The input tag for a form submit control can have one of these two formats:
<dsp:input type="submit"
[bean="prop-spec" [submitvalue="value"] value="value"]/>
dsp:input type="image" {src|image}=path
[bean="prop-spec" submitvalue="value""]/>
The type setting determines whether the submit control displays as a button or image. If set to submit, the tag specifies to display a submit button; if set to image, it defines a submit control that uses the image specified by the src or page attribute.
You can also specify one of the following attributes:
beanspecifies a component property to set when the user clicks the submit control.valuespecifies the text to display on the submit button, iftypeis set tosubmit. If the attributesubmitvalueis omitted, the value is also used to set thebean-specified property. This attribute is not valid iftypeis set toimage.submitvaluespecifies value to set on thebean-specified value when the user clicks on this submit control. Iftypeis set tosubmit, this attribute overrides thevalue-specified value, which is otherwise used to set the property.
Using Submit Controls to Set Property Values
A submit control can set the bean-specified property through the standard value attribute. The control can override its own value setting through the non-standard submitvalue attribute. Used together, value specifies only the button label text (if the input type is set to submit), and submitvalue sets the property value. For example, the following tag creates a submit button with the label Click Here, and specifies to set Student_01.age to 34:
<dsp:input type="submit" bean="/samples/Student_01.age" submitvalue="34"
value="Click Here"/>
You typically set property values through data entry inputs and hidden inputs. Occasionally, however, you might want to associate property settings with submit controls. For example, a form might have multiple submit buttons, where each sets the same property to a different value. The following input tags define two submit buttons, each specifying the Boolean property Student_01.emailOK:
<dsp:input type="submit" bean="/samples/Student_01.emailOK"
value="Send email" submitvalue="true" name="OK"/>
<dsp:input type="submit" bean="/samples/Student_01.emailOK"
value="Do not send email" submitvalue="false" name="notOK"/>
The first submit button sets the property to true; the second to false. Because the two input tags specify the same property, each requires a unique name attribute.
Note: In general, two controls cannot be associated with the same property. In the previous example, the submit buttons can be associated with the same property because only one of them can be executed for a given form submission.
Using Images as Submit Controls
An image can act as a submit control. When the user clicks the image, the image input submits the form. The src or image attribute specifies the pathname of the image file. As with a submit button, the bean attribute specifies a property to set on form submission, and submitvalue specifies the value. For example:
<dsp:input bean="/samples/Student_01.emailOK" type="image"
src="clickpic.gif" submitvalue="true"/>
If you omit the submitvalue attribute, the image pixel coordinates are submitted as the value.
