lang.Boolean --%>
				<td><form:checkbox path="preferences.receiveNewsletter"/></td>
			</tr>

			<tr>
				<td>Interests:</td>
				<%-- Approach 2: Property is of an array or of type java.util.Collection --%>
				<td>
					Quidditch: <form:checkbox path="preferences.interests" value="Quidditch"/>
					Herbology: <form:checkbox path="preferences.interests" value="Herbology"/>
					Defence Against the Dark Arts: <form:checkbox path="preferences.interests" value="Defence Against the Dark Arts"/>
				</td>
			</tr>

			<tr>
				<td>Favourite Word:</td>
				<%-- Approach 3: Property is of type java.lang.Object --%>
				<td>
					Magic: <form:checkbox path="preferences.favouriteWord" value="Magic"/>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</table>
	</form:form>
----

There are three approaches to the `checkbox` tag, which should meet all your checkbox needs.

* Approach One: When the bound value is of type `java.lang.Boolean`, the
  `input(checkbox)` is marked as `checked` if the bound value is `true`. The `value`
  attribute corresponds to the resolved value of the `setValue(Object)` value property.
* Approach Two: When the bound value is of type `array` or `java.util.Collection`, the
  `input(checkbox)` is marked as `checked` if the configured `setValue(Object)` value is
  present in the bound `Collection`.
* Approach Three: For any other bound value type, the `input(checkbox)` is marked as
  `checked` if the configured `setValue(Object)` is equal to the bound value.

Note that, regardless of the approach, the same HTML structure is generated. The following
HTML snippet defines some checkboxes:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>Interests:</td>
		<td>
			Quidditch: <input name="preferences.interests" type="checkbox" value="Quidditch"/>
			<input type="hidden" value="1" name="_preferences.interests"/>
			Herbology: <input name="preferences.interests" type="checkbox" value="Herbology"/>
			<input type="hidden" value="1" name="_preferences.interests"/>
			Defence Against the Dark Arts: <input name="preferences.interests" type="checkbox" value="Defence Against the Dark Arts"/>
			<input type="hidden" value="1" name="_preferences.interests"/>
		</td>
	</tr>
----

You might not expect to see the additional hidden field after each checkbox.
When a checkbox in an HTML page is not checked, its value is not sent to the
server as part of the HTTP request parameters once the form is submitted, so we need a
workaround for this quirk in HTML for Spring form data binding to work. The
`checkbox` tag follows the existing Spring convention of including a hidden parameter
prefixed by an underscore (`_`) for each checkbox. By doing this, you are effectively
telling Spring that "`the checkbox was visible in the form, and I want my object to
which the form data binds to reflect the state of the checkbox, no matter what.`"



[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-checkboxestag]]
==== The `checkboxes` Tag

This tag renders multiple HTML `input` tags with the `type` set to `checkbox`.

This section build on the example from the previous `checkbox` tag section. Sometimes, you prefer
not to have to list all the possible hobbies in your JSP page. You would rather provide
a list at runtime of the available options and pass that in to the tag. That is the
purpose of the `checkboxes` tag. You can pass in an `Array`, a `List`, or a `Map` that contains
the available options in the `items` property. Typically, the bound property is a
collection so that it can hold multiple values selected by the user. The following example
shows a JSP that uses this tag:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form:form>
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td>Interests:</td>
				<td>
					<%-- Property is of an array or of type java.util.Collection --%>
					<form:checkboxes path="preferences.interests" items="${interestList}"/>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</table>
	</form:form>
----

This example assumes that the `interestList` is a `List` available as a model attribute
that contains strings of the values to be selected from. If you use a `Map`,
the map entry key is used as the value, and the map entry's value is used as
the label to be displayed. You can also use a custom object where you can provide the
property names for the value by using `itemValue` and the label by using `itemLabel`.



[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-radiobuttontag]]
==== The `radiobutton` Tag

This tag renders an HTML `input` element with the `type` set to `radio`.

A typical usage pattern involves multiple tag instances bound to the same property
but with different values, as the following example shows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>Sex:</td>
		<td>
			Male: <form:radiobutton path="sex" value="M"/> <br/>
			Female: <form:radiobutton path="sex" value="F"/>
		</td>
	</tr>
----



[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-radiobuttonstag]]
==== The `radiobuttons` Tag

This tag renders multiple HTML `input` elements with the `type` set to `radio`.

As with the <<mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-checkboxestag, `checkboxes` tag>>, you might want to
pass in the available options as a runtime variable. For this usage, you can use the
`radiobuttons` tag. You pass in an `Array`, a `List`, or a `Map` that contains the
available options in the `items` property. If you use a `Map`, the map entry key is
used as the value and the map entry's value are used as the label to be displayed.
You can also use a custom object where you can provide the property names for the value
by using `itemValue` and the label by using `itemLabel`, as the following example shows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>Sex:</td>
		<td><form:radiobuttons path="sex" items="${sexOptions}"/></td>
	</tr>
----


[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-passwordtag]]
==== The `password` Tag

This tag renders an HTML `input` tag with the type set to `password` with the bound value.

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>Password:</td>
		<td>
			<form:password path="password"/>
		</td>
	</tr>
----

Note that, by default, the password value is not shown. If you do want the
password value to be shown, you can set the value of the `showPassword` attribute to
`true`, as the following example shows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>Password:</td>
		<td>
			<form:password path="password" value="^76525bvHGq" showPassword="true"/>
		</td>
	</tr>
----


[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-selecttag]]
==== The `select` Tag

This tag renders an HTML 'select' element. It supports data binding to the selected
option as well as the use of nested `option` and `options` tags.

Assume that a `User` has a list of skills. The corresponding HTML could be as follows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>Skills:</td>
		<td><form:select path="skills" items="${skills}"/></td>
	</tr>
----

If the `User's` skill are in Herbology, the HTML source of the 'Skills' row could be
as follows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>Skills:</td>
		<td>
			<select name="skills" multiple="true">
				<option value="Potions">Potions</option>
				<option value="Herbology" selected="selected">Herbology</option>
				<option value="Quidditch">Quidditch</option>
			</select>
		</td>
	</tr>
----



[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-optiontag]]
==== The `option` Tag

This tag renders an HTML `option` element. It sets `selected`, based on the bound
value. The following HTML shows typical output for it:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>House:</td>
		<td>
			<form:select path="house">
				<form:option value="Gryffindor"/>
				<form:option value="Hufflepuff"/>
				<form:option value="Ravenclaw"/>
				<form:option value="Slytherin"/>
			</form:select>
		</td>
	</tr>
----

If the `User's` house was in Gryffindor, the HTML source of the 'House' row would be
as follows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>House:</td>
		<td>
			<select name="house">
				<option value="Gryffindor" selected="selected">Gryffindor</option> <1>
				<option value="Hufflepuff">Hufflepuff</option>
				<option value="Ravenclaw">Ravenclaw</option>
				<option value="Slytherin">Slytherin</option>
			</select>
		</td>
	</tr>
----
<1> Note the addition of a `selected` attribute.



[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-optionstag]]
==== The `options` Tag

This tag renders a list of HTML `option` elements. It sets the `selected` attribute,
based on the bound value. The following HTML shows typical output for it:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>Country:</td>
		<td>
			<form:select path="country">
				<form:option value="-" label="--Please Select"/>
				<form:options items="${countryList}" itemValue="code" itemLabel="name"/>
			</form:select>
		</td>
	</tr>
----

If the `User` lived in the UK, the HTML source of the 'Country' row would be as follows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>Country:</td>
		<td>
			<select name="country">
				<option value="-">--Please Select</option>
				<option value="AT">Austria</option>
				<option value="UK" selected="selected">United Kingdom</option> <1>
				<option value="US">United States</option>
			</select>
		</td>
	</tr>
----
<1> Note the addition of a `selected` attribute.


As the preceding example shows, the combined usage of an `option` tag with the `options` tag
generates the same standard HTML but lets you explicitly specify a value in the
JSP that is for display only (where it belongs), such as the default string in the
example: "-- Please Select".

The `items` attribute is typically populated with a collection or array of item objects.
`itemValue` and `itemLabel` refer to bean properties of those item objects, if
specified. Otherwise, the item objects themselves are turned into strings. Alternatively,
you can specify a `Map` of items, in which case the map keys are interpreted as option
values and the map values correspond to option labels. If `itemValue` or `itemLabel` (or both)
happen to be specified as well, the item value property applies to the map key, and
the item label property applies to the map value.



[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-textareatag]]
==== The `textarea` Tag

This tag renders an HTML `textarea` element. The following HTML shows typical output for it:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<tr>
		<td>Notes:</td>
		<td><form:textarea path="notes" rows="3" cols="20"/></td>
		<td><form:errors path="notes"/></td>
	</tr>
----


[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-hiddeninputtag]]
==== The `hidden` Tag

This tag renders an HTML `input` tag with the `type` set to `hidden` with the bound value. To submit
an unbound hidden value, use the HTML `input` tag with the `type` set to `hidden`.
The following HTML shows typical output for it:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form:hidden path="house"/>
----

If we choose to submit the `house` value as a hidden one, the HTML would be as follows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<input name="house" type="hidden" value="Gryffindor"/>

----


[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-errorstag]]
==== The `errors` Tag

This tag renders field errors in an HTML `span` element. It provides access to the errors
created in your controller or those that were created by any validators associated with
your controller.

Assume that we want to display all error messages for the `firstName` and `lastName`
fields once we submit the form. We have a validator for instances of the `User` class
called `UserValidator`, as the following example shows:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	public class UserValidator implements Validator {

		public boolean supports(Class candidate) {
			return User.class.isAssignableFrom(candidate);
		}

		public void validate(Object obj, Errors errors) {
			ValidationUtils.rejectIfEmptyOrWhitespace(errors, "firstName", "required", "Field is required.");
			ValidationUtils.rejectIfEmptyOrWhitespace(errors, "lastName", "required", "Field is required.");
		}
	}
----

The `form.jsp` could be as follows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form:form>
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td>First Name:</td>
				<td><form:input path="firstName"/></td>
				<%-- Show errors for firstName field --%>
				<td><form:errors path="firstName"/></td>
			</tr>

			<tr>
				<td>Last Name:</td>
				<td><form:input path="lastName"/></td>
				<%-- Show errors for lastName field --%>
				<td><form:errors path="lastName"/></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td colspan="3">
					<input type="submit" value="Save Changes"/>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</table>
	</form:form>
----

If we submit a form with empty values in the `firstName` and `lastName` fields,
the HTML would be as follows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form method="POST">
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td>First Name:</td>
				<td><input name="firstName" type="text" value=""/></td>
				<%-- Associated errors to firstName field displayed --%>
				<td><span name="firstName.errors">Field is required.</span></td>
			</tr>

			<tr>
				<td>Last Name:</td>
				<td><input name="lastName" type="text" value=""/></td>
				<%-- Associated errors to lastName field displayed --%>
				<td><span name="lastName.errors">Field is required.</span></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td colspan="3">
					<input type="submit" value="Save Changes"/>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</table>
	</form>
----

What if we want to display the entire list of errors for a given page? The next example
shows that the `errors` tag also supports some basic wildcarding functionality.

* `path="{asterisk}"`: Displays all errors.
* `path="lastName"`: Displays all errors associated with the `lastName` field.
* If `path` is omitted, only object errors are displayed.

The following example displays a list of errors at the top of the page, followed by
field-specific errors next to the fields:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form:form>
		<form:errors path="*" cssClass="errorBox"/>
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td>First Name:</td>
				<td><form:input path="firstName"/></td>
				<td><form:errors path="firstName"/></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td>Last Name:</td>
				<td><form:input path="lastName"/></td>
				<td><form:errors path="lastName"/></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td colspan="3">
					<input type="submit" value="Save Changes"/>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</table>
	</form:form>
----

The HTML would be as follows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form method="POST">
		<span name="*.errors" class="errorBox">Field is required.<br/>Field is required.</span>
		<table>
			<tr>
				<td>First Name:</td>
				<td><input name="firstName" type="text" value=""/></td>
				<td><span name="firstName.errors">Field is required.</span></td>
			</tr>

			<tr>
				<td>Last Name:</td>
				<td><input name="lastName" type="text" value=""/></td>
				<td><span name="lastName.errors">Field is required.</span></td>
			</tr>
			<tr>
				<td colspan="3">
					<input type="submit" value="Save Changes"/>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</table>
	</form>
----

The `spring-form.tld` tag library descriptor (TLD) is included in the `spring-webmvc.jar`.
For a comprehensive reference on individual tags, browse the
{api-spring-framework}/web/servlet/tags/form/package-summary.html#package.description[API reference]
or see the tag library description.



[[mvc-rest-method-conversion]]
==== HTTP Method Conversion

A key principle of REST is the use of the "`Uniform Interface`". This means that all
resources (URLs) can be manipulated by using the same four HTTP methods: GET, PUT, POST,
and DELETE. For each method, the HTTP specification defines the exact semantics. For
instance, a GET should always be a safe operation, meaning that is has no side effects,
and a PUT or DELETE should be idempotent, meaning that you can repeat these operations
over and over again, but the end result should be the same. While HTTP defines these
four methods, HTML only supports two: GET and POST. Fortunately, there are two possible
workarounds: you can either use JavaScript to do your PUT or DELETE, or you can do a POST
with the "`real`" method as an additional parameter (modeled as a hidden input field in an
HTML form). Spring's `HiddenHttpMethodFilter` uses this latter trick. This
filter is a plain Servlet filter and, therefore, it can be used in combination with any
web framework (not just Spring MVC). Add this filter to your web.xml, and a POST
with a hidden `method` parameter is converted into the corresponding HTTP method
request.

To support HTTP method conversion, the Spring MVC form tag was updated to support setting
the HTTP method. For example, the following snippet comes from the Pet Clinic
sample:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<form:form method="delete">
		<p class="submit"><input type="submit" value="Delete Pet"/></p>
	</form:form>
----

The preceding example perform an HTTP POST, with the "`real`" DELETE method hidden behind a
request parameter. It is picked up by the `HiddenHttpMethodFilter`, which is defined in
web.xml, as the following example shows:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<filter>
		<filter-name>httpMethodFilter</filter-name>
		<filter-class>org.springframework.web.filter.HiddenHttpMethodFilter</filter-class>
	</filter>

	<filter-mapping>
		<filter-name>httpMethodFilter</filter-name>
		<servlet-name>petclinic</servlet-name>
	</filter-mapping>
----

The following example shows the corresponding `@Controller` method:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	@RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.DELETE)
	public String deletePet(@PathVariable int ownerId, @PathVariable int petId) {
		this.clinic.deletePet(petId);
		return "redirect:/owners/" + ownerId;
	}
----


[[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-html5]]
==== HTML5 Tags

The Spring form tag library allows entering dynamic attributes, which means you can
enter any HTML5 specific attributes.

The form `input` tag supports entering a type attribute other than `text`. This is
intended to allow rendering new HTML5 specific input types, such as `email`, `date`,
`range`, and others. Note that entering `type='text'` is not required, since `text`
is the default type.




[[mvc-view-tiles]]
== Tiles

You can integrate Tiles - just as any other view technology - in web
applications that use Spring. This section describes, in a broad way, how to do so.

NOTE: This section focuses on Spring's support for Tiles version 3 in the
`org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles3` package.



[[mvc-view-tiles-dependencies]]
=== Dependencies

To be able to use Tiles, you have to add a dependency on Tiles version 3.0.1 or higher
and http://tiles.apache.org/framework/dependency-management.html[its transitive dependencies]
to your project.



[[mvc-view-tiles-integrate]]
=== Configuration

To be able to use Tiles, you have to configure it by using files that contain definitions
(for basic information on definitions and other Tiles concepts, see
http://tiles.apache.org[]). In Spring, this is done by using the `TilesConfigurer`.
The following example `ApplicationContext` configuration shows how to do so:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="tilesConfigurer" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles3.TilesConfigurer">
		<property name="definitions">
			<list>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/general.xml</value>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/widgets.xml</value>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/administrator.xml</value>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/customer.xml</value>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/templates.xml</value>
			</list>
		</property>
	</bean>
----

The preceding example defines five files that contain definitions. The files are all located in
the `WEB-INF/defs` directory. At initialization of the `WebApplicationContext`, the
files are loaded, and the definitions factory are initialized. After that has
been done, the Tiles included in the definition files can be used as views within your
Spring web application. To be able to use the views, you have to have a `ViewResolver`
as with any other view technology used with Spring. You can can use either of two
implementations, the `UrlBasedViewResolver` and the `ResourceBundleViewResolver`.

You can specify locale-specific Tiles definitions by adding an underscore and then
the locale, as the following example shows:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="tilesConfigurer" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles3.TilesConfigurer">
		<property name="definitions">
			<list>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/tiles.xml</value>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/tiles_fr_FR.xml</value>
			</list>
		</property>
	</bean>
----

With the preceding configuration, `tiles_fr_FR.xml` is used for requests with the `fr_FR` locale,
and `tiles.xml` is used by default.

NOTE: Since underscores are used to indicate locales, we recommended not using
them otherwise in the file names for Tiles definitions.



[[mvc-view-tiles-url]]
==== `UrlBasedViewResolver`

The `UrlBasedViewResolver` instantiates the given `viewClass` for each view it has to
resolve. The following bean defines a `UrlBasedViewResolver`:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="viewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.UrlBasedViewResolver">
		<property name="viewClass" value="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles3.TilesView"/>
	</bean>
----


[[mvc-view-tiles-resource]]
==== `ResourceBundleViewResolver`

The `ResourceBundleViewResolver` has to be provided with a property file that contains
view names and view classes that the resolver can use. The following example shows a bean
definition for a `ResourceBundleViewResolver` and the corresponding view names and view
classes (taken from the Pet Clinic sample):

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="viewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.ResourceBundleViewResolver">
		<property name="basename" value="views"/>
	</bean>
----

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	...
	welcomeView.(class)=org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles3.TilesView
	welcomeView.url=welcome (this is the name of a Tiles definition)

	vetsView.(class)=org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles3.TilesView
	vetsView.url=vetsView (again, this is the name of a Tiles definition)

	findOwnersForm.(class)=org.springframework.web.servlet.view.JstlView
	findOwnersForm.url=/WEB-INF/jsp/findOwners.jsp
	...
----

When you use the `ResourceBundleViewResolver`, you can easily mix
different view technologies.

Note that the `TilesView` class supports JSTL (the JSP Standard Tag Library).


[[mvc-view-tiles-preparer]]
==== `SimpleSpringPreparerFactory` and `SpringBeanPreparerFactory`

As an advanced feature, Spring also supports two special Tiles `PreparerFactory`
implementations. See the Tiles documentation for details on how to use
`ViewPreparer` references in your Tiles definition files.

You can specify `SimpleSpringPreparerFactory` to autowire `ViewPreparer` instances based on
specified preparer classes, applying Spring's container callbacks as well as applying
configured Spring BeanPostProcessors. If Spring's context-wide annotation configuration has
been activated, annotations in `ViewPreparer` classes aree automatically detected and
applied. Note that this expects preparer classes in the Tiles definition files, as
the default `PreparerFactory` does.

You can specify `SpringBeanPreparerFactory` to operate on specified preparer names (instead
of classes), obtaining the corresponding Spring bean from the DispatcherServlet's
application context. The full bean creation process is in the control of the Spring
application context in this case, allowing for the use of explicit dependency injection
configuration, scoped beans, and so on. Note that you need to define one Spring bean definition
for each preparer name (as used in your Tiles definitions). The following example shows
how to define a set a `SpringBeanPreparerFactory` property on a `TilesConfigurer` bean:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<bean id="tilesConfigurer" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles3.TilesConfigurer">
		<property name="definitions">
			<list>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/general.xml</value>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/widgets.xml</value>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/administrator.xml</value>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/customer.xml</value>
				<value>/WEB-INF/defs/templates.xml</value>
			</list>
		</property>

		<!-- resolving preparer names as Spring bean definition names -->
		<property name="preparerFactoryClass"
				value="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.tiles3.SpringBeanPreparerFactory"/>

	</bean>
----




[[mvc-view-feeds]]
== RSS and Atom

Both `AbstractAtomFeedView` and `AbstractRssFeedView` inherit from the
`AbstractFeedView` base class and are used to provide Atom and RSS Feed views, respectively. They
are based on java.net's https://rome.dev.java.net[ROME] project and are located in the
package `org.springframework.web.servlet.view.feed`.

`AbstractAtomFeedView` requires you to implement the `buildFeedEntries()` method and
optionally override the `buildFeedMetadata()` method (the default implementation is
empty). The following example shows how to do so:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	public class SampleContentAtomView extends AbstractAtomFeedView {

		@Override
		protected void buildFeedMetadata(Map<String, Object> model,
				Feed feed, HttpServletRequest request) {
			// implementation omitted
		}

		@Override
		protected List<Entry> buildFeedEntries(Map<String, Object> model,
				HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception {
			// implementation omitted
		}

	}
----

Similar requirements apply for implementing `AbstractRssFeedView`, as the following example shows:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	public class SampleContentAtomView extends AbstractRssFeedView {

		@Override
		protected void buildFeedMetadata(Map<String, Object> model,
				Channel feed, HttpServletRequest request) {
			// implementation omitted
		}

		@Override
		protected List<Item> buildFeedItems(Map<String, Object> model,
				HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception {
			// implementation omitted
		}
	}
----

The `buildFeedItems()` and `buildFeedEntries()` methods pass in the HTTP request, in case
you need to access the Locale. The HTTP response is passed in only for the setting of
cookies or other HTTP headers. The feed is automatically written to the response
object after the method returns.

For an example of creating an Atom view, see Alef Arendsen's Spring Team Blog
https://spring.io/blog/2009/03/16/adding-an-atom-view-to-an-application-using-spring-s-rest-support[entry].




[[mvc-view-document]]
== PDF and Excel

Spring offers ways to return output other than HTML, including PDF and Excel spreadsheets.
This section describes how to use those features.



[[mvc-view-document-intro]]
=== Introduction to Document Views

An HTML page is not always the best way for the user to view the model output,
and Spring makes it simple to generate a PDF document or an Excel spreadsheet
dynamically from the model data. The document is the view and is streamed from the
server with the correct content type, to (hopefully) enable the client PC to run their
spreadsheet or PDF viewer application in response.

In order to use Excel views, you need to add the Apache POI library to your classpath,
For PDF generation, you need to add (preferably) the OpenPDF library.

NOTE: You should use the latest versions of the underlying document-generation libraries, if possible.
In particular, we strongly recommend OpenPDF (for example, OpenPDF 1.0.5) instead of the
outdated original iText 2.1.7, since OpenPDF is actively maintained and fixes an important
vulnerability for untrusted PDF content.



[[mvc-view-document-pdf]]
=== PDF Views

A simple PDF view for a word list could extend
`org.springframework.web.servlet.view.document.AbstractPdfView` and implement the
`buildPdfDocument()` method, as the following example shows:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	public class PdfWordList extends AbstractPdfView {

		protected void buildPdfDocument(Map<String, Object> model, Document doc, PdfWriter writer,
				HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception {

			List<String> words = (List<String>) model.get("wordList");
			for (String word : words) {
				doc.add(new Paragraph(word));
			}
		}
	}
----

A controller can return such a view either from an external view definition
(referencing it by name) or as a `View` instance from the handler method.



[[mvc-view-document-excel]]
=== Excel Views

Since Spring Framework 4.2,
`org.springframework.web.servlet.view.document.AbstractXlsView` is provided as a base
class for Excel views. It is based on Apache POI, with specialized subclasses (`AbstractXlsxView`
and `AbstractXlsxStreamingView`) that supersede the outdated `AbstractExcelView` class.

The programming model is similar to `AbstractPdfView`, with `buildExcelDocument()`
as the central template method and controllers being able to return such a view from
an external definition (by name) or as a `View` instance from the handler method.




[[mvc-view-jackson]]
== Jackson
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view-httpmessagewriter, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

Spring offers support for the Jackson JSON library.



[[mvc-view-json-mapping]]
=== Jackson-based JSON MVC Views
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view-httpmessagewriter, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

The `MappingJackson2JsonView` uses the Jackson library's `ObjectMapper` to render the response
content as JSON. By default, the entire contents of the model map (with the exception of
framework-specific classes) are encoded as JSON. For cases where the contents of the
map need to be filtered, you can specify a specific set of model attributes to encode
by using the `modelKeys` property. You can also use the `extractValueFromSingleKeyModel` property
to have the value in single-key models extracted and serialized directly rather than
as a map of model attributes.

You can customize JSON mapping as needed by using Jackson's provided
annotations. When you need further control, you can inject a custom `ObjectMapper`
through the `ObjectMapper` property, for cases where you need to provide custom JSON
serializers and deserializers for specific types.



[[mvc-view-xml-mapping]]
=== Jackson-based XML Views
[.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view-httpmessagewriter, Same as in Spring WebFlux>>#

`MappingJackson2XmlView` uses the
https://github.com/FasterXML/jackson-dataformat-xml[Jackson XML extension's] `XmlMapper`
to render the response content as XML. If the model contains multiples entries, you should explicitly set the
object to be serialized by using the `modelKey` bean property.
If the model contains a single entry, it is serialized automatically.

You can customized XML mapping as needed by using JAXB or Jackson's provided
annotations. When you need further control, you can inject a custom `XmlMapper`
through the `ObjectMapper` property, for cases where custom XML
you need to provide serializers and deserializers for specific types.




[[mvc-view-xml-marshalling]]
== XML Marshalling

The `MarshallingView` uses an XML `Marshaller` (defined in the `org.springframework.oxm`
package) to render the response content as XML. You can explicitly set the object to be marshalled
by using a `MarshallingView` instance's `modelKey` bean property. Alternatively, the view
iterates over all model properties and marshals the first type that is supported
by the `Marshaller`. For more information on the functionality in the
`org.springframework.oxm` package, see
<<data-access.adoc#oxm,Marshalling XML using O/X Mappers>>.




[[mvc-view-xslt]]
== XSLT Views

XSLT is a transformation language for XML and is popular as a view technology within web
applications. XSLT can be a good choice as a view technology if your application
naturally deals with XML or if your model can easily be converted to XML. The following
section shows how to produce an XML document as model data and have it transformed with
XSLT in a Spring Web MVC application.

This example is a trivial Spring application that creates a list of words in the
`Controller` and adds them to the model map. The map is returned, along with the view
name of our XSLT view. See <<mvc-controller>> for details of Spring Web MVC's
`Controller` interface. The XSLT controller turns the list of words into a simple XML
document ready for transformation.



[[mvc-view-xslt-beandefs]]
=== Beans

Configuration is standard for a simple Spring web application: The MVC configuration
has to define an `XsltViewResolver` bean and regular MVC annotation configuration.
The following example shows how to do so:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
@EnableWebMvc
@ComponentScan
@Configuration
public class WebConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {

	@Bean
	public XsltViewResolver xsltViewResolver() {
		XsltViewResolver viewResolver = new XsltViewResolver();
		viewResolver.setPrefix("/WEB-INF/xsl/");
		viewResolver.setSuffix(".xslt");
		return viewResolver;
	}
}
----



[[mvc-view-xslt-controllercode]]
=== Controller

We also need a Controller that encapsulates our word-generation logic.

The controller logic is encapsulated in a `@Controller` class, with the
handler method being defined as follows:

[source,java,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	@Controller
	public class XsltController {

		@RequestMapping("/")
		public String home(Model model) throws Exception {
			Document document = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance().newDocumentBuilder().newDocument();
			Element root = document.createElement("wordList");

			List<String> words = Arrays.asList("Hello", "Spring", "Framework");
			for (String word : words) {
				Element wordNode = document.createElement("word");
				Text textNode = document.createTextNode(word);
				wordNode.appendChild(textNode);
				root.appendChild(wordNode);
			}

			model.addAttribute("wordList", root);
			return "home";
		}
	}
----

So far, we have only created a DOM document and added it to the Model map. Note that you
can also load an XML file as a `Resource` and use it instead of a custom DOM document.

There are software packages available that automatically 'domify'
an object graph, but, within Spring, you have complete flexibility to create the DOM
from your model in any way you choose. This prevents the transformation of XML playing
too great a part in the structure of your model data, which is a danger when using tools
to manage the DOMification process.



[[mvc-view-xslt-transforming]]
=== Transformation

Finally, the `XsltViewResolver` resolves the "`home`" XSLT template file and merges the
DOM document into it to generate our view. As shown in the `XsltViewResolver`
configuration, XSLT templates live in the `war` file in the `WEB-INF/xsl` directory
and end with an `xslt` file extension.

The following example shows an XSLT transform:

[source,xml,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
	<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">

		<xsl:output method="html" omit-xml-declaration="yes"/>

		<xsl:template match="/">
			<html>
				<head><title>Hello!</title></head>
				<body>
					<h1>My First Words</h1>
					<ul>
						<xsl:apply-templates/>
					</ul>
				</body>
			</html>
		</xsl:template>

		<xsl:template match="word">
			<li><xsl:value-of select="."/></li>
		</xsl:template>

	</xsl:stylesheet>
----

The preceding transform is rendered as the following HTML:

[source,html,indent=0]
[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
<html>
	<head>
		<META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
		<title>Hello!</title>
	</head>
	<body>
		<h1>My First Words</h1>
		<ul>
			<li>Hello</li>
			<li>Spring</li>
			<li>Framework</li>
		</ul>
	</body>
</html>
----
