Create Struts 2 – Hello World Application

by Veerasundar on November 6, 2008

Recently I’ve started learning the Struts 2 framework. Though I’ve been using Struts 1.3 for quite some time, understanding Struts 2 was little tricky as the ‘Hello World sample application’ provided by Struts 2 site is little confusing. So, I was searching for a simple ‘Hello world example for Struts 2′ and after going through many different sites, finally I was able to run my first Struts 2 application. Here are the steps that I did to start with Struts 2. I am using Eclipse IDE and all the steps explained below are in referring to Eclispe 3 IDE.

Struts 2 Hello World Application – Getting started with Struts 2

Create New : Project : Dynamic Web Project and give a name to your project and the location to save your project. For this example, I gave HelloWorld as my project name.
Second step will be including JAR files required by Struts 2 framework to our project’s WEB-INF/lib folder. You can either download below JARs separately or simple copy them from the lib folder of struts2-blank-application provided by Struts 2 website. Note that the version numbers in the JAR files are the latest ones when this article written. You may use the latest JARs if they are available.
- commons-logging-1.0.4.jar
- freemarker-2.3.8.jar
- ognl-2.6.11.jar
- struts2-core-2.0.11.jar
- xwork-2.0.4.jar

Next step will be configuring struts 2 filter in web.xml file. Have a look at the below sample configuration.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app id="WebApp_9" version="2.4" xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-app_2_4.xsd">
	<display-name>Struts 2 : Hello World</display-name>
	<filter>
		<filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
		<filter-class>org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.FilterDispatcher</filter-class>
	</filter> <
	filter-mapping> <filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
		<url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
	</filter-mapping>
</web-app>

Now we will create a struts action class HelloWorld.java. To do this, create a new package tutorial under the project’s source folder and inside the tutorial package, create a new class file and name it HelloWorld.java. Below is the source code for this class file.

package tutorial;

import com.opensymphony.xwork2.ActionSupport;

public class HelloWorld extends ActionSupport {

	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

	private String message;

	public String execute()
	{
		setMessage("Hi there! This is a warm hello from Struts 2");
		return SUCCESS;
	}

	public String getMessage() {
		return message;
	}

	public void setMessage(String message) {
		this.message = message;
	}

}

Notice that above class extends ActionSupport and it implements the execute() method. As per Struts 2, any class which does these two things are considered as Struts action classes.

We have our action class is ready. Now it’s the time to create the presentation page, i.e JSP. Create a new JSP file HelloWorld.jsp inside the WebContent folder and type in below code in this JSP file.

<%@ page contentType="text/html; charset=UTF-8" %>
<%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags" %>
<html>
	<head>
		<title>Struts 2 - Hello World tutorial</title>
	</head> 

	<body>
	<h2><s:property value="message"/></h2>
	If you can see above message, Congrats! You have successfully created your first Struts 2 application.
	</body>
</html>

Now we will create the very important struts.xml file which glues our action class with the presentation JSP file. Since Struts 2 requires struts.xml to be present in classes folder, we will create stuts.xml file inside the source folder, so that when building the WAR file, struts.xml will be put in classes folder. Below is the code for struts.xml file.

<?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>
	<constant name="struts.enable.DynamicMethodInvocation" value="false" />
	<constant name="struts.devMode" value="false" />
	<package name="tutorial" namespace="/" extends="struts-default">
		<action name="HelloWorld" class="tutorial.HelloWorld">
			<result>/HelloWorld.jsp</result>
		</action>
	</package>
</struts&gt;

Now we are good to go. Right click on the project name and click Export ? WAR File. Then deploy this WAR in the Tomcat’s webapps directory. Now start Tomcat server and point your browser to the URL http://localhost:8080/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.action and Tada! Your first struts 2 application is delivering the JSP page with a hello message to you!!

So, that’s it. Now the Hello World application is done using this latest Struts framework.

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{ 48 comments }

Amit Pandey November 17, 2008 at 2:39 PM

Excellent starting point buddy. You are right, existing examples are pretty confusing. Your article is simple, precise. Thanks

Veerasundar November 17, 2008 at 3:43 PM

Thanks Amit!

priya December 2, 2008 at 5:32 AM

Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
was very useful…………..

Veerasundar December 2, 2008 at 5:35 AM

You are welcome, Priya!

Neena December 2, 2008 at 7:12 AM

Thanks Veerasundar. This was very helpful

Veerasundar December 2, 2008 at 8:56 AM

///Thanks Veerasundar. This was very helpful//

Thanks Neena!

Atul Mishra December 8, 2008 at 1:19 PM

I tried this Sample code in following Config.
Eclipse, tomcat 5.0, jre 1.5

I deployed this sample application WAR file into tomcat.
I have tried to launch this by typing its url as
http://localhost:8080/HelloWorld

but it was showing Error as below -

type Status report

message /HelloWorld/WEB-INF/web.xml

description The requested resource (/HelloWorld/WEB-INF/web.xml) is not available.

Veerasundar December 8, 2008 at 1:59 PM

Hi Atul,

The error you got is possibly because of (as the error message says) the web.xml may not be present in the WAR file that you had deployed. Can you please check your WAR file to see whether the web.xml present inside the WEB-INF folder?

Atul December 10, 2008 at 10:54 AM

Yes this war files contents web.xml.
i tried this example 3 – 4 time from scratch.
but each time i get same error.
Actually i put struts.xml file into WEB-INF folder.
but i seen in some example it is with scr files.
after that i tried this also but i get an error :-
resource is not available.
wht should i do.

i think some libraries are required in tomcat to read and convert these xml files.

Mahesh December 10, 2008 at 12:31 PM

Thanks Veer, I am able to run my fist struts 2 application. That was an excellent starting point.

Veerasundar December 10, 2008 at 3:06 PM

Atul,

Open the Manager console in Apache Tomcat server and see the status of the struts application. If it is false, then the web application is not deployed correctly and some problem with the application WAR itself. If it is the error with any Java files, then the IDE would have shown at the compilation time itself, but if there is any error with web.xml or struts.xml, then IDE won’t show any errors, but application won’t be deployed in Tomcat. Please check if there is any syntax error with xml files.

veerasundark December 12, 2008 at 4:17 PM

Hi Mahesh,

Thanks for your feedback.

Veera December 12, 2008 at 4:17 PM

Hi Mahesh,

Thanks for your feedback.

Anoop December 16, 2008 at 1:24 PM

thanx man,

Anoop December 16, 2008 at 1:24 PM

thanx man,

lakshman December 29, 2008 at 3:22 PM

i need some help form u. i normally tried ur application
1)i created the HelloWorld folder
in that i created src folder and WEB-INF folder and Helloworld.jsp placed in same folder

and then
2) in WEB-INF folder i placed web.xml and lib and i placed all neccessary jar files.

3) in src folder i placed the HelloWorld.java and struts.xml

i run the appl it showing 404 status error . i am running the appl in tomcat5.5 and i checked the web.xml and struts.xml it shows correctly .where i gettong the probelm i don’t no..
Normally in struts1.1 we placed the strut.xml placed parallel to web.xml . here we have to place in src folder i dont know just i am asking.

in previous u told that checked in tomcat manager i checked there it showing false but i checked all directory twice but it showing error. even i compile i try to compile to java file it shows error ActionSupport .

i hope u understood my probelm. i hoping positive response from u.

Thanks
Lakshman

Arti December 30, 2008 at 8:34 AM

Hi,
I have tried deploying your application exactly the way you have told but when I run it using Tomcat6.0.I am getting HTTP error saying HelloWorld.action resource not found.I checked struts.xml and web.xml again.It seems to be fine.My folder strusture is exactly the same as u have shown in ur UI view.Could you please tell me what exactly is the problem?Even if I try to just run HelloWrold.jsp it sayd HelloWorld.jsp not available.I’ll be thankful if you could help me.

Arti

Veerasundar December 30, 2008 at 9:29 AM

Hi Lakshman, Arti

I couldn’t able to figure out the issue from your questions. Anyhow, please check the below points once again, just to make sure that everything is fine.

1. Check the placement of struts.xml. In Sturuts2 its placed inside the “source” folder.
2. Check the action declaration in struts.xml file.
3. Check if the “struts2″ filter and filter mapping defined correctly in “web.xml” file.

As said, I can’t figure out the exact issue just by looking at your questions. So, if possible, can you please send your files to my email id (available in the contact page), so that I can have a look at it and get back to you?

ganesh adiga December 30, 2008 at 11:06 AM

HTTP Status 404 – /HelloWorld/HelloWorld.action

——————————————————————————–

type Status report

message /HelloWorld/HelloWorld.action

description The requested resource (/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.action) is not available.

——————————————————————————–

Apache Tomcat/5.5.17

i am getting this error page. could you please tell me why it is happing so.

Hansi December 31, 2008 at 12:42 PM

Thanks, works good (if you stick to the names… .

BR,
Hansi

lakshman January 2, 2009 at 12:30 PM

Hi shankar

i posted my application but i didn’t get the Response form u. when the Run the Application in server console i getting the following error .

pr 2, 2009 10:48:54 AM org.apache.catalina.core.AprLifecycleListener lifecycleEvent
INFO: The Apache Tomcat Native library which allows optimal performance in production environments was not found on the java.library.path: E:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_14\bin;.;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;E:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_14\bin\client;E:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_14\bin;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\Program Files\TortoiseSVN\bin;E:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0_14\bin;.;E:\Program Files\apache-ant-1.7.1\bin;.;
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:54 AM org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11BaseProtocol init
INFO: Initializing Coyote HTTP/1.1 on http-8080
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:54 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina load
INFO: Initialization processed in 672 ms
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:54 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService start
INFO: Starting service Catalina
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:55 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine start
INFO: Starting Servlet Engine: Apache Tomcat/5.5.27
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:55 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost start
INFO: XML validation disabled
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:55 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext filterStart
SEVERE: Exception starting filter struts2
java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.FilterDispatcher
at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1386)
at org.apache.catalina.loader.WebappClassLoader.loadClass(WebappClassLoader.java:1232)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterConfig.getFilter(ApplicationFilterConfig.java:207)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterConfig.setFilterDef(ApplicationFilterConfig.java:302)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterConfig.(ApplicationFilterConfig.java:78)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.filterStart(StandardContext.java:3635)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext.start(StandardContext.java:4222)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.start(ContainerBase.java:1014)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHost.start(StandardHost.java:736)
at org.apache.catalina.core.ContainerBase.start(ContainerBase.java:1014)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngine.start(StandardEngine.java:443)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardService.start(StandardService.java:448)
at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardServer.start(StandardServer.java:700)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina.start(Catalina.java:552)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.start(Bootstrap.java:295)
at org.apache.catalina.startup.Bootstrap.main(Bootstrap.java:433)
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:55 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext start
SEVERE: Error filterStart
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:55 AM org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContext start
SEVERE: Context [/HelloWorld1] startup failed due to previous errors
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:55 AM org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11BaseProtocol start
INFO: Starting Coyote HTTP/1.1 on http-8080
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:55 AM org.apache.jk.common.ChannelSocket init
INFO: JK: ajp13 listening on /0.0.0.0:8009
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:55 AM org.apache.jk.server.JkMain start
INFO: Jk running ID=0 time=0/31 config=null
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:55 AM org.apache.catalina.storeconfig.StoreLoader load
INFO: Find registry server-registry.xml at classpath resource
Apr 2, 2009 10:48:55 AM org.apache.catalina.startup.Catalina start
INFO: Server startup in 671 ms

i pasted the server log error to u. Every thing i checked the staging directory it is fine but where it getting error still i didn’t find . if it possible to u check my application , which i already send to u and solve my problem.

Waiting a positive Response from u.

Regards
Lakshman

Prathibha January 4, 2009 at 6:58 AM

Hi,

I am not able to deploy my HelloWorld.war into Webapps in Tomcat.It is not showing any error messages.I am new to Struts,please help me!

Thanks,
Prathibha

Veerasundar January 5, 2009 at 5:13 AM

Hi Lakshman,

Firstly, I am not Shankar. I am Sundar.

Regarding the error you are getting, I just googled for the error message and it look’s like the error message is not a serious one. Please check this thread : http://www.coderanch.com/t/85960/ApacheTomcat/Tomcat-Native-library-not-found

Please follow the names I’ve given in my examples so that the code works fine (Pleas refer Hansi’s comment in the comment section of this blog post!). I was kinda busy with my work these days, didn’t get time to go through your code.

If you need any urgent assistance in Struts 2, try posting your query in forums like JavaRanch or Struts mailing archives

Have a nice day!

Veerasundar January 5, 2009 at 5:16 AM

Hi Prathibha ,

Got your email. Glad that my tutorial helped you.

Thanks.

Shikamaru January 7, 2009 at 8:01 PM

I tried a lot of examples but very confusing… and didn’t worked out.
Fortunately, I found this site. Thanks man, nice work. keep it up

kvic January 8, 2009 at 3:54 AM

i followed ur tutorial.. but when to view in browser. it not appear..
error displayed
”
type Status report

message There is no Action mapped for namespace / and action name HelloWorld.

description The requested resource (There is no Action mapped for namespace / and action name HelloWorld.) is not available.

”

what i need to do??

i used tomcat.. cant to..
i used jboss.. also cant..

kvic January 8, 2009 at 4:42 AM

7.Now we will create the very important struts.xml file which glues our action class with the presentation JSP file. Since Struts 2 requires struts.xml to be present in classes folder, we will create stuts.xml file inside the source folder, so that when building the WAR file, struts.xml will be put in classes folder.

Actually i need create struts.xml at where folder??
A) HelloWorld -> struts.xml
B) HelloWorld -> JavaResources : source -> tutorial -> struts.xml
C) HelloWorld -> WebContent -> struts.xml

im really confusing… i use eclipse.. but i cant create file in the answer B..

Veerasundar January 8, 2009 at 6:05 AM

Hi Kvic,

If you look at the directory structure diagram (http://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/struts-2-folder-structure.png), you can see that the struts.xml file is placed under the source folder. The point here is struts.xml file should be present in the classpath.

So, to create a XML file in eclipse, in Project explorer view, right click on your project’s source folder and click New -> File and give the file name as “struts.xml”.

I hope this helps.

kvic January 8, 2009 at 6:09 AM

im so careless.. actually my problem got solution.

should be like this for struts.xml

HelloWorld -> JavaResources : source -> struts.xml

i used jboss.

thanks.. this tutorial.. so easy to follow.. so easy to understand the concept..

thanks alot…

i hope got tutorial for the better practise..

karthik January 9, 2009 at 5:33 AM

this is the nice one.

but people who are using jboss. you have to add jboss-web.xml, under webinf directory. der u need to add context path. using that u have to trigger d url.

jboss-web.xml

url

http://localhost:8080/login/example/Login.action

regards,
karthik.

Manasvi January 11, 2009 at 2:41 PM

Thanks for such a nice and quick explanation.

I was just going to copy/paste my error log and then, thought of giving one more try from scratch…..And, this helped me… I am very very new to struts itself.

This tutorial was the best I have ever found. Thanks.

Can you please explain, how can you access property values from JSP?

Thanks a lot.

Veerasundar January 11, 2009 at 3:08 PM

Thanks for your feedback, Manasvi!

//Can you please explain, how can you access property values from JSP?//

If you want to load a properties file in JSP page, it requires adding a Java code to the JSP file, which is like adding business logic in the presentation layer. But this is not a good practice. So, it is good to load the properties file in your servlet and pass the values to your JSP page.

Have a look at this link on how to smartly load properties file in Java.

I hope this helps.

cheers.

Manasvi January 11, 2009 at 3:52 PM

I created the project in the same way as described in the tutorial, but I am not able to see the “message” property set in Action class. And, JSP is displayed perfectly without any errors. Any clues?

Thanks.

Veerasundar January 12, 2009 at 5:39 AM

Hi Manasvi,

There is a setter method for the ‘message’ property in the ‘HelloWorld’ action class. This is how the message value is passed on to the JSP page.

Manasvi January 12, 2009 at 10:02 AM

Ok. Thanks. I got it working now.

Damodar January 14, 2009 at 6:45 AM

Hay.. Thank you for your nice tutorial. Its really east, and I just done it. Hope more tutorials form you… Enjoy Madi.

jim January 15, 2009 at 2:09 AM

hi all:

first I imported latest struts-2.1.6 release jar file. Tomcat cannot deploy my application. after I changed jar file to struts-2.0.14, all worked fine . If your Tomcat cannot deploy your application, try to change your jar files version. This may help..

thanks this tutorial.

kind regards:

Jim

Juan January 17, 2009 at 7:28 PM

I had the same issue as many here: The resource xxx was not available.

I looked into the Tomcat’s log and found that the origin of the problem was:
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.apache.commons.fileupload.FileUploadException

So, I copyied the commons-fileupload-1.2.1.jar file found in the struts-2.1.6.zip (under the lib directory) to the proyects WEB-INF/lib and it worked.

Hope that helps anyone!

Sukhoo February 4, 2009 at 8:50 AM

hi atul m getting the same error as you got. can you or any one else help me out.

thanx in advance

Arif February 11, 2009 at 2:57 AM

Hi,

I was able to successfully read the message when I accessed http://localhost:8080:HelloWorld/HelloWorld.jsp

and not http://localhost:8080/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.action. The latter throws up an error.

Anyone care to point out the difference ?

Thanks

Waveman February 12, 2009 at 8:36 PM

Just a heads up here….at first I couldn’t get this to work because I had struts 2.1.x as my struts package.
Make sure you are using some variant of 2.0.x

Best wishes…

Anoop February 13, 2009 at 6:31 AM

To people who had a problem with missing resource, the problem could also be that you have additional jars in your lib folder (like struts1-core.jar). So make sure that only struts2 jars are present.

Great tutorial!

prasaddvd December 9, 2009 at 12:57 PM

HI
im trying to run the above program, but it is not working properly. can any one solve my problem

Veera December 9, 2009 at 10:20 PM

hi,

can you give us more details on the error that your are getting?

mahesh January 13, 2010 at 6:48 PM

Hiii, m getting the following message

HTTP Status 404 – /HelloWorld/

——————————————————————————–

type Status report

message /HelloWorld/

description The requested resource (/HelloWorld/) is not available.

——————————————————————————–

Apache Tomcat/5.0.28

digant February 21, 2010 at 9:06 AM

Hi VS. Nice tutorial. I am getting this error. :

HTTP Status 500 –

——————————————————————————–

type Exception report

message

description The server encountered an internal error () that prevented it from fulfilling this request.

exception

javax.servlet.ServletException: org.apache.jasper.JasperException: Unsupported encoding: UTF-8
org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.Dispatcher.serviceAction(Dispatcher.java:515)
org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.FilterDispatcher.doFilter(FilterDispatcher.java:422)

root cause

org.apache.jasper.JasperException: Unsupported encoding: UTF-8
org.apache.jasper.compiler.DefaultErrorHandler.jspError(DefaultErrorHandler.java:51)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ErrorDispatcher.dispatch(ErrorDispatcher.java:409)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ErrorDispatcher.jspError(ErrorDispatcher.java:116)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.JspUtil.getReader(JspUtil.java:1091)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ParserController.doParse(ParserController.java:250)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.ParserController.parseDirectives(ParserController.java:120)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.generateJava(Compiler.java:165)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:332)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:312)
org.apache.jasper.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:299)
org.apache.jasper.JspCompilationContext.compile(JspCompilationContext.java:586)
org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServletWrapper.service(JspServletWrapper.java:317)
org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.serviceJspFile(JspServlet.java:342)
org.apache.jasper.servlet.JspServlet.service(JspServlet.java:267)
javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:717)