Struts - Tiles

STRUTS:
A Mature MVC Framework

for
Web Applications
Russell Giebelhaus
Edmonton Java Users Group
October 16, 2002
Introduction
This presentation will
Describe the Model 2 MVC pattern
Demonstrate how Struts works.
Show the main features of the Struts1.1-Beta2
release.
Explore how implementing Struts affects
• Development effort
• Future site maintenance.
2
What Struts is not…
A portal or multi-channel server
It does not provide:
Security
Access Control
Individual tailored custom views
Data access
Using Struts does not hinder implementing these

features.
3
So, what is Struts?
Open-Source Jakarta project

Started in 2000 by Craig McClanahan
Currently at Version 1.1 – Beta 2
Implementation of the Model 2 – MVC
Architecture
4
The MVC Pattern
MVC Pattern history
In the beginning – JSPs
MVC Model 1
MVC Model 2 Pattern
• The motivation for the Struts Framework
5
In The Beginning - JSPs
<html><head>
<title>Add user</title>
</head><body>
<% String error = "";
String user = request.getParameter("userName"))
//is there user data from form submission
if (user != null) {
//...access the database and add user
//...catch any errors
}
//check for errors
if (error.length() == 0) { %>

<jsp:forward page="index.jsp" />
<% }
<font color=red><%=error%></font><br>
<h3>Enter username to add:</h3>
<form action="form.jsp">
<input type="text" name="userName" value=<%=user%></input>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
</body></html>
In The Beginning – JSP 1.1
Clean up the JSP page
JSP tags
• No more Java code in the HTML
• Helps to separate page designer and Java
programmer roles.
Use the include mechanism to separate HTML
components and Javascript
7
Classic MVC (Model 1)
Event Controller
View
Create/Set
Get Model State
Change Notification
Good model for Java GUIs Model

Web challenges:
web’s stateless behaviour
view uses different technology than model or
controller
8
MVC Model 2
Designed for the Web Architecture
Event Controller
HTTP Request Servlet
Client
Browser Create/Set
Model
(JavaBean)
Get
Provided by a
backend
service
Update View
HTTP Response JSP
9
Development Role Separation
3 distinct areas
Web Application Business Layer
Event Controller Query/Update Application

HTTP Request Servlet Framework
Client EJBs
Browser Create/Set JDO
Model CORBA
JavaBean
Get
View Layer
Update Persistent
HTTP Response
HTML View Style Sheets Storage
JSP
Custom Tags
10
Struts MVC 2 Implementation
Struts Components ActionForm
Event Controller Dispatch Business Logic

HTTP Request ActionServlet Action
Client
Browser Forward
Forward Creates/Sets
struts-config.xml
Resource Bundle
Update View Get Model

HTTP Response JSP <Tag> JavaBean
11
Controller Components
ActionServlet
Struts supplied
All client requests go through here
Automatically populates a JavaBean
(ActionForm) with request parameters
Handles Locale and multi-part form requests
Determines which Action or JSP to dispatch to
12
Controller Components
Action
User defined
Must extend org.apache.struts.action.Action
Override the execute() method
Acts as a coordinator to the Business
Layer
Gets data and determines which view to
render next
13
Example Action execute method
public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form,
HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws
Exception
{
//get the data for display
BusinessDelegate delegate = BusinessDelegate.getInstance();
DataBean bean = delegate.getTableData();
//put the bean (model) in the request for display
request.setAttribute(“tableData", bean);
// Forward control to the specified success URI
return (mapping.findForward("view/tabledata")); //defined in struts-
config.xml
}
14
struts-config.xml file
Contains the configuration data to hook all the
pieces together.
Introduces a level of indirection to isolate the back
end code (Actions and JSPs)
Four main types of information:
Message resource bundle declaration
For internationalization
Describes where to find the ‘application.properties’ file
<message-resources
parameter="resources.application"/>
15
struts-config.xml (cont’d)
Global forwards
These are links to other pages that are
referenced in other jsps or Actions.
Provides a level of indirection, so that a path
change only has to updated one place.
<global-forwards>
<forward name="data" path="/Data.do" />
<forward name="simpleform" path="/pages/simpleForm.jsp"
/>
</global-forwards>
16
Action Mappings
Defines a mapping between a logical Action
name and the physical Action class (path, type)
Specifies an associated ActionForm (name)
Declares the input page (input) to return to if
errors occur
Defines local forwards (forward tag). Can also
use forwards defined in the global-forwards
section.
17
Action Mappings (cont’d)
<action-mappings>
Direct Action references end in .do
<action http://…/MySubmitAction.do
path="/MySubmitAction“
type="com.sample.form.simple.SubmitAction"
scope="request"
input="/pages/simpleForm.jsp"/>
name="darnSimpleFormBean"
validate="true"
<forward name=”userdata" path="/pages/datadisplay.jsp"
/>
</action>
</action-mappings> 18
Bean Declarations
Used by the ActionServlet Controller when it
automatically populates an ActionForm
Tells the Controller where to physically locate
the referenced ActionForm
<form-beans>
<form-bean
name="darnSimpleFormBean"
type="com.sample.form.simple.SimpleFormBean"/>
</form-beans>
19
Model
User Defined
Any JavaBean
Must have a public empty constructor and
getters/setters for the data elements
Can be implemented as any data element
(JDO, EJB, CORBA, etc.)
However, one should always decouple the
client application from the specific business
layer implementation
• Use Data Transfer Objects (Value Objects)
20
View
User defined
Uses the following:
Java Server Pages, HTML
JavaScript, StyleSheets
Struts Tags and Custom Tags
Resource Bundles
JavaBeans (model)
ActionForms
21
Struts Tag Libraries
Bean – accesses javabeans and resources
Logic – manages conditionals
Nested – lets base tags relate to each other
HTML – creates input forms
Template – original page templating system
Tiles – new advanced templating system
22
Bean Tags
<bean:message>
Outputs a message stored in a resource bundle
Provides the mechanism for internationalization
<bean:write>
Outputs a value from the given bean
Provides formatting attribute DataBean
(reference: ‘tableData’)
<br>
<bean:message int numberOfRows
key="number.rows.label.key"/>
<bean:write name="tableData" Number of Rows: 4
property="numberOfRows" />
23
b
Logic Tags
Conditional statements to
determine output text
Examples: (empty, greaterThan, lessThan,
present, iterate)
Iterate allows looping over Collections
24
Logic Tags (cont’d)
DataBean
(reference: ‘tableData’)
int numberOfRows
1 many
List dataList RowElement
String columnOne
String columnTwo
<logic:iterate name="tableData" property="dataList"

id="arow">
<tr><td>
<bean:write name="arow"
property="columnOne"/>
</td><td>
<bean:write name="arow"
property="columnTwo"/>
</td></tr> 25
Nested Tags
An extension of the base tags
Allows tags to be aware of the tags around them
This relationship is based on the association of the
beans themselves
Lets fewer attributes be defined
Person
String name
int age Address
Address home 1 1
String city
String province
String postalCode
26
Nested Tags (cont’d)
Before:
<html:form action="/SubmitAction">
Person...<br>
Name: <html:text name="customer" property="name" /><br>
Age: <html:text name="customer" property="age" /><br>
Address...<br>
City: <html:text name="customer" property="home.city" /><br>
Province: <html:text name="customer"
property="home.province" />
</html:form>
27
Nested Tags (cont’d)
With Nested Tags:
<html:form action="/SubmitAction">
Person...<br>
Name: <nested:text property="name"
/><br>
Age: <nested:text property="age" /><br>
<nested:nest property="home">
Address...<br>
City: <nested:text property="city" /><br>
Province: <nested:text
property="province" />
</nested:nest>
</html:form>
28
Html Tags
Used to create input forms
Tags are available for all of the HTML form
input types.
<html:form action="/SimpleSubmitAction">
<bean:message key="simple.form.name.prompt.key"/>
<html:text property="name"/><br>
<bean:message key="simple.form.number.prompt.key"/>
<html:text property="number"/><br>
<html:submit><bean:message
key="submit.key"/></html:submit>
<html:reset><bean:message key="reset.key"/></html:reset>
<html:cancel><bean:message
key="cancel.key"/></html:cancel>
29
</html:form>
Forms
ActionForm (Form-Beans)
User defined JavaBean
extend
org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm
Need to associate one FormBean with each
Action that processes form data in struts-config
Automatically gets populated by controller
when a form has been submitted.
• Must be a direct mapping between an HTML form
element name and the attribute in the ActionForm
30
HTML Tag – ActionForm Mapping
Action - ActionForm AFormBean
relationship defined in struts-
config.xml <ActionForm>
String name
<html:form action="/SimpleSubmitAction"> String number
<bean:message key="simple.form.name.prompt.key"/>
Direct naming
<html:text property="name"/><br> relationship
<bean:message key="simple.form.number.prompt.key"/>
<html:text property="number"/><br>
<html:submit><bean:message
key="button.submit"/></html:submit>
</html:form>
31
Form Validation & Error Handling
2 ways to validate the form
Override validate() method in ActionForm
Use the Struts-Validator package
Error Handling
Struts provides easy error handling with the
ActionErrors and ActionError classes.
32
Form Validation – 1st Method
Override ActionForm validate() method
public ActionErrors validate(ActionMapping mapping, HttpServletRequest request) {
ActionErrors errors = new ActionErrors();
//validate the name field
if ((this.name == null) || (this.name.length() < 1)) {
errors.add(“inputerror", new ActionError("error.name.required.key"));
}
//validate the number field
if ((this.number == null) || (this.number.length() < 1)) {
errors.add(“inputerror", new ActionError("error.number.required.key"));
}
return errors; //return null or empty ActionErrors if no errors found
}
33
Error Handling
Use of ActionErrors class
Create list of errors and add to ActionErrors
Up to four parameters can be embedded in an error
message.
Errors are displayed in the jsp page:
<html:errors property=“inputerror”/>
Resource bundle properties determine how displayed
errors look:
errors.header=<UL>
errors.prefix=<LI>
errors.suffix=</LI>
errors.footer=</UL> 34
Form Repopulation
Struts automatically takes care of
repopulating the form
35
Form Validation – 2nd Method
Struts Validator package
Generates both the client side (JavaScript)
and Server side validation code
Comes with several pre-built validation
routines Required Date
Length Credit card number
Data type Email address
Range
Can define more routines using regular
expressions
36
Duplicate Form Submission
After submitting a form, the user can press
the Back button and submit the same form
again. In some workflows this creates
problems (ie. Banking transactions)
Use the Token feature in Struts to prevent
this from happening
37
Duplicate Form Submission
In the Action that displays form:
//mark form token start
saveToken(request);
In the Action the processes form data:

if (!isTokenValid(request)) {
// duplicate submit, return error
message
}
//token is valid
resetToken(request);
//....process form.... 38
Tiles
A templating tag library
Provides abstraction between the
Components of a web page (tiles)
• Header, menu, body, footer, etc.
Layout of the web page
• Defines how the tiles are arranged on the page
Allows for greater reuse of tiles
Allows developer to easily change the web
site look and feel
39
Tiles - Components
Layout
Header Tile
Menu Tile
Body Tile
Footer Tile
40
Tiles – Sample Layout.jsp
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/struts-bean.tld" prefix="bean"%>
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/struts-html.tld" prefix="html"%>
<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/struts-tiles.tld" prefix="tiles"%>
<html:html locale="true"/>
<body>
<tiles:useAttribute name="titleKey" id="title"/>
<h2><bean:message name="title" scope="page"/></h2>
<tiles:insert attribute="header"/>
<tiles:insert attribute="menu"/>
<hr>
<tiles:insert attribute="body"/>
<tiles:insert attribute="footer"/>
</body>
</html:html>
41
Tiles – Definition.xml
<tiles-definitions>
<definition name="main.default"
path="/layouts/layout.jsp">
<put name="titleKey" value="main.title"/>
<put name="header"
value="/common/simpleHeader.jsp"/>
<put name="menu" value="/common/mainMenu.jsp"/>
<put name="body" value="/welcome.jsp"/>
<put name="footer" value="/common/copyright.jsp"/>
value can be:
</definition> •jsp page
</tiles-definitions> •another tile definition
•text
42
Tiles – Extending a Definition
<tiles-definitions>
<definition name="logon" extends="main.default">
<put name="titleKey" value="logon.title"/>
<put name="menu" value=""/>
<put name="body" value="/logonform.jsp"/>
</definition>
</tiles-definitions>
43
Tiles - Possibilities
Dynamically generate the pages
Change any attributes on the fly
Load different tiles according to Locale
Load different tiles according to a key – make
site multi-channelled (personalized)
44
Other Features in Struts
File uploading
Multi-part form handling not defined in J2EE spec
Struts provides implementation for doing this
Dynamic ActionForms
Can define ActionForms in struts-config.xml
No need to create an actual bean for each form
Sub-Applications
Allows for multiple struts-config.xml files
Large development teams can work on same project
DataSource definition
Able to define datasources in the struts-config.xml
45
Struts - Tools
Xdoclet (WebDoclet subproject)
Generates the struts-config.xml file from tags in the
JavaDoc of the ActionForm and Action classes
Struts-config.xml editors
Plugins to various IDEs (Jbuilder, Eclipse, etc)
Full project code generators
From a given database schema creating the database
accessors, Actions, struts-config.xml, and jsps to create,
update and view the data.
Check http://jakarta.apache.org/struts/resources
for current tool list
46
When Not To Use Struts
Struts gives a project increased flexibility,
re-usability, and division of roles.
But, comes at the cost of added complexity
For medium to large projects it helps to
manage the overall complexity
For smaller projects may create too much
complexity
Ask questions about the future of the project:
• How much might the project grow
• How open to change must it be
47
Future Directions
of the Struts Project
Workflow Management System
Will allow controlling multiple page business
processes through a central, rules-based system
Commercial products currently let developers
define workflow rules – the Struts workflow
management will be similar
Incorporation into the JSP Standard Tag
Library
48
Summary
Model 2 MVC is a excellent architecture for
developing robust Web applications
Page oriented approach is simple, but fails as
the application grows.
Model 2
• Lets team members specialize their efforts
• Takes care of mixing various technologies
49
Summary (cont’d)
Struts provides a mature Model 2
implementation
Has been developed over the past 2 years with
active developer and user communities.
Robust set of features
Adheres to the Model 2 MVC paradigm
Enjoys strong industry support
50
Resources
Lots of links to documentation and samples
at the Struts homepage:
http://jakarta.apache.org/struts
51
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STRUTS:

A Mature MVC Framework

Using Struts does not hinder implementing these

Open-Source Jakarta project

Good model for Java GUIs Model

Event Controller Query/Update Application

Event Controller Dispatch Business Logic

Update View Get Model

<logic:iterate name="tableData" property="dataList"

In the Action the processes form data:

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