At 1:45 AM -0700 8/20/06, Paul Benedict wrote:
>The key attribute of set-property reads:
>
Since Struts 1.3, an alternate syntax is supported. By using
the "key" attribute instead of the "property" attribute, you can set
arbitrary string properties on the Config object which is populated
based on the containing element. NTE: the "key" attribute is NT
supported for <set-propertyinside a <plug-inelement.
>
>I might be glossing over a difference here, but
>how is this "alternative syntax" better or
>different than the "property" attribute? It
>highlights the "arbitrary string properties"
>feature, but I don't have problems with
>"property" for the same thing.

This is not simply alternative syntax. It is an
alternative method for handling configuration.
Before "arbitrary string properties," one was
obliged to subclass the config object and add
JavaBean properties with setters and getters.
This led to a fair amount of boring code and
configuration, including trivial subclasses,
extra lines in struts-config.xml to specify the
config object subclass, casts in Action classes
when trying to read these values

The addition of a "properties" object to all of
the config objects reduces all of that clutter.
It also makes it more plausible, in my mind, to
have Struts itself accept configuration with a
little less "commitment" - for example, the
ComposableRequestProcessor allows for an
alternative implementation of ActionContext to be
specified using an "arbitrary property"
(ACTIN_CNTEXT_CLASS). Since this area is still
possibly subject to change/improvement, I find
this more palatable than changing the
ControllerConfig class and the DTD to have this
provided as a bean property of ControllerConfig.

Hope that helps to clarify things a little bit.

Joe