Jakarta Struts For Dummies

411 Pages·2004·8.866 MB·English

by  Mike Robinson, Ellen Finkelstein

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Jakarta Struts
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
by Mike Robinson and

Ellen Finkelstein
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Jakarta Struts
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
by Mike Robinson and

Ellen Finkelstein
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Jakarta Struts For Dummies®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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About the Authors

Mike Robinson has been working in the computing field since, well, when
minicomputers were popular. He has a master’s degree in computer science
and has been an independent Java developer specializing in interactive Web
applications since 1998. Mike is an adjunct faculty member in the Computer
Science Department at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.
If he had any spare time, he would probably spend it hiking.
Ellen Finkelstein is the author of numerous best-selling computer books on
AutoCAD, PowerPoint, Flash, and most recently OpenOffice.org. She writes
regular articles on AutoCAD and PowerPoint in magazines, e-zines, and for
Web sites. She is an adjunct Instructor of Management, teaching e-business
courses to M.B.A. students. She writes at home so that she can take the bread
out of the oven on time.
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Dedication

To MMY, for explaining the organizing power of Natural Law that sustains the
existence and evolution of the entire universe and showing us how to make use
of this power in our daily lives to achieve maximum results through minimum
effort.
Authors’ Acknowledgments

Mike Robinson
First and foremost I have to thank my co-author, Ellen Finkelstein, who initiated
me into the ins and outs of writing a book. Ellen is the epitome of cool under
the pressure of deadlines. She always manages to have a great sense of humor
and shiny outlook regardless of the situation. Thanks for your patience.
Thanks to my wife, Pat, who is always my guiding inspiration.
Ellen Finkelstein
I’d like to start out by thanking Mike Robinson for his extensive knowledge and
experience, clear thinking, integrity, sense of responsibility, and great flexibility.
Mike is the fountain of knowledge for this book. He is always a pleasure to work
with.
Thanks to my husband, Evan, and kids, Yeshayah and Eliyah (who want to
see their names in a book), who support me while I’m writing, writing, and
writing some more.
Collectively
At Wiley, our esteemed publisher, we’d like to thank Terri Varveris, our acqui­
sitions editor, for her ever-lively support. Both Linda Morris and Susan Pink
were our able project editors, keeping track of innumerable details, including
chapters, figures, and by how many pages we were over our quota. They kept
us on track and made it easy.
Thanks to Peter Just, our friend and colleague, who did a thorough and care­
ful job of technical editing, making sure that our terms and code were correct
and that we were consistent and clear. He also contributed the material for
Chapter 5.
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Publisher’s Acknowledgments
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Acquisitions Editor: Terri Varveris Lauren Goddard, Denny Hager,

Lynsey Osborn, Heather Ryan,

Technical Editor: Peter Just
Jacque Schneider

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Contents at a Glance

Introduction .................................................................1
Part I: Getting to Know Jakarta Struts ..........................7
Chapter 1: Starting with the Basics .................................................................................9
Chapter 2: Laying the Groundwork ...............................................................................25
Chapter 3: Creating a Simple Web Application with Struts ........................................47
Part II: Starting from the Core ....................................89
Chapter 4: Controlling with the Controller ..................................................................91
Chapter 5: Creating the Model .....................................................................................109
Chapter 6: Designing the View .....................................................................................137
Chapter 7: Setting the Configuration ..........................................................................159
Part III: Expanding Your Development Options ...........189
Chapter 8: Exceptions to the Rule ...............................................................................191
Chapter 9: Getting Friendly with Plug-ins ...................................................................209
Chapter 10: Getting a Helping Hand with Tag Libraries ...........................................225
Chapter 11: Working with Page Composition Techniques .......................................249
Chapter 12: Securing Your Application ......................................................................265
Part IV: Putting It All Together .................................279
Chapter 13: Logging Your Actions ...............................................................................281
Chapter 14: Creating the MusicCollection.com Application ....................................287
Part V: The Part of Tens ...........................................327
Chapter 15: Ten Helpful Extensions to Struts ............................................................329
Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Find More Information .......................................................337
Part VI: Appendixes .................................................345
Appendix A: Struts-EL and JSTL Tag Library Syntax .................................................347
Appendix B: Glossary ...................................................................................................375
Index .......................................................................379