Struts 2 Plugin for NetBeans IDE – nbstruts2support
As mentioned in my previous post about creating Struts 2 web applications in NetBeans IDE, there is a Struts 2 plugin available for the NetBeans IDE but it is still under development. You can try it out right away if you are interested; the name of the plugin is nbstruts2support.
First read the summary of its current feature list(and what is planned for the future) and have a look at some screenshots. Then follow the installation instructions and try it on your system.
Below I take you through the installation process of nbstruts2support Struts 2 plugin for NetBeans 6.1 IDE showing a few screenshots along the way.
Installing nbstruts2support plugin in NetBeans IDE
- Go to the nbstruts2support download page and download the two nbm files and save them in a directory.
- Start the NetBeans IDE if not already running and go to Tools -> Plugins and select the Downloaded tab. Click the Add Plugins… button and select the two plugin files(.nbm files) downloaded in the earlier step.

- The Plugins dialog box should show you the details about the plugin.

Go through the wizard clicking the button Next and accepting the license agreement and ignoring any errors about invalid signature.

Restart the NetBeans IDE when prompted.

The Struts 2 plugin is now installed in NetBeans.
Using nbstruts2support in NetBeans IDE
- The plugin doesn’t allow a Struts 2 project template to be created in NetBeans, which means that we need to manually create a basic Web Application and add Struts 2 libraries to it manually. We also need to create struts configuration files(struts.xml and struts.properties) and modify the web.xml file. If we do all this manually, then what does the plugin do?
For one thing, the plugin helps in creating template files for Struts 2 Actions, Interceptors, Results etc.

Secondly, it helps in auto-completion:

More information on auto-completion.It is not yet completely bug free though:

It also helps in easy navigation using hyperlinks. (See all the tabs at the top of the page: Analysis, Phase I, Phase II, Phase III.)

[image from nbstruts2support website]
End Notes:
The current state of Struts 2 support in the NetBeans IDE is hardly satisfying. Let us wait and see how much time it takes to complete at least the basic features in nbstruts2support. It is at least slightly better than creating and developing Struts 2 applications completely manually.
The state is different if we look at other IDEs like Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA. I will talk more about Struts 2 support for Eclipse IDE in my next post.
well, i’m really looking forward to your next post, because i’m not aware of any struts 2 plugin for any IDE. There is something planned for upcoming release of idea, but it’s still in the milestone. cya
QuoteComment by don — September 13, 2008 @ 11:30 pm
It’s good guideline !
QuoteThank you very much !
Comment by thanhtb — October 2, 2008 @ 4:18 pm
[...] see my previous posts “Hello, World” Web Application using Struts 2 in NetBeans IDE 6.1 and Struts 2 Plugin for NetBeans IDE – nbstruts2support for example. All we need to do now is to write our own application [...]
QuotePingback by “Hello, World” Web Application using Struts 2 in IntelliJ IDEA 8.0 M1 — October 4, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
Hey this was really helpful.
Quotethanks
Comment by palsahab — February 24, 2009 @ 10:42 pm
Hi.
Quotethere’s a possibility to update the library (is 0.11 and the latests is the 0.14)?.
thanks.
Comment by Stefano — March 13, 2009 @ 3:48 pm
Hi,
QuoteI get this error: “the plugin XML text editor is required in implementation version 4″, but I have that plugin already and netbeans says that I have everything updated to the last version.
Any help?
Comment by Luca — April 30, 2009 @ 1:37 pm
Hi:
Thanks for the info, it was really helpful…
I am trying to install the plugins but got an error message when trying to install the Struts2 support:
Missing required modules for Plugin Struts2 Support:
XML Text Editor [module org.netbeans.modules.xml.text/2 > 1.14.0.4]
I’ve searched but not found any info about this, could anybody help me?
By the way, the NetBean’s version I am using is the 6.0.1
Thks in advance…
QuoteComment by Oscar — May 12, 2009 @ 9:15 pm
Gracias por la ayuda, funciona de maravilla ahora puedo continuar aprendiendo mas acerca de este framework
QuoteComment by Juan — May 19, 2009 @ 1:50 am
gracias por la ayuda, hora puedo seguir con mi investigacion acerca de este framework
QuoteComment by Juan — May 19, 2009 @ 1:51 am
A great and helpful page of information. Many thanks.
QuoteComment by JohnB — May 26, 2009 @ 5:26 pm
Thanks a lot, thats a great help!
QuoteComment by Sush — July 7, 2009 @ 9:35 pm
hi am using netbeans 6.0.1. I downloaded struts2 support & struts2 library. when am trying to install them it is displaying the message
QuoteMissing required modules for Plugin Struts2 Support:
XML Text Editor [module org.netbeans.modules.xml.text/2 > 1.14.0.4]
how to solve this?
Comment by amar — August 27, 2009 @ 4:15 pm