Hello everyone, I also agree...
We also use struts in J2EE apps with and make use of the Value Object pattern. (http://www.tstrata.trysoft.com) We assign the VO as a member of the ActionForm. If we want to abstract the VO, we add accessor methods to the Form as Dmitri has explained... these are all fairly well recognised design patterns. You definately DON'T want to pass struts concepts into your business layer (EJB's)! Maybe it's time for a sample application using struts and EJB's... based on JBoss perhaps... something that showcases EJB/Struts design patterns. Is there one already? Matt O'Haire Trysoft Corporation Ltd. http://www.trysoft.com -----Original Message----- From: Dmitri Colebatch [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, November 23, 2001 08:35 To: Struts Users Mailing List Cc: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: RE: Design question - Action Form vs Business Delegates/Value Objects Hi, I also agree with Michelle... I think what you are thinking is maybe you could use the struts form _as_ the value object? imho this would be bad design, as the whole idea of putting the logic in a separate tier is to have it not bound to any one form of presentation. What Michelle is suggesting though, is something like: public class EmployeeForm extends ActionForm { private EmployeeVO vo = new EmployeeVO(); public String getName() { return vo.getName(); } public void setName(String name) { vo.setName(name); } // and so on.... // get the vo public EmployeeVO getEmployeeVO() { return vo; } } so say you have an action class: public class AddEmployeeAction() { public void perform( ... ) { EmployeeForm eform = (EmployeeForm) form; employeeManager.add(eform.getEmployeeVO()); } } etc... very simplified example, but hopefully this is a bit clearer... I use this all the time, and would be interested to hear what other ppl think as well... cheers dim
