Jakarta Struts

Web Application Framework

An overview of Jakarta Struts with information

to assist in evaluating Struts for use within a
development group.

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
What is Struts and Why Should I Care?
• Web Application Framework based on
J2EE and Java
• Provides components for building Web
applications that speed development
• Many users help debug and improve it.
• Open Source: Access to source and no cost.
• No licenses to keep track of and renew.
• Dramatic growth in usage.

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Struts is a Web Application 'Framework'?
Framework Definition 1

“A structure for supporting or enclosing something else,

especially a skeletal support used as the basis for
something being constructed.”

Struts provides the ‘framework’, or shell, of an

application to save time for developers.

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
Struts is a Web Application 'Framework'?
Framework Definition 2

“A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices

that constitutes a way of viewing reality.”

Struts provides a ‘way of looking a things’ that helps

developers break complex applications into simple,
consistent sets of components.

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
... And Frameworks are important because?

• Saves developers time

• Many “eyes on the code” increases stability
• Encodes best practices
• Highly platform independent
• Gives developers ‘a place to start’
• Ensures all developers develop code using the
same approach.

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 How Does Struts Work?
Struts uses Model-View-Controller (MVC)
design pattern. MVC is well established and
time-proven (in use since 1970’s).

Model Components - Access Data and Systems

View Components - What the users see
Controller Components - Direct the Action

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Struts Model Components

Provide a 'model' of the business logic or data.

Characteristics:

- Interface to Databases
- Encode Business Logic and Calculations
- Interface to Remote Systems
- Save Data Entered by Users

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Struts View Components

Presentation layer for interacting with users.

Characteristics:

- Display data from Model Components

- Written using JavaServer Pages (JSP)
- May accept and validate some input
- Struts Tags simplify building Views

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Struts Controller Components

Control Program Flow and Manage Exceptions.

Characteristics:

- Accept Input from Users

- Determine which Models to Update
- Determine which Views to Display
- Struts Tags simplify building Views

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Our Example – Simple Login
• ActionServlet controls the navigational flow
• Action class used to access business classes
• When ActionServlet receives request from
container, it uses the URI to determine
which Action needs to handle the request
• An Action can validate input and access
business layer to retrieve data from database
By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Login (cont)
• Action does not pull values from web page
but bundles this input into a JavaBean
• Input beans are subclasses of the Struts
ActionForm class.
• ActionServlet knows which ActionForm to
use by path

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Login(cont)
• Action does not render response itself but
forwards to (ex) JSP page. Uses
ActionForward class to store path to here
• After finishing business logic, Action
selects and returns an ActionForward to the
servlet.
• Servlet uses info from here to call the page
and complete the response

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Login(cont)
• ActionMapping object – bundles details of
forward requests (tells servlet which Action,
ActionForm, and ActionForward to use)
• All are declared in the struts-config.xml file
• ActionServlet reads this file at startup time
and creates a database of configuration
objects.

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Login (cont)
Success.html Failure.html

JSP JSP
response Form
submit
Initial Page ActionServlet RegisterForm.class

(JSP/HTML)
Register.jsp
Action
struts-config.xml RegisterAction.class

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Our Classes
• RegisterForm – our ActionForm JavaBean to
capture input fields sent by the request.
ActionServlet matches property on request to
properties of this ActionForm and ActionServlet
calls setter method
• RegisterAction - Our RegisterForm is then passed
to this Action which validates input, accesses
business info, and determines which
ActionForward to return to the servlet
By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Our Classes(cont)
• UserDirectory – helper class that records
usernames and passwords into a standard
properties file
• NOTE: the perform method returns the
ActionForward after passing it the
ActionMapping
• What are “failure” and “success”?

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Our classes (cont)
• Look at struts-config.xml
• This is the deployment descriptor
• NOTE it defines the form-bean and the
action-mappings
• NOTE: path is register – usually ends in
/do/ or .do – then the container knows to
forward the request to our ActionServlet –
Struts trims the extension automatically
By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Our classes(cont)
• Success.html and failure.html normal pages
• Start up page – register.jsp
– Uses a JSP custom tag library for forms (struts-
form.tld) – cool!!! Looks real different but all
built into Struts – under the covers are the
TagHandler classes. Also has one for html,
logic, and beans.

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]
 Is Struts for You?
Struts may be for you if some of these are true:

• You need applications to run in a Web Browser.

• Your developers have Java expertise.
• You are currently using JavaServer Pages (JSP).
• You are using the J2EE Platform (Tomcat, Weblogic, etc)
• You are considering building an application ‘Framework’.

The more of the above that are true, the greater the likelihood
that Struts makes sense for your development group.

By Mohseen Mansoor
[email protected]