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Apache Struts 2 Documentation
Plugins
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Added by tm_jee, last edited by Ted Husted on Feb 12, 2007 (view change)

| Struts 1 provided a plugin class that provided listener-like capabilities. The Struts 2 plugins are like Eclipse or FireFox plugins, and not at all like Struts 1 "plugins".

A Struts 2 plugin is a single JAR that class and/or configuration that extend, replace, or add to existing Struts framework functionality. A plugin can be installed by adding a JAR file to the application's class path. To configure the plugin, the JAR may contain a
`struts-plugin.xml`, which follows the same format as an ordinary `struts.xml` file.

Since a plugin can contain the `struts-plugin.xml` file, it has the ability to:

- Define new packages with results, interceptors, and/or actions
- Override framework constants
- Introduce new extension point implementation classes

Many popular but optional features of the framework are distributed as plugins. An application can retain all the plugins provided with the distribution, or just include the ones it uses. Plugins can be used to organize application code or to distribute code to third-parties.

| Plugins are not loaded in any particular order. Plugins should not have dependencies on each other. A plugins may depend on classes provided by Struts Core, but it should not depend on classes loaded by another plugin.

The framework loads its default configuration first, then any plugin configuration files found in others JARs on the classpath, and finally the "bootstrap" `struts.xml`.

1. `struts-default.xml` (bundled in the Core JAR)
2. `struts-plugin.xml` (as many as can be found in other JARs)
3. `struts.xml` (provided by the application)

Since the `struts.xml` file is always loaded last, it can make use of any resources provided by the plugins bundled with the distribution, or any other plugins available to an application.

## Extension Points

Extension points allow a plugin to override a key class in the Struts framework with an alternate implemention. For example, a plugin could provide a new class to create Action classes or map requests to Actions.

The following extension points are available in Struts 2:

## Plugin Examples

Let's look at two similar but different plugins bundled with the core distribution.

### Sitemesh plugin

SiteMesh is a popular alternative to Tiles. SiteMesh provides a common look-and-feel to an application's pages by automatically wrapping a plain page with common elements like headers and menubars.

The `sitemesh-plugin.jar` contains several classes and a standard JAR manifest.

    + META-INF/
       + manifest.mf
     + org
       + apache
         + struts2
           + sitemesh
             + FreeMarkerPageFilter.class
             + TemplatePageFilter.class
             + VelocityPageFilter.class

The SiteMesh Plugin doesn't need any configuration elements, like interceptors or results, and so it doesn't bother with a `struts-plugin.xml`.

### Tiles plugin

Tiles is a popular alternative to SiteMesh. Tiles provides a common look-and-feel to an application's pages by breaking the page down into common fragments or "tiles".

The `tiles-plugin.jar` contains several classes, a standard JAR manifest, and a configuration file.

    + META-INF/
       + manifest.mf
     + org
       + apache
         + struts2
           + tiles
             + StrutsTilesListener.class
             + StrutsTileUtilImpl.class
           + views
             + tiles
               + TilesResult.class
       + struts-plugin.xml

Since the Tiles Plugin does need to register configuration elements, it provides a
`struts-plugin.xml` file.

Several plugins are available that extend the framework's capabilities.

Config Browser JasperReports Plugin JFreechart Plugin JSF QuickStart SiteGraph Plugin | SiteMesh Plugin Struts1 Plugin Tiles Plugin Pell-multipart Plugin Plexus Plugin

### IDE Plugins

- Eclipse
- IntelliJ (whiteboard)

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