• How does client side validation work with the Struts Validator?
• How does Error Handling work in StrutsCX?
• How does StrutsCX handle i18n?
• How can I send the XML-Output-Document directly to the browser?
• How can I create PDF output?
• How can I create SVG output?
• How can I create Print output?
• How can I create ASCII output?
• How can I transform my XSL on the client side?
• How can I include the Validator?
• Is it necessary to invoke direct the validate() method of the ActionForm in my Action class?
• How can I find the properties.xml?
• Is there a tool to help me generate JavaBeans out of my XSL/HTML forms?
• How can I separate layout from style in my XSL?
• How can I use Tiles in StrutsCX?
• What are strutscx-definitions?
• Do I have to use the strutscx-definitions?
• How can I access the properties of the strutscx-config.xml?
• How can I send my data through multiple transformations?
• Do I have to use Castor XML as my data storage?
• Is there a way to cache my transformed XML data?
• My business layer passes back an XML Document. Would I need to convert this in the business layer to a XML Document object prior to forwarding to StrutsCXServlet?
• How can I use the latest StrutsCX version with JDK 1.3?
• My form does contain fields that definitely contains errors. Using 'debugxml=true' parameter, why are there no errors under the 'errors' tag?
• Which XML Document type may I pass to the StrutsCXServlet?
• I do use dom4j. How do I convert from JDOM to dom4j?
• On which additional JAR files does StrutsCX rely on?
• How can I use the latest StrutsCX version with Webshere Studio Application Developer 5?
• Is there a way to use more than just one ActionForm per Action; lots of pages uses different Forms, hence ActionsForms, and it would be nice not to be forced to create one central ActionFrom per page?
• I need a list of all StrutsCX keys. Where is it?
• I do use forms with an encoding different to ISO-8859-1. Where can I learn more on this?
• I need to force the users to follow a specific screen workflow. What can I do?
• There's a memory leak while using StrutsCX. What can I do?
• I like to use StrutsCX v0.9.5 with Java 1.5 but it does throw an error?
• Foreign chars (eg russian) are not displaying correctly after being serialized?

How does client side validation work with the Struts Validator?
A hint (not yet tested): In your XLS Stylesheet use the document() method to get access to the validator-rules.xml. Then choose all javascript tags and copy them in your XLS stylesheet. On the field you like to validate choose the right Javascript function. Try it out and give us feedback if it works.

How does Error Handling work in StrutsCX?
Read this chapter here.

How does StrutsCX handle i18n?
Read this chapter here.

How can I send the XML-Output-Document directly to the browser?
Add debugxml=true to the Http request. With a session id this may look like this

http://localhost:8080/strutscx/info.do;
                    jsessionid=8E7?debugxml=true

How can I create PDF output?
First provide a XSL/XSL-FO Stylesheet with XSL-FO elements. Then handle this stylesheet like all the others in StrutsCX. Add the following command to the Http request:

fop=true

foppdf=true

How can I create SVG output?
First provide a XSL/XSL-FO Stylesheet with appropriate SVG elements. Then handle this stylesheet like all the others in StrutsCX. Add the following command to the Http request:

fopsvg=true

How can I create Print output?
This feature is not yet implemented.

How can I create ASCII output?
First provide a XSL/XSL-FO Stylesheet with appropriate elements. Then handle this stylesheet like all the others in StrutsCX. Add the following command to the Http request:

foptxt=true

How can I transform my XSL on the client side?
Add the following command to the Http request:

xsl_clientside=true

How can I include the Validator?
The Validator in StrutsCX works pretty much the same like the Validator in Struts. First, make sure you register the validation.xml and the validator-rules.xml through the plug-in element in your struts-config.xml. Second, edit the validation.xml according your validation needs of your forms. Third, in your ActionForms get rid of the validate() method. Fourth, make sure your ActionForm extends the StrutsCXValidatorForm, StrutsCXValidatorActionForm or their DynaBean counterparts from the com.cappuccinonet.strutscx.validator package. Fifth, invoce the validate() method of the ActionForm through your Action. Check out the InfoUpdateAction of the strutscx-demo sample application to see how this may work. Then, Struts will automatically invoce the Validator on your ActionForm using the validation constraints your defined in the validation.xml.

Is it necessary to invoke direct the validate() method of the ActionForm in my Action class?
Before StrutsCX v0.9.4 it was necessary to call the validate() method from within your Action. This has changed now and its possible to let Struts invoce the validate() method automatically. For this just configure the action element the struts-config.xml like this:

<action path="/infoupdate"
    type="com....InfoUpdateAction"
    scope="request"
    name="infoForm"
    validate="true"
    input="/infoedit.do">
  <forward name="success"
    path="/infosingle.do"
    redirect="false" />
</action>

<action path="/infoedit"
    type="com....InfoEditAction"
    scope="request"
    name="infoForm"
    validate="false">
  <forward name="success"
    path="/StrutsCXServlet"
    redirect="false" />
</action>

How can I find the properties.xml?
Since StrutsCX v0.9 the properties.xml got renamed to strutscx-config.xml.

Is there a tool to help me generate JavaBeans out of my XSL/HTML forms?
Yes. Check out this Java tip on JavaWorld: 'Automatically generate JavaBeans from XSL files' by Klaus Berg.

How can I separate layout from style in my XSL?
The mix of XLS and HTML elements in you stylesheets can get quite unconvenient. Check out the Stylesheets of the StrutsCX sample application. There, a big part of the HTML which forms the basic layout of the site stays in separate files/templates. In the XSL Stylesheet one of the first things you do, is to include this template. Bonus: You can include different layouts for different languages. Try it out.

How can I use Tiles in StrutsCX?
The Tiles frameworks features enable layout management in Struts and JSP, which originally does not exist in these technologies. StrutsCX uses XSLT which enables layout management right out of the box. Therefore Tiles do not have to be supported in StrutsCX. Check out this as well.

What are strutscx-definitions?
Since StrutsCX v0.9.1 its possible to define the location of your XLS Stylesheets similar to the Struts Tiles framework. This is done inside the strutscx-config.xml like this:

<strutscx-definitions>
  <definition name="home.html4.intro">
    <put>/WEB-INF/xsl/html4/xsl_1.xsl</put>
  </definition>
</strutscx-definitions>

Do I have to use the strutscx-definitions?
Yes. Note, since v0.9.1 the data out of the strutscx-config.xml is encapsulated in a Document object and not in an com.oreilly.xmljava2.XMLProperties object. We recommend to use JXPath to access the parameters of the Document object. Check this out to see how this works.

How can I access the properties of the strutscx-config.xml?
Since StrutsCX v0.9.1 the strutscx-config.xml gets once read as a JDOM Document object into the ServletContext. You have permanently access to it in your Actions through the properties field. Outside you can get it through

(Document) config.getServletContext().
  getAttribute(StrutsCXConstants.PROPERTIES);

// 1. get an XPath handle to the
//    properties document object
JXPathContext props =
  JXPathContext.newContext(properties);
// 2. access the property with XPath
String xslFile = (String)
  props.getValue("//section/info/xsl");

Iterator iter =
  props.iterator("//section/info/xsl/*");
while (iter.hasNext()) {
  String xslFile = (String) iter.next();
  logger.info(xslFile);
}

How can I send my data through multiple transformations?
Define a strutscx-definitions element inside the strutscx-config. Add more than one XSL Stylesheets by supplying more <put> elements, like this:

<strutscx-definitions>
  <definition name="home.html4.intro">
    <put>/WEB-INF/xsl/html4/xsl_1.xsl</put>
    <put>/WEB-INF/xsl/html4/xsl_2.xsl</put>
  </definition>
</strutscx-definitions>

Do I have to use Castor XML as data storage?
No. Like in Struts, StrutsCX is completily free from the persistence mechanism you do use. Just the sample applications use Castor XML. Actually the whole project once startet with Castor XML - therefore the C in StrutsCX. Anyways we suggest to follow the Data Access Object design pattern presented in the sample applications for encapsulating all the data access logic.

Is there a way to cache my transformed XML data?
Yes. Take a look at the neteye actioncache. With the neteye actioncache your actions (and views) that display the content are only invoked when the underlying data has changed. All you have to do is to write a little bit of code that tells the controller when the data was last modified. You can dramatically boost the performance of your website because time expensive operations like data retrieval, JSP processing or XSLT transformations are only performed once.

My business layer passes back an XML Document. Would I need to convert this in the business layer to a XML Document object prior to forwarding to StrutsCXServlet?
Up to v0.9.1 the StrutsCXDocumentBuilder consumes an ArrayList with DataBeans and automatically generates an XML Document for you. - From v0.9.2 StrutsCX the StrutsCXDocumentBuilder contains some logic to consume a DOM Document, an JDOM Document or an dom4j Document object, too. In either case it converts the input into a JDOM Element which in a second step gets transformed according your XSL stylesheet.

How can I use the latest StrutsCX version with JDK 1.3?
Some of the jars StrutsCX relies on needs JDK 1.4. Therefore JDK 1.3 is no longer supported. Anyways, if you need to use JDK 1.3 make sure you do have installed the Java XML Pack. You can download it from the JavaSoft Website, too. - The necessary classes are allready included in the JDK 1.4.. In addition use the sources and replace JXPath to access the StrutsCX properties Document. This should be done at least for the com.cappuccinonet.strutscx.xslt package.

In addition I got this note from Ed Trembicki-Guy:
"Lastly, I initially had some problems with the SilverStream environment, because it is using jdk 1.3. I found that the only dependency in the StrutsCX code on jdk 1.4 was a single-argument Locale constructor in StrutsCXBaseActionHelper.loadResourcePropertiesFiles. Interestingly, nothing else referenced it, so I removed it and was then able to run in the SilverStream environment."

And get rid of the StrutsCXEncodingFilter. It was implemented for experimental reasons but is not used anyways.

In addition read this and this.

My form does contain fields that definitely contains errors. Using 'debugxml=true' parameter, why are there no errors under the 'errors' tag?
This is because you type the 'debugxml=true' just in the location field of your browser, aren't you? For testing forms add this parameter to the action of your form. Just then the server has access to all the necessaray parameters in hidden fields and form fields.

Which XML Document type may I pass to the StrutsCXServlet?
Internally the StrutsCXStandardDocumentBuilder and StrutsCXStandardTransformer use JDOM. You can pass them org.w3c.dom.Documents, org.jdom.Documents and org.dom4j.Documents as well as ArrayList filled with JavaBeans. You can replace the supplied StrutsCXDocumentBuilder or StrutsCXTransformer with your own version.

I do use dom4j. How do I convert from JDOM to dom4j?
Given a org.jdom.Document you can first convert it to an org.w3c.dom.Document and than to an org.dom4j.Document:

DOMOutputter converter = new DOMOutputter();
org.w3c.dom.Document domDocument
  = converter.output(jdomDocument);
org.dom4j.io.DOMReader reader
  = new org.dom4j.io.DOMReader();
org.dom4j.Document doc2
  = reader.read( domDocument );

On which additional JAR files does StrutsCX rely on?
Check the the installation page.

How can I use the latest StrutsCX version with Webshere Studio Application Developer 5?
Check out this E-mail a user sent in after releasing StrutsCX v0.9.3

Is there a way to use more than just one ActionForm per Action; lots of pages uses different Forms, hence ActionsForms, and it would be nice not to be forced to create one central ActionFrom per page?
This question leads directly to some software architectural concepts. First of all read about coarse-grained actions forms. Then rethink your Actions. Rethink your ActionForms. Rethink them as reusable components, not directly coupled with the HTML page you momentarily have in mind. Maybe you'll pretty fast notice that it's kind of uncool to have one Super-Action to handle all your ActionForms.

I need a list of all StrutsCX keys. Where is it?
Here it is, the StrutsCX parameter overview.

I do use forms with an encoding different to ISO-8859-1. Where can I learn more on this?
Check out the strutscx-demo.war application. It contains a sample for handling forms in English, German and Korean. Take a look at the InfoFormReader class to learn how to handle the encoding on incoming Requests.

I need to force the users to follow a specific screen workflow. What can I do?
Check out the Struts Workflow Extension. Not yet tested with StrutsCX. Let us know, if you found a way to use it together with StrutsCX.

There's a memory leak while using StrutsCX. What can I do?
This is what a StrutsCX user wrote: "We found the problem about a week back and thought I should update you on it. There was a memory leak issue with Xalan version 2.5.0 (refer to the bug report). After we upgraded to Xalan 2.6.0 the problem was solved."
In one project I had memory problems under Tomcat, but solved them by setting up the heap size of the JVM. Default is 64MB. Run your Java VM with the following parameters, i.e.:

-Xms256m -Xmx256m //use 256 MB instead of the default
-Xms2g -Xmx2g //se 2 GB instead of the default

I like to use StrutsCX v0.9.5 with Java 1.5 but it does throw an error?
Java 1.5 does not contain any longer the xercesImpl.jar by default. Make sure to include it into your classpath and StrutsCX v0.9.5 should run with Java 1.5 (Thanks to Claudia Nölker for this hint).

Foreign chars (eg russian) are not displaying correctly after being serialized?
First of all give your browser a hint by adding the character set to the page's meta information, i.e.

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

try {
	request.setCharacterEncoding("UTF-8");
}
	catch (UnsupportedEncodingException ex) {
}

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