Preface

This document introduces and explains Oracle's implementation of JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology, specified by Sun Microsystems. The document discusses standard features, as specified by Sun, as well as Oracle-specific extensions in the OracleJSP product.

Note: This document is intended for use with the OracleJSP release that accompanies Oracle8i release 8.1.7. This OracleJSP release can be referred to as either OracleJSP release 8.1.7 or OracleJSP release 1.1.0.0.0. It is an implementation of the Sun Microsystems JavaServer Pages Specification, Version 1.1. Previous versions of OracleJSP implemented the JavaServer Pages Specification, Version 1.0.

Intended Audience

This document is intended for developers interested in using OracleJSP to create Web applications based on JavaServer Pages technology. It assumes that working Web and servlet environments already exist, and that readers are already familiar with the following:

• general Web technology

• general servlet technology (some technical background is provided in Appendix B)

• how to configure their Web server and servlet environments

• HTML

• Java

• Oracle JDBC (for JSP applications accessing an Oracle database)

• Oracle SQLJ (for JSP database applications using SQLJ)

This document focuses on Oracle JSP extensions, and on features and logistics particular to running JSP pages in the Oracle Servlet Engine (the Web server and servlet container inside Oracle8i).

While some information about standard JSP 1.1 technology and syntax is provided in Chapter 1 and elsewhere, there is no attempt at completeness in this area. For additional information about standard JSP 1.1 features, consult the Sun Microsystems JavaServer Pages Specification, Version 1.1 or other appropriate reference materials.

Because the JSP 1.1 specification relies on a servlet 2.2 environment, this document is geared largely toward such environments. OracleJSP has special features for earlier servlet environments, however, and there is special discussion of these features as they relate to servlet 2.0 environments, particularly Apache/JServ.

Document Structure

This document includes the following chapters and appendixes:

Chapter 1, "General Overview"	This chapter reviews standard JSP 1.1 technology. (It is not intended as a complete reference.)
Chapter 2, "Overview of Oracle's JSP Implementation"	This chapter discusses support for OracleJSP in both Oracle and non-Oracle JSP environments, and introduces Oracle JSP extensions and features.
Chapter 3, "Basics"	This chapter introduces basic JSP programming considerations and provides a starter sample for database access.
Chapter 4, "Key Considerations"	This chapter discusses a variety of general programming and configuration issues the developer should be aware of. It also covers considerations specific to the OSE and Apache/JServ environments.
Chapter 5, "OracleJSP Extensions"	This chapter covers Oracle JSP extensions--both Oracle-specific extensions and extensions that are portable to other JSP environments.
Chapter 6, "JSP Translation and Deployment"	This chapter focuses on procedures and logistics in deploying JSP pages to Oracle8i to run in the Oracle Servlet Engine, but also covers general JSP translation and deployment features and issues.
Chapter 7, "JSP Tag Libraries and the Oracle JML Tags"	This chapter introduces the basic JSP 1.1 framework for custom tag libraries and also provides an overview and tag descriptions for the JSP 1.1 (runtime) implementation of the Oracle JML sample tag library.
Chapter 8, "OracleJSP NLS Support"	This chapter discusses both standard and Oracle-specific features for National Language Support.
Chapter 9, "Sample Applications"	This chapter contains a set of sample applications covering both standard JSP technology and Oracle extensions.
Appendix A, "General Installation and Configuration"	This appendix covers OracleJSP required and optional files, configuration steps for non-Oracle environments such as Apache/JServ and Tomcat, and OracleJSP configuration parameters for on-demand translation.
Appendix B, "Servlet and JSP Technical Background"	This appendix provides a brief background of servlet technology and introduces the standard JSP interfaces for translated pages.
Appendix C, "Compile-Time JML Tag Support"	This chapter provides an overview of the compile-time implementation of the Oracle JML sample tag library (as supported in pre-JSP 1.1 releases), and documents tags not supported in the runtime implementation documented in Chapter 7.

Related Documents

See the following additional documents available from the Oracle Java Platform group:

• Oracle8i Java Developer's Guide

  This book introduces the basic concepts of Java in Oracle8i and provides general information about server-side configuration and functionality. Information that pertains to the Oracle Java platform as a whole, rather than to a particular product (such as JDBC, SQLJ, or EJBs) is in this book.

• Oracle8i Oracle Servlet Engine User's Guide

  This book documents use of the Oracle Servlet Engine, the Web server and servlet container inside Oracle8i.

• Oracle8i Java Tools Reference

  This book documents Java-related tools and utilities for use with Oracle8i or in deploying applications to Oracle8i (such as the Oracle8i session shell and loadjava tools).

• Oracle8i JDBC Developer's Guide and Reference

  This book covers programming syntax and features of Oracle's implementation of the JDBC standard (for Java Database Connectivity). This includes an overview of the Oracle JDBC drivers, details of Oracle's implementation of JDBC 1.22 and 2.0 features, and discussion of Oracle JDBC type extensions and performance extensions.

• Oracle8i JPublisher User's Guide

  This book describes how to use the Oracle JPublisher utility to translate object types and other user-defined types to Java classes. If you are developing SQLJ or JDBC applications that use object types, VARRAY types, nested table types, or object reference types, then JPublisher can generate custom Java classes to map to them.

• Oracle8i SQLJ Developer's Guide and Reference

  This book covers the use of SQLJ to embed static SQL operations directly into Java code, covering SQLJ language syntax and SQLJ translator options and features. Both standard SQLJ features and Oracle-specific SQLJ features are described.

• Oracle8i Java Stored Procedures Developer's Guide

  This book discusses Java stored procedures--programs that run directly in the Oracle8i server. With stored procedures (functions, procedures, database triggers, and SQL methods), Java developers can implement business logic at the server level, thereby improving application performance, scalability, and security.

• Oracle8i Enterprise JavaBeans Developer's Guide and Reference

  This book describes Oracle's Enterprise JavaBeans implementation and extensions.

• Oracle8i CORBA Developer's Guide and Reference

  This book describes Oracle's CORBA implementation and extensions.

The following documentation is for Oracle products that incorporate OracleJSP. You may want to refer to them for JSP information, including installation and configuration, for those products:

• Oracle Internet Application Server 8i Documentation Library

• Oracle Application Server, Release 4.0.8.2
  Developer's Guide: JServlet and JSP Applications

• Oracle JDeveloper online help, particularly the topic "Creating JSP Pages for Business Components"

• Oracle Web-to-go Implementation Guide

The following documents from the Oracle Server Technologies group may also contain information of interest.

• Oracle8i Application Developer's Guide - XML

  This book provides information about the Oracle XML-SQL Utility. Some of this is relevant to XML-related support provided by OracleJSP.

• Oracle8i Application Developer's Guide - Fundamentals

  This book introduces basic design concepts and programming features in using an Oracle8i database and creating database access applications.

• Oracle8i National Language Support Guide

  This book contains information about NLS environment variables, character sets, and territory and locale settings. In addition, it contains an overview of common NLS issues, typical scenarios, and NLS considerations for OCI and SQL programmers.

• Oracle8i Supplied PL/SQL Packages Reference

  This book documents PL/SQL packages available as part of the Oracle8i server, some of which may be useful to call from JDBC applications.

• PL/SQL User's Guide and Reference

  PL/This book explains the concepts and features of PL/SQL, Oracle's procedural language extension to SQL.

• Oracle8i SQL Reference

  This book contains a complete description of the content and syntax of the SQL commands and features used to manage information in an Oracle database.

• Net8 Administrator's Guide

  This book contains information about the Oracle8 Connection Manager and Net8 network administration in general.

• Oracle Advanced Security Administrator's Guide

  This book describes features of the Oracle Advanced Security Option (formerly known as ANO or ASO).

• Oracle8i Reference

  This book contains general reference information about the Oracle8i server.

• Oracle8i Error Messages

  This book contains information about error messages that can be passed by the Oracle8i server.

Additional Resources

The following Oracle Technology Network (OTN) resources are available for further information about JavaServer Pages:

• OTN Web site for Java Servlets and JavaServer Pages:

  http://technet.oracle.com/tech/java/servlets/
  
  

• OTN JSP discussion group, accessible through the following address:

  http://technet.oracle.com/support/bboard/discussions.htm
  
  

The following resources are available from Sun Microsystems:

• Javasoft Web site for JavaServer Pages:

  http://www.javasoft.com/products/jsp/index.html
  
  

• jsp-interest discussion group for JavaServer Pages

  To subscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@java.sun.com with the following line in the body of the message:

  subscribe jsp-interest yourlastname yourfirstname
  
  

  It is recommended, however, that you request only the daily digest of the posted e-mails. To do this add the following line to the message body as well:

  set jsp-interest digest
  
  

Document Conventions

The following conventions are used in this document:

Convention	Meaning
italicized regular text	Italicized regular text is used for emphasis or to indicate a term that is being defined or will be defined shortly.
. . .	Horizontal ellipsis points in sample code indicate the omission of a statement or statements or part of a statement. This is done when you would normally expect additional statements or code to appear, but such statements or code would not be related to the example.
code text	Code text within regular text indicates commands, option names, parameter names, Java syntax, class names, object names, method names, variable names, Java types, Oracle datatypes, file names, and directory names.
italicized_code_text	Italicized code text in a program statement indicates something that must be provided by the user.
[italicized_code_text ]	Square brackets enclosing italicized code text in a program statement indicates something that can optionally be provided by the user.

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