creating first struts application

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To create your first Struts application in Java, you can follow these steps:

  1. Set up the development environment: Before you start creating the Struts application, make sure that you have set up the development environment as per the instructions provided earlier.

  2. Create a new Struts 2 project: Open your IDE and create a new Struts 2 project. You can use a project template or create a new project from scratch. Ensure that the project has all the necessary Struts 2 libraries, configuration files, and dependencies.

  3. Create a new action class: In Struts 2, the controller is implemented as an Action class. Create a new Java class that extends the ActionSupport class, which provides several helper methods for processing user input. In this class, you can define a method that handles a user request and returns a result.

For example, you can create a class named HelloAction that has a method named execute() that returns a result named "success".

package com.example;

import com.opensymphony.xwork2.ActionSupport;

public class HelloAction extends ActionSupport {

    public String execute() {
        return "success";
    }
}
  1. Define the view: The view is the user interface that the user interacts with. In Struts 2, you can use JSP pages or FreeMarker templates to define the view. Create a JSP page that displays a welcome message to the user.
<%@ page contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8" language="java" %>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Hello World!</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Hello, Struts!</h1>
  </body>
</html>
  1. Configure the application: Struts 2 requires several configuration files to work correctly. You need to configure the struts.xml file to specify the application's settings and dependencies. In this file, you can define a mapping between the user request and the action class, and specify the result to be returned.
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
    "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.5//EN"
    "http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.5.dtd">

<struts>
  <package name="default" namespace="/" extends="struts-default">
    <action name="hello" class="com.example.HelloAction">
      <result name="success">/hello.jsp</result>
    </action>
  </package>
</struts>
  1. Test the application: Once you have created the action class, defined the view, and configured the application, you can test it by running it on a web server such as Apache Tomcat. You can access the application in a web browser and enter the URL of the action.

For example, if you have named the action "hello", you can access it by entering the following URL in the browser:

http://localhost:8080/yourapp/hello

This should display the welcome message on the web page.

Overall, creating a Struts 2 application involves creating a new project, defining the action class, creating the view, configuring the application, and testing it. Struts 2 provides a powerful and flexible framework for building robust web applications in Java.