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Article Home> Articles > JSP > Fundamentals Struts Tutorial The JSP Struts Tutorial will help new JSP developers understand the benefits of struts and how to program their first struts program. Also included are JSP Struts movies to learn Struts by example. Struts source code is also included for download. This is Part 1 of a 3 Part Struts tutorial. See the left hand menu for the other parts when you finish this part of the Struts tutorial.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 What is Struts?

Struts is a popular open source framework from Apache Software Foundation to build web applications that integrate with standard technologies such as Servlets, Java Beans and Java Server pages. Struts offers many benefits to the web application developer,including the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design patterns (best practice) in web applications. The Model-View-Controller paradigm applied to web applications lets you separately display code (for example, HTML and tag libraries) from flow control logic (action classes) from the data model to be displayed and updated by the application. Struts offers a set of tag libraries to support the faster development of the different layers of the web application. The basic idea of the MVC architecture is to divide the application into three layers: Model that represents the data layer, a view layer that represents the data processed by the model component; and a Controller component that is responsible for interaction between the model and the controller. So when we say Struts is an MVC framework for web based applications, we actually mean that it facilitates the rapid development of applications by providing a Controller that helps interaction between the model and the view so that an application developer has not to worry about how to make view and the model independent of each other and yet exist in coordination.

Struts is basically a Controller. It depends on other things for the model and the view. It can communicate with Hibernate, Enterprise Java Beans or any other java components for the model. JSP/Servlets are used for the view which use html 2/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 front end internally. Struts provides several tag libraries to support the rapid development for the view layer.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Why do we need Struts? Although a dynamic web application can be developed using JSP and Servlet technology, there are many problems. * Tightly coupled classes - one change affects other classes * Business logic resides in both presentation and data access layer. So if there is a change in a business rule, needs multiple places to find the business rules. Also promotes duplicate business rules. * Data sources are difficult to change as data access methods may be used in the presentation layer. * Logic to determine what to do next is across the application,no centralized decision. To solve these problems,we need a mechanism that can separate the presentation layer of a web application from business logic. Luckily we have MVC and we have Struts. MVC is a design pattern (best practice method) that separates the application design into there main parts: Model, View and Controller * Model - data and logic (business logic methods). * View - output displayed to the user * Controller - takes the input from the user and passes it to the relevant model. The model returns and based on the result, the controller decides which view (page) to show the user.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Advantages of Struts Struts offers many advantages to the application programmer while reducing the development time and making the manageability of the application easier. Here are few key advantages of using Struts instead of managing the every layer of the web application yourself.

Centralized File-Based Configuration Rather than hard coding information into java programs,many Struts values are represented in XML or property files. This loose coupling means that many changes can be made without modifying or recompiling Java code,and that wholesale changes can be made by editing a single file. This approach also lets Java and Web developers focus on their specific tasks (implementing business logic,presenting certain values to clients,etc.) without needing to know about the overall system layout.

Form Beans In JSP,you can use property=* with jsp:setProperty to automatically populate a JavaBean component based on incoming request parameters. Unfortunately,however,in the standard API this capability is unavailable to servlets,even though with MVC it is really servlets,not JSP pages,that should usually be the target of form submissions. Apache Struts extends this capability to Java code and adds in several useful utilities,all of which serve to greatly simplify the processing of request parameters.

Bean Tags Apache Struts provides a set of custom JSP tags (bean:write,in particular) that let you easily output the properties of JavaBeans components. Basically,these are concise and powerful variations of the standard jsp:useBean and jsp:getProperty tags.

HTML tags Apache Struts provides a set of custom JSP tags to create HTML forms that are associated with JavaBeans components. This bean/form association serves two useful purposes: o o It lets you get initial form-field values from Java objects. It lets you redisplay forms with some or all previously entered values intact.

Form Field Validation Apache Struts has built-in capabilities for checking that form values are in the required format. If values are missing or in an improper format,the form can be automatically redisplayed with error messages and with the previously entered values maintained. This validation can be performed on the server (in Java),or both on the server and on the client (in JavaScript). Struts 2.0 is currently in beta phase and contains the existing Struts features plus all the features of WebWorks framework.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Setting up Eclipse for Web Development 1. Eclipse does not come with a bundled Java Development Kit. Download and install JDK 1.4 (Sun or IBM) http://java.sun.com/j2se/downloads/index.html

2. Download and install Eclipse 3.2.1 from:

http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/download.php?file=/eclipse/downloads/drops/R-3.2.1-200609210945/eclipse-SDK-3.2.1-win32

3. By default,Eclipse supports only basic Java Development. Most of the advanced features are available in the form of pluggins which may be downloaded and installed from there respective repositories. MyEclipse is a mini-IDE which is installed as an add-on to the Eclipse. Download and install MyEclipse 5.1 from: http://www.myeclipseide.com/Downloads%2Bindex-req-viewsdownload-sid-15.html

4. To deploy the web applications,we need a Servlet container like tomcat or JBoss. Download and install Tomcat 5.0.x (or other compliant Servlet/EJB container) from http://www.axint.net/apache/jakarta/tomcat-5/v5.0.28/bin/jakarta-tomcat-5.0.28.exe

If your Eclipse version is other than 3.2.1,please download an appropriate MyEclipse plug-in from http://www.myeclipseide.com/

5. Download the source code used in this tutorial http://www.visualbuilder.com/tutorials/jsp/struts/sourcecode/eclipse-project.zip

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Registration Case Study

Let us consider an example a web based user registration application. Usually every web based application requires secure login to access its critical resources therefore a user management is part of every web application. Our first Struts application is a web based user registration application. The application is capable of displaying the list of registered users and allowing the user to add a new user to the database. Well use a single table users to store the user information. Select any database of your choice,and create a table USERS with following fields:
Column Name USER_ID FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME AGE EMAIL PASSWORD Data Type TEXT TEXT TEXT NUMBER TEXT TEXT NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE Constraints PRIMARY KEY

Well use Microsoft Access database for this purpose. Use the following SQL to create table in Microsoft Access. CREATE TABLE USERS( user_id text primary key, first_name text, last_name text, age number, email text, password text );

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Setting up Struts project in Eclipse

We are using MyEclipse as a development environment which is an eclipse plugin. Let's create a new project in Eclipse platform and configure it as shown below.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Creating an ODBC Data source

Since Microsoft Access does not have a JDBC driver,well connect using the JDBC-ODBC Bridge. Lets create an ODBC DSN first. If you are using a database that supports JDBC driver,you dont need to do this,just replace the connection URL while connecting to the database in next section. Create the ODBC DSN as shown below.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Configuring Application Server

We have configured the project for struts. But waitwe are missing something. We still dont have an application server ready to deploy our application. Do we have? Lets configure the eclipse for the application server.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Struts Configuration

Now that we have configured our project for struts,lets have a look at the configurations MyEclipse has made for us. Web.xml Web.xml resides in applications WEB-INF directory and contains the essential configuration for the web application like the Servlet mappings,Authentications mechanisms,Tag libraries etc. Lets see what is in web.xml right now. <?xml version=1.0 encoding=UTF-8?> <web-app xmlns=http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee axmlns:xsi=http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance version=2.4 xsi:schemaLocation=http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee qqhttp://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-app_2_4.xsd> <servlet> <servlet-name>action</servlet-name> <servlet-class>org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet</servlet-class> <init-param> <param-name>config</param-name> <param-value>/WEB-INF/struts-config.xml</param-value> </init-param> <init-param> <param-name>debug</param-name> <param-value>3</param-value> </init-param> <init-param> <param-name>detail</param-name> <param-value>3</param-value> </init-param> <load-on-startup>0</load-on-startup> </servlet> <servlet-mapping> <servlet-name>action</servlet-name> <url-pattern>*.do</url-pattern> </servlet-mapping> </web-app> As we can see,there is one Servlet configured and is mapped with URL pattern *.do. What is this ActionServlet for? This is the simple way how the Struts CONTROLER is plugged into the web application. The basic reason of defining a servlet mapping for a web application is that whenever someone access a page that matches the URL pattern defined in servlet mapping,Application Server will redirect the request to this servlet. That means,we have configure Struts Action Servlet to receive all the request that end with a .do keyword. We can even configure it for .html or .jsp or .abc,.do is the generally accepted token. Struts-config.xml <?xml version=1.0 encoding=UTF-8?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.2//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_2.dtd> <struts-config> <data-sources /> <form-beans /> <global-exceptions /> 12/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <global-forwards /> <action-mappings /> <message-resources parameter=com.visualbuilder.struts.ApplicationResources /> </struts-config> We dont have anything special in this file configured,but as you can see,we have the basic tags. Well add the appropriate struts components to these tags as we develop them. One important thing in this file is the message-resources. This is a resource bundle that will contain all the errors,labels or other messages that we want to display on the view (jsp pages). The separation of the String messages from the jsp pages helps internationalization.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Writing the User class

Lets start with our first java class. Remember we have a table users in the database. Lets write a simple bean that represents this table.
package com.visualbuilder.struts.beans;

public class User { private String userId = ; private String firstName = ; private String lastName = ; private int age = 0; private String email = ; private String password = ; public User(String userId) { super(); this.userId = userId; } public int getAge() { return age; } public void setAge(int age) { this.age = age; } public String getEmail() { return email; } public void setEmail(String email) { this.email = email; } public String getFirstName() { return firstName; } public void setFirstName(String firstName) { this.firstName = firstName; } public String getLastName() { return lastName; } public void setLastName(String lastName) { this.lastName = lastName; } public String getUserId() { return userId; } public void setUserId(String userId) { this.userId = userId; } public String getPassword() { 14/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 return password; } public void setPassword(String password) { this.password = password; } }

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12/23/10 11:03:19 ResourceManager

As we have already discussed,one of the main concerns of the struts framework is to separate the string resources from the view. For this purpose,we have already defined a message-resources property n struts-config.xml. Most of the struts components will expect a property key where a string literal will be needed. To be consistent with the struts framework,we will try to separate the string resources from our normal java classes where we are not using struts components. To do this,we can use java.util.ResourceBundle class to pick the values from properties file against the specified keys. To ease the manipulation of string resources where we are not using the struts components,well write a separate class. package com.visualbuilder.struts; import java.util.ResourceBundle; public class ResourceManager { private static ResourceBundle bundle=ResourceBundle.getBundle(com.visualbuilder.struts.ApplicationResources); public static String getString(String key){ return bundle.getString(key) } }

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Writing the Struts Business Component

Now let us write our business class that has the ability to perform several actions on the user like adding a new user to the database,updating an existing user,deleting a user or fetching a user from the database. Let us call this class a UserManager. package com.visualbuilder.struts.db; public class UserManager { private static UserManager mgr = null; private UserManager() { } public static UserManager getInstance() { if(mgr == null) { mgr = new UserManager(); } return mgr; } }

Because for one application,there can exist only a single UserManager,we have made the UserManager a singleton. We will use UserManager.getInstance() whenever we need an instance of UserManager. Connecting to a database The purpose of the UserManager is to provide an interface between the database and the client applications that need access to the database. Lets connect to the database and add the following code in the constructor. String driverClass = ResourceManager.getString(database.driver); String dbUrl = ResourceManager.getString(database.url); String dbUser = ResourceManager.getString(database.user); String dbPassword = ResourceManager.getString(database.password); try{ Class.forName(driverClass); con = DriverManager.getConnection(dbUrl,dbUser,dbPassword); }catch(Exception exp){ System.err.println(Could not connect to dtabase.n exp.getMessage()); }

Where con is a global variable of type java.sql.Connection. Now that we have connected to the database,let us add the necessary methods to manipulate the users. After adding these methods,UserManager 17/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 package com.visualbuilder.struts.db; import java.sql.ResultSet; import java.sql.Statement; import java.sql.Connection; import java.sql.DriverManager; import java.sql.SQLException; import java.sql.PreparedStatement; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.List; import com.visualbuilder.struts.ResourceManager; import com.visualbuilder.struts.beans.User; public class UserManager { private static UserManager mgr = null; private Connection con = null; private UserManager() { String driverClass = ResourceManager.getString(database.driver); String dbUrl = ResourceManager.getString(database.url); String dbUser = ResourceManager.getString(database.user); String dbPassword = ResourceManager.getString(database.password); try{ Class.forName(driverClass); con = DriverManager.getConnection(dbUrl,dbUser,dbPassword); }catch(Exception exp){ System.err.println(Could not connect to dtabase.n exp.getMessage()); } } public void saveUser(User user) throws SQLException { if(user == null) throw new SQLException(ResourceManager.getString(save.user.null)); Connection connection = getConnection(); PreparedStatement pstmt = connection.prepareStatement(insert into users(user_id,first_name,last_name,age,email) values(?,?,?,?,?)); pstmt.setString(1,user.getUserId()); pstmt.setString(2,user.getFirstName()); pstmt.setString(3,user.getLastName()); pstmt.setInt(4,user.getAge()); pstmt.setString(5,user.getEmail()); pstmt.executeUpdate(); pstmt.close(); } public User getUser(String userId) throws SQLException { 18/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 if(userId == null || userId.length() == 0) throw new SQLException(ResourceManager.getString(retrieve.user.null)); Connection connection = getConnection(); Statement stmt = connection.createStatement(); ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(select * from users where user_id=&apos; userId &apos;); User user = null; if(rs.next()) { user = new User(userId); user.setFirstName(rs.getString(first_name)); user.setLastName(rs.getString(last_name)); user.setAge(rs.getInt(age)); user.setEmail(rs.getString(email)); } rs.close(); stmt.close(); return user; } public List list() throws SQLException { Connection connection = getConnection(); Statement stmt = connection.createStatement(); ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(select * from users); User user = null; List list = new ArrayList(); while(rs.next()) { user = new User(rs.getString(user_id)); user.setFirstName(rs.getString(first_name)); user.setLastName(rs.getString(last_name)); user.setAge(rs.getInt(age)); user.setEmail(rs.getString(email)); list.add(user); } rs.close(); stmt.close(); return list; } private Connection getConnection() throws SQLException { if(con == null) throw new SQLException(ResourceManager.getString(database.notConnected)); return con; } public static UserManager getInstance() { if(mgr == null) { mgr = new UserManager(); } return mgr; 19/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 } public void finalize() { try{ con.close(); }catch(Exception exp){} } } We have used several properties in this class. Add these properties in the ApplicationResources.properties file. #database connection properties database.driver = sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver database.url = jdbc:odbc:users database.user = database.password =

#User operations messages save.user.null = User is null retrieve.user.null = User is null user.notFound = User not found database.notConnected = Not connected to a database

Now we have all the business functions available,we are ready to move to the formal development of the struts based application.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Creating the Action Class

The basic component of a struts based application is the Action class. Let us create the action class as shown in the movie. Click the movie below

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Adding ActionForward

The forward element in struts-config.xml describes an ActionForward that is to be made available to an Action as a return value. An ActionForward is referenced by a logical name and encapsulates a URI. A forward element may be used to describe both global and local ActionForwards. Global forwards are available to all the Action objects in the module. Local forwards can be nested within an <action> element and only available to an Action object when it is invoked through that ActionMapping. Let us add two forwards for LoginAction success and fail. After adding the two forwards,the <action> tag looks like this: <action path=/login type=com.visualbuilder.struts.action.LoginAction validate=false> <forward name=success path=/manageusers.jsp /> <forward name=failure path=/index.jsp /> </action> Note the two forwards success and the failure. The path attribute in each forward tag is the resource to which the request will be redirected when forwarded to a particular forward. Let us now program our action to return to success if the entered user id and password is admin/admin. Right now we dont have any action form associated with this action,lets get the parameters from request as we do in servlets. String user = request.getParameter(userId); String password = request.getParameter(password); if(user!=null && password!=null && user.equals(admin) && password.equals(admin)) return mapping.findForward(success); return mapping.findForward(failure);

Now create index.jsp so that we have a form to submit values to this form. Add the following form in the body section of the jsp. <form action=/login.do method=post> <table border=0> <tr> <td>Login:</td> <td><input type=text name=userId /></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Password:</td> <td><input type=text name=password /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 align=center><input type=submit value=Login/></td> </tr> </table> </form> We are almost ready to run the project. But lets create a file manageusers.jsp so that if we enter a valid user id / password,we can see the success page. Add a simple success message You are logged into this page. 22/121

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Deploy the Struts Application

Now its time to test the magic of our first struts application. First step towards this is to deploy the application to the tomcat server we already configured in this tutorial.
Click to view the movie

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Adding the Form bean

In our LoginAction,we retrieved the form values using the conventional methods in HttpServletRequest. Struts provides an easy way to retrieve these values with the help of form beans. A form bean is a simple JavaBean that extends from org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm. We already have a JavaBean User but that does not extend from ActionForm. We can reuse this JavaBean for this purpose. Lets add the extends clause to the User class so that the signature of the class becomes public class User extends ActionForm Also we need to add a no-argument constructor to the User class to enable the struts framework to instantiate the bean. public User(){ super(); }

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Configuring Form Bean in struts-config.xml

Adding a form bean is a two step process. First of all we need to declare the form bean in the <form-beans> tag. Then we can associate this form bean to as many actions as we want. To declare the form bean,add the following line in the <form-beans> tag. <form-bean name=loginForm type=com.visualbuilder.struts.beans.User /> Now we will associate this form bean with the LoginAction. Update the action tag in action-mappings so that it becomes like this. <action name=loginForm path=/login scope=request type=com.visualbuilder.struts.action.LoginAction validate=false> <forward name=failure path=/index.jsp /> <forward name=success path=/manageusers.jsp /> </action> Now update the LoginAction to retrieve form values from form bean instead of request object though they are still available in the request object s well. Execute method should look like this now. public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping,ActionForm form,HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response) { User userForm = (User)form; String user = userForm.getUserId(); String password = userForm.getPassword(); if(user!=null && password!=null && user.equals(admin) && password.equals(admin)) return mapping.findForward(success); return mapping.findForward(failure); } Again deploy and run the project. You should get the same behavior as you got earlier.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Using Struts Tag Libraries

The Struts framework provides a set of built-in Tag libraries that allow you to build the view part of the MVC without embedding Java code directly within your application JSPs. Some commonly used struts tag libraries are described below. The Bean Tags The Tags within the Bean Library are used for creating and accessing JavaBeans and a few other general purpose uses. Although these tags work with any standard JavaBean,they are often used with Objects that extend the Struts ActionForm class. The HTML Tags The Tags within the Struts HTML Tag Library are used to create input forms for your application. There are also a few other useful Tags used in the creation and rendering of HTML-based user interfaces. The Logic Tags The Logic Tag Library contains tags that are helpful with iterating through collections,conditional generation of output,and application flow.

We have already used the ActionForm,but we actually have not enjoyed the blessings of struts. Lets program our action to return an appropriate error message called ActionError when the user fails to login successfully. Also re-arrange our view (the index.jsp) to use the struts tag libraries to manipulate the ActionForm values,and display the appropriate error message on error.

After adding the mentioned code,the execute method of LoginAction becomes:

public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping,ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response) { User userForm = (User)form; String user = userForm.getUserId(); String password = userForm.getPassword(); if(user.equals(admin) && password.equals(admin)) return mapping.findForward(success); ActionMessages errors = new ActionMessages(); ActionMessage error = new ActionMessage(login.failed); errors.add(error,error); saveErrors(request,errors); return mapping.findForward(failure); }

Note that we have created a new ActionMessage with a key login.failed. This key must exist in the ApplicationResources.properties file. Add the following line in the resource file.

login.failed = The supplied user name / password does not match 27/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 And the index.jsp becomes: <%@ page language=java pageEncoding=ISO-8859-1%> <%@taglib prefix=html uri=/WEB-INF/struts-html.tld %> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html> <head> <title>Welcome to the registration case study</title> <!-<link rel=stylesheet type=text/css href=styles.css> --> </head> <body> <html:errors/> <html:form action=/login> <table border=0> <tr> <td>Login:</td> <td><html:text property=userId /></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Password:</td> <td><html:text property=password /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 align=center><html:submit value=Login/></td> </tr> </table> </html:form> </body> </html> As you can see,we have declared a tag library struts-html.tld. This is the Html tag library we talked about a while ago. The tag <html:errors/> is responsible for displaying the message that we may have saved in the request or the session. We can specify the scope as an attribute to this tag. Now re-deploy the application and see yourself the difference. Did you notice the field values after submitting the invalid values? Yes! The values again appear in the field when the error message is displayed. This is particularly important when submitting huge forms. And we have achieved all this without any extra programming.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Listing all Users - Struts Iterator Looping

Let us write a simple action and a view that displays the user list on our manageusers.jsp. First of all,create an Action class named ListAction and add the execute method as following. public class ManageUsersAction extends Action { public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping,ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request,HttpServletResponse response) { //Get a list of users and save to the request try{ List list = UserManager.getInstance().list(); request.setAttribute(list,list); }catch(SQLException sqle) { ActionMessages errors = new ActionMessages(); ActionMessage error = new ActionMessage(error.generic,sqle.getMessage()); errors.add(error,error); saveErrors(request,errors); } return mapping.findForward(success); } } Add the following line in ApplicationResources.properties file. error.generic = An error prevented the operation. Error detail is:<br>{0} Add the following code in manageusers.jsp <%@ page language=java pageEncoding=ISO-8859-1%> <%@taglib uri=/WEB-INF/struts-html.tld prefix=html %> <%@taglib uri=/WEB-INF/struts-logic.tld prefix=logic %> <%@taglib uri=/WEB-INF/struts-bean.tld prefix=bean %> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html> <head> <title>Listing all users</title> </head> <body> <center><h3>User List</h3></center> <html:errors/> <logic:present name=list> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center width=70% style=border-collapse:collapse;> <tr bgcolor=#98AFCC> <th>User ID</th> 29/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <th>First Name</th> <th>Last Name</th> <th>Email</th> </tr> <%boolean even = false; %> <logic:iterate id=user name=list> <% even = !even; %> <tr bgcolor=<%=even?#B7D3F5:#D6E0F5 %>> <td> <bean:write name=user property=userId /> </td> <td> <bean:write name=user property=firstName /> </td> <td> <bean:write name=user property=lastName /> </td> <td> <bean:write name=user property=email /> </td> </tr> </logic:iterate> <tr> <td colspan=6 align=center> <a href=adduser.jsp>Add New User</a> </td> </tr> </table> </logic:present> </body> </html>

Note that in this jsp,we have not performed any loop and still we are iterating over the list. Also note the separation of view from the model (data). Now We need to update the success forward in struts-config.xml to forward to manageusers.do instead of manageusers.jsp. Also we need to add the manageusers action entry in the struts-config.xml. Now the <action-mappings> looks like this.

<action-mappings > <action name=loginForm path=/login scope=request type=com.visualbuilder.struts.action.LoginAction validate=false> <forward name=failure path=/index.jsp /> 30/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <forward name=success path=/manageusers.do /> </action> <action path=/manageusers type=com.visualbuilder.struts.action.ManageUsersAction > <forward name=success path=/manageusers.jsp /> </action> </action-mappings>

On redeploying and running the application,you should be able to see a list of users on successful login. You dont have any data in the database right now,so you might be viewing a page with only one link Add New User but if you add few records manually,you will see the list of users. The variable even is used to indicate if the current row is even or odd to change the row background.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Add User Action - New Struts Action Class

Now its time to add a new user to the database. Lets write an action first that can save a user in the database. Create a new Action class AddUserAction and add the following code in its execute method. User user = (User) form; try{ UserManager.getInstance().saveUser(user); }catch(SQLException sqle) { ActionMessages errors = new ActionMessages(); ActionMessage error = new ActionMessage(error.generic,sqle.getMessage()); errors.add(error,error); saveErrors(request,errors); } return mapping.findForward(success);

Configure this action in the struts-config.xml as given below. <action attribute=loginForm name=loginForm path=/adduser scope=request type=com.visualbuilder.struts.action.AddUserAction validate=false > <forward name=success path=/manageusers.do /> </action> Note that we have associated the same form bean that we did when writing the LoginAction.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Add User View Now it is the time to write a view component for our AddUserAction. Create a jsp page adduser.jsp with the following code.

<%@ page language=java pageEncoding=ISO-8859-1%> <%@ taglib uri=/WEB-INF/Struts-html.tld prefix=html %> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html:html lang=true> <head> <html:base /> <title>Add new user</title> </head> <body> <center><h3>Add New User</h3></center> <CENTER><html:errors/></CENTER> <html:form action=/adduser method=post> <table border=0 align=center> <tr> <td>User ID:</td> <td><html:text property=userId /></td> </tr> <tr> <td>First Name:</td> <td><html:text property=firstName /></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Last Name:</td> <td><html:text property=lastName /></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Age:</td> <td><html:text property=age /></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Email:</td> <td><html:text property=email /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 align=center><html:submit /></td> </tr> </table> </html:form> </body> </html:html>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Run the application,login as admin/admin and click on Add New User link at the bottom of the page. You will find a form. Enter the appropriate values,and click on submit button. You will again be redirected to the page showing the list of users and notice that the new user has been added to the list.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Validating Struts Form Bean

Try to create a user with invalid values. For example an invalid email address that does not follow email addresses rules. You will see that the system does not check the validity of the data and the user still gets inserted into the database. To solve this issue,we need to validate the data before inserting into the database or perform any operation on the data. We have two options to do this. 1. Perform the validation in action class and return to failure if the validation fails. 2. Perform validation in form bean.

The first option is not feasible because one form bean may be used in many actions. So we will need to perform validation in all actions where this form bean is used. The better choice is to perform validation in form bean. Struts framework provides validation facility for form beans. If we need to perform validation on a form bean,we need to override validate method in our ActionForm class. The validate method returns an instance of ActionErrors. We can return ActionErrors instance with appropriate ActionError object if the validation fails,or simply return empty ActionErrors instance to indicate that the validation has passed and the struts frame may forward the request to action class. Lets add the validation to our User class.

public ActionErrors validate( ActionMapping mapping,HttpServletRequest request ) { ActionErrors errors = new ActionErrors(); if( getUserId().length()<1 ) { errors.add(name,new ActionMessage(null.check,User ID)); } if(getEmail().length()>0) {{ //Yes! user entered email address. validate it if(!getEmail().matches(^[a-zA-Z][\w\.-]*[a-zA-Z0-9]@[a-zA-Z0-9][\w\.-]*[a-zA-Z0-9]\.[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z\.]*[a-zA-Z]$)){ errors.add(name,new ActionMessage(email.invalid)); } } return errors; } Also we need to enable the validate=true and provide an input attribute in the action configuration in struts-config.xml <action attribute=loginForm name=loginForm path=/adduser 35/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 scope=request validate=true input=/adduser.jsp type=com.visualbuilder.struts.action.AddUserAction> <forward name=success path=/manageusers.do /> </action> Also we have used two error messages if the validation fails. Add these two keys in the ApplicationResources.properties.

null.check = {0} cannot be null or empty email.invalid = Email address does not pass the validation rules

Now run the application and try to create a user with empty User ID or invalid email address. You will see the system does not insert the user into the database.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Review of the Struts Tutorial Let's review what you have learnt After reading this tutorial you should have a good idea of how to write a Struts based web application using Eclipse and MyEclipse platform. In addition,we also covered a lot more concepts of what actually the MyEclipse did and how to do them manually even if we don't have a sophisticated IDE. After completing this tutorial,with just a few required libraries,a Standard Java Development Kit and an appropriate installation of Tomcat,you should be able to develop and deploy a struts based application. The approach used in this tutorial was using a 'registration' application as a case study. Download the Source Code

What next? Check out our related tutorials on VisualBuilder.com: Struts Tutorial Part 2 Struts Tutorial Part 3

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We hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial. Be sure to come back to get updates of this tutorial.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Java Group

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Introduction This tutorial will help you to learn many features available with the struts framework. You will see how useful are DynaActionForm and DispatchAction classes in struts framework. The tutorial helps you to understand the Validation framework and its usefulness. You will see how the validation framework can be used for both server side and client side validations with less effort. This tutorial also helps you to understand how struts solves the the real life problem of duplicate form submission through its token mechanism. Further this tutorial will help you to understand the exception handling mechanism available with the struts framework and how do we create our own exception handlers in struts. Struts also provide the plug-in mechanism for creating the custom plug-in for the application. This tutorial will also guide you how to create the plug-in for the application in struts.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 DispatchAction The major component in the Struts based application is the Action class. Action class only defines the next steps and logic processing for the application. The execute() method is called by the framework for the processing. All the business logic and all the flow is derived from the execute() method in the Action class. There is a special Action class which will permit the user to have more than one method which can be called by the framework and not just the execute() method. This class is DispatchAction. The class is helpful to have all the methods related to a single UI page in one Action class and developers need not to implement the logics in different classes. The method to be called on Action is decided with the parameter attribute in the <action> tag of struts-config.xml. The code for the mapping is given below.

<action path=/dispatchActionExample type=com.visualbuilder.DispatchActionExample parameter=method name=inputForm input=/index.jsp />

Note:-The above mapping will check the method parameter and call the method with the name coming in the parameter. Add the following keys in the messageresources.properties file under WEB-INF/classes

error.unspecified= Unspecified Called. error.add= Add Called. error.delete= delete Called. error.view= View Called. Example For DispatchAction (1) Struts-config.xml file

<?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans> <form-bean name=inputForm type=com.visualbuilder.InputForm /> </form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> <global-exceptions></global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> 40/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <action path=/dispatchActionExample type=com.visualbuilder.DispatchActionExample parameter=method name=inputForm input=/index.jsp /> </action-mappings> <!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources /> </struts-config>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 DispatchAction Example Continued... (2) ActionForm Class

package com.visualbuilder;

import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm;

public class InputForm extends ActionForm{ } (3) ActionClass Note:- Now all the action classes must imherit the org.apache.struts.action.DispatchAction Class and not the org.apache.struts.action.Action Class.

package com.visualbuilder; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessage; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages; import org.apache.struts.actions.DispatchAction; public class DispatchActionExample extends DispatchAction{ protected ActionForward unspecified(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception { ActionMessages message = new ActionMessages(); message.add(unspecified,new ActionMessage(error.unspecified)); saveMessages(request, message); return mapping.getInputForward(); } public ActionForward view(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception{ 42/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 ActionMessages message = new ActionMessages(); message.add(unspecified,new ActionMessage(error.view)); saveMessages(request, message); return mapping.getInputForward(); } public ActionForward add(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception{ ActionMessages message = new ActionMessages(); message.add(unspecified,new ActionMessage(error.add)); saveMessages(request, message); return mapping.getInputForward(); } public ActionForward delete(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception { ActionMessages message = new ActionMessages(); message.add(unspecified,new ActionMessage(error.delete)); saveMessages(request, message); return mapping.getInputForward(); } } (4) JSP Page <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-bean prefix=bean %> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-html prefix=html %> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-logic prefix=logic %> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html:html> <logic:messagesPresent> <html:messages id=msg> <p><strong><font color=red><bean:write name=msg /></font></strong></p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> <logic:messagesPresent message=true> <html:messages message=true id=msg> <p><strong><bean:write name=msg /></strong></p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> <html:form action=/dispatchActionExample.do?method=add method=post> <html:submit>Submit for add</html:submit> </html:form> <html:form action=/dispatchActionExample.do?method=view method=post> <html:submit>Submit for view</html:submit> </html:form> <html:form action=/dispatchActionExample.do?method=delete method=post> <html:submit>Submit for delete</html:submit> </html:form> <html:form action=/dispatchActionExample.do method=post> <html:submit>Submit for unspecified</html:submit> 43/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 </html:form> </html:html> Output:The following buttons will be displayed and on clicking the buttons the text delete called changes

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Introduction to DynaActionForm In struts, every form control need to have one ActionForm class property and getter/setter method for it. DynaActionForm will replace the ActionForm with the simple xml mappings so that the java form class can be eliminated and thus helps in developing the application more quickly. The advantages of using the DynaActionForm are as follows:1. No ActionForm is required. 2. Replace the property mapping with the simple xml file so that if any property is to add and remove then there is no need to compile the java class again. The mapping is to be done in the struts-config.xml file in the <form-bean> tag for all the form properties. <form-bean name=inputForm type=org.apache.struts.action.DynaActionForm > <form-property name=name type=java.lang.String/> <form-property name=email type=java.lang.String /> </form-bean> Data Types :- The types supported by DynaActionForm include: java.math.BigDecimal java.math.BigInteger boolean and java.lang.Boolean byte and java.lang.Byte char and java.lang.Character java.lang.Class double and java.lang.Double float and java.lang.Float int and java.lang.Integer long and java.lang.Long short and java.lang.Short java.lang.String java.sql.Date java.sql.Time java.sql.Timestamp

Example For DynaActionForm :(1) Struts-config.xml file

<?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans> <form-bean name=inputForm type=org.apache.struts.action.DynaActionForm > <form-property name=name type=java.lang.String/> 45/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <form-property name=email type=java.lang.String /> </form-bean> </form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> <global-exceptions></global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> <action path=/dynaActionExample type=com.visualbuilder.DynaActionFormExample name=inputForm input=/index.jsp /> </action-mappings> <!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources /> </struts-config>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 DynaActionForm Example Continued... 2) ActionClass

package com.visualbuilder; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessage; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages; import org.apache.struts.actions.Action; import org.apache.struts.action.DynaActionForm;

public class DynaActionFormExample extends Action{ public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception { DynaActionForm inputForm = (DynaActionForm)form; //Create object of ActionMesssages ActionMessages errors = new ActionMessages(); //Check and collect errors if(((String)inputForm.get(name)).equals()) { errors.add(name,new ActionMessage(error.name.required)); } if(((String)inputForm.get(email)).equals()) { errors.add(email,new ActionMessage(error.email.required)); } //Saves the error saveErrors(request,errors); return mapping.getInputForward(); } } (3) JSP Page <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-bean prefix=bean %> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-html prefix=html %> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-logic prefix=logic %> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> 47/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <html:html> <logic:messagesPresent> <html:messages id=msg> <p><strong><font color=red><bean:write name=msg /></font></strong></p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> <logic:messagesPresent message=true> <html:messages message=true id=msg> <p><strong><bean:write name=msg /></strong></p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> <html:form action=/dynaActionExample.do method=post> <table> <tr><td>Enter the name :- </td><td><html:text property=name/> </td></tr> <tr><td>Enter the Email:- </td><td><html:text property=email/></td></tr> </table> <html:submit>Submit</html:submit> </html:form> </html:html> Output:The following will be the output of the application.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Struts solution to Duplicate Form Submission (Token mechanism) The problem of duplicate form submission arises when a user clicks the Submit button more than once before the response is sent back or when a client accesses a view by returning to a previously book marked page. The struts provide the saveToken() and isTokenValid() to check whether the request is already submitted or not.

The method isValidToken() return true if there is a transaction token stored in the user's current session, and the value submitted as a request parameter with this action matches it. Returns false under any of the following circumstances: No session associated with this request No transaction token saved in the session No transaction token included as a request parameter The included transaction token value does not match the transaction token in the user's session Note:- If the Action class is changed as per the following code then it will validate against the duplicate form submission.

public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception { ActionMessages errors = new ActionMessages(); if (!isTokenValid(request)) { errors.add(error.duplicaterequest, new ActionMessage(error.duplicaterequest)); } resetToken(request); if (!errors.isEmpty()) { saveErrors(request, errors); saveToken(request); return (mapping.getInputForward()); } return mapping.findForward(success); }

Output

Note:- The output changes as follows :-

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Introduction to Validation framework We have seen the validate() method in ActionForm is used to validate the form properties, which are entered by the user on the JSP pages. But each and every validation has to be implemented using the java code .In case the application has similar kind of the validations for all the forms then the redundancy is increased. Also updating validation routines are very cumbersome. The Validator framework was developed by David Winterfeldt as third-party add-on to Struts. The advantages of the Validation Framework:1. It is XML based framework so it is very easy to modify the validation routines in the xml files as compared to the Java files. 2. All the validations are at the same place so the reusability of the validations are very easy. 3. You can implement the validations in the Client Side as well as Server side with a little coding effort. 4. The validation framework is browser independent and needs no extra effort for the different browser in coding.

The Components of Validation Framework. The basic components of the Validation Framework is as follows : Validations.xml :- This is the basic class consist of all the validation rules applied for a form bean. Validator-rules.xml:- This is the file which contains all the validation rules which can be used to validate the form bean data. A default file is also provided by the Struts framework which is in /org/apache/struts/validator/ path and contains the commonly used rules, Plugin mapping in Struts-Config.xml:- The mapping of the plugin is to be there in the struts-config file so that Struts controller class will configure the plugin so that it can be used in the application. Simple Example For Validations :-

Note :- We are using the default validator-rules.xml for this example. (1) Validations.xml file <?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE form-validation PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Commons Validator Rules Configuration 1.3.0//EN http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/dtds/validator_1_3_0.dtd> <form-validation> <formset> <form name=inputForm> <field property=name depends=required> <arg key=inputForm.name.required /> </field> <field property=phone depends=required,mask> <arg key=inputForm.phone.required position=0 /> <arg key=inputForm.phone.format position=1 /> <var> <var-name>mask</var-name> <var-value>^[0-9]*$</var-value> 51/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 </var> </field> <field property=email depends=required,email> <arg key=inputForm.email.required position=0 /> <arg key=inputForm.email.format position=1 /> </field> </form> </formset> </form-validation> (2) Struts-config.xml file

<?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans> <form-bean name=inputForm type=com.visualbuilder.InputForm /> </form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> <global-exceptions></global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> <action path=/validate type=com.visualbuilder.ValidateAction validate=true name=inputForm input=/index.jsp /> </action-mappings> <!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources /> <!-- =================================================== Validator plugin --> <plug-in className=org.apache.struts.validator.ValidatorPlugIn> <set-property property=pathnames value=/org/apache/struts/validator/validator-rules.xml, /WEB-INF/validation.xml/> </plug-in> </struts-config>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Example Continued Validation Framework. (3) Validator Form file package com.visualbuilder; import org.apache.struts.validator.ValidatorForm;

public class InputForm extends ValidatorForm { String name; String email; String phone; public String getEmail() { return email; } public void setEmail(String email) { this.email = email; } public String getName() { return name; } public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; } public String getPhone() { return phone; } public void setPhone(String phone) { this.phone = phone; } }

(3) Validator Action file

package com.visualbuilder;

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12/23/10 11:03:19 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.Action; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping; public class ValidateAction extends Action { public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)throws Exception { return mapping.getInputForward(); } } (4) JSP file <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-bean prefix=bean%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-html prefix=html%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-logic prefix=logic%> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html:html> <html:form action=/validate.do method=post> <table> <tr> <td colspan=2> <logic:messagesPresent> <html:messages id=msg> <p> <strong><font color=red><bean:write name=msg /></font></strong> </p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2> <logic:messagesPresent message=true> <html:messages message=true id=msg> <p> <strong><bean:write name=msg /></strong> </p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> </td> </tr> <tr><td>Enter the name</td> <td><html:text property=name /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Phone</td> <td> <html:text property=phone /></td></tr> 54/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <tr><td> Enter the Email</td> <td><html:text property=email /></td></tr> </table><html:submit>Submit </html:submit> </html:form> </html:html>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Client Side Validation Enabling Client Side Validation The validation framework also gives the flexibility to use it on Client Side. The framework automatically generates the browser specific JavaScript and validate the data only at the client side. Although it has some disadvantages as the client side validations can be turn off by browser settings and also it is visible to the client. It also has some advantages like it reduces the network congestion as the form is not submitted with the wrong data again and again and only the validated data is submitted. It is also advisable if you are using the client side validation scripts then also use the validation at the server side so that two way check will maintain the data integrity fully. The following code if placed in the jsp file will generate the java script at the client side for the specified form based on the validations.xml file. <html:javascript formName=inputForm/> To call the validation routines call the onSubmit=validateXXX(this) whereas XXX stands for the form name. In our case it is inputForm. So the code is as follows :<html:form action=/validate.do method=post onSubmit=validateInputForm(this);>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Introduction to Standard Validator-Rules.xml The Inbuilt validation in the Validator-Rules.xml

The table will describe the validator rules available with the validator-rules.xml file provided by the Struts Community.

Rule byte byteLocale creditCard date double doubleRange email float floatLocale floatRange integer integerLocale intRange long longLocale longRange mask maxLength minLength required short shortLocale url validwhen

Description Checks value contained by field can be converted to java byte type Checks value contained by field can be converted to java byte type using the number formatting convention for the current locale. Checks for the valid card number supplied by major companies like VISA, MASTERCARD etc. Checks value contained by field can be converted to java.util.Date. Checks value contained by field can be converted to double primitive type. Checks value contained by field can be fitted into the primitive double range or not. Checks value contained by field can be properly formatted email address or not. Checks value contained by field can be converted to float primitive type. Checks value contained by field can be converted to java float type using the number formatting convention for the current locale. Checks value contained by field can be fitted into the primitive float range or not. Checks value contained by field can be converted to int primitive type. Checks value contained by field can be converted to java int type using the number formatting convention for the current locale. Checks value contained by field can be fitted into the primitive int range or not. Checks value contained by field can be converted to long primitive type. Checks value contained by field can be converted to java long type using the number formatting convention for the current locale. Checks value contained by field can be fitted into the primitive long range or not. Validate the value with the given Regular Expression. Validate the maximum length should not be exceeded of the value with the value given in the property. Validate the minimum length should not be exceeded of the value with the value given in the property. Checks whether the value contain by the field is other than the whitespace. Checks value contained by field can be converted to java short type Checks value contained by field can be converted to java short type using the number formatting convention for the current locale. Checks the given value is properly formatted URL or not. Determine the field is validated or not based on the specified test condition.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Standard validator-rules.xml file The following is given the standard validator-rules.xml file. In the next section you will learn how to create your own validator rules. Till the time we are using the same validator-rules.xml which is the standard file comes with standard struts framework. <!-Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the License); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an AS IS BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License. --> <!DOCTYPE form-validation PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Commons Validator Rules Configuration 1.3.0//EN http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/dtds/validator_1_3_0.dtd> <!-$Id: validator-rules.xml 481833 2006-12-03 17:32:52Z niallp $ This file contains the default Struts Validator pluggable validator definitions. It is contained in struts-core.jar, and should be referenced in the struts-config.xml under the plug-in element for the ValidatorPlugIn. <plug-in className=org.apache.struts.validator.ValidatorPlugIn> <set-property property=pathnames value=/org/apache/struts/validator/validator-rules.xml, /WEB-INF/validation.xml/> </plug-in> These are the default error messages associated with each validator defined in this file. They should be added to your projects ApplicationResources.properties file or you can associate new ones by modifying the pluggable validators msg attributes in this file. # Struts Validator Error Messages errors.required={0} is required. errors.minlength={0} can not be less than {1} characters. errors.maxlength={0} can not be greater than {1} characters. errors.invalid={0} is invalid. errors.byte={0} must be a byte. errors.short={0} must be a short. errors.integer={0} must be an integer. errors.long={0} must be a long. errors.float={0} must be a float. errors.double={0} must be a double. errors.date={0} is not a date. errors.range={0} is not in the range {1} through {2}. errors.creditcard={0} is an invalid credit card number. 58/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 errors.email={0} is an invalid e-mail address. Note: Starting in Struts 1.2.0 the default javascript definitions have been consolidated to commons-validator. The default can be overridden by supplying a <javascript> element with a CDATA section, just as in struts 1.1. --> <form-validation> <global> <validator name=required classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateRequired methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest msg=errors.required/>

<validator name=requiredif classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateRequiredIf methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest msg=errors.required/>

<validator name=validwhen msg=errors.required classname=org.apache.struts.validator.validwhen.ValidWhen method=validateValidWhen methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest/> <validator name=minlength classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks 59/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 method=validateMinLength methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.minlength jsFunction=org.apache.commons.validator.javascript.validateMinLength/> <validator name=maxlength classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateMaxLength methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.maxlength jsFunction=org.apache.commons.validator.javascript.validateMaxLength/> <validator name=mask classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateMask methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.invalid/> <validator name=byte classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateByte methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.byte jsFunctionName=ByteValidations/> <validator name=short classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks 60/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 method=validateShort methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.short jsFunctionName=ShortValidations/> <validator name=integer classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateInteger methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.integer jsFunctionName=IntegerValidations/> <validator name=long classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateLong methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.long/> <validator name=float classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateFloat methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.float jsFunctionName=FloatValidations/>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 <validator name=double classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateDouble methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.double/> <validator name=byteLocale classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateByteLocale methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.byte/> <validator name=shortLocale classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateShortLocale methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.short/> <validator name=integerLocale classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateIntegerLocale methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.integer/> <validator name=longLocale classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateLongLocale 62/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.long/> <validator name=floatLocale classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateFloatLocale methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.float/>

<validator name=doubleLocale classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateDoubleLocale methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.double/> <validator name=date classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateDate methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.date jsFunctionName=DateValidations/> <validator name=intRange classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateIntRange 63/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends=integer msg=errors.range/>

<validator name=longRange classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateLongRange methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends=long msg=errors.range/> <validator name=floatRange classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateFloatRange methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends=float msg=errors.range/>

<validator name=doubleRange classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateDoubleRange methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends=double msg=errors.range/> <validator name=creditCard classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks 64/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 method=validateCreditCard methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.creditcard/> <validator name=email classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateEmail methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.email/>

<validator name=url classname=org.apache.struts.validator.FieldChecks method=validateUrl methodParams=java.lang.Object, org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction, org.apache.commons.validator.Field, org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages, org.apache.commons.validator.Validator, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest depends= msg=errors.url/> <!-This simply allows struts to include the validateUtilities into a page, it should not be used as a validation rule. --> <validator name=includeJavaScriptUtilities

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Creating custom Valdator rules Using validation framework in our application not only provide the basic routines for the validations but also gives the user flexibility to create their own specific validator rules for the application. This is the powerful extensible feature as this saves a lot more development and validation time during the application development. Below is given the complete set of changes which should be performed while creating the custom validator rules for the application. Steps to create the Validator rules :1. Create a class and add the static method for the validation. 2. Add the entry in the validator-rules.xml file. 3. Associate the rule with the form field. 4. Add the property in the MessageResources.properties for the error message. Example Note:- The example is merged with the Extending the Validation Rules with the inherited SubForm classes. You can see the marks field which can only take values from 1 to 100. The below is the validation class for the example.

package com.visualbuilder.validator; import java.io.Serializable; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import org.apache.commons.validator.Field; import org.apache.commons.validator.Validator; import org.apache.commons.validator.ValidatorAction; import org.apache.commons.validator.util.ValidatorUtils; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages; import org.apache.struts.validator.Resources; /** * This class is a custom validator which when apply to the framework checks The * field should contain only alphabets * */ public class CustomValidator implements Serializable { public static boolean checkForRange(Object bean, ValidatorAction va, Field field, ActionMessages errors, Validator validator, HttpServletRequest request) { boolean result = false; String value = evaluateBean(bean, field); try { if (Integer.parseInt(value) > 0 && Integer.parseInt(value) < 100) { result = true; } } catch (Exception e) { 66/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 } if (!result) { errors.add(field.getKey(), Resources.getActionMessage(validator, request, va, field)); } return result; } private static String evaluateBean(Object bean, Field field) { String value = null; if (bean instanceof String) { value = (String) bean; } else { value = ValidatorUtils.getValueAsString(bean, field.getProperty()); } return value; } }

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Extending the Validator Rules with the inherited SubForm Classes.-2 Example Continued....

(4) ActionForm Classes

InputForm.java package com.visualbuilder;

import org.apache.struts.validator.ValidatorForm;

public class InputForm extends ValidatorForm {

String name; String email; String phone;

public String getEmail() { return email; } public void setEmail(String email) { this.email = email; } public String getName() { return name; } public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; } public String getPhone() { return phone; } 68/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 public void setPhone(String phone) { this.phone = phone; } } RegistrationForm.java package com.visualbuilder;

public class RegistrationForm extends InputForm { private String Address; private String marks;

public String getMarks() { return marks; } public void setMarks(String marks) { this.marks = marks; } public String getAddress() { return Address; } public void setAddress(String address) { this.Address = address; } } (5) Action Classes ValidateAction.java package com.visualbuilder;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.Action; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; 69/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping;

public class ValidateAction extends Action {

public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)throws Exception { return mapping.getInputForward(); } }

RegisterAction.java package com.visualbuilder;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.Action; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping;

public class RegisterAction extends Action { public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)throws Exception { return mapping.getInputForward(); } }

(6) Output

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Internationalization in struts application Few years back, the sites are only developed using a single language and the developer only create the sites to their specific languages. As the globalization occurs, many frameworks are developed to support the multiple languages at a time. This can be achieved by having the multi language text in key/value pair. And at runtime the text is read from the key as per the language required. This multilingual support is known as Internationalization. So Internationalization is defined as the process of designing an application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. The following classes are used to implement Internationalization to any site. Locale - The fundamental Java class that supports internationalization is Locale . Each Locale represents a particular choice of country and language, and also a set of formatting assumptions for things like numbers and dates. ResourceBundle - The java.util.ResourceBundle class provides the fundamental tools for supporting messages in multiple languages. PropertyResourceBundle - One of the standard implementations of Resource Bundle allows you to define resources using the same name=value syntax used to initialize properties files. This is very convenient for preparing resource bundles with messages that are used in a web application, because these messages are generally text oriented. MessageFormat - The java.text.MessageFormat class allows you to replace portions of a message string with arguments specified at run time. This is useful in cases where you are creating a sentence, but the words would appear in a different order in different languages. The placeholder string {0} in the message is replaced by the first runtime argument, {1} is replaced by the second argument, and so on. MessageResources - The framework class org.apache.struts.util.MessageResources lets you treat a set of resource bundles like a database, and allows you to request a particular message string for a particular Locale instead of for the default Locale the server itself is running in. The below example will show the use of Internationalization in Struts. Note :- The example only displays the text coming from the different properties files. The properties file MessageResource.properties is created with different locale suffix example fr is for France, de for Germany etc.. So the example is only having the MessagesResources.properties and not the whole program. you can download the complete source from the file. You can change the locale in the IE by tools>internet options>General---Languages and check the program.

(1)MessageResources.properties

This is the default properties file. If the locale specific file is not present then struts calls the default properties file.

welcome.text=default Welcome Text

(2) MessageResources_en.properties 71/121

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welcome.text=English Welcome Text

(3) MessageResources_fr.properties

welcome.text=French Welcome Text

(4) MessageResources_de.properties

welcome.text=German Welcome Text

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Exception Handling in Struts Struts 1.3 provides a small, but effective exception-handling framework for the applications. There are two approaches available for the exception handling in struts. 1. Declarative:- In this approach the exceptions are defined in the struts-config file and in case of the exception occurs the control is automatically passed to the appropriate error page. The <exception> tag is used to define the exception in the struts-config.xml file. The following are the attributes of the <exception> tag. 1. Key:- The key defines the key present in MessageResources.properties file to describe the exception occurred. 2. Type:- The class of the exception occurred. 3. Path:- The page where the control is to be followed in case exception occurred. 4. Handler:- The exception handler which will be called before passing the control to the file specified in path attribute There are following two sections in struts-config.xml where you can define the exceptions. With Any Action mapping:- In this approach the action class is identified which may throw the exception like password failure, resource access etc. For example:<action path=/exception type=com.visualbuilder.ExampleAction parameter=method input=/index.jsp > <exception key=error.system type=java.lang.RuntimeException path=/index.jsp /> </action> Defining the Exceptions Globally for the struts-config.xml :- If the application control is to pass on a single page for all similar type of exception then the exception can be defined globally. So if in any circumstance the exception occurs the control is passed globally to the exception and control is passed to the error page. For Example:<global-exceptions> <exception key=error.system type=java.lang.RuntimeException path=/index.jsp /> </global-exceptions> 2. Programmatic: - In this approach the exceptions are caught using normal java language try/catch block and instead of showing the exception some meaningful messages are displayed. In this approach the flow of control is also maintained by the programs. The main drawback of the approach is the developer has to write the code for the flow of the application.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Creating Custom Exception Handlers in Struts-1 The struts not only introduced the exception handling mechanism and pass the flow to the appropriate page automatically, it also gives the flexibility to the programmers to create their own Exception Handlers. The struts provides org.apache.struts.action.ExceptionHandler class for creating the custom exception handlers. All the custom Exception Handlers should extend the ExceptionHandler class and override the execute() method.

The below example will demonstrate custom ExceptionHandler for the user program.

Note:- The below example will transfer the control to the index.jsp after calling the exception handler. In the struts-config.xml we are adding the global exception for RuntimeException. You can add any exception like the previous example to some actions only. The code for adding it as follows :<exception key=error.system type=java.lang.RuntimeException handler=com.visualbuilder.handler.CustomExceptionHandler path=/index.jsp />

Example For ExceptionHandler :(1) Creating the Exception Handler Class

package com.visualbuilder.handler; import javax.servlet.ServletException; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping; import org.apache.struts.action.ExceptionHandler; import org.apache.struts.config.ExceptionConfig;

public class CustomExceptionHandler extends ExceptionHandler { public ActionForward execute(Exception exception, ExceptionConfig config, ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm formInstance, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException {

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12/23/10 11:03:19 try { // TODO CustomeCode System.out.println(Exception Handler for the specific error); }catch (Exception e) {

} return (super.execute(exception, config, mapping, formInstance, request, response)); } } (2) Struts-config.xml file

<?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans> </form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> <global-exceptions> <exception key=error.system type=java.lang.RuntimeException handler=com.visualbuilder.handler.CustomExceptionHandler path=/index.jsp /> </global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> <action path=/exception type=com.visualbuilder.ExampleAction input=/index.jsp /> </action-mappings> <!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources /> </struts-config>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Creating Custom Exception Handlers in Struts.-2 Exception Handlers in Struts Example Continued ......

(3) Creating the Action Class

The Action class is same as we have learned just with a small change. We are throwing an error from the Action Class. so the code for the execute method is as follows:-

public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)throws Exception { if(true){ // Throwing exception to call the Exception Handler throw new RuntimeException(No Action); } return mapping.getInputForward(); }

(4) JSP Page:- index.jsp

Note :- The below jsp will only call the Exception.do and then exception handler will pass the control again to this page.

<%@ page language=java contentType=text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 pageEncoding=ISO-8859-1%> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv=Content-Type content=text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1> <title>Insert title here</title> </head> <body> <form action=exception.do> <input type=submit value=Click> </form> </body> </html>

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(5) Output:The program will print Exception Handler for the specific error in the console window which shows that the CustomExceptionHandler is called before redirecting to the specific page.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Creating Plugin for the Struts Application. -1 A Plugin is defined as the component which are easily integrated with the applications and helps to enhance the functionality of the system. A plug-in is any Java class that is initialized when struts application starts up and destroy when application shuts down. We have already seen many plugin available for the struts like validations, tiles etc. The struts framework also gives the developer flexibility to create their own plugin classes and then implement in the struts applications.

Example For Custom Plugins :(1) Creating the Plugin Class The struts provide org.apache.struts.action.PlugIn interface. All the custom Plugin should implement the PlugIn interface and override the init() and destroy() methods. package com.visualbuilder.plugin; import javax.servlet.ServletException; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet; import org.apache.struts.action.PlugIn; import org.apache.struts.config.ModuleConfig; public class CustomPlugin implements PlugIn { public CustomPlugin() { super(); } public void destroy() { System.out.println(The plug in Destroyed); } public void init(ActionServlet controller, ModuleConfig config) throws ServletException { controller.getServletContext().setAttribute(testPlugin,Testing for the object); System.out.println(The plug in initialized); } } (2) Struts-config.xml file <?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans></form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> 78/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <global-exceptions></global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> <action path=/plugin type=com.visualbuilder.TestPluginAction input=/index.jsp > <forward name=SUCCESS path=/index.jsp/> </action> </action-mappings> <!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources /> <!-- ======================================== Custom Plugin Definitions --> <plug-in className=com.visualbuilder.plugin.CustomPlugin></plug-in> </struts-config>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Creating Plugin for the Struts Application. -2

Example Continued.... (3) Action Class to Access the Attribute Set in the Plugin package com.visualbuilder; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.Action; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping; public class TestPluginAction extends Action { public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)throws Exception { System.out.println(servlet.getServletContext().getAttribute(testPlugin)); return mapping.findForward(SUCCESS); } } (4) Output

Note:-The program will just print The plug in initialized when the server starts and Print Testing for the object when you call the /plugin.do action.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 WildCard Character mapping for the Actions-1. Now a days the complex application are always bigger in size. So the number of action mappings will also increases. Wildcards can be used to combine similar mappings into one more generic mapping and helps to reduce the size of the config files. Wildcard patterns can contain one or more of the following special tokens:

Matches zero or more characters excluding the slash ('/') character. Matches zero or more characters including the slash ('/') character. The backslash character is used as an escape sequence. Thus * matches the character asterisk ('*'), and \ matches character the character backslash (''). Note :-In the action mapping and action forwards, the wildcard-matched values can be accessed with the token {N} where N is a number from 1 to 9 indicating which wildcard-matched value to substitute. The whole request URI can be accessed with the {0} token. The action mapping attributes that will accept wildcard-matched strings are: attribute catalog command forward include input multipartClass name parameter prefix roles suffix type The action forward attributes that will accept wildcard-matched strings are: catalog command path The below example will demonstrate the Use of wildcard characters. (1) Struts-config.xml

* **

Note:- In the action mapping the parameter is passed as {1}. The jsp which invoked the action replaces the parameter with the name ofthe jsp in all places.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 <?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans> <form-bean name=InputForm type=com.visualbuilder.InputForm /> <form-bean name=RegisterForm type=com.visualbuilder.RegisterForm/> </form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> <global-exceptions></global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> <action path=/submit* type=com.visualbuilder.Submit{1}Action name={1}Form scope=request validate=false input=/{1}.jsp/> </action-mappings>

<!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources /> </struts-config>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 WildCard Character mapping for the Actions-2. (2) Action Classes

SubmitRegisterAction.java file

package com.visualbuilder;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.Action; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessage; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages; public class SubmitRegisterAction extends Action {

public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception { System.out.println(Called SubmitRegisterAction file ); return mapping.getInputForward(); } } SubmitInputAction.java file

package com.visualbuilder;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.Action; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; 83/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping;

public class SubmitInputAction extends Action { public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)throws Exception { System.out.println(Called SubmitInputAction file ); return mapping.getInputForward(); } } (3)Action Forms

InputForm.java file

package com.visualbuilder;

import org.apache.struts.validator.ValidatorForm;

public class InputForm extends ValidatorForm {

String name; String email; String phone;

public String getEmail() { return email; } public void setEmail(String email) { this.email = email; }

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12/23/10 11:03:19 public String getName() { return name; } public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; } public String getPhone() { return phone; } public void setPhone(String phone) { this.phone = phone; } } RegisterForm.java file

package com.visualbuilder;

public class RegisterForm extends InputForm {

private String Address; private String marks;

public String getMarks() { return marks; } public void setMarks(String marks) { this.marks = marks; } public String getAddress() { return Address; } public void setAddress(String address) { Address = address; }

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12/23/10 11:03:19 }

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12/23/10 11:03:19 WildCard Character mapping for the Actions-3. (4) Input.jsp File <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-bean prefix=bean%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-html prefix=html%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-logic prefix=logic%> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html:html> <html:form action=/submitInput.do method=post> <table> <tr> <td colspan=2> <logic:messagesPresent> <html:messages id=msg> <p> <strong><font color=red><bean:write name=msg /></font></strong> </p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2> <logic:messagesPresent message=true> <html:messages message=true id=msg> <p> <strong><bean:write name=msg /></strong> </p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> </td> </tr> <tr><td>Enter the name</td> <td><html:text property=name /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Phone</td> <td> <html:text property=phone /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Email</td> <td><html:text property=email /></td></tr> </table><html:submit>Submit </html:submit> </html:form> </html:html> (5) Regsiter.jsp File <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-bean prefix=bean%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-html prefix=html%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-logic prefix=logic%> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html:html> 87/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <html:form action=/submitRegister.do method=post> <table> <tr> <td colspan=2> <logic:messagesPresent> <html:messages id=msg> <p> <strong><font color=red><bean:write name=msg /></font></strong> </p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2> <logic:messagesPresent message=true> <html:messages message=true id=msg> <p> <strong><bean:write name=msg /></strong> </p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> </td> </tr> <tr><td>Enter the name</td> <td><html:text property=name /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Phone</td> <td> <html:text property=phone /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Email</td> <td><html:text property=email /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Address </td> <td><html:text property=address /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Marks </td> <td><html:text property=marks /></td></tr> </table><html:submit>Submit </html:submit> </html:form> </html:html> (6) Output Note:- When user submits the Register form and calls the submitRegister.do action then automatically the control calls the submitRegisterAction class and prints Called SubmitRegisterAction file and same as for the submitInput.do calls the submitInputAction class and prints Called SubmitInputAction file on the console.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Uploading the Files to Server Using Struts-1 Many applications gives the utility to upload the data from client applications to the server. Struts also gives the flexibility to upload the files using the org.apache.struts.upload.FormFile class. The org.apache.struts.upload.FormFile class is a special class in struts which represent the property type of file. The following example will demonstrate to upload any txt file and place it in the upload folder by the name of temp.txt. Example:(1) Struts-config.xml file <?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans> <form-bean name=inputForm type=com.visualbuilder.InputForm /> </form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> <global-exceptions></global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> <action path=/submit type=com.visualbuilder.InputAction name=inputForm scope=request validate=false input=/index.jsp/> </action-mappings> <controller maxFileSize=2M /> <!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources /> </struts-config>

(2) InputForm.java File

package com.visualbuilder;

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12/23/10 11:03:19 import org.apache.struts.upload.FormFile; import org.apache.struts.validator.ValidatorForm; public class InputForm extends ValidatorForm { private FormFile fileName; public FormFile getFileName() {

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Uploading the Files to Server Using Struts-2 (3) InputAction.java file package com.visualbuilder; import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream; import java.io.FileNotFoundException; import java.io.FileOutputStream; import java.io.IOException; import java.io.InputStream; import java.io.OutputStream; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.Globals; import org.apache.struts.action.Action; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessage; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages; import org.apache.struts.upload.FormFile; public class InputAction extends Action { public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception { InputForm inputForm = (InputForm) form; // retrieve the file representation FormFile file = inputForm.getFileName(); // retrieve the file name String fileName = file.getFileName(); // retrieve the content type

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Introduction to Modules in Struts Application Generally, all the applications and systems are modularized so that the time of development and complexity can be reduced. The struts also give the flexibility to have more than one independent modules in the application. The separate struts-config files are introduced for each module. This helps developers to develop the complex applications more effectively as different independent applications can be developed separately and then combined together to make a complete system. The struts gives a special Action class, SwitchAction , which is used for the switching between the modules. The below example will demonstrate the modules in the Struts Applications.

The following things needs to be changed to make more than one modules in the application. All the module specific config files should be kept on the module specific directories under WEB-INF folder. All the jsp files for the module should be kept under the module folder. All the module specific files should be passed in the ActionServlet in the Web.xml file. There are three approaches for switching from one module to another. You can use the org.apache.struts.actions.SwitchAction from the Extras JAR, you can use a <forward> (global or local) and specify the contextRelative attribute with a value of true, or you can specify the module parameter as part of any of the Struts JSP hyperlink tags (Include, Img, Link, Rewrite, or Forward). Note:- The coming example will demonstrate the all three approaches for the application

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Modules Example-1 Note:- In the below example we are creating the admin and register module. You can download the whole source from download link. We only show the code which is written for the modules so that you can understand the exact logic to switch the modules.

(1) Web.xml file Changes

<servlet> <servlet-name>action</servlet-name> <servlet-class>org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet</servlet-class> <init-param> <param-name>config</param-name> <param-value>/WEB-INF/struts-config.xml</param-value> </init-param> <init-param> <param-name>config/admin</param-name> <param-value>/WEB-INF/admin/struts-admin.xml</param-value> </init-param> <init-param> <param-name>config/register</param-name> <param-value>/WEB-INF/register/struts-register.xml</param-value> </init-param> <load-on-startup>2</load-on-startup> </servlet> (2) Struts-config.xml for default Module.

<?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans></form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions -->

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Modules Example-2 (5) index.jsp file for Default Module.

<%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-bean prefix=bean%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-html prefix=html%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-logic prefix=logic%> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html:html> This is the default Module Application<br/> Links created for own Forward action <br/> <a href=switchAdmin.do>Admin</a><br/> <a href=switchRegister.do>Register</a><br/> Links created for the SwitchAcion<br/> <a href=switchtoAdmin.do?prefix=/admin&page=/index.jsp>Admin</a><br/> <a href=switchtoRegister.do?prefix=/regsiter&page=/index.jsp>Register</a><br/> Links created for the html:link tag<br/> <html:link module=/admin page=/index.jsp>admin</html:link> <html:link module=/register page=/index.jsp>register</html:link> <br/> </html:html> (6) index.jsp file for Admin Module.

<%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-bean prefix=bean%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-html prefix=html%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-logic prefix=logic%> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html:html> This is the Admin Module File <a href=/switchToRegister.do?prefix=/register&page=/index.jsp>Register</a> </html:html> (7) index.jsp file for Register Module.

<%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-bean prefix=bean%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-html prefix=html%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-logic prefix=logic%> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html:html> This is the Regsiter Module File <a href=/switchToAdmin.do?prefix=/admin&page=/index.jsp>Admin</a> </html:html> 94/121

12/23/10 11:03:19

(8) Output:-

Note:- On running the default module index.jsp file the following output will be displayed on the screen.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Customizing the ActionServlet Class for the application-1. Struts follow the Model-View-Controller pattern. ActionServlet provides the controller in the MVC design pattern for web applications that is commonly known as Model 2. The standard version of ActionServlet is configured based on the following servlet initialization parameters, config - Comma-separated list of context-relative path(s) to the XML resource(s) containing the configuration information for the default module. (Multiple files support since Struts 1.1) [/WEB-INF/struts-config.xml]. config/${module} - Comma-separated list of Context-relative path(s) to the XML resource(s) containing the configuration information for the module that will use the specified prefix (/${module}). This can be repeated as many times as required for multiple modules. configFactory - The Java class name of the ModuleConfigFactory used to create the implementation of the ModuleConfig interface. convertNull - Force simulation of the Struts 1.0 behavior when populating forms. If set to true, the numeric Java wrapper class types (like java.lang.Integer ) will default to null (rather than 0). (Since Struts 1.1) [false] rulesets - Comma-delimited list of fully qualified classnames of additional org.apache.commons.digester.RuleSet instances that should be added to the Digester that will be processing struts-config.xml files. By default, only the RuleSet for the standard configuration elements is loaded. validating - Should we use a validating XML parser to process the configuration file (strongly recommended)? [true] chainConfig - Comma-separated list of either context-relative or classloader path(s) to load commons-chain catalog definitions from. If none specified, the default Struts catalog that is provided with Struts will be used. The main power of struts is that you can customize the controller behaviour if needed by your application. The below example will demonstrate to override the default functionality of the controller and do some application specific processing before and after the request has been processed. (1) Struts-config.xml file <?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans> <form-bean name=inputForm type=com.visualbuilder.InputForm /> </form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> <global-exceptions></global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> <action path=/submit type=com.visualbuilder.SubmitAction name=inputForm scope=request validate=false 96/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 input=/index.jsp/> </action-mappings> <!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources />

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Customizing the ActionServlet Class for the application-2. web.xml file

The mapping for the ActionServlet class is written in the web.xml file so we have to change it for mapping our CustomActionServlet class.

<?xml version=1.0 encoding=UTF-8?> <web-app version=2.4 xmlns=http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee xmlns:xsi=http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance xsi:schemaLocation=http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-app_2_4.xsd> <servlet> <servlet-name>action</servlet-name> <servlet-class>com.visualbuilder.CustomActionServlet</servlet-class> <init-param> <param-name>config</param-name> <param-value>/WEB-INF/struts-config.xml</param-value> </init-param> <load-on-startup>2</load-on-startup> </servlet> <servlet-mapping> <servlet-name>action</servlet-name> <url-pattern>*.do</url-pattern> </servlet-mapping> <welcome-file-list> <welcome-file>index.jsp</welcome-file> </welcome-file-list> </web-app>

(3)CustomActionServlet.java file

This is the file which is the replaces the Struts Controller class. We extends the Struts ActionServlet to get the default behaviour and override the process method.

package com.visualbuilder;

import java.io.IOException;

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12/23/10 11:03:19 import javax.servlet.ServletException; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet;

public class CustomActionServlet extends ActionServlet { private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L; public void process(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws IOException, ServletException { //TODO You can put the Code before the request handling. System.out.println(Before Handling Request); super.process(request,response); //TODO You can put the Code after the request handling. System.out.println(After Handling Request); } } (4)InputForm.java file

package com.visualbuilder;

import org.apache.struts.validator.ValidatorForm;

public class InputForm extends ValidatorForm {

String name; String email; String phone;

public String getEmail() { return email; }

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12/23/10 11:03:19 public void setEmail(String email) { this.email = email; } public String getName() { return name; } public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; } public String getPhone() { return phone; } public void setPhone(String phone) { this.phone = phone; } }

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Customizing the ActionServlet Class for the application-3. (5) SubmitAction.java file

package com.visualbuilder; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.Action; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessage; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages; public class SubmitAction extends Action { public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception { System.out.println(Called Submit file ); return mapping.getInputForward(); } } (6)Index.jsp file

<%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-bean prefix=bean%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-html prefix=html%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-logic prefix=logic%> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html:html> <html:form action=/validate.do method=post> <table> <tr> <td colspan=2> <logic:messagesPresent> <html:messages id=msg> <p> <strong><font color=red><bean:write name=msg /></font></strong> </p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> </td> </tr> <tr> 101/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <td colspan=2> <logic:messagesPresent message=true> <html:messages message=true id=msg> <p> <strong><bean:write name=msg /></strong> </p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> </td> </tr> <tr><td>Enter the name</td> <td><html:text property=name /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Phone</td> <td> <html:text property=phone /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Email</td> <td><html:text property=email /></td></tr> </table><html:submit>Submit </html:submit> </html:form> </html:html> (7)Output Note:- Whenever the request is submitted to the application you see two line Before Handling Request and After Handling Request printing on the console and the line Called Submit file is printed in between. This shows that for every request the code of CustomActionServlet gets called.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Customizing the ActionServlet Class for the application-3. (5) SubmitAction.java file

package com.visualbuilder; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.Action; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessage; import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages; public class SubmitAction extends Action { public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception { System.out.println(Called Submit file ); return mapping.getInputForward(); } } (6)Index.jsp file

<%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-bean prefix=bean%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-html prefix=html%> <%@ taglib uri=http://struts.apache.org/tags-logic prefix=logic%> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC -//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN> <html:html> <html:form action=/validate.do method=post> <table> <tr> <td colspan=2> <logic:messagesPresent> <html:messages id=msg> <p> <strong><font color=red><bean:write name=msg /></font></strong> </p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> </td> </tr> <tr> 103/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <td colspan=2> <logic:messagesPresent message=true> <html:messages message=true id=msg> <p> <strong><bean:write name=msg /></strong> </p> </html:messages> </logic:messagesPresent> </td> </tr> <tr><td>Enter the name</td> <td><html:text property=name /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Phone</td> <td> <html:text property=phone /></td></tr> <tr><td> Enter the Email</td> <td><html:text property=email /></td></tr> </table><html:submit>Submit </html:submit> </html:form> </html:html> (7)Output Note:- Whenever the request is submitted to the application you see two line Before Handling Request and After Handling Request printing on the console and the line Called Submit file is printed in between. This shows that for every request the code of CustomActionServlet gets called.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Customizing RequestProcessor Class for the application-1. The previous example has shown you to customize the controller before and after any request processed. But Struts provide a class named RequestProcessor which actually done all the processing for a particular request. In Struts 1.0 the whole things are done by the ActionServlet class. But with the next release the request processing code shifted to RequestProcessor class. RequestProcessor contains the processing logic that the ActionServlet performs as it receives each servlet request from the container. You can customize the request processing behavior by subclassing this class and overriding the method(s) whose behavior you are interested in changing. the following methods are available in the RequestProcessor Class. processMultipart():- Handles the multipart request containing the images etc. processPath():- Identify and return the path component processLocale():- Automatically select a Locale for the current user, if requested. processContent():- Set the default content type with character encodings for all responses processNoCache():- Set the no-cache headers for all responses, if requested. processPreprocess():- General-purpose preprocessing hook that can be overridden as required by subclasses. processMapping():- Select the mapping used to process the selection path for this request. processRoles():- If this action is protected by security roles, make sure that the current user possesses at least one of them. processActionForm():- Retrieve and return the ActionForm associated with this mapping, creating and retaining one if necessary. processPopulate():- Populate the properties of the specified ActionForm instance from the request parameters included with this request. processValidate():- If this request was not cancelled, and the request's ActionMapping has not disabled validation, call the validate method of the specified ActionForm, and forward to the input path if there were any errors. processForward():- Process a forward requested by this mapping (if any). processInclude():- Process an include requested by this mapping (if any). processActionCreate():- Return an Action instance that will be used to process the current request, creating a new one if necessary. processActionPerform():- Ask the specified Action instance to handle this request. processForwardConfig():- Forward or redirect to the specified destination, by the specified mechanism. Note:- The below example will demonstrate the overriding of methods in the RequestProcessor class. The example will override processPreprocess() method of the RequestProcessor Class. > (1)Struts-config.xml file Note - RequestProcessor mapping is given by the <controller> tag in the struts-config.xml file. <?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans> <form-bean name=inputForm type=com.visualbuilder.InputForm /> </form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> 105/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <global-exceptions></global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> <action path=/submit type=com.visualbuilder.SubmitAction name=inputForm scope=request validate=false input=/index.jsp/> </action-mappings> <!-- =========================================== Controller Mapping Definition --> <controller contentType=text/html;charset=UTF-8 locale=true debug=1 nocache=true processorClass=com.visualbuilder.CustomRequestProcessor /> <!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources /> </struts-config>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Customizing RequestProcessor Class for the application.-2 (2) CustomRequestProcessor.java file

package com.visualbuilder;

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse; import org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor;

public class CustomRequestProcessor extends RequestProcessor {

public boolean processPreprocess(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) { System.out .println(Called the preprocess method before processing the request); return super.processPreprocess(request,response); } } Note:- Only the above specified files are addition to the previous example i.e.Customizing the ActionServlet Class for the application. (3) Output The text Called the preprocess method before processing the request gets printed each time the request is processed by the Struts. This shows that it is calling the CustomRequestProcessor and not the RequestProcessor class.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 ComposableRequestProcessor in Struts 1.3 Introduction :- A popular technique for organizing the execution of complex processing flows is the Chain of Responsibility pattern. In this pattern the different commands are combined into a single chain with a series of processing elements and the context parameter is passed along with all the parameter. All the commands contain a single execute method. A Boolean variable determines whether the command executes successfully or not. This pattern promotes the idea of loose coupling, a common programming practice. From the version 1.3, the struts replaces the RequestProcessor with ComposableRequestProcessor class which follows the Chain of Responsibility pattern (CoR) design pattern. It is configured via the following context initialization parameters: org.apache.struts.chain.CATALOG_NAME - Name of the Catalog in which we will look up the Command to be executed for each request. If not specified, the default value is struts. org.apache.struts.chain.COMMAND_NAME - Name of the Command which we will execute for each request, to be looked up in the specified Catalog. If not specified, the default value is servlet-standard. Each step of the processing is represented as a separate Command in the Chain. User can easily customize by changing, removing and replacing the chain commands. The Command classes are following packages:-

1. org.apache.struts.chain.commands. 2. org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet packages.

The following table will listed out all the command objects of CoR. Description Select a locale for this request, if one hasn't already been selected, and place it in the SelectLocale request. SetOriginalURI Store the URI of the original request in the request. RequestNoCache If appropriate, set the following response headers: Pragma, Cache-Control, and Expires. Removes any ActionMessages object stored in the session under Globals.MESSAGE_KEY RemoveCachedMessages and Globals.ERROR_KEY if the messages' isAccessed method returns true. This allows messages to be stored in the session, displayed one time, and be released. SetContentType Set the default content type (with optional character encoding) for all responses if requested. SelectAction Determine the ActionMapping associated with this path. If the mapping has a role associated with it, ensure the requesting client has the specified AuthorizeAction role. If the client does not, raise an error and stop processing of the request. Instantiate (if necessary) the ActionForm associated with this mapping (if any) and place it CreateActionForm into the appropriate scope. PopulateActionForm Populate the ActionForm associated with this request, if any. ValidateActionForm Perform validation (if requested) on the ActionForm associated with this request (if any). SelectInput If validation failed, select the appropriate ForwardConfig for return to the input page. ExecuteCommand Lookup and execute a chain command if the current ActionConfig is so-configured. SelectForward If this mapping represents a forward, forward to the path specified by the mapping. SelectInclude Select the include uri (if any) for the current action mapping. 108/121 Command

12/23/10 11:03:19 PerformInclude CreateAction ExecuteAction ExecuteForwardCommand PerformForward If selected, include the result of invoking the path in this request. Instantiate an instance of the class specified by the current ActionMapping (if necessary). This is the point at which your Action's execute method will be called. Lookup and execute a chain command if the current ForwardConfig is so-configured. Finally, the process method of the RequestProcessor takes the ActionForward returned by your Action class, and uses it to select the next resource (if any). Most often the ActionForward leads to the presentation page that renders the response.

The default Chain-config file supplied by the apache is as follows:-

<?xml version=1.0 ?> <!-$Id: chain-config.xml 481833 2006-12-03 17:32:52Z niallp $ Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the License); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an AS IS BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License. --> <!-This file contains definitions of the standard Chain Of Responsibility chains that emulate Struts 1.2 processing functionality. These chains are defined in a catalog named struts so that the application can use the default catalog for its own purposes, without any potential for name clashes. $Id: chain-config.xml 481833 2006-12-03 17:32:52Z niallp $ --> <catalog name=struts> <define name=lookup className=org.apache.commons.chain.generic.LookupCommand/> <!-- ========== Servlet Complete Request Chain ========================= --> <chain name=servlet-standard> <!-- Establish exception handling filter --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.ExceptionCatcher catalogName=struts exceptionCommand=servlet-exception/> <lookup catalogName=struts name=process-action optional=false/> 109/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <lookup catalogName=struts name=process-view optional=false/> </chain> <!-- ========== Action Processing chain ======================== --> <chain name=process-action> <!-This chain attempts to emulate (most of) the standard request processing in the standard org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor class, by performing the corresponding tasks in individual Commands that are composable. The following list defines a cross reference between the processXxx methods and the Commands that perform the corresponding functionality: processMultipart Integrated into servlet and legacy classes processPath SelectAction (which also does processMapping) processException ExceptionCatcher / ExceptionHandler processLocale SelectLocale processContent SetContentType processNoCache RequestNoCache processPreprocess LookupCommand with optional=true. Multiple occurrences of this can easily be added, to support additional processing hooks at any point in the chain without modifying the standard definition. processCachedMessages RemoveCachedMessages processMapping SelectAction (which also does processPath) processRoles AuthorizeAction processActionForm CreateActionForm processPopulate PopulateActionForm processValidate ValidateActionForm / SelectInput processForward SelectForward processInclude SelectInclude / PerformInclude processActionCreate CreateAction processActionPerform ExecuteAction --> <!-- Look up optional preprocess command --> <lookup catalogName=struts name=servlet-standard-preprocess optional=true/> 110/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <!-- Identify the Locale for this request --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.SelectLocale/> <!-- Set (if needed) the URI of the original request --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.SetOriginalURI/> <!-- Set (if needed) no cache HTTP response headers --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.RequestNoCache/> <!-- Set (if needed) the HTTP response content type --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.SetContentType/> <!-- Remove messages cached in the Session --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.RemoveCachedMessages/> <!-- Identify the ActionConfig for this request --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.SelectAction/> <!-- Authorize the selected ActionConfig for this request --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.AuthorizeAction/> <!-- Create (if needed) the ActionForm for this request --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.CreateActionForm/> <!-- Populate the ActionForm for this request --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.PopulateActionForm/> <!-- Validate the ActionForm for this request --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.ValidateActionForm/> <!-- Select the appropriate ForwardConfig for return to input page --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.SelectInput/> <!-- Lookup and execute a chain command if the current ActionConfig is so-configured. --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.ExecuteCommand/> <!-- Select the appropriate ForwardConfig for action mappings that only have an ActionForward --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.SelectForward/> <!-- Select the include uri (if any) for the current action mapping --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.SelectInclude/> <!-- Perform the include (if needed) --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.PerformInclude/> <!-- Create (if needed) the Action for this request --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.CreateAction/> <!-- Execute the Action for this request --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.ExecuteAction/>

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</chain> <!-- ========== View Processing chain ======================== --> <chain name=process-view> <!-- Lookup and execute a chain command if the current ForwardConfig is so-configured. --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.ExecuteForwardCommand/> <!-- Follow the returned ForwardConfig (if any) --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.PerformForward/> </chain> <!-- ========== Servlet Exception Handler Chain ======================== --> <chain name=servlet-exception> <!-This chain is designed to be invoked (by o.a.s.c.ExceptionCatcher) if an unhandled exception is thrown by any subsequent command in a processing chain (including the one that invokes a Struts action). The standard definition of this chain supports the exception mapping of Struts 1.1, but can be replaced in order to handle exceptions differently. --> <!-- Execute the configured exception handler (if any) --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.ExceptionHandler/> <!-- Follow the returned ForwardConfig (if any) --> <command className=org.apache.struts.chain.commands.servlet.PerformForward/> </chain> </catalog>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Adding New Command Objects in Struts CoR Pattern The Struts new CoR(Chain of Responsibility) structure gives us more flexibility to add our commands in between the request processing and also with less effort. All the user needs is to extend org.apache.struts.chain.commands.ActionCommandBase class and override the execute() method in it.

The below example will demonstrate how do we insert our own command objects in the existing Struts CoR without changing the actual flow and the ComposeableRequestProcessor will call the file implicitly. For any type of addition and deletion of the commands only the chain-config.xml file is changed and the Struts automatically take care of the flow.

(1) Struts-config.xml

<?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans> <form-bean name=inputForm type=com.visualbuilder.InputForm /> </form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> <global-exceptions></global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> <action path=/submit type=com.visualbuilder.SubmitAction name=inputForm scope=request validate=false input=/index.jsp/> </action-mappings> <!-- =========================================== Controller Mapping Definition --> <controller contentType=text/html;charset=UTF-8 locale=true debug=1 nocache=true processorClass=org.apache.struts.chain.ComposableRequestProcessor /> <!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources /> </struts-config> 113/121

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(2) CustomCommand.java File

Note:- The following file is created for the command object. If it returns true it means some exception occurred so it wont call the next Command in the chain and returns to the input jsp file.

package com.visualbuilder.command;

import org.apache.struts.chain.commands.ActionCommandBase; import org.apache.struts.chain.contexts.ActionContext;

public class CustomCommand extends ActionCommandBase { @Override public boolean execute(ActionContext ctx) throws Exception { boolean result=true; System.out.println(Called the logic for the Custom Command); return false; } }

(3) Chain-config.xml file

Note :- The following command will be added in the chain-config.xml file anywhere in the process-action chain.

<!-- Execute the Custom Command for this request --> <command className=com.visualbuilder.command.CustomCommand/>

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Security in Struts Implementation For Container Managed Authentication and Authorization are specified in web.xml. It uses multiple authentication schemes, such as Password Authentication Form-based Authentication Client side Digital Certificates etc.. Redirects are handled automatically. User data can be provided by a variety of stores xml file or flat files. In tomcat the Data is provided in TOMCAT_HOME/conf/tomcat-users.xml Implementation For Application Managed Extending RequestProcessor (in previous versions)or AuthorizeAction (After 1.3). Cookies Using Servlet Filters. Using SSLEXT with Struts to enable HTTPS.

The following is the Example to implement the Container Specific Security in Tomcat.

(1) tomcat-user.xml File

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?> <tomcat-users> <role rolename=tomcat/> <role rolename=role1/> <role rolename=admin/> <user username=tomcat password=tomcat roles=tomcat/> <user username=both password=tomcat roles=tomcat,role1/> <user username=role1 password=tomcat roles=role1/> <user username=visualbuilder password=test roles=admin/> </tomcat-users> (2) Web.xml file <?xml version=1.0 encoding=UTF-8?> <web-app version=2.4 xmlns=http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee xmlns:xsi=http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance xsi:schemaLocation=http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-app_2_4.xsd> <servlet> <servlet-name>action</servlet-name> <servlet-class>org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet</servlet-class> <init-param> <param-name>config</param-name> <param-value>/WEB-INF/struts-config.xml</param-value> </init-param> <load-on-startup>2</load-on-startup> </servlet> <servlet-mapping> <servlet-name>action</servlet-name> 115/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 <url-pattern>*.do</url-pattern> </servlet-mapping> <welcome-file-list> <welcome-file>index.jsp</welcome-file> </welcome-file-list> <security-constraint> <web-resource-collection> <web-resource-name>application</web-resource-name> <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern> </web-resource-collection> <auth-constraint> <role-name>admin</role-name> </auth-constraint> </security-constraint> <login-config> <auth-method>BASIC</auth-method> <realm-name>securityapp</realm-name> </login-config> <security-role> <description>Testing the Application Security</description> <role-name>admin</role-name> </security-role> </web-app> Output:The following screen appears when you try to run the application. It will ask for username and password and once you enter visualbuilder as username and test as password then only it will display the pages of the application.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Example for the Application Managed Security-1 The same way we extends the default behaviour of the Struts application, we can validate the user and authorize them to some resources in the application. We have to just mention the role for the resource in the struts-config.xml file. The following example will demonstrate the Application managed security. If the user enters the role as admin only then the submit will be called otherwise the exception page is displayed on the screen.

(1) Struts-config.xml File

<?xml version=1.0 encoding=ISO-8859-1 ?> <!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC -//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.3//EN http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-config_1_3.dtd> <struts-config> <!-- ================================================ Form Bean Definitions --> <form-beans> <form-bean name=inputForm type=com.visualbuilder.InputForm /> </form-beans> <!-- ========================================= Global Exception Definitions --> <global-exceptions></global-exceptions> <!-- =========================================== Global Forward Definitions --> <global-forwards></global-forwards> <!-- =========================================== Action Mapping Definitions --> <action-mappings> <action path=/submit type=com.visualbuilder.SubmitAction scope=request validate=false name=inputForm input=/index.jsp roles=admin/> </action-mappings> <!-- =========================================== Controller Mapping Definition --> <controller contentType=text/html;charset=UTF-8 locale=true debug=1 nocache=true processorClass=org.apache.struts.chain.ComposableRequestProcessor /> <!-- ======================================== Message Resources Definitions --> <message-resources parameter=MessageResources /> </struts-config>

(2) chain-config.xml File

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Note:- The only change with in this file is to replace line number 1 by the line number 2.

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12/23/10 11:03:19 Example for the Application Managed Security-2 (3) CustomCommand.java File

Note:- If any security check application is to be created in the struts 1.3 or higher then org.apache.struts.chain.commands.AbstractAuthorizeAction is to be extended but in case of previous versions the RequestProceesor's method processRoles() is to be overridden to check the security setting of the user.

package com.visualbuilder.command;

import org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet; import org.apache.struts.chain.commands.AbstractAuthorizeAction; import org.apache.struts.chain.contexts.ActionContext; import org.apache.struts.chain.contexts.ServletActionContext; import org.apache.struts.config.ActionConfig; import org.apache.struts.util.MessageResources; import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest; public class CustomCommand extends AbstractAuthorizeAction { // ------------------------------------------------------- Protected Methods protected boolean isAuthorized(ActionContext context, String[] roles, ActionConfig mapping) throws Exception { // Identify the HTTP request object ServletActionContext servletActionContext = (ServletActionContext) context; HttpServletRequest request = servletActionContext.getRequest(); // Check the current user against the list of required roles if(request.getParameter(user) != null && request.getParameter(user).equals(admin) ){ return (true); } // Default to unauthorized return (false); }

protected String getErrorMessage(ActionContext context, ActionConfig actionConfig) { ServletActionContext servletActionContext = (ServletActionContext) context; // Retrieve internal message resources ActionServlet servlet = servletActionContext.getActionServlet(); MessageResources resources = servlet.getInternal(); return resources.getMessage(notAuthorized, actionConfig.getPath()); } 120/121

12/23/10 11:03:19 }

Note:- Rest all the same as the previous composablerequestprocessor example for the application.

Output:Note:- If the role admin is entered only then the submit action gets called otherwise the following exception comes to the screen.

Date entered : 24th Mar 2007 Rating :No Rating Submitted by : visualbuilder

Copyright Visualbuilder.com 1999-2006 Document created date: 23 Dec 2010

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