Newbie: Tomcat and IDEA

I've tried the Webapps-tutorial by IntelliJ, but I'm unsure, what to
enter as application context path.

My first start with JSP and Tomcat 4.1 answered IDEA 3.0.1 with
endless internal errors.

I would highly appreciate a more detailed tutorial, so even web
application newbies can start with it in IDEA.

Tom


Thomas Singer <idea@regnis.de> schrieb:

>I'm completely new to server-side development, so excuse my (maybe)
>simple question:
>
>I want to start with Servlets and JSP on Tomcat 4.0. How should I
>configure IDEA to getting this done easily? Thanks in advance!
>
>Cheers,
>Tom

First of all: don't use Tomcat 4.1.x, it's not supported by IDEA (it's Tomcat's fault, not IDEA's). Use Tomcat 4.0.6 instead.
Second: I'll send you a very small sample project which you can use as a start.

Thanks, Martin.

Tom


Martin Fuhrer <mf@fuhrer.com> schrieb:

>First of all: don't use Tomcat 4.1.x, it's not supported by IDEA (it's Tomcat's fault, not IDEA's). Use Tomcat 4.0.6 instead.
>Second: I'll send you a very small sample project which you can use as a start.

And here it ist. The zip file contains the complete project directory. You will have to adjust several path settings to match your environment.

If you want to start a project from scratch these are the steps I did to create the sample project:

1.)
Create this directory structure:
<project-dir>/app
<project-dir>/bin
<project-dir>/cfg
<project-dir>/src

2.)
Create an IDEA project with <project-dir>/bin as compiler output path and
<project-dir>/src as source path.

3.)
Add <tomcat-dir>/common/lib/servlet.jar to the classpath.

4.)
Copy <tomcat-dir>/conf/web.xml to <project-dir>/cfg.

5.)
Create <project-dir>/cfg/server.xml containing a minimal server configuration.

6.)
Create <project-dir>/app/WEB-INF/web.xml containing all servlet parameters.

7.)
Create <servlet-class>.java in <project-dir>/src.

8.)
Create a web application:
- open project properties dialog
- choose Web tab
- select 'Enable Web application support'
- choose 'Add...'
- enter an arbitrary name for the web application
- enter <project-dir>/app as document root
- select 'Validate JSP pages on make

9.)
Create a run configuration:
- open the run dialog
- choose WebApp tab
- add a new configuration
- 'Web application' should contain the name you entered in 8.)
- 'Application server' should contain 'Tomcat 4.0.x Server'
- 'Debuggee host' should contain 'localhost'
- 'Debuggee port' should contain '5050'
- select 'Launch server before debugger attaches'
- enter <tomcat-dir> in 'Catalina home'
- enter <project-dir>/cfg in 'Path to Catalina configs'
- choose the context path in 'Application context path'
(this is the context path you configured in <project-dir>/cfg/server.xml)
- select 'Include project classpath'

10.)
Execute the run configuration.

11.)
Open a browser and request the servlet. The URL of the example project is:

http://localhost:8080/j2ee/hello

The elements of the URL are:
http: pretty obvious...
localhost: host name entered in <project-dir>/cfg/server.xml
8080: port number entered in <project-dir>/cfg/server.xml
j2ee: context path entered in <project-dir>/cfg/server.xml
hello: URL pattern entered in <project-dir>/app/WEB-INF/web.xml

12.)
Create a JSP page in <project-dir>/app.

13.)
Restart the server.

14.)
Request the JSP page with http://localhost:8080/j2ee/hello.jsp.

You may find this overview helpful in determining dependencies between configuration settings.

Thank you again. This was the best tutorial I could get -- works like a charme.

Cheers,
Tom

Hi
Thanks a lot for this example. It was just what I needed to get things up and running. It is one of the best samples I have come across. It is small, well documented and it gives the novice exactly what he needs.

It is a truly Keep It Simple and Stupid (KISS)

Thanks again.

You're very welcome.

By the way there are three modifications necessary in order to use Tomcat 5:

1.) The servlet library has been renamed from servlet.jar to servlet-api.jar.

2.) There are some changes in the server.xml file.

3.) You guessed it: you have to select 'Tomcat 5.0 Server' in the WebApp configuration...

Me again.
I have been happy user since your posting. But I just upgraded and found that they added something called webmodules. Can you please write a post on this to?

Yes, I can write a post on the web module thing:

Forget about the newest builds for now if you want to do web development. Stuck with build 977 and be happy.

I wasn't able to set up a project using web modules yet, and I don't know of anybody who was. After several attempts to create a web module and tons of exceptions and strange error messages I surrendered and switched back to build 977.

As soon as I get something working I will post it here.

Does IntelliJ support debugging JSPs with Tomcat 5.0.16? Thanks

James Treacy wrote:

Does IntelliJ support debugging JSPs with Tomcat 5.0.16? Thanks

Yes. it's complex right now because of all the changes in web apps.
See mini how to posted this AM in this forum. It will require A LOT of
patience.

R

Ok, things are improving. I've put together a small sample project which uses a servlet, a JSP, and a custom taglib. It works with build #1050 and tomcat 5.

Martin Fuhrer wrote:

Ok, things are improving. I've put together a small sample project which uses a servlet, a JSP, and a custom taglib. It works with build #1050 and tomcat 5.

WOHOO! :)

R

Hey, look at the thread title. It was meant for newbies, not for you! :)

By the way: Thanks for your pioneering work! It helped me a lot.

The same sample project again, working with tomcat 5 and build 1074.

I'm using your simple program to verify if the Tomcat / IntelliJ installation is OK. I tried to download your latest 1074 zip. But it not possible to open it after downloading. Can you please opload a new one.

Now that Tomcat 5 and IntelliJ 4 is released I find it strange that there is no information on how to set it up in IntelliJ documentation.

I'm using your simple program to verify if the Tomcat
/ IntelliJ installation is OK. I tried to download
your latest 1074 zip. But it not possible to open it
after downloading. Can you please opload a new one.

Please try again. I just downloaded it myself and can open it without any problem. If the problem remains I can send you the file by mail.