JSP template inheritance

Question

Coming from a background in Django, I often use \"template inheritance\", where multiple templates inherit from a common base. Is there an easy way to do this in JSP? If not

Answer 1

Rythm Template engine has implemented an elegant approach for template inheritance.

So suppose your layout template (parent template) called main.html:

@get("title", "default main page")
@render("leftPanel")

@render("rightPanel")
@render()

@render("footer"){
   @**
    * the content here is supplied if the child template failed 
    * to provide it's own footer implementation
    *@
   
copyright 2012 ...
}

And here is your target template:

@extends(main)
@set(title: "My Cool Page")
@section("leftPanel") {

...

}

@section("rightPanel") {

...

}

@*** note no "footer" section supplied so the default content will be used **@

@*** the rest is for the main content **@
...

Check the real demo at http://rythmengine.com/demo/testdefaultlayoutcontent

A comprehensive document could be found at http://www.playframework.org/modules/rythm. Though it's targeted to Play!Framework, most of the content also apply to pure rythm engine without Play!Framework.