Interesting.. How about taking this to the next level, which all struts generators have failed to do (except a BEA tool that requires you to buy into them):
1) Offer the ability to define the concept of a page, which has associated to it the action and an JSP page 2) Define the fields that will be managed within the JSP page, including the types of fields (text, textarea, drop down), datasources for drop downs, and validation rules 3) Allow the user to define events that occur when the user submits the page. This would include things like Save, Update, Delete, Create, Cancel, Next, Previous, etc. 4) Allow the user to select a custom event handler or a default one such as Cancel, which would have a wizard to allow the user to select the page it flows to and do any logic like strip out session beans if the action's form is session scoped 5) Optionally, you could extend the concept of the fields to allow them to be mapped to datasources, by which I mean an EJB, JDBC Datasource, etc. So, your tools allows for the definition of dataobjects, pages, and fields that are all tied together using some configuration file and optionally generated source. Note that some of this could be done with a state diagramming tool within the app, and some of it would be more event driven. What I'm proposing is something that operates like VB or Visual Interdev, and allows either rapid prototyping, rapid web tier integration, and rapid business tier integration. Add in a little NetDynamics for spice, and you have a really interesting tool that is beyond just "code generation". I've been wanting to do this for several years but I've had 0 time to put into it. I've been hoping that someone else catches the vision and can help me run with it, as I firmly believe this is what is missing from J2EE and has rarely been filled in by code generators. My guess is that Eclipse or some other IDE would allow for the GUI of this tool to be built and integrated quickly, benefiting from the IDE's class parsing rules, Add new source capabilities, and other Java semantics that tend to slow tools down when they reach this point. Thoughts? James > -----Original Message----- > From: james logsdon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2003 8:54 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Opinions on Struts code generator - A zipped version > > > > Hopefully this works... > > > > > > >From: Robert McIntosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Reply-To: "Struts Users Mailing List" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: Struts Users Mailing List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Subject: Re: Opinions on Struts code generator > >Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 17:25:06 -0600 > > > >how about zipping it up? > > > >james logsdon wrote: > > > >> > >>I was not able to attach my pdf file. The mail server > either said that > >>it > >>was too big or it just did not attach it. > >> > >>I created a group on yahoo and added the file there. It can be > >>retrieved > >>by following the link: > >> > >>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/quickStartCodeGenerator/files/ > QuickStart > >>.doc > >> > >>but if you do not have a yahoo id you will have to create > one. Sorry > >>for > >>any inconvenience. > >>James > >> > >> > >> > >>>From: "james logsdon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>>Reply-To: "Struts Users Mailing List" > >>><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>>Subject: Re: Opinions on Struts code generator > >>>Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 16:51:58 -0600 > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>>>From: "james logsdon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>>>Reply-To: "Struts Users Mailing List" > >>>><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>>>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>>>Subject: Re: Opinions on Struts code generator > >>>>Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 16:47:47 -0600 > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>Let me try one more time... > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>>From: "james logsdon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>>>>Reply-To: "Struts Users Mailing List" > >>>>><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >>>>>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>>>>Subject: Opinions on Struts code generator > >>>>>Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 15:06:16 -0600 > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>>Hello, > >>>>> I have built a Struts code generator that converts HTML pages > >>>>>and a > >>>>>state diagram into a Struts application. The HTML files > are input into > >>>>>JTidy to create XHTML (as done in cocoon) and then several XSL > >>>>>transformations are done to create the various Struts > files. All of the > >>>>>code generation is done with an Ant script which creates > war file from > >>>>>the input files. > >>>>> > >>>>>If enough people think this is useful I will donate to open > >>>>>source... > >>>>>Would appreciate feedback on the utility of the approach > take, and if > >>>>>their are ways to improve the generated code. > >>>>> > >>>>>James > >>>>> > >>>>>PS - Had to break document into two as there is a 100k document > >>>>>size > >>>>>limit. > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>>_________________________________________________________________ > >>>>>MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* > >>>>>http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>>--------------------------------------------------------- > ---------- > >>>>>-- > >>>>>To unsubscribe, e-mail: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>>>>For additional commands, e-mail: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>>_________________________________________________________________ > >>>>MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. > >>>>http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus > >>>> > >>>>---------------------------------------------------------- > ---------- > >>>>- > >>>>To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>>>For additional commands, e-mail: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>>_________________________________________________________________ > >>>MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. 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