Struts 2 Tutorial

Apache Struts 2, another popular Java Model-View-Contraller (MVC) framework, combine of both successful WebWork and Struts 1.x web frameworks.

Apache Struts 2, is totally different with Struts 1, it’s core features are all implemented with interceptors, “value stack” concept, OGNL expression and Struts 2 tags to work around the application data, and many annotations and conventions to make this framework more simpler to use. In this tutorials, it provides many step by step examples and explanations on using Struts 2 MVC framework.

Happy learning Struts 2.

Struts 2 Quick Start

Struts 2 quick start example.

• Struts 2 hello world (XML version)
  Struts 2 hello world example with XML file.
• Struts 2 Hello World (Annotation version)
  Struts 2 hello world example with annotation.
• @ResultPath annotation example
  @ResultPath annotation explanation and example.

Struts 2 Configurations

Anything about Struts 2 configuration file.

• Multiple Struts configuration files example
  Split the large Struts configuration file into multiple small configuration file.
• Namespace configuration example and explanation
  Struts 2 Namespace is a new concept to handle the multiple modules by given a namespace to each module.
• Struts 2 Development mode
  Enable the Struts 2 development mode will make debugging more easier.
• How to remove the action suffix extension in Struts 2
  The default “.action” extension is ugly and not user friendly, example to remove or replate it with another extension.

Struts 2 Action & Form

Struts 2 Action and form data management.

• Working with Struts 2 actions
  Struts 2 Action explanation and example.
• Struts 2 ActionError & ActionMessage Example
  Struts 2 ActionError & ActionMessage explanation and example.
• Struts 2 ModelDriven example
  Transfer the form data into the object automatically.

Struts 2 Interceptors

Abything about Struts 2 interceptors.

• Mapping interceptors to action
  Configurate the interceptoes to action.
• Override the interceptor parameters
  Few ways to override the interceptor’s parameters.
• Interceptor stack example
  Interceptor stack is used to group a set of the interceptors, good for reuse.
• Creating own interceptor
  Guide to create an own interceptor to suita your needs.
• execAndWait interceptor example
  A very convenient interceptor for long running actions in the background while showing the user an custom waiting page.

Struts 2 UI Tags

Struts 2 UI tags, to render the HTML form and non-form componnets.

• TextBox example
  Struts 2 <s:textfield> textbox example.
• Password example
  Struts 2 <s:password> password example.
• Hidden value example
  Struts 2 <s:hidden> hidden value example.
• Textarea example
  Struts 2 <s:textarea> textarea example.
• Radio button example
  Struts 2 <s:radio> radio button example.
• Preselect a radio button value
  Guide to preselect a radio button value.
• Checkbox example
  Struts 2 <s:checkbox> checkbox example.
• Multiple checkboxes example
  Struts 2 <s:checkboxlist> mutiple check boxes example.
• Set default value for multiple checkboxes
  Guide to set default value for multiple check boxes.
• Drop down box example
  Struts 2 <s:select> drop down box example.
• Auto select drop down box value
  Guide to auto select drop down box value.
• Combo box example
  Struts 2 <s:combobox> combo box example.
• head example
  Struts 2 <s:head>, render a HTML head component.
• File upload example
  Struts 2 <s:file> file upload example.
• Upload multiple files example
  Struts 2 <s:file> multiple file upload example.
• doubleselect example
  Struts 2 <s:doubleselect>, create two HTML drop down boxes, once the first drop down list is selected, the second drop down list will be change accordingly
• updownselect example
  Struts 2 <s:updownselect>, create a HTML Select component with buttons to move up or down the options in the Select component.
• optiontransferselect example
  Struts 2 <s:optiontransferselect>, two “updownselect” select components align at the left and right side, in the middle of them, containing buttons to move the select options between themselves.
• datetimepicker example
  Struts 2 <s:datetimepicker>, will render a text box and append a calender icon behind, click on the calender icon will prompt a date time picker component.
• autocompleter example
  Struts 2 <s:autocompleter>, a combo box that will automatic prompt drop down suggestion lists while user typing on the text box.
• autocompleter + JSON example
  Example to populate JSON data to the autocompleter componenet.

Struts 2 Control Tags

Struts 2 Control tags or Logic tags, help to do conditional processing, iterate, manipulate and display the data.

• iterator tag example
  Struts 2 Iterator tag is used to iterate over a value, which can be any of java.util.Collection or java.util.Iterator.
• if, elseIf, else tag example
  Struts 2 If, ElseIf and Else tags are used to perform basic condition checking.
• append tag example
  Struts 2 append tag is used to combine few Iterators (created by List or Map) into a single Iterator.
• generator tag example
  Struts 2 generator tag is used to generate an iterator based on the “val” attribute provided in the page.
• merge tag example
  Struts 2 merge tag is used to merge few Iterators (created by List or Map) into a single Iterator.
• sort tag example
  Struts 2 sort tag is used to sort a List using a java.util.Comparator.
• subset tag example
  Struts 2 subset tag is used to output a subset or portion of an iterator elements.

Struts 2 Data Tags

Struts 2 Data tags, help to get the data from the ValueStack, or place the data into the ValusStack.

• a tag example
  Struts 2 a tag is used to render a HTML “<a>” tag.
• action tag example
  Struts 2 action tag is used to call action class directly from a JSP page.
• bean tag example
  Struts 2 bean tag is used to instantiate a class in the JSP page.
• date tag example
  Struts 2 date tag is used to format Date object in JSP page.
• debug tag example
  Struts 2 debug tag is a very useful debugging tag to output the content of the “Value Stack” and also the “Stack Context” details in JSP page.
• include tag example
  Struts 2 include tag is used to include JSP or HTML page directly into the current page.
• i18n tag example
  Struts 2 i18n tag is used to get the message from any declared resource bundle, not just the resource bundle that associated with the current action.
• param tag example
  Struts 2 param tag is used to parametrize other tags.
• property tag example
  Struts 2 property tag is used to get the property value from a class, which will default to the current Action class.
• push tag example
  Struts 2 push tag is used to push value to the top of stack, so that it can be access or reference easily.
• set tag example
  Struts 2 set tag is used to assign a value to a variable in a specified scope (application, session, request, page, or action).
• text tag example
  Struts 2 text tag is used to get the message from the resource bundle that’s bundle with the action class.
• url tag example
  Struts 2 “url” tag is used to create an URL and output it as a text format.

Struts 2 Resource Bundle & Localization

Struts 2 resource bundle to support the web localization features (multiple language).

• Resource bundle example
  Struts 2 resource bundle exaplantion and example.
• i18n or localization example
  A Struts 2 internationalizing or multi-language example to show the use of resource bundle to display the message from different languages.
• key attribute example
  Struts 2 key attribute in the UI components is a common way to handle the localization and also a very efficient way of coding the UI tags.
• Chinese localization issue
  A common Chinese localization issue.
• configure Global resource bundle
  Guide to configure the global resource bundle in Struts 2.

Struts 2 Theme

Struts 2 layout is designed by the “xhtml” theme, understand the Struts 2 theme concept is a “MUST”.

• Working with Struts 2 Theme & Template
  Struts 2 theme & template explanation and example.

Struts 2 Integrate with Other Frameworks

Anything about the Struts 2 integration with others framework – Spring, Hibernate, Quartz, Log4j…

• Struts 2 + Spring integration example
  Integrate Struts 2 and Spring framework.
• Struts 2 + Quartz scheduler integration example
  Integrate Struts 2 and Quartz scheduler framework.
• Struts 2 + Spring + Quartz scheduler integration example
  Integrate Struts 2, Spring and Quartz scheduler framework.
• Struts 2 + Hibernate integration example
  Integrate Struts 2 and Hibernate framework.
• Struts 2 + Hibernate integration with “Full Hibernate Plugin”
  Integrate Struts 2 and Hibernate with “Full Hibernate Plugin”.
• Struts 2 + Spring + Hibernate integration example
  Integrate Struts 2, Spring and Hibernate framework.
• Struts 2 + Log4j integration example
  Integrate Struts 2 and Log4j framework.

Struts 2 FAQ

Struts 2 FAQ.

• Difference between FilterDispatcher and StrutsPrepareAndExecuteFilter
  Common ask the diffrent between filterdispatcher and strutsprepareandexecutefilter.
• How to get the HttpServletRequest in Struts 2
  Example to get the HttpServletRequest in Struts 2.
• How to get the HttpServletResponse in Struts 2
  Example to get the HttpServletResponse in Struts 2.
• How to get the ServletContext in Struts 2
  Example to get the ServletContext in Struts 2.
• Configure static parameter in Struts 2
  Example to configurate static parameter in Struts 2.
• Struts 2 download file example
  Example to download file in Struts 2.
• Struts 2 and JSON example
  Example to integrate Struts 2 with JSON data.

Struts 2 Common Errors

Struts 2 common errors.

• ClassNotFoundException: com.opensymphony.xwork2.util.finder.Test
• There is no Action mapped for namespace / and action name “yourActionName”

Struts 2 Reference

• Struts 2 Official Documentation
• Struts 2 General Tags
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Struts