The Apache Struts team is extremely proud to announce the availability of Struts 1.2.2. This release represents the first "official" release available for General Availability since Struts 1.1.

New features include a new Chain of Responsibility package, validator enhancements, and wildcard mappings.

Read the release notes

Download the latest version

Please note that despite the release notes and the javadoc - ActionErrors is not deprecated. ActionError is. ActionErrors will now hold ActionMessage objects. Oh and GLOBAL_MESSAGE should be used instead of GLOBAL_ERROR.

This is going to cause a lot of confusion since the documentation is wrong - I hope the Struts team will go through and review their documentation on the site.

Do you expect anything better from the struts team?

Very good software, Struts it's the best WEB framework

Are you serious? Have you ever tried *any* other framework? If refactoring all your applications for each release of the libraries and frameworks you depend on is something you enjoy, then go ahead, keep using Struts and it's related projects. They'll keep you nice and busy on every release!

If, however, you are developing in a corporate environment, then you need to look for more professional management of the APIs you depend on. The proliferation of Jakarta libraries, especially the commons-* libraries is beginning to create a DLL-Hell situation.

For me, this release is definitely the final straw, I cannot continue to use a framework that is as unstable as Struts. And we haven't even touched on the quality of the Struts code yet...

If refactoring all your applications for each release of the libraries and frameworks you depend on is something you enjoy, then go ahead, keep using Struts and it's related projects. They'll keep you nice and busy on every release!

If you want to be updated every time, yes, you should be busy all the time. But who tell you to use Struts? Use other thing or keep in 1.1. It's kind a new fresh version, not a Service Pack! You don't have to change to get a virus in your 1.1 code anyway... :P

Besides, it's free and open sourced. Get the 1.2.x and "fix" it to run over 1.3vm

cya

miojo

If you want to be updated every time, yes, you should be busy all the time. But who tell you to use Struts? Use other thing or keep in 1.1. It's kind a new fresh version, not a Service Pack! You don't have to change to get a virus in your 1.1 code anyway... :PBesides, it's free and open sourced. Get the 1.2.x and "fix" it to run over 1.3vm

It's obvious you have never written or maintained a real world application.
I used to use struts in my application but switched to Spring MVC (and looking forward to using jsf).

It's obvious you have never written or maintained a real world application.I used to use struts in my application but switched to Spring MVC (and looking forward to using jsf).

Yes, maybe Spring/JSF is a good option, but Struts is still the *first* option when people look for some MVC Fw.

PS: and how you can tell I've never written a real world app? :P

Yes, maybe Spring/JSF is a good option, but Struts is still the *first* option when people look for some MVC Fw.

Why struts is the first choice ? It's neither a standard nor the best MVC framework. The documentation isn't that great (compare strut's website and spring's). Tiles is a great. That's true but you can use it with jsf or spring MVC. Have you tried other mvc frameworks before claiming that struts is the best ? One reason I switched to spring MVC is all the code deprecation in struts and the long periods of inactivty between the realeases. Spring MVC gave me better solutions for every single point. The result is a better code easier to maintain.

and how you can tell I've never written a real world app? :P

Because the options you are proposing are not realistic.

It seems that you have never written an enterprise-class application:

". . . in MY application . . ."

Hopefully your little sandbox is fun to play in.

As for the teams who are familiar with developing applications for enterprises, why would you ever upgrade to the latest framework just because they came out with a new version? A real world app has release schedules and isn't going to upgrade the framework API just for the heck of it.

What planet do you live on?

roflmfao!!! Either you're *very* new to this game or the struts developers are astro-turfing too!!!

I haven't tried any other framework (except for my first webapp ever, when I made my own, which turned out to be quite messy).

Seems the choices were (1) Struts (big user community, powerful control tier) or (2) JSF (hyped, and great, but still a bit immature at that point).

I chose Struts, mostly because I got the feel that this was the defacto standard framework around (plus Tiles are great!). Didn't hear of Spring before later on..

If there's so many things wrong with Struts, I'm glad they're still working on it. I'll be damned if I have to convert my current project to another framework.

Struts is like your Windows desktop : it has attained a momentum that will have it prevail over all rival frameworks regardless of its merits or demerits.

The only pragmatic migration path is towards Spring + Struts.

plus Tiles are great!

I have found that SiteMesh is even more convenient than tiles. (You might need to apply my path http://jira.opensymphony.com/browse/SIM-127 for using multiple path bases decorators with Struts /do/ mapping).

It does look like the release notes are in error, but what's the problem with the JavaDoc? Here's the entry for ActionErrors.GLOBAL_ERROR that explicitly states that ActionMessages.GLOBAL_MESSAGE should be used:

ActionErrors.GLOBAL_ERROR

It does look like the release notes are in error, but what's the problem with the JavaDoc? Here's the entry for ActionErrors.GLOBAL_ERROR that explicitly states that ActionMessages.GLOBAL_MESSAGE should be used:ActionErrors.GLOBAL_ERROR

That was fine...it is the "Each individual error is described by an ActionError object" in ActionErrors that is wrong.

Pedant! ;-) Bugs have been filed. But who knows what to expect from the Struts team?

They forgot about backward compatiblity in a few spots so it will only run in 1.4 JVM's, hopefully the will release a quick update for that snafu.

...hopefully the will release a quick update for that snafu.

Of course, what would you expect? Apparently, it was a case of drinking too much FindBugs Kool-Aid...

While 1.3 compatibility is a "good thing", I guess I can't see it as a loss.

Java 1.3/1.3.1 is now ancient history. Time to move on to 1.4.2 (or straight to 1.5 shortly).

Unfortunately, JDK 1.3 is still far from history. Quite a few production servers out there still run on that version, and are unlikely to upgrade instantly. Note that, for example, WebSphere which is just certified for a specific version of the IBM JDK: They just switched to 1.4 recently, with WebSphere 5.1 (IIRC).

Consequently, I think that frameworks and libraries should still provide 1.3 compatibility, in particular when they can achieve it easily by isolating 1.4 dependencies as optional code. Spring, for example, will stick to this rule for quite a further while: We have a significant numbers users on WebSphere 4.0 and similar JDK-1.3-based platforms.

Juergen

The Struts team just missed some issue regarding JVM 1.3. Somewhere they used Boolean.valueOf(boolean). This is already fixed and a new version 1.2.3 will be available (end?) next week somtime. This version will also fix a problem with the distribution containing wrong version of commons-validator and some distro. directory issue.

Regarding backward compatibility, Struts 1.2.x still supports Servlet version 2.2 so I would say that the Struts-team really consider backward compatibility issues.

// Torben

who cares about struts anymore when you have spring MVC and jsf ?

Congrats to the Struts Team

In a way, the TSS scene is a lot like politics. There's so much unnecessary hatred toward certain groups (Struts, JBoss, EJBs) and so much over promoting of other groups (Spring, SiteMesh, etc).

Struts is still the defacto standard for businesses. I don't think that will change (just like Windows as another poster pointed out).

Congrats. Keep up the good work. Struts is stable and useful in the real world. I will never expect bugless code or documentation from Struts because I don't even get that from MS, which has 75 billion in cash to throw around.

Yup,

I agree with, Brian, and yes there is no *perfect* framework in the world which will prove to be a solution to all your problems...These guys who keep on talking about Spring/JSF etc have may have worked only on that and therefore tend to be comfortable with those frameworks and thus badmouth others.

I have seen that when people fail to understand how a framework works, they start cursing it(and yes thats so true!)...and thats what is happening here... ;)

peace..!

Whenever something gets too popular, there are people who try to cut it down to earth - this is a basic human rebellious instinct, and why so many people hate Struts right now (many of whom were former advocates). This is good and bad - it promotes change and product improvement, but is also frustrating for people who are trying to maintain some stability.

The moral of the story is to take everything people write down in these forums with a grain of salt. Personally, I am going to stick with Struts for a little while longer, but Im learning Spring (JSF can go to hell, :P). At least its all open source.

Congratulations to Struts team! Struts is a well-known a proven framework, docs are decent, there are quite a few books too, lots of runtime plugins, development tools for visual flow design, etc. Struts seems to be a mature and stable platform.

I looked at Spring a year ago and I liked it. But when I needed to understand its inner workings and to make a small change in one of its classes, it took me a while to trace which object is called from where. With its IoC approach, multiplied by lengthy class hierarchies with lots of abstract classes it was not easy to trace a complete application. Spring may provide better means for unit testing becase the app code is not tied that much to the framework. But tracing of the full app was harder. To me, Struts is simpler in this sense, and making changes is easy if needed. Maybe I just got used to it ;) Anyway, Struts and Spring can coexist in one project.

These guys who keep on talking about Spring/JSF etc have may have worked only on that and therefore tend to be comfortable with those frameworks and thus badmouth others.

Well its now evident that u have worked only on Struts and havent checked out on Spring/JSF. If u have and u still feel that Struts is better, then There's Something About U & Mary!

I have seen that when people fail to understand how a framework works, they start cursing it(and yes thats so true!)...and thats what is happening here... ;)peace..!

instead of assuming that people here cant understand how a framework as simple as Struts works, u should take the time to check out the other frameworks mentioned and experience the truth for urself.

instead of assuming that people here cant understand how a framework as simple as Struts works, u should take the time to check out the other frameworks mentioned and experience the truth for urself.

Totally agree. I think that moste of the people who are claiming that struts is the best have never tried out the other frameworks.

instead of assuming that people here cant understand how a framework as simple as Struts works, u should take the time to check out the other frameworks mentioned and experience the truth for urself.

Totally agree. I think that moste of the people who are claiming that struts is the best have never tried out the other frameworks.

Maybe not. I've used Struts for some time and it has a few flaws, just like any framework. But remember, the work that followed had the benefit of hindsight. When Struts came out, there were many in-house frameworks, and Struts was really the first one to bring it all together. The reason I will be using Struts for the near term is that it is still the de-facto standard and as such, people can be immediately productive with it. We have some support classes that make it quite useful and we've pretty much architected our apps in such a way as to minimize dependency on Struts(or any other presentation tech). I do follow the other stuff, but for now, I feel that the presentation is solved. I'm moving on to gettings a similiar understand of Spring and Hibernate. Then, when when the other presentation techs have reasonably(define that :-) ) approched Struts in terms of ubiquity, we will reevaluate.

I still say, Struts has saved me work and thanks for the project, people!

we've pretty much architected our apps in such a way as to minimize dependency on Struts(or any other presentation tech).
I do follow the other stuff, but for now, I feel that the presentation is solved.
I'm moving on to gettings a similiar understand of Spring and Hibernate. Then, when when the other presentation techs have reasonably(define that :-) ) approched Struts in terms of ubiquity, we will reevaluate.

For starters, none of these are presentation technologies...
I wont say anymore...

we've pretty much architected our apps in such a way as to minimize dependency on Struts(or any other presentation tech). I do follow the other stuff, but for now, I feel that the presentation is solved. I'm moving on to gettings a similiar understand of Spring and Hibernate. Then, when when the other presentation techs have reasonably(define that :-) ) approched Struts in terms of ubiquity, we will reevaluate.

For starters, none of these are presentation technologies...I wont say anymore...

The presentation techs I'm refering to are Spring MVC, Webwork, Tapestry, JSF, Echo, etc. Since, to my knowledge, that stuff is only used for the presentation tier, why don't you share with me what you would call them since "presentation tech" vexes you so.

The presentation techs I'm refering to are Spring MVC, Webwork, Tapestry, JSF, Echo, etc. Since, to my knowledge, that stuff is only used for the presentation tier, why don't you share with me what you would call them since "presentation tech" vexes you so.

Struts, WebWork, Spring MVC are web MVC frameworks that help u in developing the web tier of ur application. Web tier does not just mean presentation. These frameworks include controllers, may include stuff to help with presentation such as JSP custom tags.
Tapestry, JSF are component/event based frameworks and again they too help with web tier development.
JSP, Velocity etc are what u would call presentation technologies.

The presentation techs I'm refering to are Spring MVC, Webwork, Tapestry, JSF, Echo, etc. Since, to my knowledge, that stuff is only used for the presentation tier, why don't you share with me what you would call them since "presentation tech" vexes you so.

Struts, WebWork, Spring MVC are web MVC frameworks that help u in developing the web tier of ur application. Web tier does not just mean presentation. These frameworks include controllers, may include stuff to help with presentation such as JSP custom tags. Tapestry, JSF are component/event based frameworks and again they too help with web tier development.JSP, Velocity etc are what u would call presentation technologies.

All of which is used, for us anyway, for the presentation tier. I don't see anyone writing persistence frameworks using Struts or Webwork. For us, our web tier is presentation. Not middle or data.

But if calling it such lowers your hackles, consider the statement cheerfully withdrawn.

All of which is used, for us anyway, for the presentation tier.

atleast u changed from presentation technology to presentation tier.

I don't see anyone writing persistence frameworks using Struts or Webwork.

now, u r getting emotional.

For us, our web tier is presentation.

yup, none of my business.

Not middle or data.

same here.

But if calling it such lowers your hackles, consider the statement cheerfully withdrawn.

doesnt lower my hackles...so dont bother withdrawing...whatever makes u happy...as long as the community is intelligent enough to decipher what u r saying...

bye bro!

to anyone who uses struts, i know there are some here that can give me a precise solution those that are familiar with struts. currently i'm using struts 1.1 and when i tried to use struts 1.2.3 to 1.2.8 i have the same error message trying all of them at a time as seen below. btw for struts release 1.2.3 i've followed the dependency guide from http://wiki.apache.org/struts/StrutsRelease123. Please tell me how i can resolve this issue.

18:39:08,656 INFO [ValidatorPlugIn] Loading validation rules file from '/WEB-INF/validator-rules.xml'
18:39:08,671 INFO [ValidatorPlugIn] Loading validation rules file from '/WEB-INF/validation.xml'
18:39:09,125 ERROR [Digester] Begin event threw error java.lang.IllegalAccessError: tried to access method org.apache.commons.collecti
ons.FastHashMap$KeySet.<init>(Lorg/apache/commons/collections/FastHashMap;)V from class org.apache.commons.collections.FastHashMap
        at org.apache.commons.collections.FastHashMap.keySet(Unknown Source)
        at org.apache.commons.validator.Field.toString(Field.java:742)
        at java.lang.String.valueOf(String.java:2177)
        at java.lang.StringBuffer.append(StringBuffer.java:361)
        at org.apache.commons.beanutils.BeanUtils.populate(BeanUtils.java:792)
        at org.apache.commons.digester.SetPropertiesRule.begin(SetPropertiesRule.java:259)
        at org.apache.commons.digester.Rule.begin(Rule.java:200)
        at org.apache.commons.digester.Digester.startElement(Digester.java:1268)
        at org.apache.xerces.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.startElement(AbstractSAXParser.java:434)

Let me start by saying that I love programing in Java, and use it when ever possible, and I also love Struts.

Sometimes the project or the client requires .NET . I would love to have a C# version of struts, or atleast the controller and Forms. Microsoft's recommended MVC patterns suck balls, Struts .NET would kick ass!!

There are a few items in the MS world that attempt to build a front controller MVC model in .NET but it doesn't fit nicely into their Visual Studio world. If you really want a front controller MVC that is very much like Struts for dotNet than check out the Maverick framework, they have a dotnet.