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Disclaimer: This is a bare-bones sample specification to illustrate building a Struts application. The format and detail provided by a specification varies from project to project. The specification for your project may look very different, but may still have these basic  elements in common. For more about writing project specifications and constructing software, see one of the many comprehensive texts on this topics, including Structured Analysis and Systems Specifications by Tom DeMarco (ISBN 0138543801) and Code Complete by Steve McConnell (ISBN 1556154844).

Example Application - Sample Specification 

• Problem Definition
• Proposed Solution
• Requirements
  • Core tasks
  • Other requirements
    • Sample Screen Flow
    • Welcome
    • Register
    • Login
    • Menu
    • Account
    • Subscription
    • Logout
• Product Selection
• Application Program Interface

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1.0 Problem Definition

Many people have email accounts on various servers. Some email clients do not handle multiple accounts well. Private and public email portals and gateways usually allow accounts only on their own servers. 

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2.0 Proposed Solution

These problems could be solved by a "portal" Web application that would allow users to register a set of email subscriptions for any Internet mail server, and then retrieve mail for these subscriptions. 

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3. 0 Requirements

3.1 Core tasks

• Create an account with a username and password
• Log into that account from any Web browser
• Add email subscriptions to that account
• Retrieve mail for that account
• Logout

3.2 Other requirements

• Authorization must not require an account on the application's server.
• Pages that require account information must not be displayed to unauthorized users.
• To reach the widest audience, the application should be able in multiple languages. 
• We should be able to modify  the browser pages without recompiling the application. 

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4.0 Sample Screen Flow

4.1 Welcome

• Create an account { Register }
• Login to an existing account { Login }

4.2 Register

 Display form with registration properties; options to Save, Reset, and Cancel.

• Form: Username, Password, Password (confirm), Full Name, From Address, Reply To Address.
• Save: Validate registration properties; either return to user with advice, or store and display Menu
  • Validations: Password and Password2 must match; From and Reply To Addresses must match email pattern. Reply To address is optional, all others must be non-blank and meet other validations. Username must also be unique to application.
  • If succeeds: { Menu }
  • If fails: { Register }
• Reset: Undo edits
• Cancel: Proceed to { Login. }

4.3 Login

Display form to login user account, with options to Save or Reset.

• Form:  Username, Password.
• Save: Validate login, both fields required, and must match stored registration (case-sensitive).
• Reset: Undo edits.

4.4 Menu

• Add/Edit subscriptions { Account }.
• Logout { Welcome }.

4.5 Account

• Display form to edit registration properties  (see Register screen).
• List subscriptions in table; options to Edit or Delete { Subscription }.
  • Columns must include Hostname, with other properties listed as space permits
• Option to Add (another) subscription { Subscription }.

4.6 Subscription - Add, Edit, Delete.

Display form with subscription properties; options appropriate to task (Add, Edit, Delete).

• Options for Add, Edit Tasks: Save, Reset, Cancel.
• Options for Delete Task:  Confirm, Cancel.

• Form:  Mail Server, Mail Username, Mail Password, Mail Server Type.
• Save: Validate subscription properties; either return to user with advice, or store and display updated Account.
  • Validations: Auto Connect may be blank (false), all other properties must be non-blank.
  • If succeeds: { Account }.
  • If fails: { Subscription }.
• Reset: Undo edits.
• Cancel: Return to { Account } screen.
• Confirm (deletion):  Confirm: Delete record; display updated { Account. }.

4.7 Logout

Invalidate user's login; return to Welcome screen.

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5. 0 Product Selection

Java using the Struts Framework is selected for the project since

• It is specifically designed for writing flexible, portable, and scalable Web applications;
• It follows the Model-View-Controller pattern, which can make the application easier to maintain;
• It uses JavaServer Pages for displays, which can be modified without recompiling application;
• It supports authorizing users from within the Web application; and
• It supports internationalizing applications.

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6.0 Application Program Interface

6.1 Properties

Label	Bean	Property	Type	Restrictions	Domain
Username	User	username	String	!null	unique
Password	User	password	String	!null
Full Name	User	fullname	String	!null
From Address	User	fromAddress	String	!null	*@*
Reply To Address	User	replyToAddress	String
-	User	subscriptions	Hashtable
Mail Server	Subscription	host	String	!null	unique
Mail Username	Subscription	username	String	!null
Mail Password	Subscription	password	String	!null
Mail Server Type	Subscription	type	String		"imap","pop3"
Password (repeat)	registrationForm	password2	String	!null

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6. 3 Form Beans

<form-beans>

<!-- Logon form bean -->
<form-bean name="logonForm"
type="org.apache.struts.example.LogonForm"/>

<!-- Registration form bean -->
<form-bean name="registrationForm"
type="org.apache.struts.example.RegistrationForm"/>

<!-- Subscription form bean -->
<form-bean name="subscriptionForm"
type="org.apache.struts.example.SubscriptionForm"/>

</form-beans>

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6.4 Action Mappings

6.4.1 Example Mappings for Core Tasks

Create an account with a username and password

• Link to editRegistration.do?action=Create
• Submit form to "actoin=saveRegistration.do"

Log into account

• Open "login.jsp" -- the input file for login.do
• Submit input form to "action="logon.do"

Add email subscriptions

• Link to "/editSubscription.do?action=Create&user={user}"
  • username = Username
• Submit input form to "action="saveSubscription.do" 
• See also linkUser custom tag.

Edit subscription

• Link to "editSubscription.do?action=Edit&username={user}&host={host}"
  • username = Username
  • host = Mail Server
• Make changes on input form and submit to "saveSubscription.do"
  • with hidden field: "action=Edit"
• See also linkSubscription custom tag.

Delete subscription

• Link to "editSubscription.do?action=Delete&username={user}&host={host}"
  • username = Username
  • host = Mail Server
• Confirm deletion, which submits to action="saveSubscription.do"
  • with hidden field: "action=Delete"
• See also linkSubscription custom tag.

Logout

• Link to "/logoff.do"

Pages that require account information must not be displayed to unauthorized users.

• See checkLogin custom tag.

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6.4.1 Actual Configuration

<action-mappings>

<!-- Process a user logon -->
<action path="/logon"
type="org.apache.struts.example.LogonAction"
name="logonForm"
scope="request"
input="/logon.jsp">
</action>

<!-- Edit user registration -->
<action path="/editRegistration"
type="org.apache.struts.example.EditRegistrationAction"
name="registrationForm"
scope="request"
validate="false">
<forward name="success" path="/registration.jsp"/>
</action>

<!-- Save user registration -->
<action path="/saveRegistration"
type="org.apache.struts.example.SaveRegistrationAction"
name="registrationForm"
scope="request"
input="/registration.jsp"/>

<!-- Edit mail subscription -->
<action path="/editSubscription"
type="org.apache.struts.example.EditSubscriptionAction"
name="subscriptionForm"
scope="request"
validate="false">
<forward name="failure" path="/mainMenu.jsp"/>
<forward name="success" path="/subscription.jsp"/>
</action>

<!-- Save mail subscription -->
<action path="/saveSubscription"
type="org.apache.struts.example.SaveSubscriptionAction"
name="subscriptionForm"
scope="request"
input="/subscription.jsp">
<forward name="success" path="/editRegistration.do?action=Edit"/>
</action>

<!-- Process a user logoff -->
<action path="/logoff"
type="org.apache.struts.example.LogoffAction">
<forward name="success" path="/index.jsp"/>
</action>

</action-mappings>

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6.3 Custom Tags

6.3.1 Example Application Tags

This application uses the following custom tags with an app prefix:

App tags - <%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/app.tld" prefix="app" %>

Tag Name	Description
CheckLogin	Check for a valid User logged on in the current session. If there is no such user, forward control to the logon page.
LinkUser	Generate a URL-encoded hyperlink to the specified URI, with associated query parameters selecting a specified User.
LinkSubscription	Generate a URL-encoded hyperlink to the specified URI, with associated query parameters selecting a specified Subscription.

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CheckLogin
Attribute Name	Description
	No Attributes

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LinkUser
Attribute Name	Description
page	Action to use with User key, for example "/editSubscription.do?action=Create". This tag will then generate a hyperlink target that appends the key to the user's account.  For example given a username of "user": <a href="/struts-example/editSubscription.do?action=Create&username=user">

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LinkSubscription
Attribute Name	Description
page	Action to use with User and Subscription keys, for example "/editSubscription.do?action=Edit". This tag will then generate a hyperlink target that appends the keys to the user and the subscription. For example given a user with the name "user" and subscription with a host of "mail.yahoo.com"": <a href="/struts-example/editSubscription.do?action=Edit&username=user&host=mail.yahoo.com">

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6.3.2 Struts Custom Tags

With this application, the following Struts tags libraries and prefixes are used:

Bean tags - <%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/struts-bean.tld" prefix="bean" %>
HTML tags -  <%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/struts-html.tld" prefix="html" %>
Logic tags - <%@ taglib uri="/WEB-INF/struts-logic.tld" prefix="logic" %>

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6.4 Page Action Index

Page	Beans	Actions
index.jsp	None	page="/editRegistration.do?action=Create" page="/logon.jsp"
logon.jsp	logonForm	action="logon.do"
mainMenu.jsp	user (session)	page=/editRegistration.do?action=Edit" page="/logoff.do"
registration.jsp	user (session) registrationForm	action="saveRegistration.do" page="/editSubscription.do?action=Delete" page="/editSubscription.do?action=Edit" page="/editSubscription.do?action=Create"
subscription.jsp	user (session) subscriptionForm	action="saveSubscription.do"

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6.5 Internationalization

See < classes/org/apache/struts/example/ApplicationResource.properties >. 

This file includes all error messages and text used through the application. 

Additional languages can be supported by translating this file.

The application will automatically choose the language appropriate to a visitor's locale.

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