Struts 2 Maven Archetypes

Struts 2 provides several Maven archetypes that create a starting point for our own applications.

Contents

Available Archetypes

The Blank Archetype (struts2-archetype-blank)

See the Struts 2 Blank Archetype page for more information, including some basic Maven information, how to build and run the app, and basic application information.

The Starter Archetype (struts2-archetype-starter)

The Starter archetype creates a more featured application using several common technologies used in production applications.

Features

• Sitemesh integration
• Action example (instantiated both through Spring and Struts)
• Spring integration
• Validation example (action and action-alias level)
• Conversion example (global and action level)
• Resource bundle (both global, action and package level)

The Portlet Blank Archetype (struts2-archetype-portlet)

The Portlet blank archetype creates a minimally populated JSR 168 portlet.

Features

• View, Edit, and Help mode examples
• Simple form for preferences in Edit mode
• Can be deployed as a servlet or portlet application
• Can use Maven Jetty plugin to deploy with the pluto-embedded profile (usage 'mvn jetty:run -Ppluto-embedded', then access http://localhost:8080/<artifactId>/pluto/index.jsp)

The Portlet Database Archetype (struts2-archetype-dbportlet)

The Portlet database archetype creates a simple JSR 168 portlet that displays the contents of a database table.

Features

• Uses Spring and Hsql to show a real database query
• Builtin caching of query results
• View, Edit, and Help mode examples
• Simple form for preferences in Edit mode
• Can be deployed as a servlet or portlet application
• Can use Maven Jetty plugin to deploy as a servlet webapp

The Blank Convention Archetype (struts2-archetype-convention)

Features

• Convention-based validation
• Example actions
• Package-level resource bundle
• Unit-testing
• Google AppEgine aware

The Plugin Archetype (struts2-archetype-plugin)

Features

• Example new result type
• Example XML-based configuration

Creating an Application Using a Maven Archetype

Run the following command from your new project's parent directory. The project will be created in a sub-directory named after the artifactId parameter.

The first two parameters, groupId and artifactId, should be set according to your needs:

• groupId
  This should be the root package of your application, e.g., com.mycompany.myapp.
• artifactId
  Names the project directory that will be created in the current directory.

mvn archetype:generate -B \
                       -DgroupId=tutorial \
                       -DartifactId=tutorial \
                       -DarchetypeGroupId=org.apache.struts \
                       -DarchetypeArtifactId=struts2-archetype-blank \
                       -DarchetypeVersion=<version>

where <version> is archetype's version you want to use, eg. 2.2.1

Staging repository

If the above command will fail because of missing archetypes in central repository, you can try to use staging repository like below

mvn archetype:generate -DarchetypeCatalog=https://repository.apache.org/content/repositories/snapshots/

or this

mvn archetype:generate -DarchetypeCatalog=http://struts.apache.org/

Archetype Parameters

The -B option runs archetype:generate in batch mode; it avoids a prompt to confirm our settings.

Command Quick Reference

These commands are used from the directory created by the archetype plugin (the project's sub-directory that was created in the previous step).

• To build

   mvn install

• To create IntelliJ IDEA project files

   mvn idea:idea

• To create Eclipse project files

   mvn eclipse:eclipse -Dwtpversion=1.5

• To run test cases

   mvn test

• To clean up (removes generated artifacts)

   mvn clean

• To package (creates a WAR file)

   mvn package

• To grab necessary JAR files etc.

   mvn initialize

• To run it with Jetty

   mvn jetty:run