Adding a Plugin - Jsp in pages folder

[Seetesh Hindlekar]

Hello,

while creating new plugins in Struts, why is it mandatory for jsp's to be in pages directory.

If I create a folder called "ast" under WEB-INF and keep the jsp page in this new folder under WEB-INF (WEB-INF\ast), I am not able to run the jsp page from the url

http://localhost:8080/strutstutorial/WEB-INF/ast/plugin.jsp

Rgds,

Seetesh

[Merrill Higginson]

The whole reason for putting JSPs under the WEB-INF/ directory is so that they cannot be accessed directly through a URL.

The J2EE specification for web containers dictates that anything put in WEB-INF or its child directories cannot be accessible through a URL. The reasoning for putting pages there is that it isn't a good idea for a user to be able to call a JSP page directly by name. This makes it so that the only way to reach /WEB-INF/xyz.jsp is by calling an action or Servlet that forwards to it (xyzAction.do).
[ October 17, 2006: Message edited by: Merrill Higginson ]