How to include common layout(header etc.) on DD4T on Java

Question

I'm implementing DD4T on Java. To implement common layout, like header and footer etc., I write "jsp:include" on page template JSP file. But apparently it includes the page itself, and the page is included again and again, and causes infinite loop. This problem occures even when page name is not correct like following.

<jsp:include page="xxxx.html"></jsp:include>

Of cause, same problem occurs when page name is correct.

What is good way to include common layout on Java DD4T?

Regards,

Answer 1

In your master layout (or page layout), you should use the DD4T method to render dynamic component presentation (that's what we use in our c# based razor views and assuming you should be able to do the same in Java as well). This is assuming you have created Header, footer etc as dynamic components since they are included on multiple pages and you don't want to republish all pages when you make changes to your component. Here is the DD4T Java implementation link where you can find methods to use: DD4T Java GitHub

Answer 2

As suggested by Vipin, you should use dynamic components for common layout so that while changing any part of common layout you don't need to publish all the pages only publishing dynamic component is sufficient.

The possible implementation for JSP to include dynamic components is given in the answer for the following question: Render dynamic component presentation

Answer 3

This is a known limitation in Spring MVC. They way I've solved it, is expressed in the taglib class below:

https://github.com/dd4t/dd4t-2-java/blob/develop/dd4t-mvc-support/src/main/java/org/dd4t/mvc/tags/SmartIncludeTag.java

You can use it to include common shared pages, like header and footer pages published from Tridion.