Release Plan 2.0.0

• Struts 2.0.0 is preparing a "early adopter" build.
• Codebase seems feature-complete.
• Documentation issues remain.
• Example issues remain.
• Assembly/distribution issues remain.

For resolved issues, see Struts 2.0.0 DONE in the issue tracker.

For pending issues (if any) see Struts 2.0.0 TODO in the issue tracker.

For known issues, see Struts 2.0.1 TODO

Overall Status

Documentation Status

Additional Background

• Struts 2.0.0 omnibus ticket
• Issue Tracker
• Struts Ti Proposal
• Migration Issues
• Struts 2 Rough Spots
• Public API Whiteboard
• Retroweaver

Release Manager

The release manager is Ted Husted.

• See also Creating and Signing a Distribution

Special Issues

Struts 2.0 is based on the WebWork 2 codebase. Essentially, Struts 2.0 will be the technical equivalent of WebWork 2.3. (The WebWork 2 codebase was accepted into the Struts project through the Apache Incubator.)

For Struts 2.0, the core goals are to repackage the codebase as an Apache Struts product and to provide migration resources for Struts 1 and WW 2 developers. A few legacy API elements will be removed, and a few new features will be added.

The Struts 2.0 release is following the Struts Ti Proposal. Struts 2.0 is Phase 1 of the proposal. A subsequent Struts release series (either Struts 2.1 or Struts 3.0) will address Phase 2 of the proposal.

Struts 2.0.0 is targeting August 2006 as a relaxed distribution date.

The platform for Struts 2.0.x is Java 1.5, with Java 1.4 compatibity provided by RetoTranslator.

See also Struts 2.

New Features Under Consideration

This initial list of new features is taken from the Struts 2 Rough Spots page.

Review and Refinement

• Separate classes that most applications need to use. Isolate classes that the framework uses internally or that are rarely used by applications. (See Rough Spot #3.)
• Distinguish between the published public versus private APIs. (See Rough Spot #4.)
• Utilize properties (methods) instead of protected or public fields (). (See #13.)
• Review exception handling. Some are still being swallowed rather than rethrown. (See #20 and WW-652@ww)

Modifications

• Simplify TextProvider. (See #15.)
• Modify ParametersInterceptor to sort parameter names by depth (using bucket sort) and then map them in that order (shallowest first). (See #21.)
• Use the strategy pattern to swap in different implementations of interfaces like ValidationAware. (See Tim, NTH #1.)

Deprecations and Removals

• Deprecate or remove the AroundInterceptor. (See #7.)
• Eliminate "do" clause for Action alias lookups. Scan Actions at load time for known aliases, and fail fast.
• Eliminate "default" alias (which relied on "doAlais").

Architecture

• Address the confusing issue of the validation/workflow lifecycle and different methods. (See Patrick #4.)

Configuration

• Add support for type aliasing (a la Spring and iBATIS) to reduce or eliminate need to use fully-qualified class names, over and over. The fully-qualified type is declared once, and then a simple type "nickname" can be used instead. (See #23.)
• Combine configuration DTDs so that Actions, Messages, and Validators can be defined in a single file. (See Ted, #1.)
• Use values on the stack to override/define configuration options. (See Tim, NTH #3.)

OGNL

• On the OGNL value stack, rename #request for request parameters and #requestAttributes for request attributes. (See #17 and WW-785@ww.)
• Work with OGNL to add Java 5 support. (See #31.)
• Work with OGNL to make it a clear superset of JSTL. (See Gabe #4.)

Struts 1 Features to Implement

• Wildcard Action Mappings (Done in XWork 2)
• DynaForm as Model Object (including LazyDynaForms)
• Extends for action mappings (See Tim, NTH #2.)
• Change the default submit method for the form tag from GET to POST (See Ted, #2.)
• Set field focus

Outstanding Issue Review

Struts 2.0.0 Issues

Testing Checklist

Testing Summary

TODO: A Silenium test suite for the applications would be great!

Test Build Distribution Checklist (A)

See also Creating and Signing Releases

Vote (A)

• If release vote fails, including for a lack of quorum (3 binding +1s), remove from builds folder.
• If a release vote passes (Alpha, Beta or GA), the release may be announced and mirrored, at the PMC's discretion.
• If vote is GA, goto Checklist (C).

Point Release Distribution Checklist (B)

Vote (B)

If initial vote is Alpha or Beta, voting can continue until a GA or "withdraw" vote passes, or there is a subsequent release.

General Availability Distribution Checklist (C)