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## org.apache.struts.actions
Class DispatchAction

    java.lang.Object
      org.apache.struts.action.Action
          org.apache.struts.actions.BaseAction
              org.apache.struts.actions.DispatchAction

Direct Known Subclasses:
  EventDispatchAction, LookupDispatchAction, MappingDispatchAction

    public abstract class DispatchAction

extends BaseAction

An abstract Action that dispatches to a public method that is named by the request parameter whose name is specified by the `parameter` property of the corresponding ActionMapping. This Action is useful for developers who prefer to combine many similar actions into a single Action class, in order to simplify their application design.

To configure the use of this action in your `struts-config.xml` file, create an entry like this:

`<action path="/saveSubscription" type="org.apache.struts.actions.DispatchAction" name="subscriptionForm" scope="request" input="/subscription.jsp" parameter="method"/>`

which will use the value of the request parameter named "method" to pick the appropriate "execute" method, which must have the same signature (other than method name) of the standard Action.execute method. For example, you might have the following three methods in the same action:

- public ActionForward delete(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception
- public ActionForward insert(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception
- public ActionForward update(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception

and call one of the methods with a URL like this:

`http://localhost:8080/myapp/saveSubscription.do?method=update`

NOTE - All of the other mapping characteristics of this action must be shared by the various handlers. This places some constraints over what types of handlers may reasonably be packaged into the same `DispatchAction` subclass.

NOTE - If the value of the request parameter is empty, a method named `unspecified` is called. The default action is to throw an exception. If the request was cancelled (a `html:cancel` button was pressed), the custom handler `cancelled` will be used instead. You can also override the `getMethodName` method to override the action's default handler selection.

Version:
  $Rev: 471754 $ $Date: 2006-11-06 08:55:09 -0600 (Mon, 06 Nov 2006) $

Field Summary
`protected Class` | `clazz` The Class instance of this `DispatchAction` class.
`protected static Log` | `log` Commons Logging instance.
`protected HashMap` | `methods` The set of Method objects we have introspected for this class, keyed by method name.
`protected Class[]` | `types` The set of argument type classes for the reflected method call.

Fields inherited from class org.apache.struts.actions.BaseAction
`messages`

Fields inherited from class org.apache.struts.action.Action
`servlet`

Constructor Summary
`DispatchAction()`

Method Summary
`protected ActionForward` | `cancelled(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)` Method which is dispatched to when the request is a cancel button submit.
`protected ActionForward` | `dispatchMethod(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response, String name)` Dispatch to the specified method.
`ActionForward` | `execute(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)` Process the specified HTTP request, and create the corresponding HTTP response (or forward to another web component that will create it).
`protected Method` | `getMethod(String name)` Introspect the current class to identify a method of the specified name that accepts the same parameter types as the `execute` method does.
`protected String` | `getMethodName(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response, String parameter)` Returns the method name, given a parameter's value.
`protected String` | `getParameter(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)` Returns the parameter value.
`protected ActionForward` | `unspecified(ActionMapping mapping, ActionForm form, HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response)` Method which is dispatched to when there is no value for specified request parameter included in the request.

Methods inherited from class org.apache.struts.action.Action
`addErrors, addMessages, execute, generateToken, getErrors, getLocale, getMessages, getResources, getResources, getServlet, isCancelled, isTokenValid, isTokenValid, resetToken, saveErrors, saveErrors, saveMessages, saveMessages, saveToken, setLocale, setServlet`

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
`clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait`

Field Detail

### log

    protected static Log log

  Commons Logging instance.

### clazz

    protected Class clazz

  The Class instance of this `DispatchAction` class.

### methods

    protected HashMap methods

  The set of Method objects we have introspected for this class, keyed by method name. This collection is populated as different methods are called, so that introspection needs to occur only once per method name.

### types

    protected Class[] types

  The set of argument type classes for the reflected method call. These are the same for all calls, so calculate them only once.

Constructor Detail

### DispatchAction

    public DispatchAction()

Method Detail

### execute

    public ActionForward execute(ActionMapping mapping,
                                 ActionForm form,
                                 HttpServletRequest request,
                                 HttpServletResponse response)
                          throws Exception

  Process the specified HTTP request, and create the corresponding HTTP response (or forward to another web component that will create it). Return an `ActionForward` instance describing where and how control should be forwarded, or `null` if the response has already been completed.

  Overrides:
    `execute` in class `Action`
  Parameters:
    `mapping` - The ActionMapping used to select this instance
    `form` - The optional ActionForm bean for this request (if any)
    `request` - The HTTP request we are processing
    `response` - The HTTP response we are creating
  Returns:
    The forward to which control should be transferred, or `null` if the response has been completed.
  Throws:
    `Exception` - if an exception occurs

### unspecified

    protected ActionForward unspecified(ActionMapping mapping,
                                        ActionForm form,
                                        HttpServletRequest request,
                                        HttpServletResponse response)
                                 throws Exception

  Method which is dispatched to when there is no value for specified request parameter included in the request. Subclasses of `DispatchAction` should override this method if they wish to provide default behavior different than throwing a ServletException.

  Parameters:
    `mapping` - The ActionMapping used to select this instance
    `form` - The optional ActionForm bean for this request (if any)
    `request` - The non-HTTP request we are processing
    `response` - The non-HTTP response we are creating
  Returns:
    The forward to which control should be transferred, or `null` if the response has been completed.
  Throws:
    `Exception` - if the application business logic throws an exception.

### cancelled

    protected ActionForward cancelled(ActionMapping mapping,
                                      ActionForm form,
                                      HttpServletRequest request,
                                      HttpServletResponse response)
                               throws Exception

  Method which is dispatched to when the request is a cancel button submit. Subclasses of `DispatchAction` should override this method if they wish to provide default behavior different than returning null.

  Parameters:
    `mapping` - The ActionMapping used to select this instance
    `form` - The optional ActionForm bean for this request (if any)
    `request` - The non-HTTP request we are processing
    `response` - The non-HTTP response we are creating
  Returns:
    The forward to which control should be transferred, or `null` if the response has been completed.
  Throws:
    `Exception` - if the application business logic throws an exception.
  Since:
    Struts 1.2.0

### dispatchMethod

    protected ActionForward dispatchMethod(ActionMapping mapping,
                                           ActionForm form,
                                           HttpServletRequest request,
                                           HttpServletResponse response,
                                           String name)
                                    throws Exception

  Dispatch to the specified method.

  Parameters:
    `mapping` - The ActionMapping used to select this instance
    `form` - The optional ActionForm bean for this request (if any)
    `request` - The non-HTTP request we are processing
    `response` - The non-HTTP response we are creating
    `name` - The name of the method to invoke
  Returns:
    The forward to which control should be transferred, or `null` if the response has been completed.
  Throws:
    `Exception` - if the application business logic throws an exception.
  Since:
    Struts 1.1

### getParameter

    protected String getParameter(ActionMapping mapping,
                                  ActionForm form,
                                  HttpServletRequest request,
                                  HttpServletResponse response)
                           throws Exception

  Returns the parameter value.

  Parameters:
    `mapping` - The ActionMapping used to select this instance
    `form` - The optional ActionForm bean for this request (if any)
    `request` - The HTTP request we are processing
    `response` - The HTTP response we are creating
  Returns:
    The `ActionMapping` parameter's value
  Throws:
    `Exception` - if the parameter is missing.

### getMethod

    protected Method getMethod(String name)
                        throws NoSuchMethodException

  Introspect the current class to identify a method of the specified name that accepts the same parameter types as the `execute` method does.

  Parameters:
    `name` - Name of the method to be introspected
  Returns:
    The method with the specified name.
  Throws:
    `NoSuchMethodException` - if no such method can be found

### getMethodName

    protected String getMethodName(ActionMapping mapping,
                                   ActionForm form,
                                   HttpServletRequest request,
                                   HttpServletResponse response,
                                   String parameter)
                            throws Exception

  Returns the method name, given a parameter's value.

  Parameters:
    `mapping` - The ActionMapping used to select this instance
    `form` - The optional ActionForm bean for this request (if any)
    `request` - The HTTP request we are processing
    `response` - The HTTP response we are creating
    `parameter` - The `ActionMapping` parameter's name
  Returns:
    The method's name.
  Throws:
    `Exception` - if an error occurs.
  Since:
    Struts 1.2.0

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