Struts MappingDispatchAction Example

Struts MappingDispatch Action (org.apache.struts.actions.MappingDispatchAction) is

one of the Built-in Actions provided along with the struts framework.

The org.apache.struts.actions.MappingDispatchAction class is a subclass of

org.apache.struts.actions.DispatchAction class. This class enables a user to collect
related functions into a single action class. It  needs to create multiple independent
actions for each function. Here in this example you will learn more about Struts
MappingDispatchAction that will help you to grasp the concept better.

Let's develop a class  MappingDispatch_Action which is a sub class

of org.apache.struts.actions.MappingDispatchAction class. This class does not
provide an implementation for the execute() method because DispatchAction class itself
implements this method. 

MappingDispatchAction  class is much like the DispatchAction class except that it

uses a unique action corresponding to a new request , to dispatch the methods . At run
time, this class  manages to  delegate the request to one of the methods of the derived
Action class. Selection of a method depends on the value of  the  parameter  passed from
the incoming request. MappingDispatchAction uses this request parameter value and
selects a corresponding action  from the different action-mappings defined. This
eliminates the need of creating an instance of ActionForm  class. 

MappingDispatch_Action class contains multiple methods ie.. add() , edit() , search()  ,

save() . Here all the methods are taking the same input parameters but each method
returns a different ActionForward like "add" in case of add() method , "edit" in case of
edit() etc. Each ActionForward is defined in the struts-config.xml file (action mapping is
shown later in this page). 

Developing an Action Class (MappingDispatch_Action.java) 

  package roseindia.net;
/**
* @author Amit Gupta
* @Web http://www.roseindia.net
* @Email struts@roseindia.net
**/

import java.io.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
import javax.servlet.ServletException;
import org.apache.struts.actions.MappingDispatchAction;
import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm;
import org.apache.struts.action.ActionForward;
import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping;

public class MappingDispatch_Action extends MappingDispatchAction
{
  
  
  public ActionForward add(
    ActionMapping mapping,
    ActionForm form,
    HttpServletRequest request,
    HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception{
    System.out.println("You are in add function.");
      return mapping.findForward("add");
  }

  public ActionForward edit(
    ActionMapping mapping,
    ActionForm form,
    HttpServletRequest request,
    HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception{
    System.out.println("You are in edit function.");
    return mapping.findForward("edit");
  }

    public ActionForward search(
    ActionMapping mapping,
    ActionForm form,
    HttpServletRequest request,
    HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception{
    System.out.println("You are in search function");
    return mapping.findForward("search");
  }
    
  public ActionForward save(
    ActionMapping mapping,
    ActionForm form,
    HttpServletRequest request,
    HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception{
    System.out.println("You are in save function");
    return mapping.findForward("save");
  }

  
  

No need to Develop an ActionForm Class

Developing the Action Mapping in the struts-config.xml

Here, we need to create multiple independent actions for each method defined in the
action class. Note that the value specified with the parameter attribute is used to
delegate request to the required method  of the MappingDispatch_Action Class.

<action path="/MappingDispatchAction"
type="roseindia.net.MappingDispatch_Action"
parameter="add"
input="/pages/MappingDispatchAction.jsp"
scope="request"
validate="false">
<forward name="add" path="/pages/MappingDispatchActionAdd.jsp" />
</action>

<action path="/MappingDispatchAction"
type="roseindia.net.MappingDispatch_Action"
parameter="edit"
input="/pages/MappingDispatchAction.jsp"
scope="request"
validate="false">
<forward name="edit" path="/pages/MappingDispatchActionEdit.jsp" />
</action>

<action path="/MappingDispatchAction"
type="roseindia.net.MappingDispatch_Action"
parameter="search"
input="/pages/MappingDispatchAction.jsp"
scope="request"
validate="false">
<forward name="search" path="/pages/MappingDispatchActionSearch.jsp"/>
</action>

<action path="/MappingDispatchAction"
type="roseindia.net.MappingDispatch_Action"
parameter="save"
input="/pages/MappingDispatchAction.jsp"
scope="request"
validate="false">
<forward name="save" path="/pages/MappingDispatchActionSave.jsp" />
</action>
 

Developing jsp page

Code of the jsp (MappingDispatchAction.jsp)  to delegate requests to different jsp pages :

<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/struts-bean.tld" prefix="bean"%> 

<%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/struts-html.tld" prefix="html"%> 
<html:html locale="true">
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Mapping Dispatch Action Example</TITLE>
<BODY>

<H3>Dispatch Action Example</H3>

<p><html:link page="/MappingDispatchAction.do?parameter=add">Call Add Section</html:link></p> 
<p><html:link page="/MappingDispatchAction.do?parameter=edit">Call Edit Section</html:link></p> 
<p><html:link page="/MappingDispatchAction.do?parameter=search">Call Search
Section</html:link></p> 
<p><html:link page="/MappingDispatchAction.do?parameter=save">Call Save Section</html:link></p> 

</html:html>

Add the following line in the index.jsp to call the form.

<li>
<html:link page="/pages/MappingDispatchAction.jsp">Struts File Upload</html:link>
<br>
Example demonstrates  how MappingDispatchAction class works.
</li>

Building and Testing the Example 

To build and deploy the application go to Struts\Strutstutorial directory and type ant on
the command prompt. This will deploy the application. Open the browser and navigate to
the MappingDispatchAction.jsp page. Your browser displays the following
MappingDispatchAction page.
Selecting  Call Add Section displays the following MappingDispatchActionAdd.jsp
page

Selecting Call Edit Section displays the following  MappingDispatchActionEdit.jsp

page
 Selecting Call Search Section displays the
following MappingDispatchActionSearch.jsp page

Selecting Call Save Section  displays the following  MappingDispatchActionSave.jsp 

page