JSTL: JSP Standard Tag Library Kick Start By Jeff Heaton
Table of Contents
Chapter 9. Accessing Internet Resources with JSTL
In the previous chapter, you learned how to work with XML data, but we did not focus on where this data comes from. Much data is available on the Internet, in the form of XML and HTML.
The tags that we discuss in this chapter allow you to access information that is available on the Internet. Usually, this data is in XML, but it does not have to be. The JSTL tag library can easily access any form of text data stored on the Internet.
Accessing resources on the Internet requires the use of a URL. JSTL provides tags that let you easily format URLs for a variety of purposes. You can format URLs that include parameters for accessing external resources outside your Web page.
In addition to accessing external resources, you may want to access resources stored on your own Web site. You can use the URL tags to create URL strings that specify URLs within your Web site. This allows portions of your Web site to send parameters to other parts of your site. We begin this discussion by showing you the JSTL tags that enable you to access information on the Internet and manage URLs.