My previous post failed, presumably the attachment was blocked. Here is the
contents of the document I created to define the process of using Tiles-2 as
a standalone service with Struts-1 and Struts-2. Sorry if it is long, but I
couldn't get the attachment to work. If you ask, I will send the pdf to
anyone who wants it.

-Ray Clough
ray@allthisisthat.com

Using Tiles-2 as a Standalone Service, Including Deployment with Struts-1
and Struts-2.

This document describes using Tiles-2 (T2) in a Java Web Application based
on Apache Struts-1 (S1) with Apache Struts-2 (S2). The classical way of
using Tiles-1 with S1 involved using a Plugin. The typical way of using T2
with S2 uses a Struts2-Tiles2 plugin module. These instructions do not use
any plugins with either S1 or S2. The Tiles processor is installed as an
independent service, exactly as it would be in a non-Struts environment.
Note that this document describes a basic Tiles installation, and there are
advanced features available, but these are not covered in this document.
If you are migrating an existing application, it is recommended that the
migration be attempted in the smallest possible steps. This way, when a
failure occurs, it will logically be attributable to the last step invoked.
Of course, this is true of any significant feature migration of an existing
application.
Finally, note that these instructions are for the latest released version of
Tiles-2 at the time of this writing: viz. Tiles-2.0.4. It is expected that
changes with future releases will not be big, but there may be changes which
will affect these instructions.
1. Requisites: These files must be in the WEB-INF/lib directory:
•
Tiles-2 Distribution jar files: tiles-core-2.0.4.jar, tiles-api-2.0.4.jar,
tiles-jsp-2.0.4.jar
•
Commons Logging v1.1 or better: commons-logging-1.1.jar
•
Commons Digester v1.8 or better: commons-digester-1.8.jar
•
Commons BeanUtils v1.7 or better: commons-beanutils-1.7.0.jar
2.
The Tiles processor must be activated when the servlet container starts up.
As described in the Tiles-2 Tutorial, at
http://tiles.apache.org/tutorial/configuration.html , there are 3
alternative ways of doing this: (a) a Startup Servlet, (b) a Startup
Listener, or (c) a Startup Filter. Each of these requires additions to the
web.xml web-app deployment descriptor. Using method (b) requires this
addition to web.xml:
<!-- Start the Tiles Processor-->
<listener>
<listener-class>
org.apache.tiles.web.startup.TilesListener
</listener-class>
</listener>
This method also requires an entry in the <context-param> section of the
web.xml file to tell Tiles what the names of the Tiles definitions files
are:
<!-- Define Tiles config files -->
<context-param>
<param-name>
org.apache.tiles.impl.BasicTilesContainer.DEFINITIONS_CONFIG
</param-name>
<param-value>
/WEB-INF/config/tiles_part1.xml,
/WEB-INF/config/tiles_part2.xml
</param-value>
</context-param>

3. In web.xml, add a reference to the Tiles Dispatch Servlet, and map it to
"*.tiles". The Tiles DispatchServlet is responsible for processing all url’s
ending in ".tiles” to the Tiles Processor:
<servlet> <servlet-name>Tiles Dispatch Servlet</servlet-name>
<servlet-class> org.apache.tiles.web.TilesDispatchServlet </servlet-class>
<load-on-startup>3</load-on-startup>
</servlet> <servlet-mapping> <servlet-name>Tiles Dispatch
Servlet</servlet-name> <url-pattern>*.tiles</url-pattern> </servlet-mapping>

4. Migrating S1 portion of the app:
•
remove the Struts-1 plugin from the WEB-INF/lib directory, depending on the
S1 version, delete the file 'struts-tiles-1.3.8.jar'.
•
There was a difference between the way Tiles was deployed in Struts-1.2 and
earlier and Struts-1.3.
•
Struts 1-2 and earlier:
•
In struts-config.xml, remove the <plugin> element which deployed Tiles-1.
That element looked like this:
<plug-in
className="org.apache.struts.tiles.TilesPlugin" >
<set-property
property="definitions-config"
value="/WEB-INF/config/tiles-defs.xml" />
<set-property property="moduleAware" value="true" />
<set-property property="definitions-parser-validate"
value="true" />
</plug-in>
•
In struts-config.xml, use the normal Struts RequestProcessor, not the
TilesResultsProcessor. That element previously looked like this:
<controller
processorClass="com.allthisisthat.RaysCathouse.StrutsLayer.controller.MyRequestProcessor"
/>
•
Struts 1.3:
•
It is possible to deploy tiles in Struts 1.3 apps just like under 1.2 and
earlier. In this case, the upgrade path is identical. Struts 1.3 introduced
the "Composable Request Processor which gives some other options for
deploying Tiles. Whatever Struts features are used to deploy Tiles, remove
them from the struts-config.xml file.
5 In Struts-2, the usual way of deploying Tiles places the file
"struts2-tiles-plugin-2.0.9.jar” into the WEB-INF/lib directory. This takes
advantage of the Struts-2 plugin architecture. It is also necessary to place
some elements into the web.xml file to start the Tiles-2 processor. This is
very similar to the deployment of the TilesListener described in step 2
above, but with a different class path for the Listener component. Once this
file is placed into the application, the Struts-2 actions defined in the
configuration file "struts.xml” need to have access to Tiles resources, and
the easiest way to do that is to have your packages extend "tiles-default”,
or otherwise have access to the Tiles "result” type and interceptor.
6 It is perfectly possible for Struts-1 to use the stand-alone Tiles-2 and
for Struts-2 to simultaneously use Tiles-2 deployed using the standard
method described in Step-4 above, and covered in detail on the Struts-2 web
site. However, there are reasons for not using the Struts-2 plugin, and
using Tiles-2 standalone with Struts-2. One of the main reasons for this is
that the standard deployment requires adding an attribute to the S2 actions,
‘type=”result”’. If you want to use some other result type, you won’t be
able to, because there is only one ‘result’ for an action. Also, to
eliminate intermediate layers (ie the plugin) introduces fewer sources of
bugs into your app, and fewer dependencies (the plugin, and S2 doesn’t
always release with the latest Tiles-2 version).
To remove the S2 plugin architecture requires only removing the
struts2-tiles-plugin-xxxxx.jar file, removing the extension of the
‘tiles-default’ package by your packages, and not including the result type
attribute. Be sure that you use the TilesListener specified in Step-2, not
the one which comes with Struts-2. Using the Plugin architecture results in
a S2 action definition like this:
<package name="greetings" namespace="/greetings"
extends="tiles-default">
<action name="Welcome" >
<result name="success" type=”tiles”>
WELCOME</result>
</action>
...
For S2 with standalone Tiles-2, this becomes:
<package name="greetings" namespace="/greetings"
extends="struts-default">
<action name="Welcome" >
<result name="success" >/WELCOME.tiles</result>
</action>
...
Note that the forward page is now preceded by a slash ("/”) and has ".tiles”
on the end. This is because the Tiles DispatchServlet is mapped to *.tiles.
The *.tiles mapping is default, and may be configurable, but that
functionality was missing from a recent release.

7. Now that you have Tiles-2 set up in the app, whether you are using
Struts-1, Struts-2, a combination, or are not using Struts at all, you need
to create the JSP template files, the tiles definition xml file, and the jsp
pages. Be sure to note that the tiles.xml file (or whatever you name it)
must use the Tiles-2 DTD, which is different from the Tiles-1 DTD, and the
JSP pages must use the correct namespace for Tiles-2.
Following are several files used in the deployment of a small demo app which
uses S1, S2, and Tiles-2 as a standalone service.
Here is "web.xml”

<web-app 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>Greetings Earth</display-name>
<description>
Demonstrator for Struts-2 with Struts-1 and Tiles
</description>
<!-- Specify the definitions file for Tiles (S2) -->
<!-- <context-param>
<param-name>
org.apache.tiles.CONTAINER_FACTORY
</param-name>
<param-value>
org.apache.tiles.factory.TilesContainerFactory
</param-value>
</context-param>
-->
<context-param>
<param-name>
org.apache.tiles.impl.BasicTilesContainer.DEFINITIONS_CONFIG
</param-name>
<param-value>/WEB-INF/tiles.xml</param-value>
</context-param>
<!-- Filter (Struts-2) -->
<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>
<!-- Listener (Struts-2) -->
<listener>
<listener-class>
org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener
</listener-class>
</listener>
<listener>
<listener-class>
org.apache.tiles.web.startup.TilesListener
</listener-class>
</listener>
<!-- Struts-1 Action Servlet -->
<servlet>
<servlet-name>action</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>
org.apache.struts.action.ActionServlet
</servlet-class>
<init-param>
<param-name>config</param-name>
<param-value>/WEB-INF/config/struts-config.xml</param-value>
</init-param>
<init-param>
<param-name>debug</param-name>
<param-value>2</param-value>
</init-param>
<init-param>
<param-name>detail</param-name>
<param-value>2</param-value>
</init-param>
<load-on-startup>2</load-on-startup>
</servlet>
<!-- Tiles-2 Dispatch Servlet (mapped to *.tiles) -->
<servlet>
<servlet-name>Tiles Dispatch Servlet</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>
org.apache.tiles.web.util.TilesDispatchServlet
</servlet-class>
<load-on-startup>3</load-on-startup>
</servlet>
<!-- Struts-1 Action Servlet Mapping -->
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>action</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>*.do</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
<!-- Tiles-2 Dispatch Servlet mapping (currently must be *.tiles) -->
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>Tiles Dispatch Servlet</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>*.tiles</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
<!-- The Welcome File List (forwards to Struts-2 'Welcome.action' -->
<welcome-file-list>
<welcome-file>html/index.html</welcome-file>
</welcome-file-list>
<session-config>
<session-timeout>30</session-timeout>
</session-config>
<jsp-config>
<jsp-property-group>
<description>defines *.jspx as a JSP file</description>
<url-pattern>*.jspx</url-pattern>
<is-xml>true</is-xml>
</jsp-property-group>
</jsp-config>
</web-app>
Here is the Struts-2 deployment file, ‘struts.xml”
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
"-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
"http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">
<struts>
<!-- Struts-2 default config file. -->
<package name="greetings" namespace="/greetings"
extends="struts-default">
<action name="Welcome" >
<result name="success" >/WELCOME.tiles</result>
</action>
<action name="Threat"
class="greetings.struts2.action.Threaten" >
<result name="success" > /THREATEN.tiles </result>
</action>
<action name="WeatherOnMars" >
<result name="success" > /WEATHER.tiles </result>
</action>
<action name="NewsletterRegistration_*" method="{1}"
class="greetings.struts2.action.NewsletterRegistrationAction" >
<!-- returned by the 'input()' method -->
<result name="input" > /NEWSLETTER.tiles </result>
<result name="success" > /THANKS.tiles </result>
</action>
<action name="ViewMartian" >
<result > /HIGH_COMMANDER.tiles </result>
</action>
<action name="AjaxDynDoubleSelect_*" method="{1}"
class="greetings.struts2.action.AjaxDDS_DemoAction" >
<result name="success" > /AJAX_DEMO.tiles </result>
</action>
<action name="S1ActionWrapper"
class="greetings.struts2.action.S1ActionWrapper" >
<result name="success" > /POPUP_DEMO.tiles </result>
</action>
<action name="Popup" >
<result name="success" > /jsp/HedgeHog.jspx </result>
</action>
</package>
</struts>
Here is the Tiles definition file, defined above to be "tiles.xml”. Note the
Tiles-2 DTD. Also note that the tags are somewhat different from Tiles-1:

<!DOCTYPE tiles-definitions PUBLIC
"-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Tiles Configuration 2.0//EN"
"http://tiles.apache.org/dtds/tiles-config_2_0.dtd">
<!-- Tiles definitions for the Struts-2 package. -->
<tiles-definitions >
<!--
Define a Template which all the screens will use. This method
takes the jsp "template" and fills in the values which are
common to all the pages. Note the use of the syntax
"${xxx}" for the tags which will be filled in by the
individual screens.
-->
<definition
name="BaseScreenTemplate"
template="/jsp/Template.jspx" >
<put-attribute name="title" value="${title}" />
<put-attribute name="meta" value="/jsp/metaTags.jspx" />
<put-attribute name="ajax" value="" type="string" />
<put-attribute name="banner" value="/jsp/Banner.jspx" />
<put-attribute name="menu" value="/jsp/Menu.jspx" />
<put-attribute name="contents" value="${contents}" />
<put-attribute name="footer" value="/jsp/Footer.jspx" />
</definition>
<definition
name="AjaxScreenTemplate"
extends="BaseScreenTemplate">
<put-attribute name="ajax" value="/jsp/AjaxHeader.jspx" />
</definition>
<!-- ======================================================== -->
<!-- SCREENS -->
<!-- ======================================================== -->
<definition name="WELCOME"
extends="BaseScreenTemplate" >
<put-attribute name="title" value="Greetings Earthling" type="string" />
<put-attribute name="contents" value="/jsp/Hippo.jspx" />
</definition>
<definition name="NEWSLETTER"
extends="BaseScreenTemplate" >
<put-attribute name="title" value="Register Now, Earthling!"
type="string" />
<put-attribute name="contents" value="/jsp/NewsletterRegistrationForm.jspx"
/>
</definition>
<definition name="THANKS"
extends="BaseScreenTemplate" >
<put-attribute name="title" value="Thank You For Your Data, Earthling"
type="string" />
<put-attribute name="contents" value="/jsp/ThanksForRegistering.jspx" />
</definition>
<definition name="WEATHER" extends="BaseScreenTemplate" >
<put-attribute name="title" value="Todays Weather on Mars" type="string" />
<put-attribute name="contents" value="/jsp/WeatherOnMars.jspx" />
</definition>
<definition name="THREATEN" extends="BaseScreenTemplate" >
<put-attribute name="title" value="Beware Earthlings"
type="string" />
<put-attribute name="contents" value="/jsp/Threaten.jspx" />
</definition>
<definition name="HIGH_COMMANDER" extends="BaseScreenTemplate" >
<put-attribute name="title" value="Commander" type="string" />
<put-attribute name="contents" value="/jsp/Commander.jspx" />
</definition>
<definition name="AJAX_DEMO" extends="AjaxScreenTemplate" >
<put-attribute name="title" value="Demo Ajax Dynamic Double Select"
type="string" />
<put-attribute name="contents" value="/jsp/AjaxDemo.jspx" />
</definition>
<definition name="POPUP_DEMO" extends="AjaxScreenTemplate" >
<put-attribute name="title"
value="Demo Popup Using Ajax and S-1 Action"
type="string" />
<put-attribute name="contents" value="/jsp/S2_Wrapper.jspx" />
</definition>
<!--
Note that the S1 action result is "/BOOK_TRIO_TO_EARTH.tiles",
but that the '.tiles' is not used here.
-->
<definition name="BOOK_TRIP_TO_EARTH"
extends="BaseScreenTemplate">
<put-attribute name="title" value="Struts-1 with Tiles-2"
type="string"/>
<put-attribute name="contents" value="/jsp/BookEarthCruise.jspx" />
</definition>
</tiles-definitions>
And here is the "template” jspx file. Note that this is in "JSP Document”
file and is an xhtml document, and so is named ".jspx”, not "jsp”. Also note
the tiles taglib uri, which is different from Tiles-1

<jsp:root version="2.0"
xmlns:jsp="http://java.sun.com/JSP/Page"
xmlns:c="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"
xmlns:s="/struts-tags"
xmlns:tiles="http://tiles.apache.org/tags-tiles" >
<jsp:output omit-xml-declaration="true"
doctype-root-element="html"
doctype-system="http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"
doctype-public="-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
/>
<jsp:scriptlet>
String basePath = request.getScheme()
+ "://"
+ request.getServerName()
+ ":"
+ request.getServerPort()
+ request.getContextPath();
pageContext.setAttribute("BasePath",basePath);
</jsp:scriptlet>
<jsp:directive.page contentType="text/html" />
<html>
<head>
<!-- title section -->
<title><tiles:insertAttribute name="title" /></title>
<!-- meta-data section -->
<tiles:insertAttribute name="meta" />
<!-- if using Ajax (dojo), need a Struts-2 tag -->
<tiles:insertAttribute name="ajax" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
href="${BasePath}/css/greetings_earth.css" />
</head>
<body >
<table id="template_body" >
<tr >
<td colspan="2" class="masthead" >
<div style="text-align:center;" >
<tiles:insertAttribute name="banner" />
</div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr >
<td>
<!-- empty cell improves linearization/accessability -->
</td>
<td rowspan="2" class="main" >
<tiles:insertAttribute name="contents" />
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="sidebar" >
<tiles:insertAttribute name="menu" />
</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" class="footer" >
<tiles:insertAttribute name="footer" />
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</body>
</html>
</jsp:root>