a dispatchaction contains a number of different methods other than the standard

execute(). these methods are executed based on some request parameter. your action
mapping in struts-config specifies the request parameter to examine. then, whatever the
value of that parameter is for a given request, struts will try to execute the method in the
action whos name matches the value of the parameter. a lookupdispatch action by
contrast determines which method to call not based directly on a request parameter's
value, but by doing a lookup to determine the method, based on the value of the
parameter. you provide a method that accepts the value of the request parameter and
returns the method to execute. how you actually implement the lookup is of course up to
you, but a simple map is probably most typical. i suppose if i were to state the difference
as concisely as possible, i would probably say this...
the method to execute on a dispatchaction is determined by struts based on the value of a
specified request parameter, whereas the method to execute on a lookupdispachaction is
determined by your action itself based on the value of a specified request parameter