Appendix: Struts Console Quick Reference

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Overview

A fundamental advantage of using the Struts framework for Java Web application development is its declarative nature. Instead of binding components of an application together in code, Struts applications use a centralized XML configuration file to declaratively connect components together. Unfortunately, modifying Struts configuration files by hand can be tedious and error prone. If you mistakenly leave off a closing bracket for a tag or misspell a tag or attribute name, Struts is unable to parse the configuration file and thus does not function properly. Trying to correct errors like these for a typical application, whose configuration file is usually quite long, can be time consuming because of the many details involved. For this reason, I created the Struts Console GUI tool to simplify the creation and maintenance of the Struts configuration file. Struts Console provides a simple and intuitive graphical interface with which to edit Struts configuration files.

Struts Console has evolved significantly since its initial release and continues to evolve today. Originally, Struts Console supported editing of only Struts configuration files. Since then Struts Console has been updated to support editing of Tiles and Validator configuration files as well as JSP Tag Library Descriptor (.tld) files. Struts Console is written in Java and thus can be run on any platform that supports Java GUI applications (e.g., Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and so on). In its original release, Struts Console could be run only as a stand-alone application. Subsequently, Struts Console has been updated to support being run as a plugin in most of the major Java IDEs. Following is the list of IDEs that Struts Console can be used with:

• Borland JBuilder (versions 4.0 and later)

• Eclipse (versions 1.0 and later)

• IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer (WSAD) (versions 4.0.3 and later)

• IntelliJ IDEA (versions 3.0 build 668 and later)

• NetBeans (versions 3.2 and later)

• Sun Java Studio (previously known as Forte or Sun ONE Studio) (versions 3.0 and later)

• Oracle JDeveloper (versions 9i and later)

The following sections explain how to acquire, install, and use Struts Console, both as a stand-alone application and as a plugin inside all the supported IDEs. Because IDEs are continually evolving, some of the instructions for using Struts Console inside the IDEs may change over time. If any of the instructions found in this appendix do not work for you, visit my Web site at http://www.jamesholmes.com/struts/ for the most up to date instructions.

Supported Configuration Files

As explained, the current version of Struts Console supports editing not only Struts configuration files, but also Tiles and Validator configuration files, plus the JSP Tag Library Descriptor (.tld) files. All of these files are XML-based. In order for Struts Console to distinguish these files from any random XML file, they must have a proper XML <!DOCTYPE> declaration. The <!DOCTYPE> declaration specifies the Document Type Definition (DTD) to which the file must conform. Following is a list of the configuration files supported by Struts Console and their <!DOCTYPE> definitions.

Struts 1.2 Configuration File

<!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC   "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.2//EN"   "http://jakarta.apache.org/struts/dtds/struts-config_1_2.dtd">

Struts 1.1 Configuration File

<!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC   "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.1//EN"   "http://jakarta.apache.org/struts/dtds/struts-config_1_1.dtd">

Struts 1.0 Configuration File

<!DOCTYPE struts-config PUBLIC   "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 1.0//EN"   "http://jakarta.apache.org/struts/dtds/struts-config_1_.dtd"> 

Tiles 1.1 Configuration File

<!DOCTYPE tiles-definitions PUBLIC   "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Tiles Configuration 1.1//EN"   "http://jakarta.apache.org/struts/dtds/tiles-config_1_1.dtd">

Validator 1.1 Configuration File

<!DOCTYPE form-validation PUBLIC    "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Commons     Validator Rules Configuration 1.1//EN"    "http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/dtds/validator_1_1.dtd">

Validator 1.0 Configuration File

<!DOCTYPE form-validation PUBLIC    "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Commons     Validator Rules Configuration 1.0//EN"    "http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/dtds/validator_1_0.dtd">

JSP Tab Library 1.2 File

<!DOCTYPE taglib PUBLIC   "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD JSP Tag Library 1.2//EN"   "http://java.sun.com/dtd/web-jsptaglibrary_1_2.dtd">

JSP Tab Library 1.1 File

<!DOCTYPE taglib PUBLIC   "-//Sun Microsystems, Inc.//DTD JSP Tag Library 1.1//EN"   "http://java.sun.com/j2ee/dtds/web-jsptaglibrary_1_1.dtd">

Note 

Your configuration file must contain one of the preceding <!DOCTYPE> declarations or Struts Console will be unable to load your configuration file.

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