Apache Struts 2 Documentation > Home > Guides > Plugin Developers Guide > Struts 1 Plugin
Added by Ted Husted, last edited by Ted Husted on Feb 04, 2007

The Struts 1 plugin allows you to use existing Struts 1 Actions and ActionForms in Struts 2 applications.

This plugin provides a generic Struts 2 Action class to wrap an existing Struts 1 Action, org.apache.struts2.s1.Struts1Action. The wrapper class provides the expected calls to the legacy Struts 1 Action and ActionForm, converting incoming and outgoing objects into the expected forms. It works by using the scoped model driven technique that uses a single Object as the model for every page, very similar to how the Struts 1 ActionForm works. The plugin also provides several interceptors to emulate Struts 1 logic:

  • org.apache.struts2.s1.ActionFormValidatorInterceptor - Integrates the validation of ActionForms into the workflow of Struts 2
  • org.apache.struts2.s1.ActionFormResetInterceptor - Calls the reset() method on any discovered ActionForms

Features

  • Can use Struts 1 Actions and ActionForms with no code changes
  • Supports Commons Validator-enabled ActionForms

Usage

To use existing Struts 1 Actions and ActionForms in a Struts 2 application, create a normal Struts 2 configuration package in struts.xml, but have it extend struts1-default. The struts1-default package contains several interceptors and a default interceptor stack that work the plugin into the Struts 2 request process.

In the most simple case, where you have a Struts 1 Action that you want to use in Struts 2, configure a Struts 2 action using the wrapper:

Simple Struts 1 configuration
<action name="myAction" class="org.apache.struts2.s1.Struts1Action">
  <param name="className">com.mycompany.myapp.MyAction</param>
  <result>myAction.jsp</result>
</action>

Most likely, you will have an ActionForm that your Struts 1 Action expects. To use an ActionForm, the setup is a little more complicated because you'll need an interceptor that manages the creation and scope (to support request and session scoping like Struts 1) of the ActionForm.

Struts 1 Action with a session-scoped ActionForm
<action name="myFormAction" class="org.apache.struts2.s1.Struts1Action">
  <param name="className">com.mycompany.myapp.MyAction</param>
  <interceptor name="myForm" class="com.opensymphony.xwork2.interceptor.ScopedModelDrivenInterceptor">
    <param name="className">com.mycompany.myapp.MyForm</param>
    <param name="name">gangsterForm</param>
    <param name="scope">session</param>
  </interceptor>
  <interceptor-ref name="struts1-default" />
  <result>myAction.jsp</result>
</action>

Example

This example shows a few Struts 1 Actions, a session-scoped ActionForm, and validation that uses Commons Validator:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
    "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
    "http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">

<struts>
	<package name="integration" extends="struts1-default" namespace="/integration">
	    
	    <interceptors>
	        <interceptor name="gangsterForm" class="com.opensymphony.xwork2.interceptor.ScopedModelDrivenInterceptor">
	        	<param name="className">org.apache.struts2.showcase.integration.GangsterForm</param>
	        	<param name="name">gangsterForm</param>
	        </interceptor>
	        <interceptor name="gangsterValidation" class="org.apache.struts2.s1.ActionFormValidationInterceptor">
	        	<param name="pathnames">/org/apache/struts/validator/validator-rules.xml,/WEB-INF/validation.xml</param>
	        </interceptor>
	    
	    	<interceptor-stack name="integration">
	    		<interceptor-ref name="static-params"/>
	    		<interceptor-ref name="gangsterForm"/>
	    		<interceptor-ref name="model-driven"/>
                <interceptor-ref name="actionForm-reset"/>
                <interceptor-ref name="basicStack"/>
                <interceptor-ref name="gangsterValidation"/>
                <interceptor-ref name="workflow"/>
	    	</interceptor-stack>
	    </interceptors>
	    
	    <default-interceptor-ref name="integration" />
	    <default-action-ref name="editGangster" />
	    
	    <!-- Diplay entry page that uses Model-Driven technique -->
		<action name="editGangster" class="org.apache.struts2.s1.Struts1Action">
	    	<param name="className">org.apache.struts2.showcase.integration.EditGangsterAction</param>
			<result>modelDriven.jsp</result>
		</action>
		
		<!-- Display the result page whose content is populated using the Model-Driven technique -->
		<action name="saveGangster" class="org.apache.struts2.s1.Struts1Action">
	    	<param name="className">org.apache.struts2.showcase.integration.SaveGangsterAction</param>
	    	<param name="validate">true</param>
			<result name="input">modelDriven.jsp</result>
			<result>modelDrivenResult.jsp</result>
		</action>
	    
	</package>
</struts>

Settings

This plugin doesn't support any global settings.

Installation

This plugin can be installed by copying the plugin jar into your application's /WEB-INF/lib directory. It will need the Struts 1 jar in order to function correctly.