Using Java Server Pages

Each form page can be surrounded by 4 Java Server Pages (JSPs) or HTML pages corresponding to top, left, right and bottom of the page as shown below. A JSP is an HTML page that can contain embedded Java code to control the appearance of a page. These JSPs are not strictly part of the form, but they can access form data using the Ebase External Interface e.g. the current page name, field values etc. This technique makes it possible to build web applications that contain context sensitive information e.g. a user might declare herself disabled on a social services website and the system could display a JSP with links to all the services available for disabled people. The JSPs can be changed dynamically during form execution using the set JSP_xxx FPL command.

Some typical uses for JSPs are:

· contain images and menus to make the page consistent with corporate look and feel

· contain progress trackers indicating which page the user is on, total number of pages etc.

· contain related links, additional information etc

The layout of each page generated by the Ebase system is shown below.

A number of table cells are tagged with the HTML id attribute.

eb_all	All visual content
eb_top	Top JSP
eb_left	Left JSP
eb_bottom	Bottom JSP
eb_right	Right JSP
eb_main	Main Form Page

These ids can be associated with style sheet classes by adding the class definitions to the Html++ tab of form properties. The following example sets the background colour for the left and right JSPs.

<style>

#eb_left {background-color:#eaeabb}

#eb_right {background-color:#eaeabb}

</style>

Here is an example of a form using all 4 optional JSPs.

(See Working with Java Server Pages for more information)

Customizing the presentation template

Each form is associated (using Form Properties) with a presentation template. This template controls all aspects of presentation within the form page e.g. all fonts, font sizes, colours, relative dimensions of the underlying tables, use of bold, italic, underline etc. (See Working with Presentation Templates for more information)

The selection of available colours and fonts can be customised to allow either full flexibility or selection from a restricted range. (See Setting Installation Preferences for more information)

Adding HTML tags to the texts and messages

For fine tuning of individual texts and messages, it is also possible to insert HTML tags within the texts.