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Posted to user@struts.apache.org by Martin Ravell <st...@rave-tech.com.au> on 2006/01/24 02:27:40 UTC
Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Say I have an app that uses Struts and Tiles and I am trying to get the
Validator plugin to play nicely.
As I understand it the 'input' option of an action element in
struts-config.xml is used when a validation fails. i.e. if a validation
fails we are redirected to whatever is in the input option rather than
getting sent to the Action.
This is what we want right? Only actually go to the Action if the fields
pass their validations.
I've looked at various Tiles tutorials and even more Validator tutorials but
I can't seem to work out what I need to do to get these two to work in
conjunction with each other.
This 'input' value for the action element cannot be straight to a .jsp since
I am using Tiles. If a validation fails we need to get Tiles to reconstruct
the page (with it's header, menu etc) and display the messages from the
failed validation.
If I put in the name of a definition in my tiles-defs.xml into the 'input'
option and purposefully fail validation on one or more fields I just get a
blank page and a record in my log saying:
Validation failed, returning to 'activate_init'
(activate_init in this case was the name of my definition in tiles-defs.xml)
I know that the validator is being invoked because if I enter values that
will pass the validation tests I do go through to the Action.
Can someone give me an idea of what the action element should look like?
More specifically what should go into the input option if I am using Tiles?
I've tried creating an action definition specifically for use in the 'input'
option e.g.
<action path="/act" forward="activate_init"/>
Then putting "/act.do" into the input still gives me a blank page.
Damn I am confused. Have been looking so hard at this that I cannot see it.
Can someone help with an explanation of how Struts and Tiles and the
Validator can work happily together?
Regards
Marty
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RE: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Posted by Martin Ravell <st...@rave-tech.com.au>.
>
>I'm not using extension mapping so I'm not sure about this, but have you
>tried input="/activate" instead of input="/activate.do"? It's certainly
>possible for the input attribute to point to an action rather than a JSP
>or Tiles def.
>
>L.
Part of the problem is that my actions typically extend DispatchAction and
therefore need a parameter passed as well.
Regards
Marty
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Re: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Posted by Laurie Harper <la...@holoweb.net>.
Martin Ravell wrote:
> Thanks for the post Vasumathi
>
> I don't quite follow what you are saying however.
>
> Since I use Tiles with my struts the page that contains my form is produced
> by an Action executing (I use an Action which extends DispatchAction).
>
> If the Validation fails (there are fields that do not meet their validations
> rules) I need to go back to what is in the 'input' option of the action
> element.
>
> As far as I can work out this needs to be a jsp.
>
> It cannot however be a jsp since it is my Action that ties me into a tiles
> definition which produces the form.
>
> I've tried putting thigns like '/activate.do?method=init' into the input
> option of the action element but this refuses to work.
I'm not using extension mapping so I'm not sure about this, but have you
tried input="/activate" instead of input="/activate.do"? It's certainly
possible for the input attribute to point to an action rather than a JSP
or Tiles def.
L.
> Any ideas?
>
>
> Regards
> Marty
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vasumathi [mailto:vasumathi@koensoft.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, 24 January 2006 4:44 PM
> To: Struts Users Mailing List
> Subject: Re: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
>
> Hi
> you try like this in struts_config.xml and tiles_sam.xml file.
>
> <action path="/Sample" name="sampleForm" scope="request"
> type="controller.admin.action.SampleAction" validate="true"
> input="/admin/icf/sample.jsp">
> <forward name="failure" path="/admin/icf/sample.jsp"
> </action>
>
>
> in tiles for this sample.jsp
>
> <definition name="sample.icf" extends="base.project.admin" >
> <put name="header" value="heading" />
> <put name="header_detail" value="Sample" />
> <put name="menu" value="/admin/template/menu_blank.jsp" />
> <put name="body" value="/admin/icf/sample.jsp" />
> <put name="footer" value="Status: Sample page"/>
> </definition>
>
> this may help u....
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Re: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Posted by Dave Newton <ne...@pingsite.com>.
Martin Ravell wrote:
> So you call validate from within the Action?
>
Yes.
> Do you then have to forward back to the original page if you have errors?
>
Yes.
One nice thing about doing validation "manually" (see below) is that I
can add further validation that would be irritating to do in
validation.xml (say by writing a custom validator) or validation that
requires trips to the DB, etc. I really only use validation.xml for the
easy stuff, mostly just the stuff that comes with it, with an occasional
custom validator.
> Have you tried having validate="true" in your action?
>
Yes, but that can cause issues, like if your input form needs setup
before display, etc.
> Could I take a look at an example out of one of your Actions?
>
No, but I've appended some pseudo-code, although it might not help.
> Thanks for showing me that the input can point to a tiles definition. I've
> been trying this without luck. Perhaps I have something in my configuration
> somewhere which is not setup 100% correctly.
>
I'm not sure where it could get messed up; it's pretty straight-forward.
So, here's (very) psuedo-code for one version of an Action class
hierarchy. Basically all I'd do in my subclasses is implement something
in executePost. Currently I'm not even doing much there, it's just
marshalling stuff from the form into a bean and calling stuff on the
business and ORM side of things. There was a pretty good thread some
time ago with Frank Zammetti regarding ways to never have to change your
code inside of your action classes through various means that is
probably worth looking up if you're interested in such things.
========== BASE ACTION CLASS ==========
// Call subclass or default impls
public ActionForward execute(...) {
if (!prepForAction()) handleError();
return executeGet() if isGetRequest();
return getInputForward() if validationErrors();
return executePost();
}
// Default impl goes to input page
public executeGet() {
return getInputForward();
}
// Default impl calls form's validation method and does the right thing
public validationErrors() {
errs = form.validate();
if (haveErrs) saveErrors();
}
========== SUBCLASS EXAMPLE ==========
public prepForAction() {
request.setAttribute("listOfSomething", getListOfSomething());
}
public executePost() {
// Do stuff relating to form post
}
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RE: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Posted by Martin Ravell <st...@rave-tech.com.au>.
>I call validate manually, but since I'm using DynaValidatorActionForms
>I'm using the validation defs from the validator XML config file. This
>is quite a bit more flexible to boot.
>
>In any case, I use tiles and validator together all the time so I'm not
>quite sure where your problem lies:
>
> <action path="/NiceAction"
> type="com.pingsite.actions.NiceAction"
> name="niceBean"
> input="page.NiceAction"
> scope="request"
> validate="false"
> roles="Role1,Role2">
> <set-property property="secure" value="false"/>
> <forward name="confirm" path="/goto/ConfirmNiceAction"
>redirect="true"/>
> </action>
>
> <definition name="page.NiceAction" extends="template.form">
> <put name="header" value="tile.header.nice"/>
> <put name="title" value="Create Nice Thing"/>
> <put name="content" value="form.niceForm"/>
> </definition>
>
>etc.
>
>Dave
One of the main reasons I have for heading down this path was to use generic
validation defs. This alone should cut out a heap of tedious code.
So you call validate from within the Action?
Do you then have to forward back to the original page if you have errors?
Have you tried having validate="true" in your action?
Could I take a look at an example out of one of your Actions?
Thanks for showing me that the input can point to a tiles definition. I've
been trying this without luck. Perhaps I have something in my configuration
somewhere which is not setup 100% correctly.
Regards
Marty
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Re: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Posted by Dave Newton <ne...@pingsite.com>.
Martin Ravell wrote:
> This basically means I am not using the Validator. Sticking everything in
> the Action negates all the advantages of getting this stuff unbound.
>
I don' really see it that way.
I call validate manually, but since I'm using DynaValidatorActionForms
I'm using the validation defs from the validator XML config file. This
is quite a bit more flexible to boot.
In any case, I use tiles and validator together all the time so I'm not
quite sure where your problem lies:
<action path="/NiceAction"
type="com.pingsite.actions.NiceAction"
name="niceBean"
input="page.NiceAction"
scope="request"
validate="false"
roles="Role1,Role2">
<set-property property="secure" value="false"/>
<forward name="confirm" path="/goto/ConfirmNiceAction"
redirect="true"/>
</action>
<definition name="page.NiceAction" extends="template.form">
<put name="header" value="tile.header.nice"/>
<put name="title" value="Create Nice Thing"/>
<put name="content" value="form.niceForm"/>
</definition>
etc.
Dave
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RE: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Posted by Martin Ravell <st...@rave-tech.com.au>.
Great minds think alike
or
Fools seldom differ
I've already gone down almost exactly this track and while it does work I am
currently using the deprecated saveErrors() method.
Will give your request.setAttribute() method a try as well.
This basically means I am not using the Validator. Sticking everything in
the Action negates all the advantages of getting this stuff unbound.
Ohh well, maybe I can't have everything. At the moment I'll settle for
something that works.
Regards
Marty
-----Original Message-----
From: Vasumathi [mailto:vasumathi@koensoft.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 24 January 2006 9:42 PM
To: Struts Users Mailing List
Subject: RE: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
dont change anything in struts_config.xml.
write your validation in action itself instead of writing in validation.xml
for your Form.
like,
if(id == null){
request.setAttribute("error","errors.id.notexist");
}
try this, let me the result pls.
with regards
vasu
Quoting Martin Ravell <st...@rave-tech.com.au>:
> Thanks for the post Vasumathi
>
> I don't quite follow what you are saying however.
>
> Since I use Tiles with my struts the page that contains my form is
produced
> by an Action executing (I use an Action which extends DispatchAction).
>
> If the Validation fails (there are fields that do not meet their
> validations
> rules) I need to go back to what is in the 'input' option of the action
> element.
>
> As far as I can work out this needs to be a jsp.
>
> It cannot however be a jsp since it is my Action that ties me into a tiles
> definition which produces the form.
>
> I've tried putting thigns like '/activate.do?method=init' into the input
> option of the action element but this refuses to work.
>
> Any ideas?
>
>
> Regards
> Marty
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vasumathi [mailto:vasumathi@koensoft.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, 24 January 2006 4:44 PM
> To: Struts Users Mailing List
> Subject: Re: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
>
> Hi
> you try like this in struts_config.xml and tiles_sam.xml file.
>
> <action path="/Sample" name="sampleForm" scope="request"
> type="controller.admin.action.SampleAction" validate="true"
> input="/admin/icf/sample.jsp">
> <forward name="failure" path="/admin/icf/sample.jsp"
> </action>
>
>
> in tiles for this sample.jsp
>
> <definition name="sample.icf" extends="base.project.admin" >
> <put name="header" value="heading" />
> <put name="header_detail" value="Sample" />
> <put name="menu" value="/admin/template/menu_blank.jsp" />
> <put name="body" value="/admin/icf/sample.jsp" />
> <put name="footer" value="Status: Sample page"/>
> </definition>
>
> this may help u....
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> To unsubscribe, e-mail: user-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: user-help@struts.apache.org
>
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RE: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Posted by Vasumathi <va...@koensoft.com>.
dont change anything in struts_config.xml.
write your validation in action itself instead of writing in validation.xml
for your Form.
like,
if(id == null){
request.setAttribute("error","errors.id.notexist");
}
try this, let me the result pls.
with regards
vasu
Quoting Martin Ravell <st...@rave-tech.com.au>:
> Thanks for the post Vasumathi
>
> I don't quite follow what you are saying however.
>
> Since I use Tiles with my struts the page that contains my form is produced
> by an Action executing (I use an Action which extends DispatchAction).
>
> If the Validation fails (there are fields that do not meet their
> validations
> rules) I need to go back to what is in the 'input' option of the action
> element.
>
> As far as I can work out this needs to be a jsp.
>
> It cannot however be a jsp since it is my Action that ties me into a tiles
> definition which produces the form.
>
> I've tried putting thigns like '/activate.do?method=init' into the input
> option of the action element but this refuses to work.
>
> Any ideas?
>
>
> Regards
> Marty
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vasumathi [mailto:vasumathi@koensoft.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, 24 January 2006 4:44 PM
> To: Struts Users Mailing List
> Subject: Re: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
>
> Hi
> you try like this in struts_config.xml and tiles_sam.xml file.
>
> <action path="/Sample" name="sampleForm" scope="request"
> type="controller.admin.action.SampleAction" validate="true"
> input="/admin/icf/sample.jsp">
> <forward name="failure" path="/admin/icf/sample.jsp"
> </action>
>
>
> in tiles for this sample.jsp
>
> <definition name="sample.icf" extends="base.project.admin" >
> <put name="header" value="heading" />
> <put name="header_detail" value="Sample" />
> <put name="menu" value="/admin/template/menu_blank.jsp" />
> <put name="body" value="/admin/icf/sample.jsp" />
> <put name="footer" value="Status: Sample page"/>
> </definition>
>
> this may help u....
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: user-unsubscribe@struts.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: user-help@struts.apache.org
>
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RE: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Posted by Martin Ravell <st...@rave-tech.com.au>.
Thanks for the post Vasumathi
I don't quite follow what you are saying however.
Since I use Tiles with my struts the page that contains my form is produced
by an Action executing (I use an Action which extends DispatchAction).
If the Validation fails (there are fields that do not meet their validations
rules) I need to go back to what is in the 'input' option of the action
element.
As far as I can work out this needs to be a jsp.
It cannot however be a jsp since it is my Action that ties me into a tiles
definition which produces the form.
I've tried putting thigns like '/activate.do?method=init' into the input
option of the action element but this refuses to work.
Any ideas?
Regards
Marty
-----Original Message-----
From: Vasumathi [mailto:vasumathi@koensoft.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 24 January 2006 4:44 PM
To: Struts Users Mailing List
Subject: Re: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Hi
you try like this in struts_config.xml and tiles_sam.xml file.
<action path="/Sample" name="sampleForm" scope="request"
type="controller.admin.action.SampleAction" validate="true"
input="/admin/icf/sample.jsp">
<forward name="failure" path="/admin/icf/sample.jsp"
</action>
in tiles for this sample.jsp
<definition name="sample.icf" extends="base.project.admin" >
<put name="header" value="heading" />
<put name="header_detail" value="Sample" />
<put name="menu" value="/admin/template/menu_blank.jsp" />
<put name="body" value="/admin/icf/sample.jsp" />
<put name="footer" value="Status: Sample page"/>
</definition>
this may help u....
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Re: Struts, Tiles and the Validator
Posted by Vasumathi <va...@koensoft.com>.
Hi
you try like this in struts_config.xml and tiles_sam.xml file.
<action path="/Sample" name="sampleForm" scope="request"
type="controller.admin.action.SampleAction" validate="true"
input="/admin/icf/sample.jsp">
<forward name="failure" path="/admin/icf/sample.jsp"
</action>
in tiles for this sample.jsp
<definition name="sample.icf" extends="base.project.admin" >
<put name="header" value="heading" />
<put name="header_detail" value="Sample" />
<put name="menu" value="/admin/template/menu_blank.jsp" />
<put name="body" value="/admin/icf/sample.jsp" />
<put name="footer" value="Status: Sample page"/>
</definition>
this may help u....
Quoting Martin Ravell <st...@rave-tech.com.au>:
> Say I have an app that uses Struts and Tiles and I am trying to get the
> Validator plugin to play nicely.
>
> As I understand it the 'input' option of an action element in
> struts-config.xml is used when a validation fails. i.e. if a validation
> fails we are redirected to whatever is in the input option rather than
> getting sent to the Action.
>
> This is what we want right? Only actually go to the Action if the fields
> pass their validations.
>
> I've looked at various Tiles tutorials and even more Validator tutorials
> but
> I can't seem to work out what I need to do to get these two to work in
> conjunction with each other.
>
> This 'input' value for the action element cannot be straight to a .jsp
> since
> I am using Tiles. If a validation fails we need to get Tiles to reconstruct
> the page (with it's header, menu etc) and display the messages from the
> failed validation.
>
> If I put in the name of a definition in my tiles-defs.xml into the 'input'
> option and purposefully fail validation on one or more fields I just get a
> blank page and a record in my log saying:
>
> Validation failed, returning to 'activate_init'
>
> (activate_init in this case was the name of my definition in
> tiles-defs.xml)
>
>
> I know that the validator is being invoked because if I enter values that
> will pass the validation tests I do go through to the Action.
>
>
> Can someone give me an idea of what the action element should look like?
> More specifically what should go into the input option if I am using Tiles?
>
> I've tried creating an action definition specifically for use in the
> 'input'
> option e.g.
>
> <action path="/act" forward="activate_init"/>
>
> Then putting "/act.do" into the input still gives me a blank page.
>
>
> Damn I am confused. Have been looking so hard at this that I cannot see it.
> Can someone help with an explanation of how Struts and Tiles and the
> Validator can work happily together?
>
>
> Regards
> Marty
>
>
>
>
>
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