How It's Done (was Re: Need help - tomcat do not generate .java and .class file in the work folder)

[Will Hartung <wi...@msoft.com>]

> From: "Steve Burrus" <bu...@swbell.net>
> Sent: Friday, February 14, 2003 2:59 PM
> Subject: Re: Need help - tomcat do not generate .java and .class file in
the work folder


> hOW exactly is that particular process done anyway "Have you tailored
> the server.xml file  to have a context for your webapp??" I have tried
> to do this before, but alas, without any successful results!! Now,
> tell me please about editing the servlet mapping and the servlet name
> tags because I know that these are quite essential in executing your
> jsp/servlets correctly.

[List Disclaimer: Pardon me all. I'm weak. I'm sorry. I'll become a pariah
for this. Please, please, please don't hate me...]

Steve -

"Be careful what you ask for..."

Here's how it's done.

RTFM.

Really.

Read ALL TFM's.

Every one you can get your hands on.

No, really. READ them.

Find Tutorials, find examples, find snippets.

Follow them.

Observe them.

U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D them!.

TYPE THEM IN. Don't just download a zip file, plop it some place and run it
and go "Gee! That was easy!"

If you TYPE THEM IN then you may wonder, as I often do, "Why do I have to do
THIS? Why am I typing THESE SPECIFIC words and phrases?"

First, read this: http://www.mindview.net/Books/TIJ/

It's a great book on Java. The basics. Classes, objects, scalars, class
loaders, crap like that. Skip the stuff you think you know, read the stuff
you don't, and if you find you don't understand the stuff you don't know,
then reread the stuff you thought you did, because, apparently, you don't.

Read these:
http://jcp.org/aboutJava/communityprocess/first/jsr053/index.html. These are
the specifications. EVERYONE should read these. Why? Because every servlet
container on the planet ASSUMES THAT YOU HAVE when they write their own
documentation. This is why most documentation neglects details about the XML
files, and file hierarchies, etc. This is why when you read many containers
documentation you feel like you've walked in half way through the movie.

Read these:
http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-4.1-doc/introduction.html,
http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-4.1-doc/README.txt,
http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-4.1-doc/RUNNING.txt,
http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-4.1-doc/config/index.html and
EVERYTHING in here
http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-4.1-doc/appdev/index.html.

Go to the Sun site and the Web Services page:
http://java.sun.com/webservices/docs/1.0/tutorial/index.html. Read
everything in the "Web Technology" section. These are wonderful, just like
Craig has mentioned numerous times. Then read the section about the "Case
Study".

Head over to the O'Reilly OnJava site:
http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2003/01/08/tomcat4.html. "Creating a Web
Application with Ant and Tomcat 4". GREAT article, goes through ALL OF THE
STEPS.

AFTER you have read all of these, AFTER you have done the tutorials, not
BEFORE, not DURING, but AFTER, THEN if you have questions, come on back with
questions. BE SURE to CITE EXAMPLES IN THE DOCUMENTATION that you do not
understand.

"Hi List, STEVE BURRUS here. I was reading
http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-4.1-doc/config/context.html and
these two paragraphs are confusing:

The web application used to process each HTTP request is selected by
Catalina based on matching the longest possible prefix of the Request URI
against the context path of each defined Context. Once selected, that
Context will select an appropriate servlet to process the incoming request,
according to the servlet mappings defined in the web application deployment
descriptor file (which MUST be located at /WEB-INF/web.xml within the web
app's directory hierarchy).

You may define as many Context elements as you wish, nested within a Host
element in conf/server.xml. Each such Context MUST have a unique context
path, which is defined by the path attribute. In addition, you MUST define a
Context with a context path equal to a zero-length string. This Context
becomes the default web application for this virtual host, and is used to
process all requests that do not match any other Context's context path.

...."

By citing the documentation, it lets others know where you are coming from,
what assumptions you have made, and perhaps what you have tried before. It
also lets us know you've read the documentation and tells us that you're
serious about understanding this technology.

This is EXACTLY HOW THIS PARTICULAR PROCESS IS DONE. This is how you do it.

"But, Hi Will! STEVE BURRUS here! That's a *HELL* OF A LOT of reading to
do!"

Yes. Exactly. *ding* *ding* *ding* "A Winna!"

That's why we as list members do not WISH TO TYPE IT ALL IN as replies to
your posts. It is what is necessary to come up to speed to where everyone
can communicate on an even playing field.

This is basic knowledge that we pretty much assume everyone knows. That way
when someone says "Oh, fix the context in the server.xml file", you will say
"Oh yes, I remember READING ABOUT THAT, and KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS" so a one
line message doesn't become a repetitive dissertation straight out of the
documentation. Remember, it's not what you know, it's what you know where to
look it up.

Reading all of this gives you basic vocabulary, even if you don't understand
it all, it exposes it all to you. The tutorials give you concrete experience
in the concepts presented in the reading to make what you read become more
clear and to give it some relevance and reference. Especially when you TYPE
THEM IN yourself.

You can read all of this stuff this weekend, do some of the tutorials on
Sunday afternoon and tell us all about your adventures on Monday.

So, remember. Read it all. Do the Tutorials (don't change the Tutorials,
don't make them do something else and get side tracked and stuck in a snow
bank somewhere. And remember to type the files in yourself, with your
editor. Don't fight a development environment. You need Ant, a Command Line,
and Notepad.). Then, read it all again, it will be MUCH clearer then.

THEN, come back with questions. Odds are you won't need to. You'll become
much more enlightened. You'll dance in the streets, raving like a loon.
You'll be Brave Sir Robin saying "That's EASY!" and run off towards the
Keeper of the Bridge...

Good Luck.

Enjoy.

Regards,

Will Hartung
(willh@msoft.com)

P.S. No sneaking back in. Everyone will read this post and know what you
need to do, so we all have the same expectations. And please appreciate how
much time and effort it took for me to write this message to you. Don't make
me look bad.

P.P.S. Whoever was looking for FAQ entries, you can use this as a "How do I
get started FAQ" :-)




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Junk email

[Etienne <et...@sympatico.ca>]

Everyone who participate in the "my attitude" thread are already in my
junk email (stop downloading it from the pop server). I think everyone
should do the same thing, until the mail administrator takes some
action.

Thanks.

Etienne. 


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Re: How It's Done (was Re: Need help - tomcat do not generate .java and .class file in the work folder)

[Chong Yu Meng <ch...@cymulacrum.net>]

Hi Steve :

I've written a kind of tutorial that hopefully will help you (and other 
newbies) get started. It isn't complete yet, but I think I covered most 
of the essential bits for people new to Tomcat. It's not an admin guide, 
so you don't have to worry about flipping to and fro for answers. The 
bad news is you'll have to work thru it to get the most from it.

The URL is :
http://www.starhub.net.sg/~cymbiote/linux-sxs/tomcat4.1x.html

Regards,
chong


Steve Burrus wrote:

> Hi Will. Once again, you prove that you are the undisputable "master of the damn
>sarcastic reply"!! ["Yes. Exactly. *ding* *ding* *ding* "A Winna!"] I really
>don't need, for a moment, all of the upper case lettering which you seemingly
>chose to put into your offering. Do you really think that i am just too *dense*
>to "get it", a simple explanation about something by either you or someone else
>in our group??? You talked to me like I was some kind of a child/kid again, and I
>HIGHLY RESENT IT. 
>
> But, the main "gist" of what you were trying to say to me I will certainly take
>to heart. I absolutely need to read a lot more documentation, i.e., the much
>talked about "TFM's", and then after I have done that, then I can pose a lot more
>"educated-sounding" questions to our newsgroup. Yes, I will admit that. I guess
>that I really need some kind of a personal tutor to help me with these difficult
>things  about how to use the full power of the J2EE API to create these
>components like the jsp's and the servlets. But, I simply cannot afford that kind
>of a person for a moment. I dare you, Will, to respond back to me this time,
>unlike another time when you utterly ignored me. You would rather get in yer
>little "verbal jab" at me, and then retreat.     
>
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>
>
>
>  
>



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Re: How It's Done (was Re: Need help - tomcat do not generate .java and .class file in the work folder)

[Steve Burrus <bu...@swbell.net>]

 Hi Will. Once again, you prove that you are the undisputable "master of the damn
sarcastic reply"!! ["Yes. Exactly. *ding* *ding* *ding* "A Winna!"] I really
don't need, for a moment, all of the upper case lettering which you seemingly
chose to put into your offering. Do you really think that i am just too *dense*
to "get it", a simple explanation about something by either you or someone else
in our group??? You talked to me like I was some kind of a child/kid again, and I
HIGHLY RESENT IT. 

 But, the main "gist" of what you were trying to say to me I will certainly take
to heart. I absolutely need to read a lot more documentation, i.e., the much
talked about "TFM's", and then after I have done that, then I can pose a lot more
"educated-sounding" questions to our newsgroup. Yes, I will admit that. I guess
that I really need some kind of a personal tutor to help me with these difficult
things  about how to use the full power of the J2EE API to create these
components like the jsp's and the servlets. But, I simply cannot afford that kind
of a person for a moment. I dare you, Will, to respond back to me this time,
unlike another time when you utterly ignored me. You would rather get in yer
little "verbal jab" at me, and then retreat.     

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