[ANN] Struts 2.0.8 GA release available

[Rainer Hermanns <he...@aixcept.de>]

The Apache Struts group is pleased to announce that Struts 2.0.8 is
available as a "General Availability" release. The GA designation is
our highest quality grade.

Apache Struts 2 is an elegant, extensible framework for creating
enterprise-ready Java web applications. The framework is designed to
streamline the full development cycle, from building, to deploying, to
maintaining applications over time.

Apache Struts 2 was originally known as WebWork 2. After working
independently for several years, the WebWork and Struts communities
joined forces to create Struts2. This new version of Struts is simpler
to use and closer to how Struts was always meant to be.

* Build!
  o Easy startup - Jumpstart new projects with our bootstrap tutorial  
and
     template application or Maven archetype.
  o Improved Design - Code clean against HTTP-independent framework
     interfaces.
  o Enhanced Tags - Code less with stylesheet-driven form tags that  
provide
     their own markup.
  o Stateful Checkboxes - Avoid special handling with smart checkboxes
     that know when they are toggled.
  o Flexible Cancel Buttons - Go directly to a different action on  
cancel.
  o First-class AJAX support - Add interactivity and flexibility with  
AJAX tags
     that look and feel just like standard Struts tags.
  o Easy Spring integration - Inject dependencies into Actions using  
Spring
     without glue code or red tape. (Plexus support also available.)
  o Enhanced Results - Do more with specialty results for JasperReports,
     JFreeChart, Action chaining, and file downloading.
  o POJO forms - No more ActionForms! Use any JavaBean to capture form
     input or put properties directly on an Action class. Use both  
binary and
     String properties!
  o POJO Actions - Use any class as an Action class -- even the  
interface
     is optional!

* Deploy!
  o Easy plugins - Add framework extensions by dropping in a JAR. No  
manual
     configuration required! Bundled plugins add support for  
JavaServer Faces,
     JasperReports, JFreeChart, Tiles, and more ...
  o Integrated profiling - Peek inside Struts2 to find where the  
cycles are going!
  o Precise Error Reporting - Flip directly to the location and line  
of an error.

* Maintain!
  o Easy-to-test Actions - Test Struts2 Actions directly, without  
resorting to mock
     HTTP objects.
  o Intelligent Defaults - Skip obvious and redundant settings. Most  
framework
     configuration elements have a default value that we can set and  
forget. Say
     it once!
  o Easy-to-customize controller - Customize the request handling per  
action, if
     desired. Struts2 only does what you want it to do!
  o Integrating Debugging - Research problem reports with built-in  
debugging
     tools.
  o Easy-to-tweak tags - Customize tag markup by editing a FreeMarker
     template. No need to grok the taglib API! JSP, FreeMarker, and  
Velocity
     tags are fully supported.

This release has over 60 bug fixes and improvements since 2.0.6!
New Features include:

  o Cookie Interceptor
     Inject cookie with a certain configurable name / value into action.
  o Restful2ActionMapper
     Allow automatic id setting from Restful2ActionMapper.

Struts 2.0.8 is available in a full distribution, or as separate  
library, source, example and documentation distributions.

*  http://struts.apache.org/download.cgi#struts208

The release is also available through the central Maven repository
under Group ID "org.apache.struts".

The 2.0.8 series of the Apache Struts framework has a minimum
requirement of the following specification versions:

*  Servlet API 2.4
* JSP API 2.0
* Java 5

The release notes are available online at:

* http://struts.apache.org/2.x/docs/release-notes-208.html

Should any issues arise with your use of any version of the Struts
framework, please post your comments to the user list, and, if
appropriate, file a ticket with JIRA.

-- The Apache Struts group.

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