RE: Theoretical debate
Thanks for a very interesting thread. An elucidation of many of the topics in this thread can be found in Ted Husted's book, Struts in Action; especially see chapter 5, Coping with Action Forms. It is very tempting when you first come to Struts to do a great deal of processing in the Action classes, especially if the application is simple. However, this approach is not optimal for the long term. We try to keep our Action classes as thin as possible. The Action classes are used primarily as controllers; business logic processing takes place in worker classes or factory classes. Also, we use our business model classes simply as data transfer objects to pass data between different components of the system. This is contrary to pure object-oriented design (i.e., objects have both state and behavior); however, this approach leads to a more modular and extensible system (many components can act on the same business model data). There have been other threads in this newsgroup discussing the pros and cons of Struts vs JSF. There is definitely overlap in the two frameworks with JSF going beyond Struts to create a component model that can be applied to the web. In my judgment, the promise of JSF will be realized when advanced tools greatly simply the process of creating applications. The Sun Java Studio Creator (http://wwws.sun.com/software/products/jscreator/), formerly known as Project Rave, will be worth evaluating. Actually, if Sun gets this right, it will be incredibly cool. If we knew the inside game at Sun, I think the story would be that they decided to develop a system to compete against the MS Visual Studio tools, and in making that decision they realized they needed a robust, extensible framework. JSF is being created for the Sun Java Studio Creator. Hopefully, this will be good for us all. Mike --- Pilgrim, Peter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: -Original Message- From: mike [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 18 June 2004 15:31 To: Struts Users Mailing List; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Theoretical debate At 07:18 AM 6/18/2004, Bill Schneider wrote: Form beans can be thought of as a special case of DTOs: they are the argument the client (web browser) passes to the remote method call (HTTP POST). So passing form beans directly to business logic is _almost_ reasonable, putting the dependency issue aside for now (form beans have to extend ActionForm). The difference is, form beans are a model of the /user input/, and since there may be invalid inputs (for example: asdfjkjkd in a field that's supposed to be numeric) form bean fields often need to be Strings when the corresponding field in a real DTO would be a Date or Integer. To deal with this, I've used a tool called XSnapshot (just released to SourceForge: http://xsnapshot.sourceforge.net) to generate form beans and other DTOs from XDoclet tags in a POJO data model. That way you get _both_ real DTOs and Form Beans without writing all the classes by hand, and you can copy between DTOs and form beans with BeanUtils.copyProperties. -- Bill -- Bill Schneider Chief Architect I don't think we should be thinking of action forms as DTOs. DTOs or VOs have a special use and a special problem that they are meant to solve. Action forms are related to an entirely different set of issues about data farming. I don't think we can put the dependency issue aside. That is really the whole point of frameworks like Struts. If you can put the dependency issues aside, you probably don't need Struts. If you don't need a hammer, that is not a critique of a hammer. Likewise, Struts has an objective and, with clear areas that could be improved, does that really well. There is a good reason that Struts is so successful. Craig is a sweetheart, but that is not the reason for the success of Struts. I think that a lot of the problems people have with repetitive programming is not the fault of the framework but the failure to use coding techniques that are readily available, such as dynamic proxies. Michael Yes I could not agree more. This why Commons BeanUtils and PropertyUtils was invented. It sound like people have an itch for a mapping properties that converts ActionForm (Dyna also) to a Value Object. Convert me X into Y whilst copying the attributes as best I can from X to Y. Sounds like a very old OO problem: Morphing Eclispe into Round Rectangle into a Triangle. I wonder. -- Peter Pilgrim Operations/IT - Credit Suisse First Boston, 10 South Colonnade, London E14 4QJ, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)207 883 4447 == This message is for the sole use of the intended recipient. If you received this message in error please delete it and notify us. If this message
Re: bean defines
Is anyone familiar with this that can help?
- Original Message -
From: Chris Cranford [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Struts Users Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2004 3:47 PM
Subject: Re: bean defines
And it may be important that I point out if I use:
bean:write name=%=formBean% property=pageNumber/
The value does get outputted. So it has to do with what Paul pointed out,
but I dont know how to solve it.
- Original Message -
From: Chris Cranford [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Struts Users Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2004 3:45 PM
Subject: Re: bean defines
It is as if the c-taglib is seeing the bean as a string and not as an
ActionForm. I can write:
c:out value=${cfb}/
And the output is value in formid. What I'm trying to do is create a
reference to an ActionForm in this JSP which has it's name passed in by
this
page's container as a tiles attribute.
- Original Message -
From: Chris Cranford [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Struts Users Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2004 3:39 PM
Subject: Re: bean defines
This is my class:
public class PagedCheckboxForm extends ActionForm
{
private long pageNumber;
public long getPageNumber() { return this.pageNumber; }
public void setPageNumber(long value) { this.pageNumber = value; }
}
In the JSP
bean:define id=formBeantiles:getAsString
name=formid//bean:define
set var=cfb scope=page%=formBean%/c:set
The Page Number: c:out value=${cfb.pageNumber} /
[ServletException in: /pages/cctest-body.jsp]
An error occured while evaluating custom action attribute value with
value
${cfb.pageNumber}:
Unable to find a value for pageNumber in object of class
java.lang.String using operator . (null)
HTH
Chris
- Original Message -
From: Slattery, Tim - BLS [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: 'Struts Users Mailing List' [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, June 18, 2004 3:33 PM
Subject: RE: bean defines
Ok, well if I do the following:
c:set var=cfb value=${formBean}/
c:out value=${cfb}/
The name of the form object is written out. But if I want to
access a property on my form cfb, how would I output that
value? If I write c:out value=${cfb.pageNumber}/, I get
a servlet exception saying that it is unable to find
pageNumber in object of class java.lang.String
Do you have a getter function for the pageNumber property? A method
within
the cfb object that looks like this:
public String getPageNumber()
{
return somethingor0ther;
}
--
Tim Slattery
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Re: How To Get the 'initial' in the form-property?
Hmm .. in your Action's execute method you should be able to do: DynaValidatorForm myForm = (DynaValidatorForm) form; String sort = myForm.get(sort); String order = myForm.get(order); This will get the current values on the form -- if the form was just created than these will be the initial values. If you need to reset a DynaActionForm (or subclass) to its initial values you can the initialize method: myForm.initialize(mapping); Caroline Jen wrote: In my struts-config.xml, I provided some initial values: form-bean name=threadForm type=org.apache.struts.validator.DynaValidatorForm form-property name=sort initial=thread_last_post_date type=java.lang.String/ form-property name=order initial=DESC type=java.lang.String/ /form-bean How do I get the initial value in my servlet that extends Action? I tried: form.get( sort ); form.get( order ); and form.getProperty( sort ); form.getProperty( order ); The compiler complains cannot resolve symbol: method get and cannot resolve symbol: method getProperty. __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: bean defines
Chris, your running into the problem because when you use bean:define
where the value is specified in the body of that tag, it create a new
String scripting variable as well as a page-scoped attribute that is
also a String.
Instead, you want the actual form bean itself. I am not too sure about
how tiles fits into the mix but for a normal action mapping where the
form was specified as MyForm in the name attribute you could simply do
the following:
The Page Number: c:out value=${MyForm.pageNumber} /
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Detecting browser close
Is there a way to detect when the user closes the browser. What I want to do is do clean-up and destroy the session. Thanks in advance. -- - To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[OT] JavaOne Struts User Gathering
Hi Everyone, Depending upon the interest level, I'm willing to organize a social gathering at a bar or restaurant in San Francisco during the upcoming JavaOne conference. It would either be around 8:30pm on Sunday, June 27th, after the Welcome Reception ends. Or it would be around 8:00PM on Thursday, July 1st, at the very end of the conference. It would be separate from JavaOne, but, somewhere not too far from Moscone. That way, anyone attending the conference and local folks that aren't attending the conference could both participate. If this is something you would participate in, please email directly to me (no need to spam the struts-user list with count-me-in messages) at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject JavaOne Struts User Gathering. Whatever I decide upon, I'll announce it again here on the mailing list. However, your responses to me now will give me an indication of size of venue required for the gathering. I will choose between Sunday and Thursday evening based upon the preferences I get back from the people that contact me. Also, I am not that familiar with our options in the city. So, I would appreciate recommendations for local bars/restaurants that would be a good venue for this gathering. Besides being big enough for the expected number of people, I'm looking for a place with good *beer* and at least some decent food options too. Thanks, Van Mike Van Riper Silicon Valley Struts User Group http://www.baychi.org/bof/struts/ - To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Detecting browser close
Thanks for the reply. But, I find it hard to accept that it can't be done. And, users may not be computer savy or follow good etiquette and log off. Bill Siggelkow wrote: AFAIK this cannot be done -- your best bet is to provide a Logoff link and a reasonable session timeout. ksitron wrote: Is there a way to detect when the user closes the browser. What I want to do is do clean-up and destroy the session. Thanks in advance. - To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Kevin J Citron Sr. Object Imagineer Optimized Objects, Inc. EL Paso, Texas 79930 (915) 565-7785/566-2403 - To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: bean defines
Bill -
The point of my discussion was the following premise:
public class MyCheckboxForm extends ActionForm
public class MyForm1 extends MyCheckboxForm
public class MyForm2 extends MyCheckboxForm
I want to be able to pass MyForm1 or MyForm2 to the same JSP and have it
work because the JSP is only concerned with the contents within
MyCheckboxForm, but I dont think I can do this, at least not cleanly.
So what I have considered is the following alternative:
public class MyForm1 extends ActionForm
public class MyForm2 extends ActionForm
public class MyCheckboxForm extends ActionForm
Then, when MyForm1 is posted to my action, it will instantiate a
MyCheckboxForm object in the request scope, transfer the MyForm1 object from
request to session scope for later retreival and note the bean name in the
MyCheckboxForm. Populate the needed data from MyForm1 into MyCheckboxForm
and finally forward to this common JSP. This JSP will do its thing and
finally posts its data back to an action with a flag that says, we're done,
transfer data back.
The MyCheckboxForm contains the bean-name of MyForm1 which was in the
session scope, the action retreives it, transfers the data from the
MyCheckboxForm back into MyForm1, updating it accordingly and then removes
the session-scope MyForm1 and puts it back into the request scope forwarding
the user to the final JSP which renders the changes made by the checkbox
logic.
The point is we want to have a single form which we can manipulate
label/value(s) via checkbox selection and pagination. Once the user have
selected save/return, the data of all their selections gets passed back to
the original form which will later be used for a search query.
Like I said, I think what I decided on as an alternative seems to be a much
cleaner and easier approach as it removes any ties between the forms
themselves and really lets the core logic of the checkbox form stand alone
for usability for any other future purpose.
Thanks in advance!
Chris
- Original Message -
From: Bill Siggelkow [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2004 3:22 PM
Subject: Re: bean defines
Chris, your running into the problem because when you use bean:define
where the value is specified in the body of that tag, it create a new
String scripting variable as well as a page-scoped attribute that is
also a String.
Instead, you want the actual form bean itself. I am not too sure about
how tiles fits into the mix but for a normal action mapping where the
form was specified as MyForm in the name attribute you could simply do
the following:
The Page Number: c:out value=${MyForm.pageNumber} /
-
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Detecting browser close
There are ways, if you are so adamant about this that you want to use a lot of resources. Are you? At 04:53 PM 6/19/2004, Bill Siggelkow wrote: AFAIK this cannot be done -- your best bet is to provide a Logoff link and a reasonable session timeout. ksitron wrote: Is there a way to detect when the user closes the browser. What I want to do is do clean-up and destroy the session. Thanks in advance. - To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Struts 1.0.2 Dynamic Forward
Rick, Sorry if I the problem def I supplied wasn't complete enough. I was trying to avoid keyboard diarrhea. I'm sure that I'm making this more difficult than it need be. :-) I have a number of mappings. Each with its own unique action, form, and set of forwards comprising the jsp screens of a use case. All actions extend a base action. All forms extend a base form. Based on the data situation in any action, I may need to present a common data entry page. This need could occur in any of the use cases. I've defined the common data entry page as its own mapping with its own unique form and path. Struts supplies me with a mapping and a form. I'm confused as to how I can switch to the common data entry page mapping while prepoulating its form with data taken from the form of the invoked action.--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], Rick Reumann [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Can you be a little more specific about what you want to accomplish from a user's perspective. You might be making this more complicated than it needs to be. In other words what exactly do you want to have happen... A user selects something from a drop down list... and then what? I just think we can work out something that might be a lot easier and cleaner. -- Rick - To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
