Required vs. optional "name" attribute
I apologize in advance if this topic has come up before, but ... I'm building a Struts JSP page containing a form. I've noticed that the HTML tags typically do not require the specification of a "name" attribute in order to retrieve property values from a bean. If the name isn't specified, the property value is retrieved from the bean associated with the form. However, logic tags require the use of the name attribute in order to retrieve a property. Isn't there some way that the logic tags could look to see if there is a bean "in scope" and use that bean to retrieve property values from if no name attribute is specified? The problem I have is this, I have a portion of a form which is common to more than one form. I would like to factor out the common stuff into an include file of some sort. However, the common stuff makes use of a logic tag (notEqual). I can't factor out this code because I have to explicitly reference a specific bean name in order for this code to work. However, my various forms have different bean names associated with them. It's not a terribly big deal, but it seems as if the name attribute shouldn't have to be required if some sort of "default" bean is available for the page. Thanks.
Re: Required vs. optional "name" attribute
James Howe wrote: It's not a > terribly big deal, but it seems as if the name attribute shouldn't have to > be required if some sort of "default" bean is available for the page. The original designers were probably trying not to couple the logic tags to the html tags, or to struts itself. The name of the current form I believe is kept in the request variable org.apache.struts.action.BEAN so you can always confidently reference that for your logic 'name' value. > > Thanks.
Re: Required vs. optional "name" attribute
On Wed, 18 Apr 2001, James Howe wrote: > I apologize in advance if this topic has come up before, but ... > > I'm building a Struts JSP page containing a form. I've noticed that the > HTML tags typically do not require the specification of a "name" attribute > in order to retrieve property values from a bean. If the name isn't > specified, the property value is retrieved from the bean associated with > the form. However, logic tags require the use of the name attribute in > order to retrieve a property. Isn't there some way that the logic tags > could look to see if there is a bean "in scope" and use that bean to > retrieve property values from if no name attribute is specified? The > problem I have is this, I have a portion of a form which is common to more > than one form. I would like to factor out the common stuff into an include > file of some sort. However, the common stuff makes use of a logic tag > (notEqual). I can't factor out this code because I have to explicitly > reference a specific bean name in order for this code to work. However, my > various forms have different bean names associated with them. It's not a > terribly big deal, but it seems as if the name attribute shouldn't have to > be required if some sort of "default" bean is available for the page. > > Thanks. > > The HTML-oriented tags that allow you to default the "name" attribute can *only* be used within an tag -- they are not useful in any other context. The logic tags (and the bean tags as well) are general purpose tools, useful either inside or outside a form. It would be technically feasible to do what you suggest, but IMHO it would be very confusing to have the same tag do two different things depending on whether you nested it or not. Craig
Re: Required vs. optional "name" attribute
At 10:00 PM 4/22/2001 -0700, you wrote: >On Wed, 18 Apr 2001, James Howe wrote: > > > I apologize in advance if this topic has come up before, but ... > > > > I'm building a Struts JSP page containing a form. I've noticed that the > > HTML tags typically do not require the specification of a "name" attribute > > in order to retrieve property values from a bean. If the name isn't > > specified, the property value is retrieved from the bean associated with > > the form. However, logic tags require the use of the name attribute in > > order to retrieve a property. [...] > >The HTML-oriented tags that allow you to default the "name" attribute can >*only* be used within an tag -- they are not useful in any >other context. > >The logic tags (and the bean tags as well) are general purpose tools, >useful either inside or outside a form. It would be technically feasible >to do what you suggest, but IMHO it would be very confusing to have the >same tag do two different things depending on whether you nested it or >not. > >Craig I understand your point. How about if there were a new tag in Struts called "defaultName" (or something similar). In the defaultName tag, you could identify a bean which automatically be referred to by all other tags unless a different bean name attribute were specified on a tag. This would let you include common code and the common code wouldn't have to know the name of the bean from which it got its value unless it wanted to. James W. Howe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Allen Creek Software, Inc. pgpkey: http://ic.net/~jwh/pgpkey.html Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Re: Required vs. optional "name" attribute
Incidentally, can antone tell me the difference between id, name, and property? (org.apache.struts.taglib.bean) - Original Message - From: "James Howe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 12:01 PM Subject: Re: Required vs. optional "name" attribute > At 10:00 PM 4/22/2001 -0700, you wrote: > > > >On Wed, 18 Apr 2001, James Howe wrote: > > > > > I apologize in advance if this topic has come up before, but ... > > > > > > I'm building a Struts JSP page containing a form. I've noticed that the > > > HTML tags typically do not require the specification of a "name" attribute > > > in order to retrieve property values from a bean. If the name isn't > > > specified, the property value is retrieved from the bean associated with > > > the form. However, logic tags require the use of the name attribute in > > > order to retrieve a property. [...] > > > >The HTML-oriented tags that allow you to default the "name" attribute can > >*only* be used within an tag -- they are not useful in any > >other context. > > > >The logic tags (and the bean tags as well) are general purpose tools, > >useful either inside or outside a form. It would be technically feasible > >to do what you suggest, but IMHO it would be very confusing to have the > >same tag do two different things depending on whether you nested it or > >not. > > > >Craig > > > I understand your point. How about if there were a new tag in Struts > called "defaultName" (or something similar). In the defaultName tag, you > could identify a bean which automatically be referred to by all other tags > unless a different bean name attribute were specified on a tag. This would > let you include common code and the common code wouldn't have to know the > name of the bean from which it got its value unless it wanted to. > > > James W. Howe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Allen Creek Software, Inc. pgpkey: http://ic.net/~jwh/pgpkey.html > Ann Arbor, MI 48103 >
