Create Struts action mappings

 

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An action mapping is a configuration file entry that usually contains a reference to an Action class. This entry can contain a reference to a form bean that the action can use, and can also define local forwards and exceptions that are visible only to this action.

Create a Struts enabled Web project or enable an existing Web project with Struts support.

A Struts action is an instance of a subclass of an Action class, which implements a portion of a Web application and whose perform or execute method returns a forward.

An action can perform tasks such as validating a user name and password or performing a computation. For an example of validating a user name and password, see /login in the struts-config.xml Struts configuration file in the struts-example sample application.

An action mapping is a configuration file entry that usually contains a reference to an Action class. This entry can contain a reference to a form bean that the action can use, and can also define local forwards and exceptions that are visible only to this action.

To create a Struts application, configure an action servlet in the deployment descriptor of the application. An action servlet is a servlet that is started by the servlet container of a Web server to process a request that invokes an action. The servlet receives a forward from the action and asks the servlet container to pass the request to the forward URL. An action servlet must be an instance of class...

org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet

...or of a subclass of that class. An action servlet is the primary component of the controller. A default servlet is automatically added by the Struts tools when you add Struts support to a dynamic Web project.

A Struts action does not always require a form bean reference, depending on how the action is used in JSP files.

To create an action mapping that associates a Struts action with a forward:

• Using the Web diagram editor:

  1. Drag the Struts Action icon from the Palette onto your Web diagram.

  2. Type a name for the action and press Enter.

• Using Struts tools:

  1. In the Enterprise Explorer of the Web perspective, right-click the name of a project or any resource within the project and select

     New | Other | Web | Struts | Action Mapping | Next

  2. On the New Action Mapping page:

     1. Specify the configuration file name or accept the default.

     2. Specify the action mapping path or accept the default.

     3. Optional: Specify the extends action mapping. You can extend a forward or exception by specifying the path of the action that you want to extend.

     4. If you want to use a form bean, type the form bean name from the Form Bean Name field and select one of the following scopes from the Form Bean Scope drop-down menu:
        • request
        • session

     5. Specify the action type. To specify the action type, you can do one of the following:

        • Click Browse to select the class.

        • Press Ctrl + Space to use content assist to help you select the action type.

        • Click Action Type to create the action class specified by the type.

          1. In the Java package field, specify the name of the Java package in which the class is to be created.

          2. In the Action class name field, type the name of the new action.

          3. If you want to specify modifiers that apply to the new class, select one or more of the following check boxes:
             • public,
             • abstract,
             • final

          4. Verify the value in the Superclass field.

          5. For each interface that you want to create, click Add and type the name of the interface, the names of matching types, and any qualifiers.

          6. If you want to create method stubs, select the check boxes of the ones that you want to create.

  3. Click Finish.