The AJAX Tag Library is a set of JSP tags that simplify the use of Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) technology in JavaServer Pages.
AJAX is primarily rooted in JavaScript. However, many server-side developers do not have an extensive knowledge of client-side programming in the browser. It's much easier in some cases for J2EE developers, especially, to simply add a JSP tag to the page to gain the function desired.
This tag library fills that need by not forcing J2EE developers to write the necessary JavaScript to implement an AJAX-capable web form. The tag library provides support for live form updates for the following use cases: autocomplete based on character input to an input field, select box population based on selections made from another field, callout or balloon popups for highlighting content, refreshing form fields, toggling images and form field states on/off.
The implementation is a combination of Java classes and JavaScript source files. The Java code should be OS independent as there are no client side components. However, the Java is dependent on JDK 1.5+ and requires a Servlet container to run at least JSP version 2.0. Just if you need includes with the area Tag you will need JSP version 2.1 (Tomcat6+). The JavaScript should run in at least Firefox 2.0+ and Internet Explorer 6.0+. To get started, check out the install and quickstart guides.
While using the tag library please write XHTML code in your WEB application otherwise tag will fail and throw an error.
| Tag | Description |
| Autocomplete | Retrieves a list of values that matches the string entered in a text form field as the user types. |
| Callout | Displays a callout or popup balloon, anchored to an HTML element with an onclick event. |
| HTML Content Replace | Builds the JavaScript required to hook a content area (e.g., DIV tag) to a link, image, or other HTML element's onclick event. |
| Portlet | Portlet-style capability from a AJAX-enabled JSP tag. |
| Select/dropdown | Based on a selection within a dropdown field, a second select field will be populated. |
| Tab Panel / Tab | Enable an AJAX-based set of property pages. |
| Toggle | Uses images to create either a single on/off toggle or a sequential rating system. |
| Update Field | Updates one or more form field values based on response to text entered in another field. |
| Area and Anchor | Shows how to AJAX-enable any area of your page. |
| Ajax DisplayTag | Shows how to AJAX-enable DisplayTag |
| Editor | Create an in-place editor |
| Tree | Create an Tree view |