struts2 errors lost - validation

Question

I trying to use struts2 validation framework. I have a ActionName-validation.xml in place. Entry in the struts.xml is as follows
<action name="registerCandidateStep1" class="candidateAction"
method="registerCandidateStep1">
<result name="success" type="tiles">registerCandidate</result>
<result name="input" type="chain">
<param name="actionName">loadCandidateRegistrationForm</param>
<param name="namespace">/.secureActions</param>
</result>
</action>
<action name="loadCandidateRegistrationForm" class="loadCandidateFromAction"
method="loadCandidateRegistrationForm">
<result name="success" type="tiles">registerCandidate</result>
</action>
on error condition request do get forwarded to "loadCandidateRegistrationForm" but i dont see error on the page. I have included tag in the jsp
StrutsConfig.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
"-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
"http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">
<struts>
<constant name="struts.objectFactory" value="spring" />
<constant name="struts.devMode" value="false" />
<constant name="struts.action.extension" value="action" />
<constant name="struts.custom.i18n.resources" value="global" />
<package name="org" namespace="/"
extends="struts-default,json-default">
<result-types>
<result-type name="tiles"
class="org.apache.struts2.views.tiles.TilesResult" />
</result-types>
<global-results>
<result name="welcome" type="tiles">welcome</result>
</global-results>
</package>
<package name="org.unsecureActions" extends="org">
<!--
This package contains such a actions which doesn't need user logged
in.
-->
<action name="welcome" method="forwardAction" class="baseAction">
<result name="success" type="tiles">welcome</result>
</action>
<action name="logout" method="logoutCandidate" class="logoutAction">
<result name="success" type="tiles">welcome</result>
</action>
<action name="loadAdvanceSearchForm" method="loadAdvanceSearch"
class="advanceSearchAction">
<result name="success" type="tiles">advanceSearch</result>
</action>
<!--Candidate workflow actions -->
<action name="registerCandidateStep1" class="candidateAction"
method="registerCandidateStep1">
<interceptor-ref name="store">
<param name="operationMode">STORE</param>
</interceptor-ref>
<interceptor-ref name="defaultStack" />
<result name="success" type="tiles">registerCandidate</result>
<result name="input" type="redirect">loadCandidateRegistrationForm.action</result>
</action>
<action name="registerCandidateStep2" class="candidateAction"
method="registerCandidateStep2">
<result name="success" type="tiles">registerCandidate</result>
<result name="input" type="tiles">loadCandidateRegistrationForm</result>
</action>
<action name="registerCandidateStep3" class="candidateAction"
method="registerCandidateStep3">
<result type="chain">
<param name="actionName">loginCandidate</param>
<param name="namespace">/org.unsecureActions</param>
</result>
<result name="input" type="tiles">registerCandidate</result>
</action>
<action name="loadCandidateRegistrationForm" class="loadCandidateFromAction"
method="loadCandidateRegistrationForm">
<interceptor-ref name="store">
<param name="operationMode">RETRIEVE</param>
</interceptor-ref>
<result name="success" type="tiles">registerCandidate</result>
</action>
<!--Candidate workflow actions -->
<action name="loginCandidate" class="loginAction" method="loginCandidate">
<result name="success" type="tiles">home</result>
<result name="input" type="tiles">welcome</result>
</action>
</package>
<package name="org.secureActions" extends="org">
<!--
This package contains such a actions which needs user must logged in
before executing these.
-->
<interceptors>
<!--
Following interceptor checks for is user logged in before executing
the action.
-->
<interceptor name="contextSecurityInterceptor"
class="org.kovid.matrimony.interceptor.ContextSecurityInterceptor">
</interceptor>
<!--
This stack is as like default stack provided ny Struts Only
difference is at the bottom of folowing stack where we included our
"contextSecurityInterceptor" interceptor.
-->
<interceptor-stack name="applicationStack">
<interceptor-ref name="exception" />
<interceptor-ref name="alias" />
<interceptor-ref name="servletConfig" />
<interceptor-ref name="prepare" />
<interceptor-ref name="i18n" />
<interceptor-ref name="chain" />
<interceptor-ref name="debugging" />
<interceptor-ref name="profiling" />
<interceptor-ref name="scopedModelDriven" />
<interceptor-ref name="modelDriven" />
<interceptor-ref name="fileUpload" />
<interceptor-ref name="checkbox" />
<interceptor-ref name="staticParams" />
<interceptor-ref name="actionMappingParams" />
<interceptor-ref name="params" />
<interceptor-ref name="conversionError" />
<interceptor-ref name="validation" />
<interceptor-ref name="workflow" />
<interceptor-ref name="contextSecurityInterceptor" />
</interceptor-stack>
</interceptors>
<!--
Setting default stack for interceptor taking care of this packageS.
-->
<default-interceptor-ref name="applicationStack" />
<action name="home" method="forwardAction" class="baseAction">
<result name="success" type="tiles">home</result>
</action>
<action name="loadAdvanceSearchForm" method="loadAdvanceSearch"
class="advanceSearchAction">
<result name="success" type="tiles">advanceSearch</result>
</action>
<action name="simpleSearch" method="simpleSearch" class="simpleSearchAction">
<result name="success" type="tiles">search</result>
<result name="input" type="tiles">home</result>
</action>
<action name="advanceSearch" method="advanceSearch" class="advanceSearchAction">
<result name="success" type="tiles">search</result>
</action>
<action name="loadImage" method="loadImage" class="imageAction">
<result name="imageData" type="stream">
<param name="contentType">${imageContentType}</param>
<param name="inputName">imageStream</param>
<param name="contentDisposition">filename="candidate.jpeg"</param>
<param name="bufferSize">${myBufferSize}</param>
</result>
</action>
</package>
</struts>

Answer 1

Action chaining is actively discouraged, and interactions with the validation interceptor is one reason why. You might be able to sneak around it by explicitly mapping some values (like the validation messages) from one action to the next, but... don't chain actions--there's almost never a reason to do so.

Answer 2

Like Dave said, Action Chaining is discouraged.
Action Chaining :
Don't Try This at Home
As a rule, Action Chaining is not recommended.
First explore other options, such as the Redirect After Post
technique.
And if you have good reason to use Redirect After Post, use the
Redirect Result + Message Store Interceptor OR
Redirect Action Result + Message Store Interceptor

Answer 3

Life time of Errors lasts for the current Action. If you forward/redirect to another action, then the errors will be lost.
Use session scope instead. Place ArrayList in session and append your errors/messages.
Action/Interceptor:
Map session = ActionContext.getContext().getSession();
List<String> errors = session.get("errorMessages");
if(errors==null)
session.put("errorMessages", errors=new ArrayList<String>() );
errors.add("Invalid Username/Password. Kindly retry");
JSP:
<s:iterator var="msg" value="#session.errorMessages" >
<p> ${msg} </p>
</s:iterator>
<s:set scope="session" var="errorMessages" value="%{null}" /><%--flush errors--%>