server.xml - Part II

[java programmer <ja...@yahoo.com>]

First off, I'd like to reply to an earlier post
and the I'll talk about a weird finding 
regarding server.xml with Tomcat 3.3 on Linux 2.4.x
with Java 1.3.x.

> We're the main european hub for bioinformatics
> research and resources,
> the fact that webapps exist and can be packaged is
> incredibly useful to
> us. 

Hmm. I stand somewhat corrected. I still believe
that the "webapp" complexity is not applicable to
many people, who simply want Apache + an engine
to run servlets/JSP, probably talking to mySQL
in the backend. For that kind of use, you don't
need more than one context, i.e., the default "/"
context hanging off the docroot (htdocs) of 
the *web* *server*.

> > And the kicker is the gratuitous, idiotic
> > use of XML for _configuration_. For you to say:
> 
> [..]
> if you're configuring a system that is intrinsically
> hierarchical,
> doesn't it make sense to use a configuration
> mechanism that shared this
> property?

Again, agreed. However, consider the fact that this
heirarchy is relatively flat, 2-3 levels deep in
most places. Isn't it simpler to use a file of 
the format:

level1.level2.prop1=value
context.foocontext.simplemapper=foo.class
context.foocontext.simplemapper.listings=false
... and so on ...

This approach has a lot of precedent and works
very well (for shallow depths). Also, it's
simpler to have a default case of one config 
file only, with a *special case* option of
more files if needed. Apache does this too for a 
reason. Also why expose the module map at all ?
(modules.xml). Most end-users are not going to
write and swap in their own modules and most
hackers are just going to hack the tomcat source
directly. 

Now for a bit on my environment. I have several
SMP boxes that I am planning to run Tomcat+mySQL
+Apache on. Apache and mySQL are now running quite
smoothly but Tomcat is still not up yet. I keep
getting a funny exception when I say:

shell> tomcat.sh start debug -10

The relevant part of this exception looks like:

-----------------------------------------------
EmbededTomcat: exception initializing ContextManager
java.lang.NullPointerException
        at
org.apache.tomcat.facade.JspInterceptor.addContext(Unknown
Source)
-----------------------------------------------
After tearing my hair out for several (many) hours, 
I have made a startling finding. 

My ending of my server.xml looks like:

[..stuff ...]
 <JspInterceptor keepGenerated="true"
largeFile="false"
                 useJspServlet="false" debug="10" />
 <WorkDirSetup cleanWorkDir="false" />

</ContextManager>
</Server>

If the ONLY change I make is moving the JSPInterceptor
tag _below_ the WorkDirSetup Tag, the exception
disappears and tomcat starts up fine ! No other
file is touched, this is the only change I make.
And it works. Now if that is not insane, my 
definition of insanity needs some serious rework.

Try this in reverse in your server.xml, folks, and 
see what happens !

Oh yeah, I only have 1 apps file (apps.xml) and
it says:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<Server>
<Host name="www.mysitehere.com">
<Context path="" docBase="/web/sites/mysitehere/docs"
/>
</Host>
</Server>

Do note that this problem with server.xml is
independent
of the apps.xml file and this file has not been
changed at all. The problem is also independent
of the fact that I am using mod_jk (apache). Seems
like
there is a coding bug in JSPInterceptor.

If anyone here concurs, I suggest forwarding this 
email to an Apache developer.

Best regards,

javadesigner@yahoo.com















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