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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-05T16:28:20+00:00

I made myself a template for all JSPs in my webapp that keeps things

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I made myself a template for all JSPs in my webapp that keeps things very simple:

<%@ include file="header.jsp" %>

<!-- Put unique content here -->

<%@ include file="footer.jsp" %>

I decided to move my navigation menu out of header.jsp into its own file as it is getting larger. I put the code for the menu into menu.jsp. Here is how the include looks inside of my header.jsp:

<html>
<head>
    <title>My JSP</title>
</head>

    <body>

        <jsp:include page = "menu.jsp"/>

 ......

However, menu.jsp will not work unless I also put this line in it:

<%@ taglib prefix = "c" uri = "http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"%>

That is already in my header.jsp. I would like to only to have to put it there. However when I try using this sytax instead:

<%@ include file="menu.jsp" %>

I get an error message from WebLogic 11g stating that 

<%@ include file="header.jsp" %> is self refrencing

How can I include menu.jsp in header.jsp without having to include the JSTL in menu.jsp?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    A JSP page included dynamically (<jsp:include />) must have a taglib declaration if it uses the taglib because it is compiled separately.

    A JSP page included statically doesn’t have the same restriction because it’s compiled into the servlet itself.

    What’s the big deal about declaring a taglib in a JSP in which it’s used? That makes it a standalone “chunk” of functionality, dynamically includable anywhere, self-documenting, without worrying about the page it’s being included in: this is the goal of breaking up functionality.

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