Detailed descriptions of the Struts WML tags

Detailed descriptions of the Struts WML tags

Learn about the WML tags used by the portlets within the Struts Application Framework.

The following tags are used by portlets within the Struts Application Framework. For a brief description of WML support in the Struts Application Framework, see Using the WML tags.

<wml:cancel/>

Renders a WML <postfield> element with a value of cancel. This tag is only valid when nested inside a form tag body. Posting this element causes the Action servlet to bypass calling the associated form bean validate() method.

Attribute name Description
property The parameter name with the specified value set in the request object.
If the property attribute is set, then the application will have to handle cancel detection.
[Runtime expression]
value The value of the request parameter.
[Runtime expression]

<wml:card/>

This tag renders a card element. This element is not rendered when the tag is executed in WebSphere Portal. This allows writing JSPs that can be used in both the servlet and portlet environments.

Attribute name Description
id This attribute is the card unique identifier.
[Runtime expression]
newcontext This is a flag to indicate that context should be reinitialized when loaded.
[Runtime expression]
onenterbackward Load URL when accessed through <prev> task.
[Runtime expression]
onenterforward Load URL when accessed through <go> task.
[Runtime expression]
ontimer Load URL when timer expires.
[Runtime expression]
ordered This is the flag to indicate that content is ordered.
[Runtime expression]
title This tag indicates the title of the card.
[Runtime expression]
titleKey Key to look up title in resource bundle, titleKey is only used if title attribute is null.
[Runtime expression]

<wml:errors/>

Retrieves the set of error messages from the request object with the default key of Action.ERROR_KEY or the value specified by attribute name. If ActionErrors are found then the errors are displayed. This tag also requires the following two message keys in the application scope MessageResources.

errors.header - header that is displayed before the error messages list.

errors.footer - header that is displayed after the error messages list.

Attribute name Description
bundle This is the servlet context attribute key for the MessageResources instance to use. If not specified, defaults to the application resources configured for the Strut Action servlet.
[Runtime expression]
locale The session attribute key for the Locale used to select messages to be displayed. If not specified, defaults to the Struts standard value.
[Runtime expression]
name Name of the request scope bean under which our error messages have been stored. If not present, the name specified by the Action.ERROR_KEY constant string will be used.
[Runtime expression]
property Name of the property for which error messages should be displayed. If not specified, all error messages, regardless of property, are displayed.
[Runtime expression]

<wml:form/>

This tag does not render any markup, but it is used to scope beans and transactions. The tags used with the body of the form tag can use the form bean to populate the input fields.

Attribute name Description
action The action is the URL used for the form submission. The action will be picked up by a nested tag, and postfield tags are used to submit the data. For additional information on specifying the action, see the Struts html:form documentation.
[Required] [Runtime expression]
name This attribute is the name of the bean. The scope attribute is used to determine where the bean can be located. The tags that are contained in the body of the form tag can use the form bean for populating the input field. For additional information on specifying the name, see the Struts html:form documentation.
[Runtime expression]
scope Scope of the form bean associated with this form.
For additional information on the scope attribute, see the Struts html:form documentation.
[Runtime expression]
type The fully qualified class name of the form bean.
For additional information on the type attribute, see the Struts html:form documentation.
[Runtime expression]

<wml:go/>

This tag renders a WML <go> element. If the go tag is used in the body of a form tag, the form's action is used as a hyperlink. If the form's action attribute is set, then the forward, href, and page attributes are ignored.

Attribute name Description
accept-charset This attribute allows specifying the character encodings that the application can handle.
[Runtime expression]
action The action is the URL used for the form submission. The action will be picked up by a nested tag, and postfield tags are used to submit the data.
[Runtime expression]
forward The name of the global ActionForward to be used to create the URL for the go element.
This attribute is ignored if this tag is specified in the body of a form tag that specifies the action attribute. For addition information on the forward attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
href This attribute specifies the URL for the go element.
This attribute is ignored if this tag is specified in the body of a form tag that specifies the action attribute. For addition information on the href attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
method Allows specifying the HTTP submission method, get or post
[Runtime expression]
page The context relative path to the URL that will be used as the href for the go element.
This attribute is ignored if this tag is specified in the body of a form tag that specifies the action attribute. For addition information on the page attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
sendreferer This attribute allows specifying that the deck URL should be included the request
[Runtime expression]
transaction A postfield element will be created so that the current transaction control token can be sent if this attribute is true. For addition information on the transaction attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
urlType The type of portlet URL to create. If not specified URL type is standard. Supported values: return, standard
[Runtime expression]

<wml:head/>

Renders a WML <head> element with language attributes extracted from the user's current Locale object, if there is one. This element is not rendered when the tag is executed in WebSphere Portal. This allows writing JSPs that can be used in both the servlet and portlet environments.

<wml:link/>

Renders a WML <a> element as a hyperlink to the specified URL. URL rewriting will be applied automatically to maintain session state in the absence of cookies. The tag's body is displayed as the name of the link. The base URL for this hyperlink is calculated based on which of the following attributes we specify:

forward
href

page

One and only one of the forward, href, or page attributes can be specified.

Attribute name Description
accesskey A number 0 through that is displayed that indicates to a user which keypad number is required to select this element.
[Runtime expression]
forward The name of the global ActionForward to be used to create the URL. For addition information on the forward attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
href This attribute specifies the hyperlink to be unchanged as the URL. For addition information on the href attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
indexed For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
indexId For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
name For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
page The context relative path to the URL that will be used as the href. For addition information on the page attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
paramId For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
paramName For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
paramProperty For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
paramScope For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
property For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
scope For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
rel This attribute allows specifying the relationship
[Runtime expression]
sendreferer This attribute allows specifying that the deck URL should be included in the request
[Runtime expression]
transaction A postfield element will be created so that the current transaction control token can be sent if this attribute is true. For addition information on the transaction attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
urlType The type of portlet URL to create. If not specified URL type is standard. Supported values: return, standard
[Runtime expression]

<wml:option/>

Renders a WML <option> element, representing one of the choices for an enclosing <select> element. The text displayed to the user comes from either the body of this tag, or from a message string looked up based on the bundle, locale, and key attributes. If the value of the corresponding bean property matches the specified value, this option will be marked selected. This tag is only valid when nested inside a <wml:select> tag body.

Attribute name Description
bundle This attribute allows specifying the key for the MessageResources stored in the servlet context.
[Runtime expression]
key This attribute specifies the key to the text that is contained in the bundled, determined from the bundle attribute. If this attribute is not specified, then the text from the tag's body is used.
[Runtime expression]
locale The locale to use for looking up messages in the resource bundle.
[Runtime expression]
onpick The URL to navigate when a selection is made.
[Runtime expression]
title Brief field title
[Runtime expression]
titleKey Key to look up title in resource bundle, titleKey is only used if title attribute is null.
[Runtime expression]
value If the user selects this option, then this is the value that is submitted. [Required]
[Runtime expression]

<wml:options/>

Renders has a set of WML <option> elements, representing possible choices for a <select> element. This tag can be used multiple times within a single <wml:select> element, either in conjunction with or instead of one or more <wml:option> elements. The use of the collection attribute is documented in the HTML version of the options tag.

Attribute name Description
collection Name of the bean used to build the selection options. For addition information on the collection attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
labelName For addition information on the labelName attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
labelProperty For addition information on the labelProperty attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
name For addition information on the href attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
property For addition information on the href attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]

<wml:password/>

Renders a WML <input> element of type password, populated from the specified value or the specified property of the bean associated with our current form. This tag is only valid when nested inside a form tag body.

Attribute name Description
accesskey A number 0 through that is displayed that indicates to a user which keypad number is required to select this element.
[Runtime expression]
emptyok Flag to indicate that this field can remain blank.
[Runtime expression]
format Format mask for the input field
[Runtime expression]
maxlength Maximum number of input characters to accept. [No limit]
[Runtime expression]
name The attribute name of the bean whose properties are consulted when rendering the current value of this input field. If not specified, the bean associated with the form tag we are nested within is utilized.
[Runtime expression]
property Name of the request parameter that will be included with this submission, set to the specified value. [Required]
[Runtime expression]
size Number of character positions to allocate.
[Runtime expression]
tabindex The tab order in a card.
[Runtime expression]
title Brief field title
[Runtime expression]
titleKey Key to look up title in resource bundle, titleKey is only used if title attribute is null.
[Runtime expression]
value Value of the label to be placed on this button. This value will also be submitted as the value of the specified request parameter.
[Runtime expression]

<wml:postfield/>

Renders a WML <postfield> element. This tag is only valid when nested inside a form tag body.

Attribute name Description
name The attribute name of the bean whose properties are consulted when rendering the current value of this input field. If not specified, the bean associated with the form tag we are nested within is utilized.
[Runtime expression]
property The corresponding bean property. [Required]
[Runtime expression]
value The value of the postfield tag.
[Runtime expression]

<wml:rewrite/>

Renders a request URI based on exactly the same rules as the link tag does, but without creating the <a> hyperlink. The base URI for this hyperlink is calculated based on which of the following attributes we specify:

forward
href

page

One and only one of the forward, href, or page attributes can be specified.

Attribute name Description
forward The name of the global ActionForward to be used to create the URL. For addition information on the forward attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
href This attribute specifies the hyperlink to be unchanged as the URL. For addition information on the href attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation.
[Runtime expression]
indexed For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]
indexId For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]
name For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]
page The context relative path to the URL that will be used as the href. For addition information on the page attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]
paramId For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]
paramName For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]
paramProperty For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]
paramScope For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]
property For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]
scope For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]
transaction A postfield element will be created so that the current transaction control token can be sent if this attribute is true. For addition information on the transaction attribute, see the Struts html:rewrite documentation.
[Runtime expression]

<wml:select/>

Renders a WML <select> element, associated with a bean property specified by our attributes. This tag is only valid when nested inside a form tag body.
See the html:select for additional information on usage.

Attribute name Description
iname Index number of default option( base 1 )
[Runtime expression]
ivalue Default value
[Runtime expression]
multiple Set to support multiple selections.
[Runtime expression]
name The name of the bean used to determine the pre-selected options.
[Runtime expression]
property The attribute sets the name of the request parameter used for the value submission. [Required]
[Runtime expression]
tabindex The tab order in a card.
[Runtime expression]
title Brief field title.
[Runtime expression]
titleKey Key to look up title in resource bundle. titleKey is only used if the title is null.
[Runtime expression]
value The value for determining if an option has been selected.
[Runtime expression]

<wml:text/>

Renders a WML <input> element of type text, populated from the specified value or the specified property of the bean associated with our current form. This tag is only valid when specified in the body of a form tag.

Attribute name Description
accesskey A number 0 through that is displayed that indicates to a user which keypad number is required to select input.
[Runtime expression]
emptyok Flag to indicate that this field can remain blank.
format Format mask for input field.
[Runtime expression]
maxlength Maximum number of input characters to accept. [No limit]
[Runtime expression]
name The attribute name of the bean whose properties are consulted when rendering the current value of this input field. If not specified, the bean associated with the form tag we are nested within is utilized.
[Runtime expression]
property Name of this input field, and the name of the corresponding bean property if value is not specified. The corresponding bean property (if any) must be of type String. [Required]
[Runtime expression]
size Number of character positions to allocate.
[Runtime expression]
tabindex The tab order in a card.
[Runtime expression]
title Brief field title.
[Runtime expression]
titleKey Key to look up title in resource bundle. Title must be null.
[Runtime expression]
value Value to which this field should be initialized. [Use the corresponding bean property value]
[Runtime expression]

<wml:wml/>

Renders a <wml/> element. In the WebSphere Portal environment, the element is not rendered.

Parent: Portlet development reference
Related:
Markup guidelines
Build .ear and .war files
Access the portlet session on the anonymous page
Deployment descriptors
IBM portlet DTD tag reference
JSP tags for standard portlets
JSP tags for IBM portlets
Handling and visibility of request parameters in portlets
Application extension registry

Attribute name	Description
id	This attribute is the card unique identifier. [Runtime expression]
newcontext	This is a flag to indicate that context should be reinitialized when loaded. [Runtime expression]
onenterbackward	Load URL when accessed through <prev> task. [Runtime expression]
onenterforward	Load URL when accessed through <go> task. [Runtime expression]
ontimer	Load URL when timer expires. [Runtime expression]
ordered	This is the flag to indicate that content is ordered. [Runtime expression]
title	This tag indicates the title of the card. [Runtime expression]
titleKey	Key to look up title in resource bundle, titleKey is only used if title attribute is null. [Runtime expression]

Attribute name	Description
bundle	This is the servlet context attribute key for the MessageResources instance to use. If not specified, defaults to the application resources configured for the Strut Action servlet. [Runtime expression]
locale	The session attribute key for the Locale used to select messages to be displayed. If not specified, defaults to the Struts standard value. [Runtime expression]
name	Name of the request scope bean under which our error messages have been stored. If not present, the name specified by the Action.ERROR_KEY constant string will be used. [Runtime expression]
property	Name of the property for which error messages should be displayed. If not specified, all error messages, regardless of property, are displayed. [Runtime expression]

Attribute name	Description
action	The action is the URL used for the form submission. The action will be picked up by a nested tag, and postfield tags are used to submit the data. For additional information on specifying the action, see the Struts html:form documentation. [Required] [Runtime expression]
name	This attribute is the name of the bean. The scope attribute is used to determine where the bean can be located. The tags that are contained in the body of the form tag can use the form bean for populating the input field. For additional information on specifying the name, see the Struts html:form documentation. [Runtime expression]
scope	Scope of the form bean associated with this form. For additional information on the scope attribute, see the Struts html:form documentation. [Runtime expression]
type	The fully qualified class name of the form bean. For additional information on the type attribute, see the Struts html:form documentation. [Runtime expression]

Attribute name	Description
accept-charset	This attribute allows specifying the character encodings that the application can handle. [Runtime expression]
action	The action is the URL used for the form submission. The action will be picked up by a nested tag, and postfield tags are used to submit the data. [Runtime expression]
forward	The name of the global ActionForward to be used to create the URL for the go element. This attribute is ignored if this tag is specified in the body of a form tag that specifies the action attribute. For addition information on the forward attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
href	This attribute specifies the URL for the go element. This attribute is ignored if this tag is specified in the body of a form tag that specifies the action attribute. For addition information on the href attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
method	Allows specifying the HTTP submission method, get or post [Runtime expression]
page	The context relative path to the URL that will be used as the href for the go element. This attribute is ignored if this tag is specified in the body of a form tag that specifies the action attribute. For addition information on the page attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
sendreferer	This attribute allows specifying that the deck URL should be included the request [Runtime expression]
transaction	A postfield element will be created so that the current transaction control token can be sent if this attribute is true. For addition information on the transaction attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
urlType	The type of portlet URL to create. If not specified URL type is standard. Supported values: return, standard [Runtime expression]

Attribute name	Description
accesskey	A number 0 through that is displayed that indicates to a user which keypad number is required to select this element. [Runtime expression]
forward	The name of the global ActionForward to be used to create the URL. For addition information on the forward attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
href	This attribute specifies the hyperlink to be unchanged as the URL. For addition information on the href attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
indexed	For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
indexId	For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
name	For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
page	The context relative path to the URL that will be used as the href. For addition information on the page attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
paramId	For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
paramName	For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
paramProperty	For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
paramScope	For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
property	For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
scope	For information on this attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
rel	This attribute allows specifying the relationship [Runtime expression]
sendreferer	This attribute allows specifying that the deck URL should be included in the request [Runtime expression]
transaction	A postfield element will be created so that the current transaction control token can be sent if this attribute is true. For addition information on the transaction attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
urlType	The type of portlet URL to create. If not specified URL type is standard. Supported values: return, standard [Runtime expression]

Attribute name	Description
bundle	This attribute allows specifying the key for the MessageResources stored in the servlet context. [Runtime expression]
key	This attribute specifies the key to the text that is contained in the bundled, determined from the bundle attribute. If this attribute is not specified, then the text from the tag's body is used. [Runtime expression]
locale	The locale to use for looking up messages in the resource bundle. [Runtime expression]
onpick	The URL to navigate when a selection is made. [Runtime expression]
title	Brief field title [Runtime expression]
titleKey	Key to look up title in resource bundle, titleKey is only used if title attribute is null. [Runtime expression]
value	If the user selects this option, then this is the value that is submitted. [Required] [Runtime expression]

Attribute name	Description
collection	Name of the bean used to build the selection options. For addition information on the collection attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
labelName	For addition information on the labelName attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
labelProperty	For addition information on the labelProperty attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
name	For addition information on the href attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]
property	For addition information on the href attribute, see the Struts html:link documentation. [Runtime expression]

Attribute name	Description
accesskey	A number 0 through that is displayed that indicates to a user which keypad number is required to select this element. [Runtime expression]
emptyok	Flag to indicate that this field can remain blank. [Runtime expression]
format	Format mask for the input field [Runtime expression]
maxlength	Maximum number of input characters to accept. [No limit] [Runtime expression]
name	The attribute name of the bean whose properties are consulted when rendering the current value of this input field. If not specified, the bean associated with the form tag we are nested within is utilized. [Runtime expression]
property	Name of the request parameter that will be included with this submission, set to the specified value. [Required] [Runtime expression]
size	Number of character positions to allocate. [Runtime expression]
tabindex	The tab order in a card. [Runtime expression]
title	Brief field title [Runtime expression]
titleKey	Key to look up title in resource bundle, titleKey is only used if title attribute is null. [Runtime expression]
value	Value of the label to be placed on this button. This value will also be submitted as the value of the specified request parameter. [Runtime expression]

Attribute name	Description
iname	Index number of default option( base 1 ) [Runtime expression]
ivalue	Default value [Runtime expression]
multiple	Set to support multiple selections. [Runtime expression]
name	The name of the bean used to determine the pre-selected options. [Runtime expression]
property	The attribute sets the name of the request parameter used for the value submission. [Required] [Runtime expression]
tabindex	The tab order in a card. [Runtime expression]
title	Brief field title. [Runtime expression]
titleKey	Key to look up title in resource bundle. titleKey is only used if the title is null. [Runtime expression]
value	The value for determining if an option has been selected. [Runtime expression]