Structs Interview Questions and Answers

Structs Interview Questions and
Answers
What is Struts?
Struts is a web page development framework and an open source software that helps
developers build web applications quickly and easily. Struts combines Java Servlets,
Java Server Pages, custom tags, and message resources into a unified framework. It is
a cooperative, synergistic platform, suitable for development teams, independent
developers, and everyone between.
How is the MVC design pattern used in Struts framework?

In the MVC design pattern, application flow is mediated by a central Controller. The
Controller delegates requests to an appropriate handler. The handlers are tied to a
Model, and each handler acts as an adapter between the request and the Model. The
Model represents, or encapsulates, an application's business logic or state. Control is
usually then forwarded back through the Controller to the appropriate View. The
forwarding can be determined by consulting a set of mappings, usually loaded from a
database or configuration file. This provides a loose coupling between the View and
Model, which can make an application significantly easier to create and maintain.
Controller--Servlet controller which supplied by Struts itself; View --- what you can
see on the screen, a JSP page and presentation components; Model --- System state
and a business logic JavaBeans.
Who makes the Struts?

Struts is hosted by the Apache Software Foundation(ASF) as part of its Jakarta
project, like Tomcat, Ant and Velocity.
Why it called Struts?

Because the designers want to remind us of the invisible underpinnings that hold up
our houses, buildings, bridges, and ourselves when we are on stilts. This excellent
description of Struts reflect the role the Struts plays in developing web applications.
Do we need to pay the Struts if being used in commercial purpose?

No. Struts is available for commercial use at no charge under the Apache Software
License. You can also integrate the Struts components into your own framework just
as if they were written in house without any red tape, fees, or other hassles.
What are the core classes of Struts?

Action, ActionForm, ActionServlet, ActionMapping, ActionForward are basic classes
of Structs.
What is the design role played by Struts?

The role played by Structs is controller in Model/View/Controller(MVC) style. The
View is played by JSP and Model is played by JDBC or generic data source classes.
The Struts controller is a set of programmable components that allow developers to
define exactly how the application interacts with the user.
How Struts control data flow?
Struts implements the MVC/Layers pattern through the use of ActionForwards and
ActionMappings to keep control-flow decisions out of presentation layer.
What configuration files are used in Struts?
ApplicationResources.properties
struts-config.xml
These two files are used to bridge the gap between the Controller and the Model.
What helpers in the form of JSP pages are provided in Struts framework?
--struts-html.tld
--struts-bean.tld
--struts-logic.tld
Is Struts efficient?
The Struts is not only thread-safe but thread-dependent(instantiates each Action once
and allows other requests to be threaded through the original object.
ActionForm beans minimize subclass code and shorten subclass hierarchies
The Struts tag libraries provide general-purpose functionality
The Struts components are reusable by the application
The Struts localization strategies reduce the need for redundant JSPs
The Struts is designed with an open architecture--subclass available
The Struts is lightweight (5 core packages, 5 tag libraries)
The Struts is open source and well documented (code to be examined easily)
The Struts is model neutral
How you will enable front-end validation based on the xml in validation.xml?
The < html:javascript > tag to allow front-end validation based on the xml in
validation.xml. For example the code: < html:javascript formName=logonForm
dynamicJavascript=true staticJavascript=true / > generates the client side java script
for the form logonForm as defined in the validation.xml file. The < html:javascript >
when added in the jsp file generates the client site validation script.
What is ActionServlet?
The class org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet is the called the ActionServlet. In the
the Jakarta Struts Framework this class plays the role of controller. All the requests to
the server goes through the controller. Controller is responsible for handling all the
requests.
How you will make available any Message Resources Definitions file to the Struts
Framework Environment?
Message Resources Definitions file are simple .properties files and these files contains
the messages that can be used in the struts project. Message Resources Definitions
files can be added to the struts-config.xml file through < message-resources / > tag.
Example: < message-resources parameter= MessageResources / >
What is Action Class?

The Action Class is part of the Model and is a wrapper around the business logic. The
purpose of Action Class is to translate the HttpServletRequest to the business logic.
To use the Action, we need to Subclass and overwrite the execute() method. In the
Action Class all the database/business processing are done. It is advisable to perform
all the database related stuffs in the Action Class. The ActionServlet (commad) passes
the parameterized class to Action Form using the execute() method. The return type of
the execute method is ActionForward which is used by the Struts Framework to
forward the request to the file as per the value of the returned ActionForward object.
Write code of any Action Class?

Here is the code of Action Class that returns the ActionForward object.
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 TestAction extends Action

{
public ActionForward execute(
ActionMapping mapping,
ActionForm form,
HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception
{
return mapping.findForward(\"testAction\");
}
}
What is ActionForm?
An ActionForm is a JavaBean that extends org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm.
ActionForm maintains the session state for web application and the ActionForm
object is automatically populated on the server side with data entered from a form on
the client side.
What is Struts Validator Framework?

Struts Framework provides the functionality to validate the form data. It can be use to
validate the data on the users browser as well as on the server side. Struts Framework
emits the java scripts and it can be used validate the form data on the client browser.
Server side validation of form can be accomplished by sub classing your From Bean
with DynaValidatorForm class. The Validator framework was developed by David
Winterfeldt as third-party add-on to Struts. Now the Validator framework is a part of
Jakarta Commons project and it can be used with or without Struts. The Validator
framework comes integrated with the Struts Framework and can be used without
doing any extra settings.
Give the Details of XML files used in Validator Framework?

The Validator Framework uses two XML configuration files validator-rules.xml and
validation.xml. The validator-rules.xml defines the standard validation routines, these
are reusable and used in validation.xml. to define the form specific validations. The
validation.xml defines the validations applied to a form bean. How you will display
validation fail errors on jsp page? - The following tag displays all the errors: <
html:errors/ >
Why do we need Struts?

Java technologies give developers a serious boost when creating and maintaining
applications to meet the demands of today's public Web sites and enterprise intranets.
Struts combines Java Servlets, Java ServerPages, custom tags, and message resources
into a unified framework. The end result is a cooperative, synergistic platform,
suitable for development teams, independent developers, and everyone in between.
How does Struts work?

Java Servlets are designed to handle requests made by Web browsers. Java
ServerPages are designed to create dynamic Web pages that can turn billboard sites
into live applications. Struts uses a special Servlet as a switchboard to route requests
from Web browsers to the appropriate ServerPage. This makes Web applications
much easier to design, create, and maintain.
Is Struts compatible with other Java technologies?

Yes. Struts is committed to supporting industry standards. Struts acts as an integrator
of Java technologies so that they can be used in the "real world".
Who wrote Struts?

There are several active committers to the Struts project, working cooperatively from
around the globe. Dozens of individual developers and committers contributed to the
Struts 1.x codebase. All interested Java developers are invited to contribute to the
project. Struts is a Apache Software Foundation project, with the mission to "provide
secure, enterprise-grade server solutions based on the Java Platform that are
developed in an open and cooperative fashion".
Struts was created by Craig R. McClanahan and donated to The Apache Software
Foundation in May 2000. Craig was the primary developer of both Struts 1.x and
Tomcat 4. Tomcat 4 was the basis for the official reference implementation for a
servlet 2.3 and JSP 1.2 container.
Craig's current focus is as architect of the Sun Java Studio Creator (formerly Project
Rave). Craig also serves as the Specification Lead for JavaServer Faces (JSR-127),
and is the Web Layer Architect for the Java2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) platform as a
whole.
Why is it called Struts?

It's a reference to struts in the architectural sense, a reminder of the nearly invisible
pieces that hold up buildings, houses, and bridges.
Do I have to credit Struts on my own website?

You need to credit Struts if you redistribute your own framework based on Struts for
other people to use. (See the Apache License for details.) But you do not need to
credit Struts just because your web application utilizes the framework. It's the same
situation as using the Apache HTTPD server or Tomcat. Not required if its just
running your web site.
Where can I get a copy of Struts?
The best place to download Struts is at struts.apache.org. The nightly builds are very
stable, and recommended as the best place to start today.
How do I install Struts?

To develop applications with Struts, you can usually just add the Struts JAR file to
your Java development environment. You can then start using the Struts classes as
part of your own application. A blank Struts application (in the webapps directory,
open struts-blank.war) is provided, which you can just copy to get a quick-start on
your own brainchild.
Since the full source code for Struts is available, we also provide complete
instructions for compiling your own Struts JAR from scratch. (This is actually easier
than it looks!)
Your Struts application can usually be deployed using a standard WAR file. In most
cases, you simply deposit the WAR file on your application server, and it is installed
automatically. If not, step-by-step installation instructions for various servlet
containers are available.
When do I need "struts.jar" on my classpath?

When you are compiling an application that uses the Struts classes, you must have the
"struts.jar" on the classpath your compiler sees -- it does not have to be on your
CLASSPATH environment variable.
Why is that an important distinction? Because if you are using a servlet container on
your development machine to test your application, the "struts.jar" must not be on
your CLASSPATH environment variable when running the container. (This is
because each Web application must also have their own copy of the Struts classes,
and the container will become confused if it is on the environment path as well.)
There are several general approaches to this issue:
* Use ANT for building your projects -- it can easily assemble classpaths for the
compiler. (This is how Struts itself is built, along with Tomcat and most other Java-
based projects).
* Use an IDE where you can configure the "class path" used for compilation
independent of the CLASSPATH environment variable.
* Use a shell script that temporarily adds struts.jar to the classpath just for
compilation, for example javac -classpath /path/to/struts.jar:$CLASSPATH $@
Does Struts include its own unit tests?

Struts currently has two testing environments, to reflect the fact that some things can
be tested statically, and some really need to be done in the environment of a running
servlet container.
For static unit tests, we use the JUnit framework. The sources for these tests are in the
"src/test" hierarchy in the source repository, and are executed via the "test.junit" target
in the top-level build.xml file. Such tests are focused on the low-level functionality of
individual methods, are particularly suitable for the static methods in the
org.apache.struts.util utility classes. In the test hierarchy, there are also some "mock
object" classes (in the org.apache.struts.mock package) so that you can package up
things that look like servlet API and Struts API objects to pass in as arguments to
such tests.
Another valuable tool is Struts TestCase which provides a useful harness for Action
classes that can be used with JUnit or Cactus.
If the framework doesn't do what I want, can I request that a feature be added?
First, it's important to remember that Struts is an all-volunteer project. We don't
charge anyone anything to use Struts. Committers and other developers work on
Struts because they need to use it with their own applications. If others can use it too,
that's "icing on the cake". If you submit a patch for a feature that a Committer finds
useful, then that Committer may choose to volunteer his or her time to apply the
patch. If you just submit an idea without a patch, it is much less likely to be added
(since first someone else has to volunteer their time to write the patch).
We are grateful for any patches, and we welcome new ideas, but the best way to see
that something gets added to the framework is to do as much of the work as you can,
rather than rely on the "kindness of strangers". Worst case, you can apply the patch to
your copy of Struts and still use the feature in your own application. (Which is what
open source is ~really~ all about.)
Where can I get help with Struts?

The Struts package comes complete with a Users Guide to introduce people to the
framework and its underlying technologies. Various components also have their own
in-depth Developers Guide, to cover more advanced topics. Comprehensive Javadocs
are included along with the full source code. For your convenience, these are bundled
together as a self-installing application. The struts-documentation.war is the same
bundle that is deployed as the Struts Web site.
The Strut's mailing list is also very active, and welcomes posts from new users.
Before posting a new question, be sure to consult the MAILING LIST ARCHIVE and
the very excellent How To Ask Questions The Smart Way by Eric Raymond. Please
do be sure to turn off HTML in your email client before posting.
What's the difference between Struts and Turbine? What's the difference
between Struts and Espresso?
If you are starting from scratch, packages like Turbine and Espresso can be very
helpful since they try to provide all of the basic services that your team is likely to
need. Such services include things like data persistence and logging.
If you are not starting from scratch, and need to hook up your web application to an
existing infrastructure, then "plain vanilla" Struts can be a better choice. The core
Struts framework does not presuppose that you are using a given set of data
persistence, presentation, or logging tools. Anything goes =:0)
Compared to other offerings, Struts endeavors to be a minimalist framework. We try
leverage existing technologies whenever we can and provide only the missing pieces
you need to combine disparate technologies into a coherent application. This is great
when you want to select your own tools to use with Struts. But, if you prefer a more
integrated infrastructure, then packages like Turbine or Espresso (which uses Struts)
are perfectly good ways to go.
See also
* < http://www.mail-archive.com/struts-user@jakarta.apache.org/msg03206.html >
* < http://www.mail-archive.com/general@jakarta.apache.org/msg00495.html >
* < http://jakarta.apache.org/velocity/ymtd/ymtd.html >
Why aren't the Struts tags maintained as part of the Jakarta Taglibs project ?
Development of both products began about the same time. Leading up to the release
of 1.0, it was thought better to continue to develop the taglibs alongside the controller.
Now that 1.0 is out, the JavaServer Pages Standard Taglib is in active development.
Once work on JSTL stabilizes, the Struts taglibs will be revisited. Tags which are not
linked directly to the framework may be hosted at Jakarta Taglibs instead.
Are the Struts tags XHTML compliant ?

If you use an <html:html xhtml="true> or <html:xhtml/> element on your page, the
tags will render as XHTML (since Struts 1.1).
Will the Struts tags support other markup languages such as WML ?
Struts itself is markup neutral. The original Struts taglibs are only one example of
how presentation layer components can access the framework. The framework objects
are exposed through the standard application, session, and request contexts, where any
Java component in the application can make use of them.
Markup extensions that use Struts are available for Velocity and XLST, among others.
A new Struts tag library for Java Server Faces is also in development.
For more about using WAP/WML with Struts see the article WAP up your EAserver.
What about JSTL and JavaServer Faces ?

JSTL, the JavaServer Standard Tag Library, is a set of JSP tags that are designed to
make it easier to develop Web applications. JavaServer Faces (JSF) is a specification
for a new technology that promises to make it easier to write MVC applications, both
for the Web and for the desktop.
The inventor of Struts, Craig McClanahan, is the specification co-lead for JavaServer
Faces (JSR 127), and architect of the reference implemenation as well as Java Studio
Creator. Both JSTL and JSF are complementary to Struts.
The mainstay of the Struts framework is the controller components, which can be
used with any Java presentation technology. As new technologies become available, it
is certain that new "glue" components will also appear to help these technologies
work as well with Struts.
Struts originally came bundled with a set of custom JSP tags. Today, several
extensions are available to help you use Struts with other popular presentation
technologies, like XSLT and Velocity. Likewise, extensions for JSTL and JSF are
now available as well.
The JSTL reference implementation is available through the Jakarta Taglibs site. A
JSTL taglibs for Struts, Struts-El , is available and distributed with Struts beginning
with the 1.1 release.
The JSF specification and reference implementation is available through Sun's The
JSF specification and reference implementation is available through Sun's Java
ServerFaces page. An early-release JavaServer Faces taglib for Struts, Struts-Faces, is
also in early release and available through the nightly build. The Struts Faces taglib is
expected to work with any compliant JSF implementation, including MyFaces.
Is there a particularly good IDE to use with Struts

Struts should work well with any development environment that you would like to
use, as well as with any programmers editor. The members of the Struts development
team each use their own tools such as Emacs, IDEA, Eclipse, and NetBeans.
Why was reload removed from Struts (since 1.1)?

The problem with ReloadAction was that Struts was trying to act like a container, but
it couldn't do a proper job of it. For example, you can't reload classes that have been
modified, or (portably) add new classes to a running web application (even if the
container supported it).
Meanwhile, as Struts 1.1 was being developed, work progressed on things like
Tomcat's reload command via the Manager webapp. This feature allows you to
quickly reload-on-demand, complete with saving and restoring your session). It
started to make even less sense for Struts to half-implement a feature that containers
are implementing fully.
A more minor point is that freezing the configuration information at application
startup time allows Struts to safely access the mapping information without bothering
with synchronization. The "startup-only" strategy creates a modest but real
improvement in performance for all users.
So, ReloadAction is not supported since Struts 1.1 for two reasons:
* It never did let you reload everything that you would really want to -- particularly
changed classes -- so many people ended up having to reload the webapp anyway.
* Containers are starting to offer reload-on-demand features which does the same
thing as the Struts ReloadAction, only better.
* Not supporting ReloadAction lets Struts avoid doing synchronization locks around
all the lookups (like figuring out which action to use, or the destination of an
ActionForward) so applications can run a little faster.
Of course, if someone came up with an implementation that solved these problems
without creating any others, we would not be opposed to including a new
ReloadAction.
What is a modular application? What does module-relative mean?

Since Struts 1.1, the framework supports multiple application modules. All
applications have at least one root, or default, module. Like the root directory in a file
system, the default application has no name. (Or is named with an empty string,
depending your viewpoint.) Developing an application with only a default module is
no different from how applications were developed under Struts 1.0. Since Struts 1.1,
you can add additional modules to your application, each of which can have their own
configuration files, messages resources, and so forth. Each module is developed in the
same way as the default module. Applications that were developed as a single module
can added to a multiple module application, and modules can promoted to a
standalone application without change. For more about configuring your application
to support multiple modules, see Configuring Applications in the User Guide.
But to answer the question =:0), a modular application is a Struts application that uses
more than one module. Module-relative means that the URI starts at the module level,
rather than at the context level, or the absolute-URL level.
* Absolute URL: http://localhost/myApplication/myModule/myAction.do
* context-relative: /myModule/myAction.do
* module-relative: /myAction.do
The Struts Examples application is a modular application that was assembled from
several applications that were created independently.
Why are some of the class and element names counter-intuitive?

The framework grew in the telling and, as it evolved, some of the names drifted.
The good thing about a nightly build, is that everything becomes available to the
community as soon as it is written. The bad thing about a nightly build is that things
like class names get locked down early and then become difficult to change.
Why is ActionForm a base class rather than an interface?
The MVC design pattern is very simple to understand but much more difficult to live
with. You just need this little bit of Business Logic in the View logic or you need just
that little bit of View logic in the Business tier and pretty soon you have a real mess.
Making ActionForm a class takes advantage of the single inheritance restriction of
Java to it makes it more difficult for people to do things that they should not do.
ActionForms implemented as interfaces encourage making the property types match
the underlying business tier instead of Strings, which violates one of the primary
purposes for ActionForms in the first place (the ability to reproduce invalid input,
which is a fundamental user expectation). ActionForms as an interface would also
encourage using existing DAO objects as ActionForms by adding â€˜implements
ActionFormâ€™ to the class. This violates the MVC design pattern goal of separation
of the view and business logic.
Since the goal of struts is to enforce this separation, it just makes more sense for
Struts to own the ActionForm.
DynaActionForms relieve developers of maintaining simple ActionForms. For near
zero maintenance, try Niall Pemberton's LazyActionForm
Do ActionForms have to be true JavaBeans?

The utilities that Struts uses (Commons-BeanUtils since 1.1) require that ActionForm
properties follow the JavaBean patterns for mutators and accessors (get*,set*,is*).
Since Struts uses the Introspection API with the ActionForms, some containers may
require that all the JavaBean patterns be followed, including declaring "implements
Serializable" for each subclass. The safest thing is to review the JavaBean
specification and follow all the prescribed patterns.
Since Struts 1.1, you can also use DynaActionForms and mapped-backed forms,
which are not true JavaBeans. For more see ActionForm classes in the User Guide
and Using Hashmaps with ActionForms in this FAQ.
Can I use multiple HTML form elements with the same name?
Yes. Define the element as an array and Struts will autopopulate it like any other.
private String[] id= {};
public String[] getId() { return this.id; }
public void setItem(String id[]) {this.id = id;}
And so forth
Can I use multiple HTML form elements with the same name?
Yes. The issue is that only one action class can be associated with a single form. So
the real issue is how do I decode multiple submit types to a single Action class. There
is more than one way to achieve this functionality.
The way that is suggested by struts is right out of the javadoc for
LookupDispatchAction . Basically, LookupDispatchAction is using the keys from
ApplicationProperties.resources as keys to a map of actions available to your Action
class. It uses reflection to decode the request and invoke the proper action. It also
takes advantage of the struts <html:submit> tags and is straight forward to implement.
You can roll your own with JavaScript events and javascript:void
(document.forms["myform"].submit) on any html element. This gives you control of
how you want your page to look. Again you will have to decode the expected action
in the execute method of your action form if you choose this route.
Why doesn't the focus feature on the <html:form> tag work in every
circumstance?
Unfortunately, there is some disagreement between the various browsers, and
different versions of the same browser, as to how the focus can be set. The
<html:form> tag provides a quick and easy JavaScript that will set the focus on a form
for most versions of most browsers. If this feature doesn't work for you, then you
should set the focus using your own JavaScript. The focus feature is a convenient
"value-add" -- not a core requirement of the tag. If you do come up with a JavaScript
that provides the final solution to this project, please post your patch to this Bugzilla
ticket.
Why are my checkboxes not being set from ON to OFF?

A problem with a checkbox is that the browser will only include it in the request when
it is checked. If it is not checked, the HTML specification suggests that it not be sent
(i.e. omitted from the request). If the value of the checkbox is being persisted, either
in a session bean or in the model, a checked box can never unchecked by a HTML
form -- because the form can never send a signal to uncheck the box. The application
must somehow ascertain that since the element was not sent that the corresponding
value is unchecked.
The recommended approach for Struts applications is to use the reset method in the
ActionForm to set all properties represented by checkboxes to null or false. The
checked boxes submitted by the form will then set those properties to true. The
omitted properties will remain false. Another solution is to use radio buttons instead,
which always submit a value.
It is important to note that the HTML specification recommends this same behavior
whenever a control is not "successful". Any blank element in a HTML form is not
guaranteed to submitted. It is therefor very important to set the default values for an
ActionForm correctly, and to implement the reset method when the ActionForm
might kept in session scope.
Can't I just create some of my JavaBeans in the JSP using a scriptlet?

Struts is designed to encourage a Model 2/MVC architecture. But there is nothing that
prevents you from using Model 1 techniques in your JavaServer Pages, so the answer
to the question is "Yes, you can".
Though, using Model 1 techniques in a Struts application does go against the grain.
The approach recommended by most Struts developers is to create and populate
whatever objects the view may need in the Action, and then forward these through the
request. Some objects may also be created and stored in the session or context,
depending on how they are used.
Likewise, there is nothing to prevent you from using scriptlets along with JSP tags in
your pages. Though, many Struts developers report writing very complex scriplet-free
applications and recommend the JSP tag approach to others.
For help with Model 1 techniques and scriptlets, you might consider joining the
Javasoft JSP-interest mailing list, where there are more people still using these
approaches.
Can I use JavaScript to submit a form?

You can submit a form with a link as below. BTW, the examples below assume you
are in an block and 'myForm' is picked up from the struts-config.xml name field of the
action.
<a href='javascript:void(document.forms["myForm"].submit()>My Link</a>
Now the trick in the action is to decode what action you intend to perform. Since you
are using JavaScript, you could set a field value and look for it in the request or in the
form.
... html/javascript part ...
<input type='hidden' value='myAction' />
<input type='button' value='Save Meeeee'
onclick='document.forms["myForm"].myAction.value="save";
document.forms["myForm"].submit();' />
<input type='button' value='Delete Meeeee'
onclick='document.forms["myForm"].myAction.value="delete";
document.forms["myForm"].submit();' />
... the java part ...
class MyAction extends ActionForm implements Serializable {
public ActionForward execute (ActionMapping map, ActionForm form,

HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse) {
String myAction = req.getParameter("myAction");
if (myAction.equals("save") {
// ... save action ...
} else if (myAction.equals("delete") {
// ... delete action ...
}
}
}
}
This is just one of many ways to achieve submitting a form and decoding the intended
action. Once you get used to the framework you will find other ways that make more
sense for your coding style and requirements. Just remember this example is
completely non-functional without JavaScript.
How do I use JavaScript to ...

Struts is mainly a server-side technology. We bundled in some JSP tags to expose the
framework components to your presentation page, but past that, the usual
development process applies.
Interactive pages require the use of JavaScript. (That's why it was invented.) If you
want things popping up or doing this when they click that, you are outside the scope
of Struts and back into the web development mainstream.
You use JavaScript with Struts the same way you use with any presentation page.
Since JavaScript is a client-side technology, you can use simple relative references to
your scripts. If you need to fire a JavaScript from a HTML control, the Struts HTML
tags have properties for the JavaScript events.
A very good JavaScript resource is Matt Kruse's site at
http://www.mattkruse.com/javascript/ Do I need to implement reset and set all my
form properties to their initial values?
No. You need to set checkbox properties to false if the ActionForm is being retained
in session scope. This is because an unchecked box does not submit an attribute. Only
checked boxes submit attributes. If the form is in session scope, and the checkbox was
checked, there is no way to turn it back off without the reset method. Resetting the
properties for other controls, or for a request scope form, is pointless. If the form is in
request scope, everything already just started at the initial value.
Can I use other beans or hashmaps with ActionForms?

Yes. There are several ways that you can use other beans or hashmaps with
ActionForms.
* ActionForms can have other beansor hashmaps as properties
* "Value Beans" or "Data Transfer Objects" (DTOs) can be used independently of
ActionForms to transfer data to the view
* ActionForms can use Maps to support "dynamic" properties (since Struts 1.1)
ActionForms (a.k.a. "form beans") are really just Java beans (with a few special
methods) that Struts creates and puts into session or request scope for you. There is
nothing preventing you from using other beans, or including them in your form beans.
Here are some examples:
Collections as properties Suppose that you need to display a pulldown list of available
colors on an input form in your application. You can include a string-valued
colorSelected property in your ActionForm to represent the user's selection and a
colorOptions property implemented as a Collection (of strings) to store the available
color choices. Assuming that you have defined the getters and setters for the
colorSelected and colorOptions properties in your orderEntryForm form bean, you
can render the pulldown list using:
<html:select property="colorSelected">
<html:options property="colorOptions" name="orderEntryForm"/>
</html:select>
The list will be populated using the strings in the colorOptions collection of the
orderEntryForm and the value that the user selects will go into the colorSelected
property that gets posted to the subsequent Action. Note that we are assuming here
that the colorOptions property of the orderEntryForm has already been set.
See How can I prepopulate a form? for instructions on how to set form bean
properties before rendering edit forms that expect properties to be pre-set.
Independent DTO An Action that retrieves a list of open orders (as an ArrayList of
Order objects) can use a DTO independently of any form bean to transfer search
results to the view. First, the Action's execute method performs the search and puts
the DTO into the request:
ArrayList results = businessObject.executeSearch(searchParameters);
request.setAttribute("searchResults",results);
Then the view can iterate through the results using the "searchResults" request key to
reference the DTO:
` <logic:iterate id="order" name="searchResults" type="com.foo.bar.Order">
<tr><td><bean:write name="order" property="orderNumber"/><td>
<td>..other properties...</td></tr>
</logic:iterate>
How can I scroll through list of pages like the search results in google?
Many Struts developers use the Pager from the JSPTags site.
http://jsptags.com/tags/navigation/pager/
Why do the Struts tags provide for so little formatting?

The Struts tags seem to provide only the most rudimentary functionality. Why is there
not better support for date formatting and advanced string handling?
Three reasons:
First, work started on the JSTL and we didn't want to duplicate the effort.
Second, work started on Java Server Faces, and we didn't want to duplicate that effort
either.
Third, in a Model 2 application, most of the formatting can be handled in the
ActionForms (or in the business tier), so all the tag has to do is spit out a string. This
leads to better reuse since the same "how to format" code does not need to be repeated
in every instance. You can "say it once" in a JavaBean and be done with it. Why don't
the Struts taglibs offer more layout options?
Since the Struts tags are open source, you can extend them to provide whatever
additional formatting you may need. If you are interested in a pre-written taglib that
offers more layout options, see the struts-layout taglib.
In the same arena, there is a well regarded contributor taglib that can help you create
Menus for your Struts applications.
Why does the <html:link> tag URL-encode javascript and mailto links?
The <html:link> tag is not intended for use with client-side references like those used
to launch Javascripts or email clients. The purpose of link tag is to interject the
context (or module) path into the URI so that your server-side links are not dependent
on your context (or module) name. It also encodes the link, as needed, to maintain the
client's session on the server. Neither feature applies to client-side links, so there is no
reason to use the <html:link> tag. Simply markup the client-side links using the
standard tag.
Why does the option tag render selected=selected instead of just selected?
Attribute minimization (that is, specifying an attribute with no value) is a place where
HTML violates standard XML syntax rules. This matters a lot for people writing to
browsers that support XHTML, where doing so makes the page invalid. It's much
better for Struts to use the expanded syntax, which works the same on existing
browsers interpreting HTML, and newer browsers that expect XHTML-compliant
syntax. Struts is following the behavior recommended by the XHTML specification
Do I have to use JSPs with my application?

The short answer to this question is: No, you are not limited to JavaServer Pages.
The longer answer is that you can use any type of presentation technology which can
be returned by a web server or Java container. The list includes but is not limited to:
* JavaServer Pages,
* HTML pages,
* WML files,
* Java servlets,
* Velocity templates, and
* XML/XLST
Some people even mix and match apparently unrelated technologies, like PHP, into
the same web application.
Do ActionForms have to be true JavaBeans?

ActionForms are added to a servlet scope (session or request) as beans. What this
means is that, for certain functionality to be available, your ActionForms will have to
follow a few simple rules.
First, your ActionForm bean must have a zero-arguments constructor. This is required
because Struts must be able to dynamically create new instances of your form bean
class, while knowing only the class name. This is not an onerous restriction, however,
because Struts will also populate your form bean's properties (from the request
parameters) for you.
Second, the fields of your form bean are made available to the framework by
supplying public getter and setter methods that follow the naming design patterns
described in the JavaBeans Specification. For most users, that means using the
following idiom for each of your form bean's properties:
private {type} fieldName;
public {type} getFieldName() {
return (this.fieldName);
}
public void setFieldName({type} fieldName) {

this.fieldName = fieldName;
}
NOTE - you MUST obey the capitalization conventions shown above for your
ActionForm properties to be recognized. The property name in this example is
"fieldName", and that must also be the name of the input field that corresponds to this
property. A bean property may have a "getter" method and a "setter" method (in a
form bean, it is typical to have both) whose name starts with "get" or "set", followed
by the property name with the first character capitalized. (For boolean properties, it is
also legal to use "is" instead of "get" as the prefix for the getter method.)
Advanced JavaBeans users will know that you can tell the system you want to use
different names for the getter and setter methods, by using a java.beans.BeanInfo
class associated with your form bean. Normally, however, it is much more convenient
to follow the standard conventions.
WARNING - developers might be tempted to use one of the following techniques, but
any of them will cause your property not to be recognized by the JavaBeans
introspection facilities, and therefore cause your applications to misbehave:
* Using getter and setter method names that do not match - if you have a getFoo()
method for your getter, but a setBar() method for your setter, Java will not recognize
these methods as referring to the same property. Instead, the language will think you
have a read-only property named "foo" and a write-only property named "bar".
* Using more than one setter method with the same name - The Java language lets
you "overload" methods, as long as the argument types are different. For example,
you could have a setStartDate(java.util.Date date) method and a setStartDate(String
date) method in the same class, and the compiled code would know which method to
call based on the parameter type being passed. However, doing this for form bean
properties will prevent Java from recognizing that you have a "startDate" property at
all.
There are other rules to follow if you want other features of your form beans to be
exposed. These include indexed attributes and mapped attributes. They are covered in
detail in other areas of the Struts documentation, in particular: indexedprops.html
Do I have to have a separate ActionForm bean for every HTML form?

This is an interesting question. As a newbie, it is a good practice to create a new
ActionForm for each action sequence. You can use DynaActionForms to help reduce
the effort required, or use the code generation facilities of your IDE.
Some issues to keep in mind regarding reuse of form beans are as follows:
* Validation - You might need to use different validation rules depending upon the
action that is currently being executed.
* Persistence - Be careful that a form populated in one action is not unexpectedly
reused in a different action. Multiple entries in struts-config.xml for the same
ActionForm subclass can help (especially if you store your form beans in session
scope). Alternatively, storing form beans in request scope can avoid unexpected
interactions (as well as reduce the memory footprint of your application, because no
server-side objects will need to be saved in between requests.
* Checkboxes - If you do as recommended and reset your boolean properties (for
fields presented as checkboxes), and the page you are currently displaying does not
have a checkbox for every boolean property on the form bean, the undisplayed
boolean properties will always appear to have a false value.
* Workflow - The most common need for form bean reuse is workflow. Out of the
box, Struts has limited support for workflow, but a common pattern is to use a single
form bean with all of the properties for all of the pages of a workflow. You will need
a good understanding of the environment (ActionForms, Actions, etc.) prior to being
able to put together a smooth workflow environment using a single form bean.
As you get more comfortable, there are a few shortcuts you can take in order to reuse
your ActionForm beans. Most of these shortcuts depend on how you have chosen to
implement your Action / ActionForm combinations.
How can I prepopulate a form?

The simplest way to prepopulate a form is to have an Action whose sole purpose is to
populate an ActionForm and forward to the servlet or JSP to render that form back to
the client. A separate Action would then be use to process the submitted form fields,
by declaring an instance of the same form bean name.
The struts-example example application that is shipped with Struts illustrates this
design pattern nicely. Note the following definitions from the struts-config.xml file:
...
<form-beans>
...
<-- Registration form bean -->
<form-bean name="registrationForm"
type="org.apache.struts.webapp.example.RegistrationForm"/>
...
</form-beans>
...
<action-mappings>
...
<-- Edit user registration -->
<action path="/editRegistration"
type="org.apache.struts.webapp.example.EditRegistrationAction"
name="registrationForm"
scope="request"
validate="false"/>
...
<-- Save user registration -->
<action path="/saveRegistration"
type="org.apache.struts.webapp.example.SaveRegistrationAction"
name="registrationForm"
input="registration"
scope="request"/>
...
</action-mappings>
Note the following features of this approach:

* Both the /editRegistration and /saveRegistration actions use the same form bean.
* When the /editRegistration action is entered, Struts will have pre-created an empty
form bean instance, and passed it to the execute() method. The setup action is free to
preconfigure the values that will be displayed when the form is rendered, simply by
setting the corresponding form bean properties.
* When the setup action completes configuring the properties of the form bean, it
should return an ActionForm that points at the page which will display this form. If
you are using the Struts JSP tag library, the action attribute on your <html:form> tag
will be set to /saveRegistration in order for the form to be submitted to the processing
action.
* Note that the setup action (/editRegistration) turns off validation on the form that is
being set up. You will normally want to include this attribute in the configuration of
your setup actions, because you are not planning to actually process the results -- you
simply want to take advantage of the fact that Struts will precreate a form bean
instance of the correct class for you.
* The processing action (/saveRegistration), on the other hand, leaves out the validate
attribute, which defaults to true. This tells Struts to perform the validations associated
with this form bean before invoking the processing action at all. If any validation
errors have occurred, Struts will forward back to your input page (technically, it
forwards back to an ActionForward named "registration" in this case, because the
example webapp uses the inputForward attribute in the element -- see the
documentation describing struts-config.xml for more information) instead of calling
your processing action.
Can I have an Action without a form?

Yes. If your Action does not need any data and it does
not need to make any data available to the view or
controller component that it forwards to, it doesn't need
a form. A good example of an Action with no ActionForm is
the LogoffAction in the struts example application:
<action path="/logoff"
type="org.apache.struts.webapp.example.LogoffAction">
<forward name="success" path="/index.jsp"/>
</action>
This action needs no data other than the user's session, which
it can get from the Request, and it doesn't need to prepare any
view elements for display, so it does not need a form.
However, you cannot use the <html:form> tag without
an ActionForm. Even if you want to use the <html:form>
tag with a simple Action that does not require input,
the tag will expect you to use some type of ActionForm,
even if it is an empty subclass without any properties.
Can you give me a simple example of using the requiredif Validator rule?
First off, there's an even newer Validator rule called
validwhen, which is almost certainly what you want to use,
since it is much easier and more powerful.
It will be available in the first release after 1.1 ships.
The example shown below could be coded with validwhen as:
<form name="medicalStatusForm">
<field
property="pregnancyTest" depends="validwhen">
<arg0 key="medicalStatusForm.pregnancyTest.label"/>
<var>
<var-name>test</var-name>
<var-value>((((sex == 'm') OR (sex == 'M'))
AND (*this* == null)) OR (*this* != null))</test>
</var>
</field>
Let's assume you have a medical information form

with three fields,
sex, pregnancyTest, and testResult. If sex is 'f' or 'F',
pregnancyTest is required. If pregnancyTest is not blank,
testResult is required. The entry in your validation.xml
file would look like this:
<form name="medicalStatusForm">
<field
property="pregnancyTest" depends="requiredif">
<arg0 key="medicalStatusForm.pregnancyTest.label"/>
<var>
<var-name>field[0]</var-name>
<var-value>sex</var-value>
</var>
<var>
<var-name>fieldTest[0]</var-name>
<var-value>EQUAL</var-value>
</var>
<var>
<var-name>fieldValue[0]</var-name>
<var-value>F</var-value>
</var>
<var>
<var-value>sex</var-value>
</var>
<var>
<var-value>EQUAL</var-value>
</var>
<var>
<var-name>fieldValue[1]</var-name>
<var-value>f</var-value>
</var>
<var>
<var-name>fieldJoin</var-name>
<var-value>OR</var-value>
</var>
</field>
<field
property="testResult" depends="requiredif">
<arg0 key="medicalStatusForm.testResult.label"/>
<var>
<var-value>pregnancyTest</var-value>
</var>
<var>
<var-value>NOTNULL</var-value>
</var>
</field>
</form>
When is the best time to validate input?

This is an excellent question. Let's step back a second and think about a typical mid to
large size application. If we start from the back end and work toward the view we
have:
1) Database: Most modern databases are going to validate for required fields,
duplicate records, security constraints, etc.
2) Business Logic: Here you are going to check for valid data relationships and things
that make sense for the particular problem you are triing to solve.
... This is where struts comes into the picture, by now the system should be pretty well
bulletproof. What we are going to do is make validation friendlier and informative.
Rember it is OK to have duplicate validations...
3) ActionErrors validate(ActionMapping map, HttpServletRequest req) is where you
can do your validation and feed back to the view, information required to correct any
errors. validate is run after the form has been reset and after the ActionForm
properties have been set from corresponding view based input. Also remember you
can turn validation off with validate="false" in the action mapping in the struts-
config.xml. This is done by returning an ActionErrors collection with messages from
your ApplicationResources.properties file.
Here you have access to the request so you can see what kinds of action is being
requested to fine tune your validations. The <html:error> tag allows you to dump all
errors on your page or a particular error associated with a particular property. The
input attribute of the struts-config.xml action allows you to send validation errors to a
particular jsp / html / tile page.
4) You can have the system perform low level validations and client side feedback
using a ValidatorForm or its derivatives. This will generate javascript and give instant
feedback to the user for simple data entry errors. You code your validations in the
validator-rules.xml file. A working knowledge of regular expressions is necessary to
use this feature effectively.
How can I avoid validating a form before data is entered?

The simplest way is to have two actions. The first one has the job of setting the form
data, i.e. a blank registration screen. The second action in our writes the registration
data to the database. Struts would take care of invoking the validation and returning
the user to the correct screen if validation was not complete.
The EditRegistration action in the struts example application illustrates this:
< action path="/editRegistration">
type="org.apache.struts.webapp.example.EditRegistrationAction"
attribute="registrationForm"
scope="request"
validate="false">
<forward name="success path="/registration.jsp"/>
</action>
When the /editRegistration action is invoked, a registrationForm is created and added
to the request, but its validate method is not called. The default value of the validate
attribute is true, so if you do not want an action to trigger form validation, you need to
remember to add this attribute and set it to false.
How can I create a wizard workflow?

The basic idea is a series of actions with next, back, cancel and finish actions with a
common bean. Using a LookupDispatchAction is reccomended as it fits the design
pattern well and can be internationalized easily. Since the bean is shared, each choice
made will add data to the wizards base of information. A sample of struts-config.xml
follows:
< form-beans>
<form-bean name="MyWizard"
type="forms.MyWizard" />
</form-beans>


<actions>
<action path="/mywizard1"
type="actions.MyWizard"
name="MyWizard"
validate="false"
input="/WEB-INF/jsp/mywizard1.jsp">
<forward name="next"
path="/WEB-INF/jsp/mywizard2.jsp" />
<forward name="cancel"
path="/WEB-INF/jsp/mywizardcancel.jsp" />
</action>


name="MyWizard"
validate="true"
<forward name="back"
<forward name="next"
<forward name="finish"
path="/WEB-INF/jsp/mywizarddone.jsp" />
</action>

name="MyWizard"
validate="true"
<forward name="back"
<forward name="finish"
path="/WEB-INF/jsp/mywizarddone.jsp" />
</action>
The pieces of the wizard are as follows:

forms.MyWizard.java - the form bean holding the information required
actions.MyWizard.java - the actions of the wizard, note the use of
LookupDispatchAction allows for one action class with several methods. All the real
work will be done in the 'finish' method.
mywizard[x].jsp - the data collection jsp's
mywizarddone.jsp - the 'success' page
mywizardcancel.jsp - the 'cancel' page
What's the best way to deal with migrating a large application from Struts to
JSF? Is there any tool support that can help?
Answer: This is a complicated task depending on your Struts application. Because the
two frameworks have different goals, there are some challenges. Migrate your
response pages first. Keep the Struts controller and place and forward to JSF pages.
Then you can configure Struts forwards to go through the Faces servlet. Consider
looking at the Struts-Faces framework from Apache. See the framework chapter in
JSF in Action.
How can I 'chain' Actions?

Chaining actions can be done by simply using the
proper mapping in your forward entries in the struts-config.xml file.
Assume you had the following two classes:
/* com/AAction.java */
...
public class AAction extends Action

{
public ActionForward
execute(ActionMapping mapping,
ActionForm form,
HttpServletResponse response) throws
Exception
{
// Do something
return mapping.findForward("success");
}
}
/* com/BAction.java */
...
public class BAction extends Action

{
public ActionForward
execute(ActionMapping mapping,
ActionForm form,
HttpServletResponse response) throws
Exception
{
// Do something else
return mapping.findForward("success");
}
}
Then you can chain together these two actions with
the Struts configuration as shown in the following excerpt:
...
<action-mappings type="org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping">
<action path="/A"
type="com.AAction"
validate="false">
<forward name="success" path="/B.do" />
</action>
<action path="/B"
type="com.BAction"
scope="session"
validate="false">
<forward name="success" path="/result.jsp" />
</action>
</action-mappings>
...
Here we are assuming you are using a suffix-based (.do) servlet mapping, which is
recommended since module support requires it. When you send your browser to the
web application and name the action A.do (i.e. http://localhost:8080/app/A.do) it will
execute AAction.execute(), which will then forward to the "success" mapping.
This causes the execution of BAction.execute() since the entry for "success" in the
configuration file uses the .do suffix.
Of course it is also possible to chain actions programmatically, but the power and ease
of being able to "reroute" your web application's structure using the XML
configuration file is much easier to maintain.
As a rule, chaining Actions is not recommended. If your business classes are properly
factored, you should be able to call whatever methods you need from any Action,
without splicing them together into a cybernetic Rube Goldberg device.
If you must chain Actions, be aware of the following: calling the second Action from
the first Action has the same effect as calling the second Action from scratch. If both
of your Actions change the properties of a formbean, the changes made by the first
Action will be lost because Struts calls the reset() method on the formbean when the
second Action is called.
Declarative Exception Handling

If you have developed web applications long enough, you will realize a recurring
pattern emerges: when the backend (e.g. the EJB tier) throws you an exception, you
nearly always need to display an error page corresponding to the type of that
exception. Sooner or later, you will come up with a mechanism to use a lookup table
(e.g. an HashMap) to lookup an error page from the exception class.
Struts 1.1 now provides a similar but more powerful mechanism to declare exception
handling. In Struts 1.1, you can declare in the struts-config.xml the associations
between an exception class and an exception handler. Using the default exception
handler included in Struts, you can also specify the path of the error pages. With this
information, Struts will automatically forward to the specified pages when an
uncaught exception is thrown from an Action.
Like other facilities in Struts, the exception handlers are pluggable. You can write and
define your own handler classes if needed.
Struts GenericDataSource Just a general question - I'm building an application

that will run stand-alone, not in an application server. I need to manage some
database connections. Is the struts GenericDataSource a good candidate to do
this for me? I basicly just need a connection pool from where I can get
connections and then return them to optimize performance.
If this struts class is not a good candidate, can someone recommend a similar
pool-manager that is lean and mean and easy to use?
Answer 1
The Struts 1.0 GenericDataSource is not a good candidate for a production server. In
Struts 1.1, the Commons DBCP is used istead, which is a good candidate for a
production server. (You can also use the DBCP in Struts 1.0 by specifying the type
and including the Commons JARs.)
Another popular choice is Poolman. It's not under active development, but I believe
you can still download it from SourceForge. Poolman is also very easy to use outside
of Struts.
Many containers also offer support for connection pools. The one that ships with
Resin is quite good. The later versions of Tomcat bundle the Commons DBCP.
Regardless of what pool you use, a good practice is to hide it behind some type of
adaptor class of your own (often a singleton), to make it easy to change later. So your
classes call your adaptor, and your adaptor calls whichever pool you are using.
A neat and often-overlooked aspect of the Struts DataSource manager is that it
supports loading multiple connection pools and giving each a name. So you might
have one pool for internal use and another for public use. This way, the public
connections can't swap your administrative access to the application. Each pool could
also have its own login, and therefore different rights to the underlying database.
Answer 2
int i=1;
with Struts 1.0 and jdbc i'am use GenericDataSource

not in struts-xml, but in Client.properties
my Client.properties
instanceBd=oraID
userPasswd=xxx/yyyy
maxCount=20
minCount=19
port=1521
driver=oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver
url=jdbc:oracle:thin:@serverName:port:instanceBd
then, on my code i have init (struts 1.0 or struts 1.1):
GenericDataSource ng = new GenericDataSource ();

ng.setUser (mprop.getUserBd());
ng.setPassword (mprop.getPasswdBd());
ng.setUrl (mprop.getUrl());
ng.setDriverClass(mprop.getDriverClass());
ng.setMaxCount(mprop.getMaxCount());
ng.setMinCount (mprop.getMinCount());
ng.setDescription("jdbc OracleDriver");
ng.setAutoCommit(true);
try { ng.open(); } catch (java.sql.SQLException e) {
}
in business logic (or pool) :

Connect cn = ng.getConnection();
it's work.
with struts 1.1 , struts-legacy.jar is necessy for this codes.
it's work.
Dynamic pages using struts

Is it possible to create the elements of a page(jsp) dynamically based on the
results of a data base query, when using struts framework?
If you are talking about rendering a report, then sure. The Action iteracts with the
business layer/data access objects to acquire the data, and then passes it to the
presentation page bundled up as a JavaBean or a collection of JavaBeans. The JSP
tags (and other systems) all use reflection, so you can use whatever JavaBean you
like.
If you are talking about creating a dynamic data-entry form, then "not so much".
Struts 1.1 supports map-backed ActionForms, but the page still needs to know what
input fields are going to be needed. For a truly dynamic input form, I guess the key
would be some type of tag that took a map and then generated a column of input
fields. (Wouldn't work for everyone, since a lot of forms must be designed just so.)
For extra credit, the entry names could (optionally) be resource keys that were used to
find the label text.
Text fields would be easy. Others would need some type of JavaBean with properties
to tell the tag what to output. A bit of work, but obviously doable.
Of course, you'd probably want to validate the form before passing it back to the
database. I imagine it's possible to use the validator in a non-declarative way, but I
don't know anyone whose doing that. If you can do a db query to get the information
about the form, I imagine you could also do a query to get the information about
validations for the form. It would probably be easier to write your own engine than
adopt the validator. (It's not really that complicated to do.)
People often ask about "dynamic input forms", but most of us just can't get our head
around the use case. It's hard to understand what you do with the dynamic data when
it comes back. Most application don't allow you to input or update an arbitrary (e.g.
dynamic) set of fields.
Both JSF and Struts will continue to exist for a while. The Struts community is
aware of JSF and is positioning itself to have strong support for JSF. See What
about JSTL and JavaServer faces?
From a tools perspective, if you look at the support for JSF versus Struts in
WebSphere Studio, the Struts tools are focused around the controller aspects. The
Web Diagram editor helps build your Struts configuration and the wizards/editors
build Struts artifacts. The JSF tools are geared towards building pages, and in essence,
hide the JSF framework from you. Expect WebSphere Studio to support both
frameworks for a while. As JSF matures, expect to see some of the controller aspects
in JSF to become toolable.
Can you compare the advantages and disadvantages of JSF vs. Struts. Both now,
and from what you may know of futures, how and if JSF will evolve into a
superior technology vs. Struts? Include how WSAD plays into the comparison if
it will help differentiate the two.
This is a very popular question these days. In general, JSF is still fairly new and will
take time to fully mature. However, I see JSF being able to accomplish everything
Struts can, plus more. Struts evolved out of necessity. It was created by developers
who were tired of coding the same logic again and again. JSF emerged both from
necessity and competition.
Struts has several benefits:
* Struts is a mature and proven framework. It has been around for a few years and
deployed successfully on many projects. The WebSphere Application Server admin
console is a Struts application.
* Struts uses the Front Controller and Command patterns and can handle sophisticated
controller logic.
* In addition to the core controller function, it has many add-on benefits such as
layouts with Tiles, declarative exception handling, and internationalization.
There are disadvantages:
* Struts is very JSP-centric and takes other frameworks to adapt to other view
technologies.
* Although Struts has a rich tag library, it is still geared towards helping the controller
aspect of development and does not give a sense that you are dealing with
components on a page. Therefore, it is not as toolable from a view perspective.
* Struts requires knowledge of Java™. Its goal was to aid Java developers, but not to
hide Java. It does not hide details of the Java language to Web developers that well.
* ActionForms are linked programmatically to the Struts framework. Therefore, to
decouple the model, you need to write transfer code or use utilities to move data from
Action Forms to the Model on input.
JSF is an evolution of a few frameworks, including Struts. The creator of Struts, Craig
McClanahan, is one of the JSF specification leads. Therefore, it is not by accident to
see some overlap between Struts and JSF. However, one of JSF's major goals is to
help J2EE Web applications to be easily developed using RAD tools. As such, it
introduces a rich component model. JSF has several advantages:
* JSF is a specification from Sun® and will be included in future versions of the J2EE
specification. All major vendors are pledging strong support for JSF.
* JSF uses the Page Controller Pattern and therefore aids in Page rich applications.
Components can respond to event from components on a page.
* JSF has a well-defined request lifecycle allowing for plugability at different levels.
* One powerful example of plugability is building your own render toolkit. The
ability to separate the rendering portion from the controller portion of the framework
allows for wonderful opportunities of extensibility. Component providers can write
their own toolkits to render different markup languages, such as XML or WML. In
addition, the render toolkit is not tied to JSP.
* Because JSF has a rich component model, it favors a RAD style of development. I
can now build my Web pages using drag and drop technology. In addition, JSF gives
me a way to link visual components to back model components without breaking the
layering.
JSF has disadvantages:
* JSF is still quite new and evolving. It will take some time to see successful
deployments and wide usage. In addition, as vendors write components, they may not
do everything you want them to.
* JSF by hand is not easier than Struts. Its goal was more oriented to RAD. Those
who prefer to do things by hand (for example, the vi type guy who does not like
IDEs) may find Struts easier to develop.
* Struts navigation may be a bit more flexible and adhere to more complex controller
logic.
Multiple Sub-applications
One of the shortcomings in Struts 1.0 is manageability of the configuration file
(commonly known as struts-config.xml) when the development of the application
involves a sizable team. This problem arises because a Struts-based application must
run under one controller servlet, the ActionServlet, and the ActionServlet can use only
one struts-config.xml. It is not an issue when the project is relatively small and the
team consists of a couple of developers; however, when the project size becomes
significant and the project involves a large number of developers, maintaining all the
mapping information in a single file becomes increasingly problematic.
Struts 1.1 solves this problem nicely by introducing multiple sub-applications. In
Struts 1.1, each sub-application has its own struts-config.xml file. A large Struts-
based application can thus be easily partitioned into largely independent modules, i.e.
sub-applications, and each sub-team can maintain their struts-config.xml
independently.
The sub-application scheme is a natural extension of the servlet context mapping
scheme of the URI paths used by servlet containers. According to the Servlet
standard, when the servlet container receives a request with a URL, the servlet
container will try to match the prefix of the URI path to a deployed web-application in
the container. What Struts 1.1 does is it maps the second prefix of the path to a sub-
application. In effect, this prefix mapping scheme creates another level of namespace
for each sub-application. For example, for the URI,
http://some-host.com/myApp/module2/editSubscription.do
/myApp is the context path for a web-application called "myApp" and /module2 is the
sub-app prefix for a Struts sub-application called "module2".
DynaBean and BeanUtils

Another major complaint usually heard amongst Struts 1.0 users is the extensive
effort involved in writing the FormBean (a.k.a. ActionForm) classes.
Struts provides two-way automatic population between HTML forms and Java
objects, the FormBeans. To take advantage of this however, you have to write one
FormBean per HTML form. (In some use cases, a FormBean can actually be shared
between multiple HTML forms. But those are specific cases.) Struts' FormBean
standard follows faithfully the verbose JavaBean standard to define and access
properties. Besides, to encourage a maintainable architecture, Struts enforces a pattern
such that it is very difficult to 'reuse' a model-layer object (e.g. a ValueObject from
the EJB tier) as a FormBean. Combining all these factors, a developer has to spend a
significant amount of time to write tedious getters/setters for all the FormBean
classes.
Struts 1.1 offers an alternative, Dynamic ActionForms, which are based on
DynaBeans. Simply put, DynaBeans are type-safe name-value pairs (think
HashMaps) but behave like normal JavaBeans with the help of the BeanUtils library.
(Both the DynaBeans and the BeanUtils library were found to be useful and generic
enough that they have been 'promoted' into Jakarta's Commons project.) With
Dynamic ActionForms, instead of coding the tedious setters/getters, developers can
declare the required properties in the struts-config.xml files. Struts will instantiate and
initialize Dynamic ActionForm objects with the appropriate metadata. From then
onwards, The Dynamic ActionForm instance is treated as if it is an ordinary JavaBean
by Struts and the BeanUtils library.
Validator
The Validator is not exactly a new feature. The Validator has been in the contrib
package in the distribution since Struts 1.0.1. Since then, part of it has now been
refactored and moved into the Jakarta-Commons subproject and renamed the
Commons-Validator and the Struts specific portion is now called the Struts-Validator.
However, since it is in the contrib package, people may overlook it and it is
worthwhile to mention it here.
The Validator provides an extensible framework to define validation rules to validate
user inputs in forms. What is appealing in the Validator is that it generates both the
server-side validation code and the client-side validation code (i.e. Javascript) from
the same set of validation rules defined in an XML configuration file. The Validator
performs the validation based on regular-expression pattern matching. While a
handful of commonly used validators are shipped with the framework (e.g. date
validator, range validator), you can always define your own ones to suit your need.
Default Sub-application
To maintain backward compatibility, Struts 1.1 allows one default sub-application per
application. The URI of the resources (i.e. JSPs, HTMLs, etc) in the default sub-
application will have an empty sub-app prefix. This means when an existing 1.0
application is "dropped" into Struts 1.1, theoretically, it will automatically become the
default sub-application.
Direct Requests to JSPs

To take the full advantage of sub-application support, Struts 1.1 stipulates the
requirement that all requests must flow through the controller servlet, i.e. the
ActionServlet. Effectively, this means all JSPs must be fronted by Actions. Instead of
allowing direct requests to any of the JSPs, all requests must go through an Action
and let the Action forward to the appropriate JSP.
This is perhaps the biggest impact of migration to Struts 1.1 if you have not followed
this idiom in your applications. This restriction is required because without going
through the ActionServlet, Struts navigation taglibs (e.g. <html:form> and
<html:link>) used in the JSPs will not have the correct sub-app context to work with.
ActionServlet Configurations
With the introduction of sub-applications, a more flexible way is introduced to
configure each sub-application independently. Many of the configuration entries (e.g.
resource bundle location, maximum upload file size, etc) that used to be defined in
web.xml have now been moved to struts-config.xml. The original entries in web.xml
are deprecated but will still be effective.
Action.execute() and Action.getResources()

In Struts 1.0, request handling logic is coded in Action.perform(); however,
Action.perform() throws only IOException and SevletException. To facilitate the new
declarative exception handling , the request handling method needs to throw
Exception, the superclass of all the checked exceptions. Therefore, to both maintain
backward compatibility and facilitate declarative exception handling,
Action.perform() is now deprecated in favour of Action.execute().
You also have to be careful if you use DispatchAction in your existing applications.
At the time of writing, the DispatchAction in Struts 1.1 beta has not yet been updated
to use execute(). (A bug report has been filed in Struts' bug database.) Therefore,
without modifying the DispatchAction class yourself, declarative exception handling
will not work with DispatchAction subclasses.
In addition, Action.getResources() is now deprecated. Instead, you should call
Action.getResources(HttpServletRequest) instead. This allows Struts to return to you
the sub-application specific message resources. Otherwise, the message resources for
the default sub-app will be used.
Library Dependency
Struts 1.1 now depends on a handful of libraries from other Jakarta subprojects (e.g.
Commons-Logging, Commons-Collections, etc.). Some of these libraries may cause
classloading conflicts in some servlet containers. So far, people have reported in the
mailing list the classloading problem of commons-digester/jaxp1.1, and commons-
logging causing deployment difficulties in Struts 1.1 applications running on
Weblogic 6.0. (The problems have been corrected in Weblogic 6.1 and 7.0.)
Resources under WEB-INF

According to the Servlet specification, resources (e.g. JSP files) stored under WEB-
INF are protected and cannot be accessed directly by the browsers. One design idiom
for Struts 1.0 is to put all the JSP files under WEB-INF and front them by Actions so
that clients cannot illegally access the JSPs. With the introduction of sub-application
prefixes in Struts 1.1, mapping resources under WEB-INF gets complicated. Extra
configuration steps utilizing the pagePattern and forwardPattern attributes of the
element in struts-config.xml is required to inform Struts to construct the paths
correctly. More specifically, you need to set these attributes to the pattern "/WEB-
INF/$A$P".
What is the Jakarta Struts Framework?
Jakarta Struts is an open source implementation of MVC
(Model-View-Controller) pattern for the development of web based applications.
Jakarta Struts is a robust architecture and can be used for the development of
applications of any size.
The “Struts framework” makes it easier to design scalable, reliable Web applications.
What is an ActionServlet?
The class org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet is called the ActionServlet.
In the Jakarta Struts Framework this class plays the role of controller.
All the requests to the server go through the “Controller”.
The “Controller” is responsible for handling all the requests.
How can one make any “Message Resources” definitions file available to the
“Struts Framework” environment?
Answer: “Message Resources” definitions file are simple .properties files and
these files contain the messages that can be used in the struts project.
“Message Resources” definition files can be added to the struts-config.xml file
through <message-resources /> tag. Example:
<message-resources parameter="MessageResources" />
What is an “Action Class”?

The “Action Class” is part of the “Model” and is a wrapper around the business logic.
The purpose of the “Action Class” is to translate the HttpServletRequest to the

business logic.
To use the “Action”, we need to subclass and overwrite the execute() method.
All the database and business processing is done in the “Action” class.
It is advisable to perform all the database related work in the “Action” class.
The ActionServlet (command) passes the parameterized class to ActionForm using

the execute() method.
The return type of the execute method is ActionForward which is used by the Struts
Framework to forward the request to the file according to the value of the returned
ActionForward object.
Write code of any Action Class?

Here is the code of Action Class that returns the ActionForward object.
package j2eeonline.jdj.com;
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 TestAction extends Action{
public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form,

HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception{
return mapping.findForward("testAction");
}
}
What is an “ActionForm”?
An “ActionForm” is a JavaBean that extends org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm.
ActionForm maintains the session state for web application and the “ActionForm”
object is automatically populated on the server side with data entered from a form on
the client side.
What is Struts Validator Framework?

The “Struts Framework” provides the functionality to validate the form data.
It can be used to validate the data in the user’s browser as well as on the server side.
Struts Framework checks the JavaScript code and it can be used to validate the form
data on the client browser.
Server side validation of form data can be accomplished by subclassing your “form”
Bean with DynaValidatorForm class.
The “Validator” framework was developed by David Winterfeldt as a third-party

“add-on” to Struts.
Now the Validator framework is part of the “Jakarta Commons” project and it can be
used with or without Struts.
The Validator framework comes integrated with the Struts Framework and
can be used without any making any additional settings.
Describe the details of XML files used in the “Validator Framework”?

The Validator Framework uses two XML configuration files
1) validator-rules.xml and
2) validation.xml.
The validator-rules.xml defines the standard validation routines.
These are reusable and used in validation.xml to define the form specific validations.
The validation.xml defines the validations applied to a form bean.
How would you display “validation fail” errors on a JSP page?

Following tag displays all the errors:
<html:errors/>
How can one enable front-end validation based on the xml in validation.xml?
The
<html:javascript>
tag allows front-end validation based on the xml in validation.xml.
For example the code:
generates the client side JavaScript for the form "logonForm" as defined in the
validation.xml file.
The <html:javascript> when added in the JSP file generates the client side validation
script.
Servlet Interview Questions and

Answers
What is Servlet?
A servlet is a Java technology-based Web component, managed by a container called
servlet container or servlet engine, that generates dynamic content and interacts with
web clients via a request\/response paradigm.
Why is Servlet so popular?

Because servlets are platform-independent Java classes that are compiled to platform-
neutral byte code that can be loaded dynamically into and run by a Java technology-
enabled Web server.
What is servlet container?

The servlet container is a part of a Web server or application server that provides the
network services over which requests and responses are sent, decodes MIME-based
requests, and formats MIME-based responses. A servlet container also contains and
manages servlets through their lifecycle.
When a client request is sent to the servlet container, how does the container
choose which servlet to invoke?
The servlet container determines which servlet to invoke based on the configuration
of its servlets, and calls it with objects representing the request and response.
If a servlet is not properly initialized, what exception may be thrown?

During initialization or service of a request, the servlet instance can throw an
UnavailableException or a ServletException.
Given the request path below, which are context path, servlet path and path
info?
/bookstore/education/index.html
context path: /bookstore

servlet path: /education
path info: /index.html
What is filter? Can filter be used as request or response?

A filter is a reusable piece of code that can transform the content of HTTP
requests,responses, and header information. Filters do not generally create a response
or respond to a request as servlets do, rather they modify or adapt the requests for a
resource, and modify or adapt responses from a resource.
When using servlets to build the HTML, you build a DOCTYPE line, why do
you do that?
I know all major browsers ignore it even though the HTML 3.2 and 4.0 specifications
require it. But building a DOCTYPE line tells HTML validators which version of
HTML you are using so they know which specification to check your document
against. These validators are valuable debugging services, helping you catch HTML
syntax errors.
What is new in ServletRequest interface ? (Servlet 2.4)

The following methods have been added to ServletRequest 2.4 version:
public int getRemotePort()
public java.lang.String getLocalName()
public java.lang.String getLocalAddr()
public int getLocalPort()
Request parameter How to find whether a parameter exists in the request

object?
1.boolean hasFoo = !(request.getParameter("foo") == null ||
request.getParameter("foo").equals(""));
2. boolean hasParameter = request.getParameterMap().contains(theParameter);
(which works in Servlet 2.3+)
How can I send user authentication information while making URL Connection?
You'll want to use HttpURLConnection.setRequestProperty and set all the appropriate

headers to HTTP authorization.
Can we use the constructor, instead of init(), to initialize servlet?

Yes , of course you can use the constructor instead of init(). There's nothing to stop
you. But you shouldn't. The original reason for init() was that ancient versions of Java
couldn't dynamically invoke constructors with arguments, so there was no way to give
the constructur a ServletConfig. That no longer applies, but servlet containers still will
only call your no-arg constructor. So you won't have access to a ServletConfig or
ServletContext.
How can a servlet refresh automatically if some new data has entered the
database?
You can use a client-side Refresh or Server Push
The code in a finally clause will never fail to execute, right?
Using System.exit(1); in try block will not allow finally code to execute.
Servlet Interview Questions and

Answers
What mechanisms are used by a Servlet Container to maintain session
information?
Cookies, URL rewriting, and HTTPS protocol information are used to maintain
session information
Difference between GET and POST

In GET your entire form submission can be encapsulated in one URL, like a
hyperlink. query length is limited to 260 characters, not secure, faster, quick and easy.
In POST Your name/value pairs inside the body of the HTTP request, which makes
for a cleaner URL and imposes no size limitations on the form's output. It is used to
send a chunk of data to the server to be processed, more versatile, most secure.
What is session?
The session is an object used by a servlet to track a user's interaction with a Web
application across multiple HTTP requests.
What is servlet mapping?

The servlet mapping defines an association between a URL pattern and a servlet. The
mapping is used to map requests to servlets.
What is servlet context ?

The servlet context is an object that contains a servlet's view of the Web application
within which the servlet is running. Using the context, a servlet can log events, obtain
URL references to resources, and set and store attributes that other servlets in the
context can use. (answer supplied by Sun's tutorial).
Which interface must be implemented by all servlets?

Servlet interface.
Explain the life cycle of Servlet.
Loaded(by the container for first request or on start up if config file suggests load-on-
startup), initialized( using init()), service(service() or doGet() or doPost()..),
destroy(destroy()) and unloaded.
When is the servlet instance created in the life cycle of servlet? What is the
importance of configuring a servlet?
An instance of servlet is created when the servlet is loaded for the first time in the
container. Init() method is used to configure this servlet instance. This method is
called only once in the life time of a servlet, hence it makes sense to write all those
configuration details about a servlet which are required for the whole life of a servlet
in this method.
Why don't we write a constructor in a servlet?

Container writes a no argument constructor for our servlet.
When we don't write any constructor for the servlet, how does container create
an instance of servlet?
Container creates instance of servlet by calling
Class.forName(className).newInstance().
Once the destroy() method is called by the container, will the servlet be
immediately destroyed? What happens to the tasks(threads) that the servlet
might be executing at that time?
Yes, but Before calling the destroy() method, the servlet container waits for the
remaining threads that are executing the servlet’s service() method to finish.
What is the difference between callling a RequestDispatcher using

ServletRequest and ServletContext?
We can give relative URL when we use ServletRequest and not while using
ServletContext.
Why is it that we can't give relative URL's when using

ServletContext.getRequestDispatcher() when we can use the same while calling
ServletRequest.getRequestDispatcher()?
Since ServletRequest has the current request path to evaluae the relative path while
ServletContext does not.
Hibernate Interview Questions

By Ramakrishna on Jul 12, 2008 in hibernate interview questions
Q) What are the most common methods of Hibernate configuration?

A) The most common methods of Hibernate configuration are:
* Programmatic configuration
* XML configuration (hibernate.cfg.xml)
Q) What are the important tags of hibernate.cfg.xml?

A) An Action Class is an adapter between the contents of an incoming HTTP rest and
the corresponding business logic that should be executed to process this rest.
Q) What are the Core interfaces are of Hibernate framework?

A) People who read this also read:
The five core interfaces are used in just about every Hibernate application. Using
these interfaces, you can store and retrieve persistent objects and control transactions.
* Session interface
* SessionFactory interface
* Configuration interface
* Transaction interface
* Query and Criteria interfaces
Q) What role does the Session interface play in Hibernate?

A) The Session interface is the primary interface used by Hibernate applications. It is
a single-threaded, short-lived object representing a conversation between the
application and the persistent store. It allows you to create query objects to retrieve
persistent objects.
Session session = sessionFactory.openSession();

Session interface role:
* Wraps a JDBC connection

* Factory for Transaction
* Holds a mandatory (first-level) cache of persistent objects, used when navigating
the object graph or looking up objects by identifier
Q) What role does the SessionFactory interface play in Hibernate?

A) The application obtains Session instances from a SessionFactory. There is
typically a single SessionFactory for the whole application—created during
application initialization. The SessionFactory caches generate SQL statements and
other mapping metadata that Hibernate uses at runtime. It also holds cached data that
has been read in one unit of work and may be reused in a future unit of work
SessionFactory sessionFactory = configuration.buildSessionFactory();
Q) What is the general flow of Hibernate communication with RDBMS?

A) The general flow of Hibernate communication with RDBMS is :
* Load the Hibernate configuration file and create configuration object. It will
automatically load all hbm mapping files
* Create session factory from configuration object
* Get one session from this session factory
* Create HQL Query
* Execute query to get list containing Java objects
Q) What is Hibernate Query Language (HQL)?

A) Hibernate offers a query language that embodies a very powerful and flexible
mechanism to query, store, update, and retrieve objects from a database. This
language, the Hibernate query Language (HQL), is an object-oriented extension to
SQL.
Q) How do you map Java Objects with Database tables?

A)
* First we need to write Java domain objects (beans with setter and getter). The
variables should be same as database columns.
* Write hbm.xml, where we map java class to table and database columns to Java
class variables.
Example :
<hibernate-mapping>
<class name=”com.test.User” table=”user”>
<property column=”USER_NAME” length=”255″
name=”userName” not-null=”true” type=”java.lang.String”/>
<property column=”USER_PASSWORD” length=”255″
name=”userPassword” not-null=”true” type=”java.lang.String”/>
</class>
</hibernate-mapping>
Q) What Does Hibernate Simplify?

A) Hibernate simplifies:
* Saving and retrieving your domain objects

* Making database column and table name changes
* Centralizing pre save and post retrieve logic
* Complex joins for retrieving related items
* Schema creation from object model
Q) What’s the difference between load() and get()?

A) load() vs. get()
load() :-
Only use the load() method if you are sure that the object exists.
load() method will throw an exception if the unique id is not found in the database.
load() just returns a proxy by default and database won’t be hit until the proxy is
first invoked.
get():-
If you are not sure that the object exists, then use one of the get() methods.
get() method will return null if the unique id is not found in the database.
get() will hit the database immediately.
Q) What is the difference between and merge and update ?

A)Use update() if you are sure that the session does not contain an already persistent
instance with the same identifier, and merge() if you want to merge your
modifications at any time without consideration of the state of the session.
Q) How do you define sequence generated primary key in hibernate?

A) Using <generator> tag.
Example:-
<id column=”USER_ID” name=”id” type=”java.lang.Long”>
<generator class=”sequence”>
<param name=”table”>SEQUENCE_NAME</param>
<generator>
</id>
Q) Define cascade and inverse option in one-many mapping?
A) cascade – enable operations to cascade to child entities.
cascade=”all|none|save-update|delete|all-delete-orphan”
inverse – mark this collection as the “inverse” end of a bidirectional association.
inverse=”true|false”
Essentially “inverse” indicates which end of a relationship should be ignored, so when
persisting a parent who has a collection of children, should you ask the parent for its
list of children, or ask the children who the parents are?
Q) What does it mean to be inverse?

A) It informs hibernate to ignore that end of the relationship. If the one–to–many was
marked as inverse, hibernate would create a child–>parent relationship
(child.getParent). If the one–to–many was marked as non–inverse then a child–
>parent relationship would be created.
Q) What do you mean by Named – SQL query?

A) Named SQL queries are defined in the mapping xml document and called
wherever required.
Example:
<sql-query name = “empdetails”>
<return alias=”emp” class=”com.test.Employee”/>
SELECT emp.EMP_ID AS {emp.empid},
emp.EMP_ADDRESS AS {emp.address},
emp.EMP_NAME AS {emp.name}
FROM Employee EMP WHERE emp.NAME LIKE :name
</sql-query>
Invoke Named Query :
List people = session.getNamedQuery(“empdetails”)
.setString(“TomBrady”, name)
.setMaxResults(50)
.list();
Q) How do you invoke Stored Procedures?

A) <sql-query name=”selectAllEmployees_SP” callable=”true”>
<return alias=”emp” class=”employee”>
<return-property name=”empid” column=”EMP_ID”/>
<return-property name=”name” column=”EMP_NAME”/>
<return-property name=”address” column=”EMP_ADDRESS”/>
{ ? = call selectAllEmployees() }
</return>
</sql-query>
Q) Explain Criteria API

A) Criteria is a simplified API for retrieving entities by composing Criterion objects.
This is a very convenient approach for functionality like “search” screens where there
is a variable number of conditions to be placed upon the result set.
Example :
List employees = session.createCriteria(Employee.class)
.add(Restrictions.like(“name”, “a%”) )
.add(Restrictions.like(“address”, “Boston”))
.addOrder(Order.asc(“name”) )
.list();
Q) Define HibernateTemplate?
A) org.springframework.orm.hibernate.HibernateTemplate is a helper class which
provides different methods for querying/retrieving data from the database. It also
converts checked HibernateExceptions into unchecked DataAccessExceptions.
Q) What are the benefits does HibernateTemplate provide?

A) The benefits of HibernateTemplate are :
* HibernateTemplate, a Spring Template class simplifies interactions with Hibernate
Session.
* Common functions are simplified to single method calls.
* Sessions are automatically closed.
* Exceptions are automatically caught and converted to runtime exceptions.
Q) How do you switch between relational databases without code changes?

A) Using Hibernate SQL Dialects , we can switch databases. Hibernate will generate
appropriate hql queries based on the dialect defined.
Q) If you want to see the Hibernate generated SQL statements on console, what
should we do?
A) In Hibernate configuration file set as follows:
<property name=”show_sql”>true</property>
Q) What are derived properties?

A) The properties that are not mapped to a column, but calculated at runtime by
evaluation of an expression are called derived properties. The expression can be
defined using the formula attribute of the element.
People who read this also read:
Core Java Questions
Spring Questions
SCJP 6.0 Certification
EJB Interview Questions
Servlets Questions
Q) What is component mapping in Hibernate?

A)
* A component is an object saved as a value, not as a reference
* A component can be saved directly without needing to declare interfaces or
identifier properties
* Required to define an empty constructor
* Shared references not supported
Q) What is the difference between sorted and ordered collection in hibernate?

A) sorted collection vs. order collection
sorted collection :-
A sorted collection is sorting a collection by utilizing the sorting features provided by
the Java collections framework. The sorting occurs in the memory of JVM which
running Hibernate, after the data being read from database using java comparator.
If your collection is not large, it will be more efficient way to sort it.
order collection :-
Order collection is sorting a collection by specifying the order-by clause for sorting
this collection when retrieval.
If your collection is very large, it will be more efficient way to sort it .

Structs Interview Questions and Answers

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Structs Interview Questions and Answers

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Structs Interview Questions and

How is the MVC design pattern used in Struts framework?

Who makes the Struts?

Why it called Struts?

Do we need to pay the Struts if being used in commercial purpose?

What are the core classes of Struts?

What is the design role played by Struts?

What configuration files are used in Struts?

What is Action Class?

Write code of any Action Class?

public class TestAction extends Action

What is Struts Validator Framework?

Give the Details of XML files used in Validator Framework?

Why do we need Struts?

How does Struts work?

Is Struts compatible with other Java technologies?

Who wrote Struts?

Why is it called Struts?

Do I have to credit Struts on my own website?

How do I install Struts?

When do I need "struts.jar" on my classpath?

Does Struts include its own unit tests?

Where can I get help with Struts?

Are the Struts tags XHTML compliant ?

What about JSTL and JavaServer Faces ?

Is there a particularly good IDE to use with Struts

Why was reload removed from Struts (since 1.1)?

What is a modular application? What does module-relative mean?

Why are some of the class and element names counter-intuitive?

Do ActionForms have to be true JavaBeans?

Why are my checkboxes not being set from ON to OFF?

Can't I just create some of my JavaBeans in the JSP using a scriptlet?

Can I use JavaScript to submit a form?

public ActionForward execute (ActionMapping map, ActionForm form,

String myAction = req.getParameter("myAction");

How do I use JavaScript to ...

Can I use other beans or hashmaps with ActionForms?

Why do the Struts tags provide for so little formatting?

Do I have to use JSPs with my application?

Do ActionForms have to be true JavaBeans?

public void setFieldName({type} fieldName) {

Do I have to have a separate ActionForm bean for every HTML form?

How can I prepopulate a form?

Note the following features of this approach:

Can I have an Action without a form?

Let's assume you have a medical information form

When is the best time to validate input?

How can I avoid validating a form before data is entered?

How can I create a wizard workflow?

The pieces of the wizard are as follows:

How can I 'chain' Actions?

public class AAction extends Action

public class BAction extends Action

Declarative Exception Handling

Struts GenericDataSource Just a general question - I'm building an application

with Struts 1.0 and jdbc i'am use GenericDataSource

then, on my code i have init (struts 1.0 or struts 1.1):

GenericDataSource ng = new GenericDataSource ();

in business logic (or pool) :

with struts 1.1 , struts-legacy.jar is necessy for this codes.

Dynamic pages using struts

There are disadvantages:

DynaBean and BeanUtils