Hi,
Im looking for some advice on how to design a Struts-based webapp that can
accept dynamic plug-in components after deployment. Ive searched the
archives and found some interesting posts about Struts Modules and Single
Sign On, but I didnt find anything that addressed my situation exactly.
I have a core webapp, lets call it BaseApp, that contains a menu of launch
points to various features. After BaseApp is deployed and running at a
customer site, the time will come when I want to add a launch point to a new
feature there. In my current design Ill need to re-deploy an updated
BaseApp that contains a new menu item and the new feature. A much more
flexible design would allow me drop in a new set of files that the BaseApp
would recognize and link to (after restarting Tomcat). This way the BaseApp
wouldnt have to be updated, re-qualified, or re-deployed (a huge savings at
my company).
One of the problems is dealing with authorization issues the users should
have to log in only once and should be automatically logged out after a
period of inactivity, regardless of where in the GUI they click.
Unfortunately the BaseApp has already been developed with custom security
code; container managed security was not used. After the users password is
authorized, a special object is stored in session scope; the presence of
that object indicates an authorized user.
Another problem is upgrading the software in the field. Eventually a new
version of the BaseApp will be released and the deployment in the field
needs to be upgraded. This means that any plug-ins need to be upgraded too,
or at least maintained (not wiped out).
Ive thought of using separate webapps (i.e. the plug-in could be packaged
as a new webapp) with a dynamic menu in the BaseApp, but then Im faced with
the authorization problems mentioned above.
Is there a standard pattern in Struts to satisfy these requirements (will
Struts Modules do what I need)? Is there some way to drop in additional
files into a pre-deployed webapp? Does anyone have experience with these
types of issues?
Thanks!
-- Joe
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