Microsoft Struts 2 to Spring Boot 3.x Migration Guideline
Metadata
- Source Technology: Apache Struts 2 (struts2-core)
- Target Technology: Spring Boot 3.x with Spring MVC
- Trigger Keywords: struts, struts2, ActionSupport, struts.xml, xwork2, opensymphony, struts-tags
- Version: 1.0.0
- Last Updated: 2025-01-22
Overview
This guideline provides comprehensive skills for migrating Apache Struts 2 applications to Spring Boot 3.x. Each skill addresses a specific migration concern with concrete transformation rules, examples, and validation criteria.
Skill Files
| File | Skills | Description |
|---|---|---|
| SKILL-config.md | migrate-maven-dependencies, create-spring-boot-application, create-application-properties | Project setup and configuration |
| SKILL-action.md | convert-action-to-controller, convert-action-properties | Action to Controller conversion |
| SKILL-view.md | convert-jsp-tags, convert-ognl-to-el, convert-result-types | View layer migration |
| SKILL-interceptor.md | convert-interceptor, convert-validation | Interceptors and validation |
| SKILL-xml.md | migrate-struts-xml, migrate-web-xml | XML configuration migration |
| SKILL-test.md | convert-test-classes, create-exception-handler | Testing and exception handling |
Migration Checklist
Execute skills in this order:
Phase 1: Project Setup
-
migrate-maven-dependencies- Update pom.xml (SKILL-config.md) -
create-spring-boot-application- Create main class (SKILL-config.md) -
create-application-properties- Create configuration (SKILL-config.md)
Phase 2: Configuration Migration
-
migrate-struts-xml- Plan controller structure (SKILL-xml.md) -
migrate-web-xml- Remove Struts filter (SKILL-xml.md)
Phase 3: Action Conversion
-
convert-action-to-controller- Convert each Action class (SKILL-action.md) -
convert-action-properties- Handle Action properties (SKILL-action.md)
Phase 4: Cross-cutting Concerns
-
convert-validation- Migrate validation logic (SKILL-interceptor.md) -
convert-interceptor- Convert interceptors (SKILL-interceptor.md)
Phase 5: View Layer
-
convert-result-types- Handle result mappings (SKILL-view.md) -
convert-jsp-tags- Update JSP files (SKILL-view.md) -
convert-ognl-to-el- Fix expressions (SKILL-view.md)
Phase 6: Testing & Polish
-
convert-test-classes- Update tests (SKILL-test.md) -
create-exception-handler- Global exception handling (SKILL-test.md)
Complete Transformation Example
Before (Struts)
HelloAction.java:
package com.example.action;
import com.opensymphony.xwork2.ActionSupport;
public class HelloAction extends ActionSupport {
private String name;
private String message;
public String execute() {
if (name == null || name.isEmpty()) {
return INPUT;
}
message = "Hello, " + name + "!";
return SUCCESS;
}
public void validate() {
if (name != null && name.length() > 50) {
addFieldError("name", "Name too long");
}
}
// getters and setters
public String getName() { return name; }
public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; }
public String getMessage() { return message; }
}
struts.xml:
<action name="hello" class="com.example.action.HelloAction">
<result name="success">/WEB-INF/jsp/hello.jsp</result>
<result name="input">/WEB-INF/jsp/hello-form.jsp</result>
</action>
hello.jsp:
<%@ taglib prefix="s" uri="/struts-tags" %>
<html>
<body>
<s:property value="message"/>
</body>
</html>
After (Spring Boot)
HelloForm.java:
package com.example.form;
import jakarta.validation.constraints.NotBlank;
import jakarta.validation.constraints.Size;
public class HelloForm {
@NotBlank(message = "Name is required")
@Size(max = 50, message = "Name too long")
private String name;
public String getName() { return name; }
public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; }
}
HelloController.java:
package com.example.controller;
import com.example.form.HelloForm;
import jakarta.validation.Valid;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.Model;
import org.springframework.validation.BindingResult;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ModelAttribute;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PostMapping;
@Controller
public class HelloController {
@GetMapping("/hello")
public String showForm(Model model) {
model.addAttribute("helloForm", new HelloForm());
return "hello-form";
}
@PostMapping("/hello")
public String execute(@Valid @ModelAttribute HelloForm form,
BindingResult result,
Model model) {
if (result.hasErrors()) {
return "hello-form";
}
String message = "Hello, " + form.getName() + "!";
model.addAttribute("message", message);
return "hello";
}
}
hello.jsp:
<%@ taglib prefix="c" uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" %>
<html>
<body>
${message}
</body>
</html>
Application.java:
package com.example;
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
@SpringBootApplication
public class Application {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SpringApplication.run(Application.class, args);
}
}
application.properties:
server.port=8080
spring.mvc.view.prefix=/WEB-INF/jsp/
spring.mvc.view.suffix=.jsp