How to write XML formatted JSP with generics?

Question

I'm writing a web application using JSP, and I really like to use the "XML style" JSP directive (i.e. <jsp:scriptlet> instead of <% ). But if I use generics in my code, the code content is not valid XML and I get compilation errors when the server (I use Jetty 6) tries to parse the file as XML.

For example, I want to write:

<jsp:scriptlet> 
List<String> myText = new List<String>();  
</jsp:scriptlet>

However this code obviously fails to compile. I tried adding CDATA wrapper around the code (immediately inside the jsp:scriptlet tag) but it doesn't look to make any difference.

Is it at all possible to use generics inside JSP scriptlets?

Thanks.

Answer 1

If you really want to write JSP, I'd aim to create tags (or use the standard tag library (or this) ) and keep the page clear of scriptlets - with or without generics. With proper MVC separation (or at least the view separated from the rest) you generally could use only the standard tag library, produce jsps that are easier to maintain and automatically validate as xml.

Are you intending to use any framework with your jsps or do you want to handle request processing within the jsp?

Answer 2

Does this page on jetty jsp configuration help at all?

Are your source and target language levels set to 1.5?

Answer 3

<jsp:scriptlet> 
    List&lt;String> myText = new List&lt;String>();  
</jsp:scriptlet>

I tried adding CDATA wrapper around the code (immediately inside the jsp:scriptlet tag) but it doesn't look to make any difference.

Really? That should also work. It's pretty ugly of course, but then no-one ever accused the JSP XML format of being convenient or anything...