JSP directives provide global information about an entire JSP page to the JSP container. They affect the overall structure of the generated Servlet. Directives use the syntax: <%@ directive attribute="value" %>
There are three types of JSP directives:
The page directive defines attributes that apply to the entire JSP page. Common attributes:
| Attribute | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| language | java | Scripting language (always "java") |
| contentType | text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1 | MIME type and character encoding |
| pageEncoding | ISO-8859-1 | Character encoding of the JSP page |
| import | - | Java classes/packages to import |
| session | true | Whether the page participates in HTTP sessions |
| errorPage | - | URL of error page to forward to on exception |
| isErrorPage | false | Whether this page is an error page (enables exception object) |
| buffer | 8kb | Output buffer size (none or Nkb) |
| isThreadSafe | true | Whether the JSP is thread-safe |
<%-- Page directive with multiple attributes --%>
<%@ page language="java"
contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8"
pageEncoding="UTF-8"
import="java.util.*, java.text.SimpleDateFormat"
session="true"
errorPage="error.jsp"
buffer="16kb"
%>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<%
// Using imported classes
Date now = new Date();
SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-MM-yyyy HH:mm:ss");
String formattedDate = sdf.format(now);
%>
<p>Formatted Date: <%= formattedDate %></p>
<p>Session ID: <%= session.getId() %></p>
</body>
</html>
<%-- Error page (error.jsp) --%>
<%@ page isErrorPage="true" %>
<html><body>
<h2>Error Occurred!</h2>
<p>Message: <%= exception.getMessage() %></p>
</body></html>The include directive (<%@ include file="..." %>) includes the content of another file at translation time. The included file's content is merged into the current JSP before compilation. This is a static include - changes to the included file require recompilation.
The taglib directive (<%@ taglib uri="..." prefix="..." %>) declares a tag library (like JSTL) for use in the page.
<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8"%>
<%-- Include directive: static include at translation time --%>
<%@ include file="header.jsp" %>
<%-- Taglib directive: declare JSTL core library --%>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" prefix="c" %>
<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/fmt" prefix="fmt" %>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<h2>Main Content</h2>
<%-- Using JSTL c:if tag --%>
<c:if test="${not empty param.name}">
<p>Hello, ${param.name}!</p>
</c:if>
<%-- Using JSTL fmt tag --%>
<fmt:formatDate value="${now}" pattern="dd/MM/yyyy"/>
<%@ include file="footer.jsp" %>
</body>
</html><%-- header.jsp - included statically --%>
<header style="background:#333;color:#fff;padding:10px;">
<h1>My JSP Website</h1>
<nav>
<a href="index.jsp" style="color:#fff;margin-right:10px;">Home</a>
<a href="about.jsp" style="color:#fff;margin-right:10px;">About</a>
<a href="contact.jsp" style="color:#fff;">Contact</a>
</nav>
</header>Explore 500+ free tutorials across 20+ languages and frameworks.