Levi,
Thank you. I was actually trying to link to the jsp page directly. I see what
you are saying about the action-mapping. I guess all I really need to do is
add a simple action that loads the ClientInfoBean and then forwards on to the
clientinfo.jsp page. As long as I give the ClientInfoForm bean the ability to
talk to the ClientInfoBean then this approach will work. It all seems so
straight forward now. I guess that's why it was a newbie question.
-gerald
Levi Cook wrote:
> Hi Gerald,
>
> One point I'm not clear on from your descriptions, is whether you're
> directly accessing your .jsp files URL, or if you're accessing them via an
> action-mapping URL.
>
> For example:
> http://localhost/yourapp/clientinfo.jsp versus
> http://localhost/yourapp/clientinfo.do
>
> With Struts, the second form is (*typically*) preferred--
>
> I generally recommend doing something like this:
>
> <struts-config>
> ...
> <form-bean
> name="clientInfoForm"
> type="com.yourco.struts.ClientInfoForm"/>
> ...
> <action
> path="/editClientInfo"
> type="com.yourco.struts.ReadClientInfoAction"
> name="clientInfoForm"
> scope="request"
> validate="false">
> <forward name="success" path="/WEB-INF/jsp/editClientInfo.jsp"/>
> </action>
> <action
> path="/saveClientInfo"
> type="com.yourco.struts.SaveClientInfoAction"
> name="clientInfoForm"
> scope="request"
> validate="true"
> input="/WEB-INF/jsp/editClientInfo.jsp">
> <forward name="success" path="/mainMenu.do" redirect="true"/>
> </action>
> ...
> ..
> .
>
> With these mappings, the link on your mainMenu.jsp should look *similar* to
> this:
> <html:link page="/editClientInfo.do">
> <bean:message key="mainMenu.label.editClientInfo"/>
> </html:link>
>
> When this URL is invoked, the Struts ActionServlet will instantiate a
> ClientInfoForm for you, then forward control to the ReadClientInfoAction,
> passing a reference to the ClientInfoForm. Once inside the Action, you can
> retrieve the appropriate ClientInfoBean and push it onto the Form. I've used
> a couple different approaches for this last step.
>
> 1) Use a Mediator to populate the form with the bean data
> 2) Make the form responsible for populating itself w/ a reference to the
> bean
>
> The first is useful for avoiding direct coupling between your form and bean.
> Basically, you're introducing a third object that knows the interface of
> both the form, and the bean. For example:
>
> public class BeanFormMediator {
> public void populateClientInfoForm(ClientInfoForm form, ClientInfoBean
> bean) {...}
> }
>
> The second approach, which I generally prefer, assigns responsibility to the
> form for knowing about the bean.
> Note: I usually make this method package private-- ideally, the action (same
> package) is the only object that knows about this implementation detail.
>
> public class ClientInfoForm {
> void populate(ClientInfoBean cib) {...}
> }
>
> Of course, there are caveats with any approach, and there is always another
> way to skin a cat etc.. However, this approach has worked quite well for me
> on several projects.
>
> HTH,
> Levi
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gerald Hanks" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2001 7:55 AM
> Subject: Re: Preloading ActionForm data from database (newbie question)
>
> > Klaus,
> >
> > Thank you for the response. Let me see if I can explain a little bit more
> > about what I have done and see if this changes your answer at all.
> >
> > I have two jsp forms right now. One is login.jsp and the other is
> > signup.jsp. Each one has an associated Form and Action. If the login
> > fails it goes back to the login.jsp page. If the login succeeds, it loads
> > the mainmenu.jsp page. If the signup fails it goes back to itself if it
> > succeeds it goes to the mainmenu.jsp page as well.
> >
> > Both the login and signup when successful load the client_id into a
> > ClientBean along with a timestamp so that I can track how long the client
> > has been active (and wether or not to invalidate the session because of
> > inactivity). Since this application could potentially have thousands of
> > active users logged in I do not want to have a lot of data hanging around
> > in "session" beans.
> >
> > I would like to have the client_info data loaded from the database only
> > when the client needs to review or modify it. I do not want to keep it
> > around for longer than the "request". From the mainmenu.jsp the client
> > can choose a link that goes to the clientinfo.jsp form where they can
> > review their client info and make changes. The clientinfo.jsp has been
> > linked with the ClientInfoForm bean and ClientInfoAction to handle the
> > validation and saving of the modified data. My problem is that the
> > ClientInfoBean that holds the data to be modified is not loaded at the
> > time that the clientinfo.jsp is loaded. Because of this, there are no
> > values loaded into the form. The form is blank (as if the client_info did
> > not exist). I need the ClientInfoForm bean to talk to the ClientInfoBean
> > before the jsp page starts loading the form (so that the current data can
> > be loaded into the form). Does this help out at all?
> >
> > -gerald
> >
> > Klaus Thiele wrote:
> >
> > > hi gerald,
> > >
> > > i don't now if i really understand your problem.
> > > in my opinion, the ClientInfoForm has noting to do with your
> > > ClientInfoBean.
> > >
> > > i would prefere this (regards to the struts-sample-app):
> > >
> > > 1) logon.jsp - LogonAction - LogonForm
> > > LogonForm validates the fields username and password are filled out by
> > > the user.
> > > LogonAction instantiates your ClientInfoBean and call some methods on
> > > it to verify if the user is already registrated (read the record from
> > > the database) - if not, error and back to the logon-page (or create a
> > > new account,....).
> > > but if the user is registrated, put the ClientInfoBean-Object into the
> > > session-context and go to the main-menu.
> > > 2) clientinfo.jsp - Edit/SaveClientInfoAction - ClientInfoForm
> > > EditClientInfoAction retrieve the ClientInfoBean-Object from the
> > > session-context, calls some methods on it to fill the fields in
> > > ClientInfoForm.
> > > if submit is clicked, do some simple validations in
> > > ClientInfoForm (are the fields filled out, date's valid entered,...).
> > > in SaveClientInfoAction retrieve the ClientInfoBean-Object from the
> > > session-context, call the validation-methods on your ClientInfoBean and
> > > save the data, display an error,....
> > >
> > > hope that helps
> > > klaus
> > >
> > > Am Sonntag, 15. Juli 2001 05:54 schrieben Sie:
> > > > I started an app where I have a client login and jump to a main menu.
> > > > From that menu the client can modify their account info. I have a
> > > > ClientInfoForm bean, a ClientInfoAction and a clientinfo.jsp input
> > > > form. I have also created a ClientInfoBean which has all of the
> > > > business logic to retrieve the clients info from the database and
> > > > save it back out when finished.
> > > >
> > > > I have the ClientInfoForm doing all of the appropriate validation
> > > > stuff and the ClientInfoAction communicates fine with the
> > > > ClientInfoBean to save all of the data back to the database. My
> > > > problem is how and when to get the ClientInfoForm bean to communicate
> > > > with the ClientInfoBean so that when the clientinfo.jsp form loads,
> > > > the fields are properly filled in. Is it appropriate to create a
> > > > constructor for the ClientInfoForm so that when it is created the
> > > > communication with the ClientInfoBean happens then or is there a more
> > > > appropriate way?
> > > >
> > > > Thank you in advance,
> > > >
> > > > -gerald
> > >
> > > --
> > > Klaus Thiele - Personal & Informatik AG
> > > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >
> > > "Your mouse has moved.
> > > Windows must be restarted for the change to take effect."
> >
> >
