Return Values

Tags with attributes id and scope (even if they are optional) are expected to return a value as a result of using the tags. Values can be “returned” in two ways:

Print to the JspWriter stream

If the attribute id is not given when using a tag, the tag prints the value to the JspWriter stream. This results in the value showing up in the HTML code generated by the JSPs. In this case, the attribute scope is ignored.

Store the value in pageContext

If you specify the attribute id when using a tag, the tag stores the value to the pageContext as an attribute with a name specified by the id attribute. This operation overwrites whatever original value the attribute has. In addition to the id, you can also define the attribute scope. It can have one of the following values: page, request, session, or application. These values correspond to the PAGE_SCOPE, REQUEST_SCOPE, SESSION_SCOPE, and APPLICATION_SCOPE defined in javax.servlet.jsp.PageContext. This specifies the scope in which to save the value. If no or unrecognized scope is given, the default is to save it in page scope.