Struts Framework without the tags.

[Larry Kim <Lk...@netnumina.com>]

Okay say i am trying to get Struts to work on Websphere which doesn't
support JSP 1.1.  I like the framework but can not use the tags.
another reason for not wanting to use the struts taglib is that our graphic
artists use macromedia dreamweaver & JRun Studio which doesn't understand
any of the struts:form and struts:message tags in "design mode".

I can get struts framework working JSP without tags, with usebean
directives, and scriptlets. of course its not as pretty, but at least the
ide's can pick up the regular JSP tags.  Is there any technical reason why i
shouldn't do this?  (i.e. is the framework totally independent of the
taglib?) 

thank you.
-larry kim

Re: Struts Framework without the tags.

["Craig R. McClanahan" <Cr...@eng.sun.com>]

Larry Kim wrote:

> Okay say i am trying to get Struts to work on Websphere which doesn't
> support JSP 1.1.  I like the framework but can not use the tags.
> another reason for not wanting to use the struts taglib is that our graphic
> artists use macromedia dreamweaver & JRun Studio which doesn't understand
> any of the struts:form and struts:message tags in "design mode".
>
> I can get struts framework working JSP without tags, with usebean
> directives, and scriptlets. of course its not as pretty, but at least the
> ide's can pick up the regular JSP tags.  Is there any technical reason why i
> shouldn't do this?  (i.e. is the framework totally independent of the
> taglib?)
>

The controller framework itself is totally independent of the custom tag
libraries, in the sense that what you are trying to do is feasible.

You can even still use the form bean auto-population feature in your actions if
you want, as long as you conform to the conventions of the code that the form
tags generate.

If you think you might ever use Struts in the future :-), it might be useful to
take a look at the source code for the form tags, and emulate what they do for
you.  For example, a <struts:text property="address"> tag, inside a <struts:form
name="customerBean"/> tag, generates the equivalent of this:

    <input type="text" name="address" value="<%= customerBean.getAddress() %>">

If your hand-written code does the same thing, then the you can use Struts form
tags later (when the development tools wise up about custom tag support),
without having to change your back end at all.

>
> thank you.
> -larry kim

Craig

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