(Quick Reference) # 8.3.2 Simple Tags Version: 3.2.8 ## 8.3.2 Simple Tags As demonstrated in the previous example it is easy to write simple tags that have no body and just output content. Another example is a `dateFormat` style tag:
    def dateFormat = { attrs, body ->
        out << new java.text.SimpleDateFormat(attrs.format).format(attrs.date)
    }
The above uses Java’s `SimpleDateFormat` class to format a date and then write it to the response. The tag can then be used within a GSP as follows:
    <g:dateFormat format="dd-MM-yyyy" date="${new Date()}" />
With simple tags sometimes you need to write HTML mark-up to the response. One approach would be to embed the content directly:
    def formatBook = { attrs, body ->
        out << "<div id=\"${attrs.book.id}\">"
        out << "Title : ${attrs.book.title}"
        out << "</div>"
    }
Although this approach may be tempting it is not very clean. A better approach would be to reuse the render tag:
    def formatBook = { attrs, body ->
        out << render(template: "bookTemplate", model: [book: attrs.book])
    }
And then have a separate GSP template that does the actual rendering. | Quick Reference (hide)