Stripes . . . and Java Web Development Is Fun Again

391 Pages·2009·2.68 MB·English

by  Frederic Daoud

What readers are saying about
Stripes...and Java Web Development Is Fun Again
This book is a must for anyone using Stripes, novice or pro. The
author has done a great job of explaining the basics as well as the
details of Stripes’ amazing features while showing how to build a real-
life application. A novice developer can get up to speed fast, keeping
with Stripes’ pragmatic approach to development: “It doesn’t have to
be hard.” As the chapters progress, you will gain thorough knowledge
of all the Stripes features. What really impressed me was the author’s
dedication to giving you full examples of all the possible variations;
you’re not left thinking, “If I just knew how to use that feature.”If you
want to know how to use a Stripes feature, look it up in this book—it’s
definitely covered. Stripes...and Java WebDevelopmentIsFun Again
will be on my work desk from now on.
Jeppe Cramon
Chief Architect, TigerTeam
This book is really engaging. Since I’m familiar with Stripes, I enjoyed
learning about many lesser-known nuances that Stripes provides—
and those tasty little nuggets kept me reading. This book delivers a
comprehensive understanding of the intellectual and technical aspects
of Stripes. It has served to cement my appreciation for Stripes.
Brandon Goodin
Coauthor, iBATISinAction
Prepared exclusively for Trieu Nguyen
At first I thought this book would be merely a welcome dead-tree ref-
erence for our team of self-proclaimed veteran Stripes developers.
But somewhere along the way Frederic Daoud managed to greatly
impress and humble me with his experience and in-depth knowledge
of Stripes.
With its clear and well-structured chapters, the content is thorough
and fast-moving. The text flows naturally from topic to topic and from
chapter to chapter. The code is good, clear, and readable. The tone is
personal and light, like the author is casually chatting with us, the
readers. This was very appealing to me, having read truckloads of dry,
almost scientific comp-sci books. And even I, as a long-time Stripes
user, learned some things I didn’t know.
Jasper Fontaine
Lead Developer, Codegap
As a Stripes committer, I learned a good bit fromreading this book.
For example, the explanation of how checkboxes are handled is very
informative. In fact, I might print it out and hang it above my desk!
Even seasoned Stripes developers get confused by that sometimes.
Thanks, Frederic.
Ben Gunter
Committer, The Stripes Framework
I changed several of my practices after reading this book. The book
contains some really great ideas, and I really was surprised I learned
so much from it!
Aaron Porter
Committer, The Stripes Framework
This is a valuable resource to both newcomers and experienced
Stripes developers. Although Stripes is very easy to use, this is the
book I wish I had read when I got started! Having used Stripes for
more than a year, I still found many great tips that will help me
improve and simplify my code.
Chris Herron
Freelance Java Developer
Prepared exclusively for Trieu Nguyen
Prepared exclusively for Trieu Nguyen
Stripes
...and Java Web Development Is Fun Again
Frederic Daoud
with Tim Fennell
The Pragmatic Bookshelf
Raleigh,NorthCarolina Dallas,Texas
Prepared exclusively for Trieu Nguyen
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their prod-
uctsareclaimedastrademarks.Wherethosedesignationsappearinthisbook,andThe
Pragmatic Programmers, LLC was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have
been printed in initial capital letters or in all capitals. The Pragmatic Starter Kit, The
PragmaticProgrammer,PragmaticProgramming,PragmaticBookshelfandthelinkingg
devicearetrademarksofThePragmaticProgrammers,LLC.
Every precaution was taken in the preparation of this book. However, the publisher
assumesnoresponsibility for errorsor omissions,or for damagesthatmay result from
theuseofinformation(includingprogramlistings)containedherein.
Our Pragmatic courses, workshops, and other products can help you and your team
create better software and have more fun. For more information, as well as the latest
Pragmatictitles,pleasevisitusat
http://www.pragprog.com
Copyright©2008FredericDaoud.
Allrightsreserved.
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmit-
ted, in any form, or by any means, electronic,mechanical,photocopying, recording, or
otherwise,withoutthepriorconsentofthepublisher.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
ISBN-10:1-934356-21-2
ISBN-13:978-1-934356-21-0
Printedonacid-freepaper.
P1.0printing,October2008
Version:2009-4-20
Prepared exclusively for Trieu Nguyen
ToNadia.
Youaretheloveofmylife
andthewomanofmydreams.
Prepared exclusively for Trieu Nguyen
Prepared exclusively for Trieu Nguyen
Contents
1 Introduction 13
1.1 What Can Stripes Do for You? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.2 Getting the Most Out of This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.3 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
I Learning the Controls 21
2 Stripes 101: Getting Started 22
2.1 Setting Up a Stripes Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Hello, Stripes! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3 Binding to Action Beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.4 Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3 The Core: Action Beans and JSPs 40
3.1 Let’s CRUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.2 Writing a Base for a Stripes Application . . . . . . . . . 43
3.3 Displaying Data with Action Beans and JSPs . . . . . . 46
3.4 Parameterized Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.5 Displaying Messages to the User . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.6 Creating Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.7 Use a Forward or a Redirect? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4 Validating User Input 70
4.1 Stripes Validation Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.2 Using Built-in Validations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.3 When You Need More: Custom Validation Methods . . 88
5 There’sMoretoLifeThanStrings:WorkingwithDataTypes 98
5.1 Type Conversion Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
5.2 Built-in Type Converters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5.3 Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
5.4 Working with Custom Data Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Prepared exclusively for Trieu Nguyen
CONTENTS 10
6 Customizing Stripes Messages 121
6.1 Customizing Information Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
6.2 Customizing Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
6.3 Changing the Text of Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . 131
6.4 Creating Messages for Custom Errors . . . . . . . . . . 138
7 Reusable Layouts 141
7.1 Basic Stripes Layout Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
7.2 Putting Layouts to Work: Decorators . . . . . . . . . . . 146
7.3 Using View Helpers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
7.4 If You’re Used to Tiles or SiteMesh . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
II Revving Up 165
8 Adding Form Input Controls 166
8.1 Checkboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
8.2 Select Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
8.3 Image Buttons and Text Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
8.4 Using Cross-page Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
8.5 Radio Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
9 Advanced Features Made Easy 183
9.1 Managing Session Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
9.2 Altering Form Values in the Action Bean . . . . . . . . 188
9.3 Using Indexed Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
9.4 Working with Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
10 Registering and Logging In 203
10.1 The Registration Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
10.2 Adding Password and Confirm Password Boxes . . . . 205
10.3 Dealing with a Bunch of Required Fields . . . . . . . . 207
10.4 Using Validation Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
10.5 Creating a Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
10.6 The Login Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Reporterratum
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thiscopyis(P1.0printing,October2008)