The problem was a very trivial one so I didnt care to post the solution. Anyway, the problem was that initially I had created the tag file without any attributes and called it without giving any attributes in the JSP.
Later I added an attribute "custom" to the tag file and provided the attribute in the call to the tag file in the JSP after which I got this exception.
It appears that the tag files are created as
java classes in a folder called "tags" in the temporary working directory(the one used to generate java and class files for the JSPs). After I added the attribute, the container wasnt recompiling the tag files to create new versions of java and class files for it but it recompiled the JSP. So effectively, the JSP was passing the attribute but the old version of the compiled tag files didnt accept any attributes hence the exception "unable to find setter method".
Once I cleared the temporary folder and issued a fresh request, everything got compiled and it worked fine.
Hope this explanation is sufficient and helpful for beginners like me
In case I am not clear in whatever I just explained, kindly let me know. I'll be glad to help.
Regards
Dinkar