Sharing a Spring MVC project - java

I need to do a Java web project. I'm going to be using Eclipse.
I thought of using Spring MVC. As far as I can tell - it's gonna require me to add some "extra" stuff to a "clean" Java web project. I don't mind that - the thing is - one of the project requirements is - that I'll be able to send the project to someone else - that doesn't have any extra installation and/or configuration - and he will be able to compile the project.
Is that possible with Spring MVC? Does the Spring MVC framework is just a "JAR" like addition to the project - therefore - the project can be shared without a problem?
Thanks.

Short answer: yes, you are right.
To use Spring in your Java web project, you generally need to add two things:
the appropriate Spring configuration file(s) (XML)
the appropriate Spring JAR files (traditionally placed in /WEB-INF/lib, the same as other JARs). By the way, it is NOT a single JAR file, but several JAR files.
That is all there is to it.

Spring has nothing to do with "sharing the project".
To "share" the project with someone else, you put it on the SCM of your choice and your collaborators will be able to get the code and work on it.
Building the project is a different aspect. To correctly compile the project you have to make sure that all the classes and/or jars are visible in the classpath (and runtime if you want to execute the code). Spring is made of a bunch of jars that, depending on which classes of the framework you use, must be in the classpath (eg. putting them in the /WEB-INF/lib directory). You may version them as well, or just version the configuration (I'm thinking about Maven for example, that will take care of resolving the dependencies).
Another piece of the puzzle is making all of this work in your IDE. This is a matter of taste. I prefer not to version ide-specific files (in the case of Eclipse, .settings and .project files/folders). You can do that, making sure you do not use absolute path anywhere, and technically you will be able to import the project without problems from another machine.

Yes.
If the other person has nothing extra installed and configured, namely no build tool, you need to put every needed Spring and other Jar into a folder, typically called "lib" and tell him to add them into his compile process. If he just uses the JDK he will get an enormous command line. It is much better to use a build tool like Maven or Ant+Ivy for building and dependency resolution. But that would be an "extra installation" per your question.
If he has Eclipse installed like you have and you use Eclipse internal for building:
Put the JARs in a lib folder
Configure the build path
Make a local test build
Export the project as zip (File menu > Export)
" The other person needs to import the project into his workspace
The exported project should not have any absolute paths as long as you didn't set some deliberately in the build path.
This works but is not exactly best practice. Installing a build tool like Maven is absolutely worth the time and should be preferred under any circumstances. It will save you a lot of time and nerves.

Related

How do I place files on the classpath?

I'm trying to implement a custom view in Spring-Boot-Admin. The documentation states "The JavaScript-Bundle and CSS-Stylesheet must be placed on the classpath at /META-INF/spring-boot-admin-server-ui/extensions/{name}/".
I think I've got the JS and CSS stuff, but where exactly do I have to put them now in my Spring Boot application? This is probably really simple but I don't understand it.
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/environment/paths.html
This is the Oracle documentation on the classpath, and is essential reading for any Java developer.
If you are using Spring Boot, I assume you are also using Maven/Gradle or some equivalent. If you follow their standard project structure, src/main/resources will be on the classpath and you can put your js/css there.
However, before going further I strongly advise you to read the above article as it really is quite fundamental to how the Java language works.
They should go to the 'resources/static' folder.
Anything placed in src/main/resources will be placed in your classpath if you are using a tool like Maven/Gradle.
Depending on how you setup your project, you may need to create a fat jar in order for Spring Boot Admin to pick up the files. You can look at the contents of your jar to see if that is necessary. Some IDEs like IntellliJ will create a fat jar for when you run your project from the IDE, but the jars created for deployment are not fat jars.

How to compile servlet and existing package for tomcat

Sorry, I'm very new to java servlets. I have an existing java package (that I built and ran in eclipse, did not compile) that runs fine on its own. I have a sample servlet in another folder. I'd like to compile all of this so it can run on a tomcat server. I know a javac will compile a class, but which one do I compile if this is a servlet AND another package? Do I have to list ALL classes, can I list just the package names? Do I need to create a single .war file or multiple .war/.jar files?
Sorry, my use of Java up to now has been in Eclipse. I can compile and run a single class, but a complex environment with multiple packages with a target platform of tomcat is leaving me lost as to 'where I begin.
You can do following:
1) First project should be able to create a jar file.
2) In the Second project ( Servlet) ,you can right click on the folder of the dynamic web project( I assume you have created it as DWP) , and click Properties --> Deployment assembly. Here you can add reference to other projects and external jars.
3) Once you are able to do this setup, you can try 'exporting' your second project as war.
This is just a naive way to start as I do not want you to overwhelm with complexity of multi module development for a beginner. But will point you to m2e plugin in eclipse for something called "Dependency Management" . This plugin will help you manage much more bigger and complex projects. Do spend some time on http://www.mkyong.com/maven/how-to-create-a-web-application-project-with-maven/ to understand maven and how to it works before attempting Maven in eclipse with m2e plugin.

Benefits in Android to importing a library internally vs externally

Post ADT 17, non-Android libraries need to be included either in the "libs" folders of the project or exported via the "Order and Export" tab in the build path. What's the difference (if any) between importing a library externally:
And internally:
Is there an advantage to importing a library in a way that it is included in the "Android Dependencies" group?
How do you add external jar dependencies into your Android project's build path (internally or externally) make no difference on the actual build process (more specifically at compile and dex step), all it does is to tell build process where to looking for the required jars at compile and dex step.
The Android Dependencies element shown in Java Build Path - Libraries window is just another abstract layer that ADT plugin used for managing/grouping jar dependencies. where your external jar files (in your case android-support-v4.jar) appears (inside or outside Android Dependencies) in that window makes no difference.
Since r17, dependencies management has been much improved, and it is recommended to use libs/ directory store all jar dependencies (refer to you internal way), which is considered as a automation approach (as ADT plugin becomes more smarter now), see Revisions for ADT 17.0.0:
New build features
Added feature to automatically setup JAR dependencies. Any .jar files in the /libs folder are added to the build configuration (similar to how the Ant build system works). Also, .jar files needed by library projects are also automatically added to projects that depend on those library projects. (more info)
However, you can still use the old way (refer to you external way) if you prefer, which is considered as a manual approach (as ADT plugin was stupid before), see Recent Changes‎ for r17 Release:
Important: If you are still referencing jar libraries manually instead of putting them under libs/ be aware of the following:
If the project is a Library project, these jar libraries will not be automatically visible to application projects. You should really move these to libs/
If the project is an application, this can work but you must make sure to mark the jar files as exported.
Is there an advantage to importing a library in a way that it is included in the "Android Dependencies" group?
Automation vs. Manual from dependency management perspective, automation is always considered as more errorless than manual in the world of computer science.
The number one, show stopping, 'I can't believe they didn't test this', disadvantage of putting external jars in the libs directory is that you can't set the javadocs location for them, as the option shows as 'None (non modifiable)'.
Hence I still use Export option in build properties
It has to do with library dependency management of Android. for details see http://tools.android.com/recent/dealingwithdependenciesinandroidprojects
From the Eclipse FAQ
An internal resource resides in some project in the workbench and is therefore managed by the workbench; like other resources, these resources can be version managed by the workbench. An external resource is not part of the workbench and can be used only by reference. For example, a JRE is often external and very large, and there is no need to associate it with a VCM system.
So, quite simply, if you want to be able to manage a JAR as part as the project, exposing it to SCM and such, then treat it as a internal resource otherwise, treat it as a external resource. It will not make any difference in the APK produced in the end, its simply a eclipse thing.
If you want to avoid creating a copy each time you want to use your library, treat it as a external resource. But, can I suggest you look into maven and the android maven plugin, maven has a bit of a learning curve (especially if you are used to "make" or "ant" style build scripts), but it is very much worth the effort.

Deploy Maven artifacts to <container>/shared/lib for Eclipse debugging?

I'm working with some very old, monolithic software that is basically a heavily customized JBoss deployment. Unfortunately, this means that JBoss can't be started from the "Servers" view in Eclipse, it must be started as a Windows service or via the command line. There are multiple WARs/EARs, but the WAR classloaders are rarely used and most of the actual class files are located in jboss/shared/lib as .jars.
We need a way to run a Maven build in Eclipse (via m2e) and deploy the class files in the resulting .jar to C:/product/jboss/shared/lib so that when we start JBoss, we can use Eclipse to debug (as a remote java application). Ideally, the artifact that Maven pushes will not overwrite the existing .jar file that was originally installed. For example, if the Maven project builds an artifact named myjar-1.0.0.jar, we need a way to deploy the classes inside of myjar-1.0.0.jar to C:/product/jboss/shared/lib/classes so that they are picked up by the classloader prior to C:/product/jboss/shared/lib/myjar-1.0.0.jar, which was installed with the product.
Currently, our (very hacky) solution is this:
Under the project configuration's Java Build Path > Source tab, we use the "symlink" functionality under Advanced to map the Default Output Directory (e.g. project/target/classes) to a class folder (e.g. C:/product/jboss/shared/lib/classFolder). This modifies the .project file, which is checked into source control.
We build the project normally with a m2e launcher (e.g. clean install).
Assuming the Maven build is successful, we run an Eclipse project build. This pushes the class files to C:/product/jboss/shared/lib/classFolder:
We restart JBoss. Since classFolders take precedence over jars, JBoss will load the classes in C:/product/jboss/shared/lib/classFolder, which are identical to the classes in our Eclipse workspace.
We attach to JBoss and debug the project as a remote java application.
Pros:
We're able to push our new classes to JBoss and test them without backing up the original jars and copy/pasting the new ones by hand (jar hell).
Cons:
We're compiling twice -- once with the maven-compiler-plugin, and
once with an Eclipse project build (Java Builder).
The symlink functionality is hit or miss in my experience. Sometimes we need to
do the refresh project/close project/build project dance to get it to
work.
Is there a better way to do this? I cannot force them to restructure the project so heavily that all deployables are container-agnostic WARs, but our developers need to be able to make changes and quickly test them without manually copy/pasting .jars.
How old is old?
Have you looked at the Cargo plugin?
http://cargo.codehaus.org/Quick+start
It can deploy to JBoss 3.x.
It has a Java API so you should be able to write something to extend it to do what you want.
Why are you trying to deploying classes instead of jar files?
You can still remote debug via Eclipse with jar files.
Worst case scenario - use Ant.
Maven is not designed for this kind of stuff, trying to force it to work will just cause you pain.
Once you have got Maven generated the right artifacts, work out what you would do manually and then script it via Ant.
I would try looking at the maven-dependency-plugin which has the possibility of copying artifacts to different location.
Please check your Deployment Assembly (project -> properties -> Deployment Assembly) and verify if your maven libs are there.

Java classpath for dynamic web project

Hi all i have very rare problem which needs to be solved.
Problem/issue:
I have a dynamic web project which is already built and i have war file of that project.
I need to apply some customizations on top of the war file given to me.
Using maven or ant am able to compile the custom code written by me and able to add produced class files to the war file.
But the this is happening for final war file build.
when i want to test my code in eclipse. the war file build and deployed in jboss plugin contains only the class files produced out of java files written by me..........
Please help me how can i modify the .classpath file of my project so that a jboss publish can build a war file using the dependent war file which can run on eclipse-jboss to test my custom code....
Advance Thanks.....
Not a rare problem.
What you need to combine two web applications (wars) together. You have your customization war on which you need to overlay the existing web application.
It looks like you have already solved it from build perspective and looking for Eclipse support. To my knowledge, Eclipse lacks support for this. You probably need to manually do the necessary configuration to make this happen.
It looks strange to me to have two WAR files.
Perhaps you have to consider to package your customizations in a JAR and inserting that jar in the original WAR file.
Otherwise, another solution, and what I do often with open-source project to customize is to have three projects in your workspace.
PRJ-src (with your original sources/JAR/WAR)
PRJ-custom (which depends of the previous one); This project contains only the new classes or custom spring xml files (with injection of my own classes)
PRJ (the merge of the two previous projects)
I create an Ant task in the 3rd project which takes the 1st project (PRJ-src) and merge with the 2nd project (PRJ-custom). This is possible to do so with Maven as well.
Then this is the only project I deploy in my app server (tomcat / jboss).

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