Chris: As I plowed my way through converting my app to Struts, I had to skim a lot of the capabilities and make (hopefully, educated) guesses as to which ones spend learning time on and subsequently use.
In my early skimming, I looked at both Struts Tiles and Struts Templates, which seemed at first glance to overlap quite a bit. I chose to use Struts Templates, because it looked easier and the example was easier to crib from, and figured that after I had mastered everything else (Ha!) I could revisit this decision. As I started to apply the solution you gave me, I realized that my JSPs were becoming way too complicated -- littered with logic:equal tags -- and that a better way to approach it might be a slightly more elaborate template-based solution that constructs the page from more and smaller components. That would give me several benefits: -- My mappings could still refer to the same JSP; -- The template could assemble the page components based on the value of the "dispatch" request parameter, eliminating the need for the JSP to know what formBean it had been passed (or rather, it would automatically know, because it would be an operation-specific page component); -- The main component containing all of the html:text tags for the form properties would remain unchanged, since the html:text tag doesn't require a "name" attribute. So, my follow-up question, if you have time: Do you know enough about Struts Tiles and Struts Templates to recommend one versus the other? If I'm going to put in the time to break these JSPs into smaller components and use a Struts facility to assemble them, I'd sure like to know that I'm using the "right" Struts facility and not spinning wheels. Don't get me wrong -- your solution to my original problem is very useful, and it's nice to know that I have the option to do it that way if I choose. -----Original Message----- From: Bartley, Chris P [PCS] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 1:06 PM To: 'Struts Users Mailing List' Subject: RE: Re-using JSP pages -- Follow-up Hey, great! Glad it worked. I guess i should clarify, however, that what i sent is *a* solution and not necessarily the only or best solution. :) I haven't made the transition to Struts 1.1 yet, so there may be a more elegant way of solving this problem. Maybe one of the 1.1 gurus can chime in here. Regarding the choice between a large number of simple JSP vs a small number of complex ones, i'd recommend the former. If you haven't looked into Tiles yet to help you manage your presentation, you might give it a whirl--very cool stuff. chris > -----Original Message----- > From: Charles McClain [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 11:57 AM > To: 'Struts Users Mailing List' > Subject: RE: Re-using JSP pages -- Follow-up > > > Thanks, Chris: > > I tested your proposed solution very quickly -- just printing out the > retrieved formName on my JSP -- and it does work. > > I'm surprised, though, that it isn't easier than that; it > seems that the > formName should be available via the bean:struts tag, or some similar > tag. > > Now I have to integrate the solution into my app. Like many > newcomers, > I'm wavering back and forth between having a large number of > very simple > JSPs, or a small number of more complex JSPs. It's nice to know that, > using your solution, I at least have the option. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Bartley, Chris P [PCS] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 12:19 PM > To: 'Struts Users Mailing List' > Subject: RE: Re-using JSP pages -- Follow-up > > > Something like this might work: > > <bean:define id="actionMappingForThisScreen" > name="org.apache.struts.action.mapping.instance" > type="org.apache.struts.action.ActionMapping"/> > <bean:define id="formName" name="actionMappingForThisScreen" > property="name" type="java.lang.String" /> <bean:define id="formBean" > name="<%= formName %>" type="org.apache.struts.action.ActionForm"/> > > I haven't tested it, but i *think* it'll work since i *think* the > current action mapping is stored in the request under the key > "org.apache.struts.action.mapping.instance". The above code should > help you get the form bean's name and a reference to the bean itself. > > chris > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Charles McClain [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > > Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 11:13 AM > > To: Struts User Mailing List > > Subject: Re-using JSP pages -- Follow-up > > > > > > All: > > > > This is a follow-up to my earlier post on the same topic. > Although I > > received a response, I think it wasn't the response I > needed because I > > > didn't ask my question correctly. > > > > Boiled down -- and ignoring all the background of why I > need it, which > > > may have confused people -- I want: > > > > -- To pass different form-beans to the same JSP; > > -- To have the JSP figure out the name of the form-bean it > > received, so it can use that form-bean name in various tags. > > > > I'm sure the form-bean name must be easily available to the > JSP, but I > > > have searched the Struts User Guide and the taglib > documentation, and > > I can't figure out how . Can anyone help? > > > > Thanks again in advance. You guys were very responsive > before; I just > > > needed to phrase my question more simply. > > > > Charles McClain > > Phone: 603.659.2046 > > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > -- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: > > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > For additional commands, e-mail: > > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > -- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > For additional commands, e-mail: > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > > -- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > For additional commands, e-mail: > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For additional commands, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For additional commands, e-mail: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
