Welcome To Struts Tiles

Welcome to the Struts Tiles component.Tiles is a templating system. (Include on steriods.) It can be used to create a common look and feel for a web application. Tiles can also be used to create reusable view components. This site will help you get started with Tiles.

Tiles can also be used without Struts. A new release of Tiles, Tiles 2, is being prepared. If you would like to use Tiles without Struts, see the new Apache Tiles 2 project. The focus of this site is using Tiles with Struts.

Tiles Features

  • Screen definitions
    • Create a screen by assembling Tiles : header, footer, menu, body, etc.
    • Definitions can take place :
      • in a centralized XML file
      • directly in JSP pages
      • programatically in Actions
    • Definitions provide an inheritance mechanism : a definition can extend another one, and override parameters.
  • Layouts
    • Define common page layouts and reuse them across your website.
    • Define menu layouts, and use them by passing lists of items and links.
    • Define a portal layout, use it by passing a list of Tiles (pages) to show.
    • Reuse existing layouts, or define your own.
  • Dynamic page building
    • Tiles can be gathered dynamically during page reload. It is possible to change any attribute: layout, list of Tiles in portal, list of menu items, etc.
  • Reuse of Tiles / Components
    • If well defined, a Tile can be reused across multiple applications.
    • Dynamic attributes are used to parameterize Tiles.
    • It is possible to define a library of reusable Tiles.
    • Build a page by assembling predefined components, giving them appropriate parameters.
  • Internationalization (i18n)
    • It is possible to load different tiles according to Locale.
    • A mechanism similar to Java properties files is used for definitions files: you can have one definition file per Locale. The appropriate definition is loaded according to the current Locale.
  • Multi-channels
    • It is possible to load different Tiles according to a key.
    • For example, the key could represent user privileges, browser type, arbitrary name stored in session, etc.
    • A mechanism similar to Java properties files is used for definitions files: you can have one definition file per key. The appropriate definition is loaded according to the key.