According to TLD, tag form:input must be empty, but is not

摘要: Developing a search form with the Spring MVC framework.

Problem

Developing a search form with the Spring MVC framework.

/WEB-INF/pages/tools/webserver.jsp – Spring mvc + form tag

   <form:form method="post" commandName="searchForm"
	action="${pageContext.request.contextPath}/tools/webserver/"
	class="navbar-form pull-left" id="search-form">
	Type a website :
	<form:input path="domainName" type="text" width="165px"
		placeholder="example - google.com" />
	<button type="submit" class="btn btn-top-margin">Search</button>
   </form:form>

Spring Controller

@Controller
@RequestMapping(value = "/tools", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public class ToolsController {
	@RequestMapping(value = "/webserver", method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public ModelAndView main() {
		ModelAndView modelandView 
                       = new ModelAndView("tools/webserver", "searchForm", "");
		return modelandView;

When access the page, it shows following error message.

org.apache.jasper.JasperException: /WEB-INF/pages/tools/webserver.jsp(41,5) 
According to TLD, tag form:input must be empty, but is not
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.DefaultErrorHandler.jspError(DefaultErrorHandler.java:40)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.ErrorDispatcher.dispatch(ErrorDispatcher.java:407)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.ErrorDispatcher.jspError(ErrorDispatcher.java:132)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseBody(Parser.java:1603)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseOptionalBody(Parser.java:978)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseCustomTag(Parser.java:1246)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseElements(Parser.java:1422)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseBody(Parser.java:1634)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseOptionalBody(Parser.java:978)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseCustomTag(Parser.java:1246)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parseElements(Parser.java:1422)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Parser.parse(Parser.java:130)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.ParserController.doParse(ParserController.java:255)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.ParserController.parse(ParserController.java:103)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.generateJava(Compiler.java:185)
	org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:354)

Solution

The message is misleading, actually, it means the form:input, domainName is empty, you need to link it with a field. To fix it, just create an object with domainName and link it via @Controller class.

public class SearchQuery {
	private String domainName;
	public String getDomainName() {
		return domainName;
	public void setDomainName(String domainName) {
		this.domainName = domainName;

Spring Controller

@Controller
@RequestMapping(value = "/tools", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public class ToolsController {
	@RequestMapping(value = "/webserver", method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public ModelAndView main() {
		ModelAndView modelandView 
                       = new ModelAndView("tools/webserver", "searchForm", new SearchQuery());
		return modelandView;