Expression Language

Granite UI supports expression language such that the author can provide a more dynamic value to the property of a component.

The implementation used for Granite UI is javax.el 2.1.

For example in order to append the current request suffix as a suffix of the href property of hyperlink—which accepts StringEL as property type—you can use EL:

+ mylink
  - sling:resourceType = "granite/ui/components/coral/foundation/hyperlink"
  - href = "/content/geo${granite:encodeURIPath(requestPathInfo.suffix)}"

Note

javax.el is intended for general use outside of the JSP and JSF specifications as well. Granite UI makes use of this feature for its EL purpose. Hence the EL context of Granite UI is independent of JSP context. For example if you try to access JSP implicit objects such as requestScope, it will not work. Only the variables and functions given in this document are supported.

Supported Variables and Functions

param

Equivalent to The JSP EL param: Maps a request parameter name to a single value.

Remember that the value is decoded by the container.

paramValues

Equivalent to The JSP EL paramValues: Maps a request parameter name to an array of values.

Remember that the values are decoded by the container.

header

Equivalent to The JSP EL header: Maps a request header name to a single value.

headerValues

Equivalent to The JSP EL headerValues: Maps a request header name to an array of values.

cookie

Equivalent to The JSP EL cookie: Maps a cookie name to a single cookie.

querystring

The query string of the current request.

Remember that the value is not decoded by the container.

requestPathInfo

The current RequestPathInfo object.

state

The State object.

tenant

The current org.apache.sling.tenant.Tenant object.

granite:concat(Object o1, Object o2)

Concatenates the object (coerced to string) o2 to the end of object (coerced to string) o1.

granite:encodeURIComponent(String string)

Encodes a URL encoding of the string. The characters that don’t need encoding are those defined ‘unreserved’ in section 2.3 of the ‘URI generic syntax’ RFC 2396.

granite:encodeURIPath(String path)

Encodes a URL encoding of the path. The characters that don’t need encoding are those defined ‘unreserved’ in section 2.3 of the ‘URI generic syntax’ RFC 2396. In contrast to the granite:encodeURIComponent(String) method, not the entire path string is escaped, but every individual part (i.e. the slashes are not escaped).

granite:uritemplate(String string)

Manipulates the given string for the purpose of uritemplate. If the string starts with “/” (i.e. an absolute path), the context path of the request if added to the string.

granite:absUritemplate(String string)

Manipulates the given string for the purpose of uritemplate. The context path of the request if added to the string no matter what. This is very useful when the variable is the URL path itself. e.g. ${granite:absUritemplate("{path}.html")}.

granite:url(String string)

Manipulates the given string for the purpose of URL. If the string starts with “/” (i.e. an absolute path), the context path of the request if added to the string.

granite:relativeParent(String path, int level)

Returns the n-th relative parent of the path, where n=level.

Examples:

granite:relativeParent("/a/b/c/d", 0) == "/a/b/c/d"
granite:relativeParent("/a/b/c/d", 1) == "/a/b/c"

granite:toJSONArray(String[] array)

Converts the given string array to its JSON counterpart.

granite:toQueryString(String name, String[] array)

Converts the given string array to query string of the given name. Example, calling toQueryString("name1", new String[] { "a", "b", "c" }) would result in name1=a&name1=b&name1=c.

granite:contains(String haystack, String needle)

Returns true if and only if the haystack contains the needle values.

granite:containsIgnoreCase(String haystack, String needle)

Returns true if and only if the haystack contains the needle values, while ignoring case considerations.

Component Development

To support EL in your component, you can use ExpressionResolver service. There is also ExpressionHelper as a convenient helper, which you can initialize yourself or simply use ComponentHelper#getExpressionHelper().

Extending the EL

There is ExpressionCustomizer that allows a certain customization when resolving the expression. For example this feature allows the resource type implementation of CQ Dialog to register a custom variable named cqDesign so that it can be used in EL expression.