Struts Tutorials

Struts 2 Action Tag Example

December 14, 2013 by Krishna Srinivasan Leave a Comment

Struts 2 action tag is helpful for executing an action and inserting the result in a particular location of the web page. There are two options with action tag, if the value for the executeResult is set to “true”, then the result is displayed to the page as it is defined in that target view. However, if the executeResult attribute value is set to “false”, the result will not be displayed. Only the action will be executed and the context variables will be available for the use.

Lets see the below example to understand how to use s:action tax in Struts 2.

1. Create Action Classes

Struts2HelloWorldAction.java

[code lang=”java”]
package javabeat.net.struts2;

public class Struts2HelloWorldAction {
private String userName;

public String getUserName() {
return userName;
}

public void setUserName(String userName) {
this.userName = userName;
}
public String execute(){
return "success";
}
}
[/code]

Struts2SimpleAction.java

[code lang=”java”]
package javabeat.net.struts2;

public class Struts2SimpleAction {
public String execute(){
return "success";
}
}
[/code]

2. Action Tag Example

ActionTag.jsp

[code lang=”xml”]
<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
pageEncoding="ISO-8859-1"%>
<%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags" %>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
<title>Insert title here</title>
</head>
<body>
<s:action name="simpleaction" executeResult="true">
Output from Simple Action: <br />
</s:action>
</body>
</html>
[/code]

Output.jsp

[code lang=”xml”]
<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
pageEncoding="ISO-8859-1"%>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
<title>Insert title here</title>
</head>
<body>
Simple JSP Page
</body>
</html>
[/code]

3. Create struts.xml

Create struts.xml with required configurations to run the above example.

[code lang=”xml”]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
"-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
"http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">
<struts>
<constant name="struts.devMode" value="true" />
<package name="tags" extends="struts-default">
<action name="actiontag" class="javabeat.net.struts2.Struts2HelloWorldAction"
method="execute">
<result name="success">/ActionTag.jsp</result>
</action>
<action name="simpleaction" class="javabeat.net.struts2.Struts2SimpleAction"
method="execute">
<result name="success">/Output.jsp</result>
</action>
</package>
</struts>
[/code]

4. Run The Application

If you access the URL http://localhost:8080/Struts2App/actiontag, you would see the output.

Difference Between FilterDispatcher and StrutsPrepareAndExecuteFilter in Struts 2

December 13, 2013 by Krishna Srinivasan Leave a Comment

If you are working on the Struts 2 applications, you would have noticed that while configuring the Struts 2 filter in your web.xml deployment descriptor, there is two different classes are used. One is org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.FilterDispatcher and another one is org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.ng.filter.StrutsPrepareAndExecuteFilter.

The simple answer is,

org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.FilterDispatcher – Used in the early development of Struts 2 and deprecated from the version 2.1.3
org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.ng.filter.StrutsPrepareAndExecuteFilter – Introduced from the Struts 2.1.3. If you are using the higher version, it is always recommended to use this API.

FilterDispatcher Configuration

[code lang=”xml”]<filter>
<filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
<filter-class>
org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.FilterDispatcher
</filter-class>
</filter>

<filter-mapping>
<filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</filter-mapping>[/code]

StrutsPrepareAndExecuteFilter Configuration

[code lang=”xml”]<filter>
<filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
<filter-class>
org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.ng.filter.StrutsPrepareAndExecuteFilter
</filter-class>
</filter>

<filter-mapping>
<filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</filter-mapping>[/code]

Struts 2 Control Tags

December 13, 2013 by Krishna Srinivasan Leave a Comment

Struts 2 provides list of conditional or control tags which is very useful for controlling the flow of an application. The following are the list of important tags listed under conditional tags.

If and else
Iterator
Merge
Append
Generator

1. The if and else tags

This tag is useful for executing the simple if or else condition by taking the values from a variable. It is very similar to the one used in every language.

[code lang=”xml”]
<s:if test="condition">
This is executed if first one is matched
</s:if>
<s:elseif test="condition">
This is executed if first one is not matched and this is matched
</s:elseif>
<s:else>
If no condition is matching, this code will be executed.
</s:else>[/code]

Read More : If and else tag tutorial

2. The iterator tags

The iterator tags are useful for iterating list of objects like ArryList, Map, etc. in the convenient manner. It is the customized using the custom tags for simplifying the iteration process.Property tag inside this tag will be used for retriving the field values for the parent object.

[code lang=”xml”]<s:iterator value="employees">
Employee name : <s:property name="name"/>
</s:iterator>[/code]

Read More : Iterator Tag Tutorial

3. The merge tags

The merge tags is useful for merging the two lists.

[code lang=”xml”]
<s:merge var="alldata">
<s:param value="data1" />
<s:param value="data2" />
</s:merge>
<s:iterator value="alldata">
<s:property />
</s:iterator>
[/code]

Read More : Merge Tag Tutorial

4. The append tags

The append tags in Struts 2 append the two or more lists into a single iterator.

[code lang=”xml”]
<s:append var="allAppendData">
<s:param value="data1" />
<s:param value="data2" />
<s:param value="data3" />
</s:append>
<s:iterator value="allAppendData">
<s:property />
</s:iterator>[/code]

5. The generator tags

The generator tag is simple tag to iterate a list of object passed to the attribute. This tag enclosed with another iterator tag.

[code lang=”xml”]
<s:generator val="%{‘data1,data2,data3,data4’}">
<s:iterator>
<s:property /><br/>
</s:iterator>
</s:generator>[/code]

Read More : Iterator Tag Tutorial

Struts 2 Generator Tag Example

December 13, 2013 by Krishna Srinivasan Leave a Comment

Struts 2 generator tag takes inline array or list of values and pass to the s:iterator to loop through the list of values.

1. Create Struts 2 Action

Create action class.

[code lang=”java”]
package javabeat.net.struts2;

public class Struts2ExampleAction{
private String lang;

public String execute() throws Exception {
return "success";
}

public String getLang() {
return lang;
}

public void setLang(String lang) {
this.lang = lang;
}
}[/code]

2. Generator Tag Example

Write JSP with generator tag to display the list of values.

[code lang=”xml”]
<%@ page contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8" %>
<%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags" %>
<html>
<head>
<title>Generator Tag Example</title>
</head>
<body>

<h2>Example of Generator Tag</h2>
<h3>List of languages:</h3>

<s:generator val="%{‘Java, Groovy, Scala, Ceylon, C++’}" count="5"
separator=",">
<s:iterator>
<s:property /><br/>
</s:iterator>
</s:generator>

</body>
</html>
[/code]

3. Struts.xml configurations

Write struts.xml configuration file.

[code lang=”xml”]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
"-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
"http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">
<struts>
<constant name="struts.devMode" value="true" />
<package name="tags" extends="struts-default">
<action name="struts2example" class="javabeat.net.struts2.Struts2ExampleAction"
method="execute">
<result name="success">/Generator.jsp</result>
</action>
</package>
</struts>
[/code]

4. Run the application

If you access the application http://localhost:8080/Struts2App/struts2example.action. You would see the following output in your screen.

Struts 2 Merge Tag Example

December 13, 2013 by Krishna Srinivasan Leave a Comment

Struts 2 merge tag is useful for merging the two lists into one object. This is very helpful when you have two different list of objects and then you need to merge them and use it in your JSP page. Merge tag has nested param element to take the multiple list objects in each line. You can add more than one param element and as many as you want. All the lists will be merged and assigned to one variables which is given in the var attribute of merge tag. I have used the iterate tag example to demonstrate this example.

1. Create Data Bean

Create a UserDetails.java class for storing the user details.

[code lang=”java”]
package javabeat.net.struts2;

public class UserDetails {
private String name;
private String city;
public UserDetails(String… args){
this.name = args[0];
this.city = args[1];
}
public String getName() {
return name;
}
public void setName(String name) {
this.name = name;
}
public String getCity() {
return city;
}
public void setCity(String city) {
this.city = city;
}

}
[/code]

2. Create Struts 2 Action

Create a Struts 2 action class with two different list objects and pass it to the JSP page.

[code lang=”java”]
package javabeat.net.struts2;

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class Struts2Iteration {
private ArrayList<UserDetails> users;
private ArrayList<UserDetails> admins;

public ArrayList<UserDetails> getAdmins() {
return admins;
}

public void setAdmins(ArrayList<UserDetails> admins) {
this.admins = admins;
}

public ArrayList<UserDetails> getUsers() {
return users;
}

public void setUsers(ArrayList<UserDetails> users) {
this.users = users;
}
public String execute(){
users = new ArrayList<UserDetails>();
users.add(new UserDetails("Name 1","City 1"));
users.add(new UserDetails("Name 2","City 2"));

admins = new ArrayList<UserDetails>();
admins.add(new UserDetails("Admin 1","City 1"));
admins.add(new UserDetails("Admin 2","City 2"));

return "success";
}
}

[/code]

3. Merge Tag Example

See the below code, we are using s:merge tage to merge two lists. Later it is displayed using the s:iterator tag.

[code lang=”xml”]
<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
pageEncoding="ISO-8859-1"%>
<%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags"%>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Struts 2 Merge Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<B>Struts 2 Merge Example</B>
<form action="iterationexample">
<s:merge var="allusers">
<s:param value="users"/> ,
<s:param value="admins"/><br/>
</s:merge>

<s:iterator value="allusers">
<s:property value="name"/> ,
<s:property value="city"/><br/>
</s:iterator>

</form>
</body>
</html>
[/code]

4. Struts.xml configurations

Create struts.xml configuration file.

[code lang=”xml”]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
"-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
"http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">
<struts>
<constant name="struts.devMode" value="true" />
<package name="tags" extends="struts-default">
<action name="iterationexample" class="javabeat.net.struts2.Struts2Iteration"
method="execute">
<result name="success">/index.jsp</result>
</action>
</package>
</struts>
[/code]

5. Run the application

If you access the application http://localhost:8080/Struts2App/iterationexample.action. You would see the following output in your screen.

Struts 2 Iterator Tag Example

December 13, 2013 by Krishna Srinivasan Leave a Comment

Struts 2 iterator tag is useful for iterating a value which of type java.util.Collections or java.util.Iterator. This example demonstrates with a simple iteration block which is taking the users list and displaying the list of users in the list.

1. Create Data Bean

Create a UserDetails.java bean to hold the user details.

[code lang=”java”]
package javabeat.net.struts2;

}
[/code]

2. Create Struts 2 Action

Create a action class for storing the values and passing the UserDetails object to the screen.

[code lang=”java”]
package javabeat.net.struts2;

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class Struts2Iteration {
private ArrayList<UserDetails> users;

public ArrayList<UserDetails> getUsers() {
return users;
}

public void setUsers(ArrayList<UserDetails> users) {
this.users = users;
}
public String execute(){
users = new ArrayList<UserDetails>();
users.add(new UserDetails("Krishna","Bangalore"));
users.add(new UserDetails("Rahul","Bangalore"));
users.add(new UserDetails("Arjun","Bangalore"));
return "success";
}
}
[/code]

3. Iterator Example

Here is the snippet for writing the iterator tag in your JSP. It is taking the list of objects and passing to the tag, property sub element under the iterator tag displays the value stored in the each field. It is very simple compare to the previous version of struts framework.

[code lang=”xml”]
<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
pageEncoding="ISO-8859-1"%>
<%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags"%>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>Struts 2 Iteration Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<B>Struts 2 Iteration Example</B>
<form action="iterationexample">
<s:iterator value="users">
<s:property value="name"/> ,
<s:property value="city"/><br/>
</s:iterator>
</form>
</body>
</html>
[/code]

4. Struts.xml configurations

Create a simple struts.xml configuration file with action mappings.

[code lang=”xml”]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
"-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
"http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">
<struts>
<constant name="struts.devMode" value="true" />
<package name="tags" extends="struts-default">
<action name="iterationexample" class="javabeat.net.struts2.Struts2Iteration"
method="execute">
<result name="success">/index.jsp</result>
</action>
</package>
</struts>
[/code]

5. Run the application

If you access the application http://localhost:8080/Struts2App/iterationexample.action. You would see the following output in your screen.

Struts 2 If, Else Tag Example

December 13, 2013 by Krishna Srinivasan Leave a Comment

This tag is useful for executing the simple if or else condition by taking the values from a variable. It is very similar to the one used in every language. You can use single else block or the multiple else block by using the else if condition. Let’s see an example to show the use of Struts 2 ‘If, ElseIf and Else‘ tag.

1. Create Struts 2 Action

This action class passes and stores the language value submitted by the user.

[code lang=”java”]
package javabeat.net.struts2;

public class Struts2ExampleAction{
private String lang;

public String execute() throws Exception {
return "success";
}

public String getLang() {
return lang;
}

public void setLang(String lang) {
this.lang = lang;
}
}
[/code]

2. Create Input JSP

This JSP file lists the languages and send the value to action class once clicked on the submit button. Action value conditionexample is defined in the action mapping configurations.

[code lang=”xml”]
<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
pageEncoding="ISO-8859-1"%>
<%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags"%>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>If and Else</title>
</head>
<body>
<B>If and Else Example From Struts2</B>
<form action="conditionexample">
<label for="lang">Please Like a Language</label><br/>
<select name="lang">
<option name="Java">Java</option>
<option name="Groovy">Groovy</option>
<option name="Scala">Scala</option>
</select>
<input type="submit" value="Like it!!"/>
</form>
</body>
</html>
[/code]

3. Struts 2 – If and Else Condition in JSP

If the user selects a value in the above screen and then submits it, this JSP takes that value and then uses the If, elseif, else condition to check and print the appropriate value.

[code lang=”xml”]
<%@ page contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8"%>
<%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags"%>
<html>
<head>
<title>Example of If and Else</title>
</head>
<body>
<b>Example of If and Else Tags in Struts 2</b>
<br />
<s:if test="lang==’Java’">
You liked the language Java
</s:if>
<s:elseif test="lang==’Groovy’">
You lliked the language Groovy
</s:elseif>
<s:else>
You don’t like any of the above options.
</s:else>
</body>
</html>
[/code]

4. Struts.xml Configurations

A simple struts.xml configuration file.

[code lang=”xml”]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
"-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
"http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">
<struts>
<constant name="struts.devMode" value="true" />
<package name="tags" extends="struts-default">
<action name="conditionexample" class="javabeat.net.struts2.Struts2ExampleAction"
method="execute">
<result name="success">/ConditionExample.jsp</result>
</action>
</package>
</struts>
[/code]

5. Web.xml Configurations

Create a web.xml deployment descriptor.

[code lang=”xml”]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
xmlns:web="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee
http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_0.xsd"
id="WebApp_ID" version="3.0">

<display-name>Struts 2</display-name>
<welcome-file-list>
<welcome-file>index.jsp</welcome-file>
</welcome-file-list>
<filter>
<filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
<filter-class>
org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.ng.filter.StrutsPrepareAndExecuteFilter
</filter-class>
</filter>
<filter-mapping>
<filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</filter-mapping>
</web-app>
[/code]

6. Run The Application

If you access the application http://localhost:8080/Struts2App/index.jsp. You would see the following output in your screen.

Struts 2 Configuration Files Path

December 13, 2013 by Krishna Srinivasan Leave a Comment

If you are a first time developer who start working on the Struts 2 application, you would have got the below exception and no clue how to fix this problem. This error is thrown because your struts 2 application not able to read your configuration file struts.xml. In any other frameworks we keep the configuration files under the WEB-INF folder which will be taken automatically.

But, in struts 2, by default the configuration file struts.xml is looked at WEB-INF/classes folder. It resolve this problem, copy the struts.xml file directly under the source folder like below screenshot. It is always should be inside the classpath of the project.

Struts 2 Project Structure

[code]</pre>
Dec 12, 2013 11:57:48 AM com.opensymphony.xwork2.util.logging.jdk.JdkLogger warn
WARNING: Could not find action or result
There is no Action mapped for namespace / and action name hello. – [unknown location]
at com.opensymphony.xwork2.DefaultActionProxy.prepare(DefaultActionProxy.java:178)
at org.apache.struts2.impl.StrutsActionProxy.prepare(StrutsActionProxy.java:61)
at org.apache.struts2.impl.StrutsActionProxyFactory.createActionProxy(StrutsActionProxyFactory.java:39)
at com.opensymphony.xwork2.DefaultActionProxyFactory.createActionProxy(DefaultActionProxyFactory.java:47)
at org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.Dispatcher.serviceAction(Dispatcher.java:478)
at org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.FilterDispatcher.doFilter(FilterDispatcher.java:395)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:235)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:206)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:233)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:191)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:128)
at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:102)
at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.SingleSignOn.invoke(SingleSignOn.java:394)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:109)
at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:293)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.process(Http11Processor.java:849)
at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Protocol$Http11ConnectionHandler.process(Http11Protocol.java:583)
<pre>[/code]

Struts 2 Configuration Files Locations

Struts 2 Exception Configuration

December 13, 2013 by Krishna Srinivasan Leave a Comment

Struts 2 simplifies the way we handle the exceptions. In the earlier version of Struts application, handling exceptions needs lot of work. In Struts 2, You can configure the exception type in the configuration file for the each action mapping and redirect to the custom error page. Here I have modified our hello world example to experiment exception handling. I have thrown SQlException from the action class which is configured in the configuration file with appropriate error page. Look at the below code to understand the exception handling.

1. Create Struts 2 Action

[code lang=”java”]
package javabeat.net.struts2;

import java.sql.SQLException;

public class Struts2HelloWorldAction {
private String userName;

public String getUserName() {
return userName;
}

public void setUserName(String userName) {
this.userName = userName;
}
public String execute() throws SQLException{
if (true){
throw new SQLException();
}
return "success";
}
}

[/code]

2. Configure struts.xml File

exception-mapping element under action element will be used for configuring the exceptions. Note that this configuration is action level, so you can configure exception pages for each action which gives more control to the developers. You can define as many as error pages for your application. However, it is good practice to write a more generic exception page for your application.

[code lang=”xml”]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts
Configuration 2.1//EN" "http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.1.dtd">
<struts>
<constant name="struts.devMode" value="true" />
<package name="hello" extends="struts-default">
<action name="Welcome" class="javabeat.net.struts2.Struts2HelloWorldAction" >
<exception-mapping exception="java.sql.SQLException" result="error"/>
<result name="success">Result.jsp</result>
<result name="error">Error.jsp</result>
</action>
</package>
</struts>
[/code]

3. Create Error JSP

If there is any error is thrown from the action class, by default this error page will be redirected to the user. You can customize this page to display any custom details which will be meaningful to the users.

Error.jsp

[code lang=”xml”]
<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
pageEncoding="ISO-8859-1"%>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
<title>Error Page</title>
</head>
<body>
This is a sample error page!!
</body>
</html>
[/code]

4. Configure web.xml File

[code lang=”xml”]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app>
<filter>
<filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
<filter-class>
org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.ng.filter.StrutsPrepareAndExecuteFilter
</filter-class>
</filter>
<filter-mapping>
<filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</filter-mapping>
</web-app>

[/code]

5. Run The Application

If you access the application http://localhost:8080/Struts2App/Welcome.action. You would see the following output in your screen.

Struts 2 Hello World Example

December 13, 2013 by Krishna Srinivasan Leave a Comment

This tutorials explains how to create a simple struts 2 hello world example and deploy in your server. We are manually creating the required files and running the struts 2 application.

Struts 2 Components

Action: Create Action class to write your business logic and work as controller. Action classes are used for interaction from the user and send the response back. It is the cort part of the struts architecture.
Interceptors: Interceptors are part of action classes and it is special version of controller. One example is exception interceptors where it handles if any exception is thrown by your application. Interceptors are used only when it is necessary.
Views: Create views to take input from the users and display the results.
Configurations files: Write configuration files to load the action classes and mappings in your application. This includes web.xml, struts.xml, struts.properties.

1. Create The Directory Structure

Create Java packages for writing Actions classes
Create JSP or any other view pages under the web content folder
Create web.xml under WEB-INF folder
Create struts.xml file inside the Java classes. It should be maintained in the class path.

Get Struts 2 Libraries from here

2. Create Struts 2 Action

[code lang=”java”]
package javabeat.net.struts2;

<b>Struts2HelloWorldAction.java</b>

public class Struts2HelloWorldAction {
private String userName;

public String getUserName() {
return userName;
}

public void setUserName(String userName) {
this.userName = userName;
}
public String execute(){
System.out.println(this.userName);
return "success";
}
}

[/code]

3. Create Input JSP

Login.jsp

[code lang=”xml”]

<%@ page contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8"%>
<%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags"%>
<html>
<head></head>
<body>
<h1>Struts 2 Hello World Example</h1>

<s:form action="Welcome">
<s:textfield name="userName" label="Username" />
<s:password name="password" label="Password" />
<s:submit />
</s:form>

</body>
</html>
[/code]

4. Configure struts.xml File

[code lang=”xml”]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts
Configuration 2.1//EN" "http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.1.dtd">
<struts>
<constant name="struts.devMode" value="true" />
<package name="hello" extends="struts-default">
<action name="Welcome" class="javabeat.net.struts2.Struts2HelloWorldAction" >
<result name="success">Result.jsp</result>
</action>
</package>
</struts>
[/code]

5. Create Result JSP

Result.jsp

[code lang=”xml”]
<%@ page contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8"%>
<%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags"%>
<html>
<head></head>
<body>
<h1>Struts 2 Hello World Example</h1>
<h4>
Hello <s:property value="userName" />
</h4>

</body>
</html>
[/code]

6. Configure web.xml File

[/code]

6. Run the application

If you access the application http://localhost:8080/Struts2App/Login.jsp. You would see the following output in your screen.

Download Source Code