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| <properties> |
| <title>Learning - The Apache Struts Web Application Framework</title> |
| </properties> |
| |
| <body> |
| <section name="Learning About Struts" href="Docs"> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <strong>official documentation</strong> for the framework is provided both |
| online and as a self-installing WAR in the distribution. |
| The <code>struts-documentation.war</code> includes our |
| </p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li> |
| <a href="userGuide/index.html">User and Developer Guides</a>, |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <a href="api/index.html">Comprehensive Javadocs</a>, |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <a href="./faqs/index.html">FAQ and Howto Guides</a>, |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| and everything else you find here. |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p> |
| You are invited to preview the documentation online and then install |
| the application locally for closer study. |
| </p> |
| |
| |
| <strong>NOTE:</strong> If you are previewing the documentation on the website, |
| most of the links in this section will refer to the <strong>Nightly Build</strong>. |
| When learning about Struts, <strong>be sure to refer to the documentation for |
| the version you are actually using</strong>. |
| The documentation is bundled with each distribution as an application that |
| you can install and use locally. |
| |
| |
| <p> |
| The concise Struts <a href="userGuide/index.html"><strong>User Guide</strong></a> |
| introduces the Model-View-Controller architecture, and how it relates to |
| the major components of Struts. |
| If you want to find out "How Struts works", this is the place to start. |
| Along with an architectural overview, the User Guide also includes |
| detailed installation instructions and release notes for each version of |
| the framework. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Our <strong>Developer Guides</strong> are detailed technical references to the extensions and components provided in the |
| Struts distribution. |
| Included are package overviews and API reference for each of the Struts taglibs, along with guides to the |
| Struts Utilities and the Struts Validator. |
| The Developer Guides are designed as a day-to-day reference to help you get the most out of the standard |
| packages. |
| Links to the various Developer Guides are provided as part of |
| <a href="userGuide/index.html"><strong>User Guide</strong></a> menu. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| For more detail about a specific class or package, the Struts |
| <a href="api/index.html"><strong>Javadocs</strong></a> are <strong>surprisingly |
| comprehensive and carefully maintained</strong>. |
| It is <em>strongly</em> recommended that you refer to the |
| <a href="api/index.html"> Javadoc</a> for each class as you begin to use |
| it. |
| This will help ensure that important features and options are not |
| overlooked. |
| <em>What you don't know, can't help you.</em> |
| </p> |
| |
| <p id="faqs"> |
| The Struts <strong>FAQs</strong> are designed to fill in any small gaps left by the |
| Javadocs or the User and Developer Guides. |
| </p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li>The <a href="./faqs/kickstart.html">Kickstart FAQ</a> |
| answers the most common non-technical questions people first ask about |
| Struts. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| The <a href="./faqs/newbie.html">Struts Newbie FAQ</a> answers the most |
| common technical questions asked by first-timer Struts developers. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| The <a href="./faqs/helping.html">How to Help FAQ</a> answers the most |
| common questions about contributing to the Jakarta-Struts project. |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p id="howtos"> |
| The <strong>Howto Guides</strong> are designed to help you get started with some of |
| the optional extensions and components available for Struts. |
| These include topics like using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol |
| with Struts and how to unit test your Struts applications. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <a href="http://wiki.apache.org/struts"><strong>Struts Wiki</strong></a> is a |
| relatively new addition to the Struts documentation. |
| All members of the Struts Community are invited to post comments to the Wiki, as well as the User List. |
| The Wiki is best suited for threads that you think are of lasting importance, while the mailing lists are best |
| suited for incidental questions. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| If you have any comments on the pages you see here, they can be posted to the Wiki by following the link on the |
| bottom of any page. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| For more help, you might try the JGuru Struts knowledgebase at the <a href="http://jguru.com/faq/Struts">JGuru |
| FAQ</a> and <a href="http://jguru.com/forums/Struts">Forum</a>. |
| |
| </p> |
| <p> |
| Of course, the only true documentation is the code itself. |
| If you have any questions about how Struts actually works, do not hesitate |
| to <em>use the source</em>. |
| For the complete, buildable source code to the entire Struts framework, |
| see the "src" folder in |
| <a href="http://jakarta.apache.org/site/sourceindex.html"><strong>your source |
| distribution</strong></a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| </section> |
| |
| <section name="Struts by Example" href="Examples"> |
| |
| <p> |
| To help you see how it all fits together, several example applications are bundled with the Struts |
| distribution: |
| </p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li> |
| Blank - A simple template for starting new Struts applications.</li> |
| <li> |
| Exercise-Taglib - A set of test pages that also demonstrate use of the custom tags.</li> |
| <li> |
| Documentation - The Struts documentation bundle, as seen on the website.</li> |
| <li> |
| <strong>MailReader</strong> - The original Struts example application. <em>Try me first!</em></li> |
| <li> |
| Tiles-Doc - Extensive demonstration of Tiles extension.</li> |
| <li> |
| Upload - Demonstrates using the file upload facilities. (Based on Commons Upload.)</li> |
| <li> |
| Validator - Demonstrates using the Validator extension.</li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| <p> |
| These applications are provided as standalone WARs in the binary distribution. |
| The source code for each application is available under <code>WEB-INF/src</code> in the binaries and under the |
| <code>web</code> package in the source distribution. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| There are also many third-party example applications available for study, including these: |
| </p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://raibledesigns.com/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=AppFuse">AppFuse</a> - Demonstrates using XDoclet with |
| Struts, along with different security packages and Hibernate for database persistence. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://www.ibatis.com/jpetstore/jpetstore.html">JPetStore</a> - A streamlined version of the Java |
| Petstore application implemented with Struts and iBATIS database layer. |
| </li> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://www.codeczar.com/products/logweb/index.html">LogWeb</a> - A Struts webapp for configuring |
| Log4J at runtime within a servlet container. |
| </li> |
| </ul> |
| |
| </section> |
| |
| <section name="Learning More About Struts" href="More"> |
| <p> |
| The Struts <a href="using.html#Lists">Mailing Lists</a> are a treasure trove of |
| useful, interactive information. The user list tends to carry a high |
| volume, so always check the published documentation and the |
| <a href="http://mail-archives.apache.org/eyebrowse/SummarizeList?listId=42"> |
| <strong>MAILING LIST ARCHIVE</strong></a> before |
| <a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html">posting a |
| new question</a>. |
| Like as not, it's already been asked and answered. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| If you really can't find the answer to your question in the |
| <a href="#faqs">FAQs</a> or |
| <a href="http://mail-archives.apache.org/eyebrowse/SummarizeList?listId=42"> |
| list archive</a>, you can post your query to the Struts User list -- |
| <strong>BUT YOU MUST SUBSCRIBE TO THE |
| <a href="mailto:struts-user-subscribe@jakarta.apache.org">USER LIST</a> |
| OR THE <a href="mailto:struts-user-digest-subscribe@jakarta.apache.org"> |
| USER LIST DIGEST</a> BEFORE POSTING</strong>. </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| Please note that the Struts User list enjoys a "casual friday" policy. |
| More off-topic messages are tolerated on Fridays so long as the |
| message is prefixed with the token [FRIDAY]. |
| If you'd rather not be troubled by these postings, please set your |
| mail filter accordingly. |
| Posting [FRIDAY] articles on any other weekday is <strong>strongly |
| discouraged</strong>. |
| We thank you for your cooperation. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The Struts <a href="http://wiki.apache.org/struts"><strong>Wiki</strong></a> is a relatively |
| new addition to our documentation. |
| Any member of the community (that means you!) is invited to post new material to the Wiki. |
| However, the Wiki is not the place to ask incidental questions. |
| <strong>All support questions should be directed to the <a href="using.html#Lists">Struts User list</a> or |
| other support forum</strong>. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| There is also a set of Wiki pages devoted to comments on the documentation. |
| To comment on the documentation, follow the "Comments?" link at the bottom of any page. |
| </p> |
| |
| <p> |
| The <a href="status.html#roadmap"><strong>Roadmap</strong></a> page outlines our tentative plans for future development. |
| </p> |
| |
| </section> |
| |
| <section name="Struts Community Resources" href="resources"> |
| |
| <p> |
| Struts has attracted a large and robust community of developers. |
| Some of these developers have a created an independant SourceForge site to promote new extensions to the Struts framework. |
| As a service to our community, the Struts SourceForge site maintains an |
| <a href="http://struts.sf.net/community/index.html">extensive directory of Struts resources</a>. including. |
| </p> |
| |
| <ul> |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://struts.sf.net/community/articles.html">articles</a>, |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://struts.sf.net/community/books.html">books</a>, |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://struts.sf.net/community/examples.html">sample applications</a>, |
| </li> |
| |
| <li> |
| <a href="http://struts.sf.net/community/tutorials.html">tutorials</a>, and more! |
| </li> |
| |
| </ul> |
| |
| </section> |
| |
| <section name="Books about Struts" href="books"> |
| |
| <p> |
| The Apache Software Foundation does not provide printed manuals, |
| but several third-party books about Struts are available. |
| A current list of books about Struts is maintained by the |
| <a href="http://struts.sf.net/community/index.html">Struts Community Resources area</a>. |
| </p> |
| |
| </section> |
| |
| <section> |
| <p class="right"> |
| Next: <a href="acquiring.html">Acquiring Struts</a> |
| </p> |
| </section> |
| |
| </body> |
| </document> |