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Setting Up

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Note: Before you start developing the example applications, follow the instructions in About the Examples, then continue with this section.

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Getting the Example Code

Once you've installed the tutorial, you'll find the source code for this example in <INSTALL>/jwstutorial12/examples/gs/, a directory that is created when you unzip the tutorial bundle. If you are viewing this tutorial online, you can download the tutorial bundle from:

http://java.sun.com/webservices/downloads/webservicestutorial.html

The example application contains a JavaBeans component, a Web component, a file to build and run the application, a build properties file, and a deployment descriptor. For this example, we will create a top-level project source directory named gs/. All of the files in this example application are created from this root directory.

Organizing Web Applications

In this example application, the source code directories are organized in a way that reflects good programming practices for Web services programming. This method of organization is described in more detail in the file <JWSDP_HOME>/docs/tomcat/appdev/deployment.html. Basically, the document explains that it is useful to examine the runtime organization of a Web application when creating the application. A Web application is defined as a hierarchy of directories and files in a standard layout. Such a hierarchy can be accessed in its unpacked form, where each directory and file exists in the file system separately, or in a packed form known as a Web Application Archive, or WAR file. The former format is more useful during development, while the latter is used when you distribute your application.

To facilitate creation of a WAR file in the required format, it is convenient to arrange the files that Tomcat uses when executing your application in the same organization as required by the WAR format itself. In the example application, <INSTALL>/jwstutorial12/examples/gs/ is the root directory for the source code for this application. The application consists of the following files that are either in the gs directory or a subdirectory of gs.

src/converterApp/ConverterBean.java--The JavaBeans component that contains the get and set methods for the yenAmount and euroAmount properties used to convert U.S. dollars to Yen and convert Yen to Euros.
web/index.jsp--The Web client, which is a JSP page that contains components that enable you to enter the value to be converted, click the button to submit the value, and display the result of the conversion.
web/WEB-INF/web.xml--The deployment descriptor for this application. In this simple example, it contains a description of the example application.
build.xml--The build file that the Ant tool uses to build and deploy the Web application. This build file calls targets common to many of the example application from a build file named <INSTALL>/jwstutorial12/examples/common/targets.xml.
build.properties--The file that contains properties unique to this application. There is also an <INSTALL>/jwstutorial12/examples/common/build.properties file that contains properties unique to your installation.

A key recommendation of the Tomcat Application Developer's Manual is to separate the directory hierarchy containing the source code from the directory hierarchy containing the deployable application. Maintaining this separation has the following advantages:

The contents of the source directories can be more easily administered, moved, and backed up if the executable version of the application is not intermixed.
Source code control is easier to manage on directories that contain only source files.
The files that make up an installable distribution of your application are much easier to select when the deployment hierarchy is separate.

As discussed in Creating the Build File, the Ant development tool makes the creation and processing of this type of directory hierarchies relatively simple. In this example, when we run the ant build target, the target creates a directory structure that is separate from the source code and is organized in the directory hierarchy required by Tomcat for unpacked applications. In this example, the build directory contains the following files and directories:

build/
    index.jsp
    WEB-INF/
          web.xml
          classes/
                converterApp/
                          ConverterBean.class 

The rest of this document shows how this example application is created, built, deployed, and run.

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Note: The sections Setting the PATH Variable and Modifying the Build Properties File discuss getting your environment setup for running this example. Whether you want to work through creating the example or just run the existing example application, you must follow the steps in these sections first.

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Setting the PATH Variable

Most of the tutorial examples are distributed with a configuration file for Ant, a portable build tool included with the Java WSDP. The version of Ant shipped with the Java WSDP sets the jwsdp.home environment variable to the location of your Java WSDP installation. This variable is used by the example build files.

It is very important that you add the bin directories of the Java WSDP, J2SE SDK, and Ant installations to the front of your PATH environment variable so that the Java WSDP startup scripts for Ant and Tomcat override other installations. The path to the Ant installation that ships with the Java WSDP is <JWSDP_HOME>/apache-ant/bin/.

Modifying the Build Properties File

In order to invoke many of the Ant tasks, you need to edit a file named build.properties in the <INSTALL>/jwstutorial12/examples/common/ directory.

The build.properties file must contain a user name and password in plain text format that matches either the user name and password set up during installation or a name added subsequent to installation that is assigned the role of manager. In case you've forgotten, the user name and password that you entered during installation of the Java WSDP are stored in <JWSDP_HOME>/conf/tomcat-users.xml. Information on adding users is provided in Managing Roles and Users.

The tomcat-users.xml file, which is created by the installer, looks like this:

<?xml version='1.0'?>
<tomcat-users>
<role rolename="admin"/>
<role rolename="manager"/>
<user username="your_username" password="your_password"
     roles="admin,manager"/>
</tomcat-users> 

For security purposes, the Tomcat Manager application verifies that you (as defined in the build.properties file) are a user who is authorized to install and reload applications (as determined by the roles assigned to you in tomcat-users.xml) before granting you access to the server.

In addition to specifying your user name and password in the build.properties file, you also need to specify the directory location where the tutorial is installed. Define the variable tutorial.home by entering the path to the directory into which you installed the tutorial, for example, /home/your_name/ or C:/.

You must edit the build.properties file to deploy any applications onto Tomcat. Open the <INSTALL>/jwstutorial12/examples/common/build.properties file and modify the following lines:

username=<your_username>
password=<your_password>
tutorial.home=<path_to_dir_into which _tutorial_was_installed> 

Running the Application

Now that you've downloaded the application and gotten your environment set up for running the example application, this section gives you a quick overview of the steps needed to run the application. Each step is discussed in more detail on the pages referenced.

Download the tutorial examples and set up your environment as discussed in Getting the Example Code, Setting the PATH Variable, and Modifying the Build Properties File.
Change to the root directory this application, which is <INSTALL>/jwstutorial12/examples/gs/ (see Creating a Simple Web Application).
Compile the source files by typing the following at the terminal prompt (see Building the Example Application):

ant build

Compile errors are listed in Compilation Errors.

Start Tomcat by one of the following methods (see Starting Tomcat):
On the Unix platform, type the following at the terminal prompt:

    <JWSDP_HOME>/bin/startup.sh

On the Microsoft Windows platform, start Tomcat from the Start menu by following this chain: StartProgramsJava Web Services Developer Pack 1.2Start Tomcat.
Install the Web application on Tomcat using Ant by typing the following at the terminal prompt (see Deploying the Application).

ant install

Deployment errors are discussed in Deployment Errors.

Start a Web browser. Enter the following URL to run the example application (see Running the Getting Started Application):

http://localhost:8080/gs

Shutdown Tomcat by one of the following methods (see Shutting Down Tomcat):
On the Unix platform, type the following at the terminal prompt:

    <JWSDP_HOME>/bin/shutdown.sh

On the Microsoft Windows platform, stop Tomcat from the Start menu by following this chain: StartProgramsJava Web Services Developer Pack 1.2Stop Tomcat.

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