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Tag Library Documentation Generator FAQ

Tag Library Documentation Generator FAQ

  1. What is Tag Library Documentation Generator?
  2. What happened to TLDDoc?
  3. Where can I get documentation on existing tag libraries like JSTL?
  4. Can I use HTML tags in my TLDs?
  5. How can I generate tag library documentation with ant?
  6. How can I generate tag library documentation with maven?
  7. Are there any IDE plugins available?
  8. What version of Java do I need?
  9. What if I get the error "xyz.tld does not have <taglib> as root?
  10. I don't see the answer to my question here. Where can I get help?

Tag Library Documentation Generator FAQ

What is Tag Library Documentation Generator?

Tag Library Documentation Generator is a utility for automatically generating javadoc-style documentation for JavaServer Pages™ (JSP™) Technology Tag Libraries. It accepts a set of tag libraries as input, and generates a set of HTML files as output. It can also be used to generate tag library documentation for JavaServer Faces UI components.

Included in the output is a full description of each defined tag library, the tags contained within those tag libraries, and how to use those tags.


What happened to TLDDoc?

Tag Library Documentation Generator was first released as TLDDoc 1.0 as part of Sun's CoolStuff program. It has since been open-sourced on java.net and is now referred to as "Tag Library Documentation Generator". Many people still call it "TLDDoc" for short.


Where can I get documentation on existing tag libraries like JSTL?

See the Jakarta Standard Tag Library™.


Can I use HTML tags in my TLDs?

Tag Library Documentation Generator version 1.2 supports using CDATA-escaped HTML tags in your JSP 1.1 info or JSP 1.2/2.0 description tags.

You must escape these tags (or the entire description) with <![CDATA[]]> elements. For example:

INCORRECT:

<description>A <b>very</b> cool tag library</description>

CORRECT:

<description>A <![CDATA[<b>]]>very<![CDATA[</b>]]> cool tag library</description>

CORRECT:

<description>A <![CDATA[<b>very</b>]]> cool tag library</description>

CORRECT:

<description><![CDATA[A <b>very</b> cool tag library]]></description>

Any HTML tags used in fields other than <info> or <description> will be escaped and displayed using angle-brackets in the resulting documentation.


How can I generate tag library documentation with ant?

See the Usage section on the main project page for information about how to run with ant.


How can I generate tag library documentation with maven?

See the Usage section on the main project page for information about how to run with maven.


Are there any IDE plugins available?

Not yet. We're looking for volunteers to help write such plugins. If you'd like to help, please post a issue to GitHub.


What version of Java do I need?

Tag Library Documentation Generator requires a minimum of JDK 8.


What if I get the error "xyz.tld does not have <taglib> as root?

This error will happen if you are using a JSP 2.0 TLD, make sure you have xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee" in your <taglib> element.


I don't see the answer to my question here. Where can I get help?

Post your question as a issue to GitHub for further assistance.