EC37 - Struts Web Development Framework - 3 Days

Course Description

This course is intended for programmers who have been programming in Java servlets and JSPs, and who wish to write programs using many of the advanced features.

Pre-requisites

Students should have experience with Java programming, Servlets programming, JSP, and Basic knowledge of XML.

Objectives

Apache Jakarta Struts shows JSP and servlet programmers how to build Web applications using the Jakarta Struts project from Apache. Delegates learn the Struts architecture and see how it captures a great deal of pre-existing best practice in Web application development.

Delegates learn how to build applications from scratch using the Struts 1.2 code base, advancing through actions and action mappings, form beans, and request forwarding. They use relational data at the model layer and learn to configure JDBC data sources under Struts.

Throughout, the course emphasises the great facility in Struts of using XML declarations to replace boilerplate Java coding. At the end of this course, delegates will be able to:

  • Use Struts actions and action mappings to take control of HTTP requests/responses.
  • Manage HTML form input and output with form beans, and use these beans to simplify data handling in the controller.
  • Use persistent data in a Struts application with JDBC.
  • Use JSTL and Struts custom tags to build robust and reusable JSP presentation logic.
  • Support multiple client locales with various internationalization techniques.
  • Define validation rules for input forms, and provide clear user feedback.
  • Build complex presentations using decoupled, reusable tiles, screens and layouts.

Customisation

For on-site courses (i.e. at your premises), we are more than happy to tailor the course agenda to suit your exact requirements. In many cases, we are able to build your in-house standards and naming conventions into the delivered course.

Course Details

INTRODUCTION
MVC and Model 2 Command Pattern
Jakarta Struts
More XML, Less Java!
Action Mappings
JavaBeans in Struts
Working with Forms
Validation
Relational Models
Presentation Technology
Tiles

ACTION MAPPINGS
Command Pattern for Web Applications
ActionServlet
Action
ActionMapping
Struts Configuration
Selecting a Forward
Global Forwards
Forwarding Actions
Other Action Subtypes
Declarative Exception Handling

FORMS
Working with HTML Forms
What Not To Do
Action Forms
Relationship to Input
Relationship to Actions
Relationship to the Model
Relationship to Output
DynaActionForm and Map-Backed Forms
Validation
Coarse-Grained Form Beans

RELATIONAL DATA
JDBC
Drivers
DataSource
Connection
Statement
ResultSet
The Struts Data-Source Manager
Multi-Tier Design
Business Logic Beans
Persistence Logic

EJB
STRUTS TAG LIBRARIES
Building View Components
Struts Tag Libraries
Attributes
Building Forms
>html:form<
>html:text< et. al.
Forms and Form Beans
Scope and Duration of Form Data
Managing Hyperlinks
Error Messages
Logic Tags
THE JSP STANDARD TAG LIBRARY
JSTL Overview
JSP Expression Language
Core Tags
Formatting Tags
XML Tags
SQL Tags
Mixing JSTL, EL, Scripts and Actions

INTERNATIONALIZATION and LOCALIZATION
i18n in Java
Locale
ResourceBundle
i18n in Actions
i18n in JSTL
i18n in Validation
INPUT VALIDATION
Validation in Web Applications
Validation in Struts
The Struts Validator Plug-In
Validating ActionForm Subtypes
Configuring Validation
Validators
Rules
Is html:form Necessary?
Reporting Errors
Multi-Page Validation
Client-Side Validation
Limitations on the Client Side
Implementing a Validator
Implementing ActionForm.validate

STRUTS TECHNOLOGIES
Global Objects and Keys
Modules
ActionServlet, RequestProcessor, ExceptionHandler
Struts Configuration in Depth
The org.apache.struts.config
Package Plug-Ins
Logging with Commons and Log4J
Configuring Log4J
Logging in Web Applications
The org.apache.struts.util Package
Common BeanUtils

WORKING WITH STRUTS
Cardinalities in Struts Design
Coarse-Grained Form Beans
Many Actions from One View
Multiple Forwards
Many Mappings to One Action
Chaining Actions
Dynamic Forwarding
Form Beans as Mediators
Using Reflection and BeanUtils
Reusing Validation Rules
Mapping-Based Validation
Graceful Validation

TILES
Consistent Look and Feel
Reusable Layouts and Content
The Tiles Framework
Instantiating Layouts
Body-Wrap Insertions
Tiles and Stylesheets
Working with Tiles Attributes
The Tiles Context
Definitions
Aggregation and Inheritance
The Tiles Plug-In
Forwarding to Definitions
Performance Considerations

Course Format

Practical sessions make up a large part of the course, allowing delegates to demonstrate and reinforce the lectures given.

Course Enquiry