<portal-fmt/> tags

Portal, Express Beta Version 6.1
Operating systems: i5/OS, Linux,Windows

<portal-fmt/> tags

The <portal-fmt/> tags are used to provide enhanced portal formatting capabilities.

The following table provides a brief description of each tag.

Note: Do not use portal tags in portlet JSPs.. The tags mentioned below are only for use in theme and skin JSPS.

Tag	Description
<portal-fmt:answer/>	Returns the answer text for a given key in the specified language. This tag should be used only within a <portal-skin:portletRender/> or <portal-core:pageRender/> tag.
<portal-fmt:bidi/>	This tag is used to support the display of bidirectional languages.
<portal-fmt:description/>	Provides the description of an object that implements the `Localized` interface. This tag can be used in both theme and skin JSPs.
<portal-fmt:identification/>	Transforms a String representation of the ObjectID into an ObjectID. Also transforms an ObjectID into a String representation of the ObjectID.
<portal-fmt:problem/>	Returns the problem text for a given key in the specified language. This tag should be used only within a <portal-skin:portletRender/> or <portal-core:pageRender/> tag.
<portal-fmt:text/>	Returns the text for a given key in the specified language. This is getting replaced by the <i18n:bundle/> and <i18n:message/> tags of the I18N tag library. See Using JSTL tags in the portal JSPs for more information.
<portal-fmt:textParam/>	If the text that is retrieved contains placeholders in the form of "{0}", "{1}", "{2}", ..., these can be set using this tag. This tag should be used only in the body of the <portal-fmt:text/> tag.
<portal-fmt:title/>	Provides the title of an object that implements the Localized interface. This tag can be used in both theme and skin JSPs.
<portal-fmt:user/>	If the user is logged in, this tag returns one of the specified values of attribute.

Detailed descriptions of the <portal-fmt/> tags

The following section provides detailed descriptions of the <portal-fmt/> JSP tags:

<portal-fmt:answer bundle="bundle">

Returns the answer text for a given key in the specified language. The following keys can be looked up in the resource bundle.

content.not.available.answer

password.invalid.answer

userid.invalid.answer

portlet.not.active.answer

portlet.not.authorized.answer

portlet.not.available.answer

portlet.title.not.available.answer

Each key corresponds to a problem key (without the .answer suffix). See the <portal-fmt:problem> tag for a complete description of each problem and a complete example.

<portal-fmt:bidi dir="rtl|ltr" attribute="portlet" locale="locale">

This tag is used to support the display of bidirectional languages. Bidirectional languages are those that are typically read from right to left except when left-to-right text strings are displayed (for example, URLs, code samples, or directory and file names).

Attributes

dir Indicates the normal direction of text in the language. This attribute is required.
- For dir="rtl", the tag content is written only if the client's locale belongs to a bidirectional language. This is the default setting if dir is not specified.
- For dir="ltr", the tag content is written only if the client's locale does not belong to a bidirectional language.

attribute="portlet"
Indicates that the text is for the title of a portlet. This attribute is optional.

locale
The tag content is written only if the language belongs to the bidirectional languages that are defined by the portal. If attribute is specified, locale is ignored.

WebSphere Portal Express JSPs use this tag in a BidiInclude.jsp that creates the following scripting variables which, in many cases, are easier to use and recommended over the <portal-fmt:bidi/> tag.

<%=bidiAlignRight%>: resolves as the value left for BIDI languages, right for all other languages. This is primarily intended for text alignment, such as in a table cell.
<%=bidiAlignLeft%>: resolves as the value right for BIDI languages, left for all other languages. This is primarily intended for text alignment, such as in a table cell.
<%=bidiImageRight%>: resolves as the value Left for BIDI languages, Right for all other languages. This is primarily intended to append the value to the filename for an image. For example, the theme directory provide two image files that can be used for the top corners of a portlet window, Album_Border_TopLeft.gif and Album_Border_TopRight.gif.
<%=bidiImageLeft%>: resolves as the value Right for BIDI languages, Left for all other languages. This is primarily intended to append the value to the filename for an image.For example, the theme directory provide two image files that can be used for the top corners of a portlet window, Album_Border_TopLeft.gif and Album_Border_TopRight.gif.
<%=bidiImageRTL%>: resolves to the value _rtl for BIDI languages, null for all other languages. This is primarily intended for graphic images. For example, the skin previews provide two image files to preview the skin, preview.gif and preview_rtl.gif.

The following example shows how a directional image is invoked. The <%=bidiImageRTL%> scripting variable is used to invoke the appropriate icon, for example, tab_next_rtl.gif, when the locale belongs to a bidirectional language.

       <img alt="<portal-fmt:text key="link.next" bundle="nls.engine"/>" 
            src="<portal-logic:urlFindInTheme file='<%="tab_next"+bidiImageRTL+".gif"%>'/>" 
            border="0" align="absmiddle">

<portal-fmt:description locale="locale" varname="scripting_variable" />

Provides the localized description of the Object specified by varname or of the navigation node set in the <portal-navigation:navigationLoop/> tag. This tag can be used in both theme and skin JSPs.

Attributes

locale: Optional. Overrides the current language setting.
varname: Optional. Specifies the name of the scripting variable holding the localized object. The <portal:navigation/> tag sets this object to <%=wpsNavNode%>.

<portal-navigation:navigationLoop>
  <!-- write the description of the node in the current locale -->
    <portal-fmt:description varname="<%=wpsNavNode%>"/>
  <!-- write the description of the node in chinese -->
    <portal-fmt:description varname="<%=wpsNavNode%>" locale="zh"/>
</portal-navigation:navigationLoop>

<portal-fmt:identification action="setting" object="object_name" var="variable_name"/>

Transforms a String representation of the ObjectID into an ObjectID. Also transforms an ObjectID into a String representation of the ObjectID.

Attributes

action: Specifies the operation to be done on the given object. Allowed values are "serialize" and "deserialize"
object: Specifies the object which needs to be handled. Allowed values are an object of the type com.ibm.portal.Identifiable or java.lang.String.
var: Specifies the name of the scripting variable where the generated value will be stored.

The following example shows how this tag is used to set an identifiable object and translate it to a String representation:

<portal-fmt:identification object="<%=contentNode%>" action="serialize" var="oid_string">
	<p><portal-fmt:title varname="<%=contentNode%>"/> has the ObjectID <%=oid_string%></p>
</portal-fmt:identification>

The following example shows how this tag is used to set a unique name (this could also be an object ID string representation) and translate it to an object ID:

<portal-fmt:identification object="ibm.portal.Home" action="deserialize" var="oid">
	<% if (oid instanceof com.ibm.portal.ObjectID) { %>
		<p>This is how it works</p>
	<% } %>
</portal-fmt:identification>

<portal-fmt:problem bundle="bundle">

Returns the problem text for a given key in the specified language. The following keys can be looked up in the resource bundle.

content.not.available - Occurs if there is no page content that can be displayed. Used in the <portal-core:pageRender/> tag.

login.invalid - Occurs when the user ID, password, or both are not valid. This is used in the Login screen.

password.invalid - Occurs when the password field is empty during login. This is used in the Login screen.

portlet.not.active - Occurs when a portlet is not active. Used in the <portal-skin:portletRender/> tag.

portlet.not.authorized - Occurs when a user does not have appropriate permissions on a portlet. Used in the <portal-skin:portletRender/> tag.

portlet.not.available - Occurs when an error occurs that prevents a portlet from rendering. Used in the <portal-skin:portletRender/> tag.

portlet.title.not.available - Occurs when a portlet title is not available. Used in the <portal-skin:portletTitle/> tag.

userid.invalid - Occurs when the user ID field is empty during login. This is used in the Login screen.

There is a corresponding answer key for each problem (see the <portal-fmt:answer/> tag).

The resource bundle must be located in the WebSphere Portal Express directory:

Windows: portal_server_root\shared\app

Linux: portal_server_root/shared/app

i5/OS: portal_server_root_user/shared/app

The following sample retrieves the problem text from /nls/problem_locale.properties. The text is displayed only when an error is encountered rendering the page. Example

    
    <portal-core:pageRender>
       <p align="center">
         <strong><portal-fmt:problem bundle="nls.problem"/></strong>
         <br>
         <portal-fmt:answer bundle="nls.problem"/>
       </p>
    </portal-core:pageRender>

<portal-fmt:text key="key" bundle="bundle">

Returns the text for a given key in the specified language. The key indicates a parameter in a resource bundle or properties file, indicated by bundle. Both attributes are required. See the description of <portal-fmt:textParam> for an example and further description of the attributes of <portal-fmt:text/>.

Where possible, the <i18n:bundle/> and <i18n:message/> tags of the I18N tag library should be used instead of <portal-fmt:text/>. See Using JSTL tags in the portal JSPs for more information.

<portal-fmt:textParam>

If the text that is retrieved contains placeholders in the form of "{0}", "{1}", "{2}", these can be set using this tag. This tag should be used only in the body of the <portal-fmt:text/> tag. The text to be substituted for the placeholders needs to be entered as content for this tag. It can even be an expression.

Examples

The welcome parameter in a resource bundle is set as follows:

     welcome = Welcome {0}!

In the following example, the value of the <portal-fmt:textParam> tag is written in place of the {0}.

    <portal-fmt:text key="welcome" bundle="nls.engine">
        <portal-fmt:textParam>World</portal-fmt:textParam>
    </portal-fmt:text>

<portal-fmt:title locale="locale" varname="localized_object"/>

Provides the localized title of the localized object specified in varname. The tag also implies the localized object if it is called inside of the <portal-navigation:navigationLoop/> tag.

Attributes

locale: Optional. Overrides the current language setting.
varname: Optional. Specifies the name of the scripting variable holding the localized object. The <portal-navigation:navigation/> tag sets this object to <%=wpsNavNode%>.

See Implementing a single level of navigation for an example.

<portal-fmt:user attribute="value"/>

If the user is logged in, this tag returns one of the specified user attributes. value can be any user attribute defined to Member Manager.

Parent topic: Tags used by the portal JSPs

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