Quick Install

  • Create a new web application based on the Struts Blank example.
  • Edit the struts-config and uncomment the section that refers to the "Tiles PlugIn".
  • Create one or more Tiles Definitions XML files in the /WEB-INF directory of the new application.
  • Deploy the new application.

Configuring the Plugin

Here's how to use Tiles in your own application:
  • Ensure that a struts-tiles.jar is available in the WEB-INF/lib directory of your web application.
  • Add this init-param to the Action Servlet definition in web.xml: 
        <init-param>
        <param-name>chainConfig</param-name>
        <param-value>org/apache/struts/tiles/chain-config.xml</param-value>
    </init-param>
  • Configure the Tiles Plugin to load your definitions. 
        <plug-in className="org.apache.struts.tiles.TilesPlugin">
    <set-property
        property="definitions-config"
           value="/WEB-INF/tiles-defs.xml"/>
    </plug-in>
  • At the top of each JSP page that will use the Tiles custom tags, add a line that declares the Tiles custom tag library. 
        <%@ taglib uri="http://struts.apache.org/tags-tiles" prefix="tiles" %>

Avoiding ClassNotFoundExceptions

WARNING - Do NOT add tiles.jar to the classpath of your servlet container in an attempt to avoid placing it in the /WEB-INF/lib directory of each individual web app! Doing so will cause problems with ClassNotFoundException exceptions. For most containers, you need only to:
  • Copy the WAR files in your Tiles /webapp directory to your containers webapps directory.
  • In some cases, you may need to restart your container if it is running.