Repository: struts-site Updated Branches: refs/heads/master 0302c2dbd -> 2da7dfa6d
updated processing-forms page Project: http://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/struts-site/repo Commit: http://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/struts-site/commit/2da7dfa6 Tree: http://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/struts-site/tree/2da7dfa6 Diff: http://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/struts-site/diff/2da7dfa6 Branch: refs/heads/master Commit: 2da7dfa6dad7d3c1a6ab1c2b45196fd3790542da Parents: 0302c2d Author: Stefaan Dutry <stefaan.du...@gmail.com> Authored: Mon May 1 09:10:59 2017 +0200 Committer: Stefaan Dutry <stefaan.du...@gmail.com> Committed: Mon May 1 09:10:59 2017 +0200 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- source/getting-started/processing-forms.md | 96 ++++++++++++------------- 1 file changed, 44 insertions(+), 52 deletions(-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- http://git-wip-us.apache.org/repos/asf/struts-site/blob/2da7dfa6/source/getting-started/processing-forms.md ---------------------------------------------------------------------- diff --git a/source/getting-started/processing-forms.md b/source/getting-started/processing-forms.md index 27afd56..4c0c4b4 100644 --- a/source/getting-started/processing-forms.md +++ b/source/getting-started/processing-forms.md @@ -4,23 +4,23 @@ title: Processing forms --- ## Processing Forms -This tutorial assumes you've completed the [Coding Struts 2 Actons](coding-actions.html) tutorial and have a working coding_actions project. The example code for this tutorial, form_processing, is available for checkout from the Struts 2 GitHub subversion repository: [https://github.com/apache/struts-examples](https://github.com/apache/struts-examples). +This tutorial assumes you've completed the [Coding Struts 2 Actons](coding-actions.html) tutorial and have a working coding-actions project. The example code for this tutorial, form-processing, is available for checkout from the Struts 2 GitHub subversion repository: [https://github.com/apache/struts-examples](https://github.com/apache/struts-examples). > -__Introduction__ +### Introduction In this tutorial we'll explore using Struts 2 to do more involved processing of a form submission. We'll cover how to use a Java model class to store the form input and how to create the Struts 2 form to match up with that model class. -The code provided in this tutorial may be added to the [Coding Struts 2 Actions](coding-actions.html) example or you can download this complete example from Google Code - [http://code.google.com/p/struts2-examples/downloads/list](http://code.google.com/p/struts2-examples/downloads/list). +The code provided in this tutorial may be added to the [Coding Struts 2 Actions](coding-actions.html) example or you can download this complete example from the github respository - [https://github.com/apache/struts-examples](https://github.com/apache/struts-examples). The [Struts 2 user mailing list](http://struts.apache.org/mail.html) is an excellent place to get help. If you are having a problem getting the tutorial example applications to work search the Struts 2 mailing list. If you don't find an answer to your problem, post a question on the mailing list. -__Forms and A Java Model Class__ +### Forms and a Java model class For this tutorial let's say we need to provide a form that a user may submit to register for a prize drawing. Our business rules state the user must provide his/her first name, last name, email address, and age. -To encapsulate this data, we'll use a simple Java class that follows the basic Java Bean specifications (public set/get methods for each instance field). If you're following along add this class to package org.apache.struts.register.model in the [Coding Struts 2 Actions](coding-actions.html) example. +To encapsulate this data, we'll use a simple Java class that follows the basic Java Bean specifications (public set/get methods for each instance field). If you're following along add this class to the package `org.apache.struts.register.model` in the [Coding Struts 2 Actions](coding-actions.html) example. **Person.java** @@ -70,53 +70,48 @@ public class Person { } ``` -Note a few points about the above class. There is a public set/get method for each instance field. The age attribute is of type integer. We've defined a public toString method that returns a String representing the state of the object. Since we haven't specified a constructor, Java will provide a default constructor that will set all instance fields to their null values. +Note a few points about the above class. There is a public set/get method for each instance field. The age attribute is of type integer. We've defined a public `toString` method that returns a String representing the state of the object. Since we haven't specified a constructor, Java will provide a default constructor that will set all instance fields to their null values. -__Form Structure__ +### Form structure -To collect the above information we'll use a Struts 2 form. When creating this form the key concept we need to employ is to tie each form field to a specific instance field of an object of type Person. Let's look over the form first and then discuss some key points. Create a view page named register.jsp (in WebContent (Ant version) or src/main/webapp (Maven version) ) +To collect the above information we'll use a Struts 2 form. When creating this form the key concept we need to employ is to tie each form field to a specific instance field of an object of type Person. Let's look over the form first and then discuss some key points. Create a view page named `register.jsp` (in `src/main/webapp`) **register.jsp** -```xml -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?> +```jsp <%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags" %> -<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" pageEncoding="ISO-8859-1"%> -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd";> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml";> +<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8" pageEncoding="UTF-8"%> +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html> <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <title>Register</title> </head> <body> <h3>Register for a prize by completing this form.</h3> <s:form action="register"> - <s:textfield name="personBean.firstName" label="First name" /> <s:textfield name="personBean.lastName" label="Last name" /> <s:textfield name="personBean.email" label ="Email"/> <s:textfield name="personBean.age" label="Age" /> - <s:submit/> - </s:form> - </body> </html> ``` Since we are using Struts 2 tags, at the top of the page we need the Struts tag library declaration. -The Struts 2 form will submit to an action named register. We'll need to define that action in our struts.xml file. +The Struts 2 form will submit to an action named register. We'll need to define that action in our `struts.xml` file. -Note the four Struts 2 textfield tags. Each tag has a name value that includes an attribute of the Person class (e.g. firstName). The name attribute's value also has a reference to an object called personBean. This object is of type Person. When we create the Action class that handles this form submission, we'll have to specify that object in that Action class (see below). +Note the four Struts 2 textfield tags. Each tag has a name value that includes an attribute of the `Person` class (e.g. `firstName`). The name attribute's value also has a reference to an object called `personBean`. This object is of type `Person`. When we create the Action class that handles this form submission, we'll have to specify that object in that Action class (see below). -The complete name value, personBean.firstName, instructs Struts 2 to use the input value for that textfield as the argument to the personBean object's setFirstName method. So if the user types "Bruce" in the textfield that has the label "First name", the personBean's firstName instance field will have a value of "Bruce". +The complete name value, `personBean.firstName`, instructs Struts 2 to use the input value for that textfield as the argument to the personBean object's `setFirstName` method. So if the user types "Bruce" in the textfield that has the label "First name", the personBean's `firstName` instance field will have a value of "Bruce". -Note that we have a Struts 2 textfield for each instance field of the class Person. Remember that Person class's age attribute is of type integer. All form field input values are Strings. Struts 2 will automatically convert the String value ("25") the user entered for the age form field to 25 when calling the setAge method of object personBean. +Note that we have a Struts 2 textfield for each instance field of the class Person. Remember that Person class's age attribute is of type integer. All form field input values are Strings. Struts 2 will automatically convert the String value ("25") the user entered for the age form field to 25 when calling the `setAge` method of object `personBean`. -__Creating the Action Class To Handle the Form Submission__ +### Creating the Action class to handle the form submission When the user clicks on the submit button of the above form, the action "register" and the form data will be sent to the Struts 2 framework. We need an Action class to process this form. If you recall from the tutorial [Coding Struts 2 Actions](coding-actions.html) our Action class should extend the Struts 2 ActionSupport class. @@ -127,28 +122,26 @@ Here is the Action class used for this example. Place it in package org.apache.s ```java package org.apache.struts.register.action; -import org.apache.struts.register.model.Person; - import com.opensymphony.xwork2.ActionSupport; +import org.apache.struts.register.model.Person; public class Register extends ActionSupport { - + private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L; - + private Person personBean; - - @Override + public String execute() throws Exception { //call Service class to store personBean's state in database - + return SUCCESS; } - + public Person getPersonBean() { return personBean; } - + public void setPersonBean(Person person) { personBean = person; } @@ -156,30 +149,29 @@ public class Register extends ActionSupport { } ``` -In the Register class note that we've declared an attribute named personBean of type Person and there is a public get and set method for this object. +In the `Register` class note that we've declared an attribute named `personBean` of type `Person` and there is a public get and set method for this object. -The Register class also overrides the execute method. The execute method is the one we will specify in the struts.xml to be called in response to the register action. In this example, the execute method just returns the String constant SUCCESS (inherited from ActionSupport class). But in a real application, within the execute method we would call upon other classes (Service objects) to perform the business processing of the form, such as storing the user's input into a data repository. +The `Register` class also overrides the `execute` method. The `execute` method is the one we will specify in the `struts.xml` to be called in response to the register action. In this example, the `execute` method just returns the String constant `SUCCESS` (inherited from the `ActionSupport` class). But in a real application, within the `execute` method we would call upon other classes (Service objects) to perform the business processing of the form, such as storing the user's input into a data repository. -The personBean object of type Person declared in the Register Action class matches the personBean name we used in the form's textfields. When the form is submitted, the Struts 2 framework will inspect the Action class and look for an object named personBean. It will create that object using the Person class's default constructor. Then for each form field that has a name value of personBean.someAttribute (e.g personBean.firstName) it will call the personBean's public set method for that attribute and pass it the form field's value (the user input). This all happens before the execute method occurs. +The `personBean` object of type `Person` declared in the Register Action class matches the `personBean` name we used in the form's textfields. When the form is submitted, the Struts 2 framework will inspect the Action class and look for an object named `personBean`. It will create that object using the `Person` class's default constructor. Then for each form field that has a name value of personBean.someAttribute (e.g `personBean.firstName`) it will call the personBean's public set method for that attribute and pass it the form field's value (the user input). This all happens before the execute method occurs. -When Struts 2 runs the execute method of class Register, the personBean object in class Register now has values for its instance fields that are equal to the values the user entered into the corresponding form fields. +When Struts 2 runs the `execute` method of class `Register`, the `personBean` object in class `Register` now has values for its instance fields that are equal to the values the user entered into the corresponding form fields. By using a Java model class to encapsulate the data provided by the form we don't have to have a separate attribute (with public set/get methods) in the Action class (Register) for each form field. -__Handle SUCCESS Being Returned By Execute Method__ +### Adding the view for the result -When SUCCESS is returned by the execute method we want to display a simple thank you page that shows the user's registration. Add the thankyou.jsp below to either WebContent (Ant) or src/main/webapp (Maven). +When `SUCCESS` is returned by the `execute` method we want to display a simple thank you page that shows the user's registration. Add the `thankyou.jsp` below to `src/main/webapp`. **thankyou.jsp** -```xml -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?> +```jsp <%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags" %> -<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" pageEncoding="ISO-8859-1"%> -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd";> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml";> +<%@ page language="java" contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8" pageEncoding="UTF-8"%> +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html> <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <title>Registration Successful</title> </head> <body> @@ -194,23 +186,23 @@ When SUCCESS is returned by the execute method we want to display a simple thank If you don't recall how the Struts 2 property and url tags work consult the [Using Struts 2 Tags](using-tags.html) tutorial. -__Create action Node In struts.xml__ +### Create action mapping in struts.xml -To specify the relationship between the form submission page, the Struts 2 Action class, and the success view page we need to add an action node to struts.xml. Add this action node to struts.xml (src folder (Ant version) or src/main/resources (Maven version) ) after the hello action and before the closing package node. +To specify the relationship between the form submission page, the Struts 2 Action class, and the success view page we need to add an action node to `struts.xml`. Add this action node to `struts.xml` (`src/main/resources`) after the hello action and before the closing package node. **action node for struts.xml** ```xml <action name="register" class="org.apache.struts.register.action.Register" method="execute"> - <result name="success">/thankyou.jsp</result> + <result name="success">/thankyou.jsp</result> </action> ``` -The above action tells Struts 2 that when the register action is provided to call method execute of class Register. If that method returns result "success" return to the browser the thankyou.jsp. +The above action tells Struts 2 that when the register action is provided to call method `execute` of class `Register`. If that method returns result "success" return to the browser the `thankyou.jsp`. -Note that we don't need to tell Struts 2 anything about processing the form. The transfer of the form field input values to the personBean object will happen automatically provided we've followed the convention of naming our form fields to match personBean.attributeName (e.g. personBean.lastName). +Note that we don't need to tell Struts 2 anything about processing the form. The transfer of the form field input values to the `personBean` object will happen automatically provided we've followed the convention of naming our form fields to match personBean.attributeName (e.g. `personBean.lastName`). -__Create A Link To register.jsp__ +### Create a link to register.jsp So that the user can find the registration page, add this link to index.jsp @@ -222,11 +214,11 @@ So that the user can find the registration page, add this link to index.jsp __Run The Example__ -If everything is correct, you should be able to create the war file, deploy the war file to your Servlet container, and open this URL in your web browser: [http://localhost:8080/form_processing/index.action](http://localhost:8080/form_processing/index.action). On that page should be a link to register. Click on that link and you should see the register.jsp page. +If everything is correct, you should be able to run the application (using `mvn jetty:run`), and open this URL in your web browser: [http://localhost:8080/form-processing/index.action](http://localhost:8080/form-processing/index.action). On that page should be a link to register. Click on that link and you should see the `register.jsp` page.  -Fill out the form and click the submit button. You should then see the thankyou.jsp page. +Fill out the form and click the submit button. You should then see the `thankyou.jsp` page. 
