Installing the Software

Before you begin, you need to download the following software onto your computer:

• Java Standard Development Kit (JDK™) version 1.4.2 (download) or 5.0 (download)
• NetBeans IDE 4.1 (download).
• Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 plugin(download).
  

Next, you need to install the software on your computer.

1. Install the Java Standard Development Kit
2. Install Netbeans 4.1
3. Unzip the plugin file you downloaded using any zip program. (The instructions from this point onward will reference the English version of the zip file - j2ee_sun_ws61_nbm-1_1_1.zip). When you unzip the plugin file, a directory named "WebServerPluginFiles" will be created at the same directory where the zip file was downloaded to. Inside the new directory, you will find the plugin file "org-netbeans-modules-j2ee-sun-ws61.nbm.
4. Launch the Netbeans IDE. In the IDE main menu, select the "Tools" menu and select the "Update Center" menu option. When the Update Center Wizard opens, select the "Install Manually Downloaded Modules(.nbm Files)" radio button and then click the "Next" button to continue.
5. When the next screen appears, click the "Add..." button and navigate to the "WebServerPluginFiles" directory that was created earlier. Select the "org-netbeans-modules-j2ee-sun-ws61.nbm" file from the WebServerPluginFiles directory. When the plugin appears in the "Modules to Install" list, click the "Next" button to continue.
6. When the "Select Modules to Install screen appears, select Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 in the "Include in Install" list on the right side of the screen, and then click the "Next" button to continue.
7. You will then be asked to accept the license agreement for the plugin. Click the "Accept" button to accept the license, and the Update Center will download the plugin into the IDE. When the download is complete, click the "Next" button to continue.
8. In the "View Certificates and Install Modules" screen, select the "Include" checkBox belonging to the Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 - version 1.1.1.1.1 module name that is listed. A "Module Certificate" dialog box will open. Click the "Accept" button in the dialog box to accept the certificate which is signed by Sun. After the dialog closes, click the "Finish" button on the "View Certificates and Install Modules" screen to complete the installation. You are now ready to proceed to the next step to register the Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 in the IDE.

Registering the Server

Before you can register Sun Java System Web Server 6.1, you need to download the Web Server and install it. You can install the Web Server on the computer where the Netbeans IDE was installed or you can install it on a remote computer. Download the Web Server software onto the computer you want to run the Web Server on.

• Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 (download)

After you have completed the download, run the Web Server Installer to install the Web Server. When the installation has been completed, you can then register an instance of the Web Server with the IDE.  You can choose to register a local instance on the same machine, or you can choose  the Web Server 6.1 running on a remote machine.

1. Choose Tools > Server Manager from the main window.
2. Click Add Server. Select the Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 and give a name to the instance. Then click Next.
3. Give the location of the local instance of the web server or choose the remote web server. Specify the server information i.e host, port, username and password of the admin server.
4. The IDE displays a server node for your Web Server in the Runtime window under the Servers node.  For more information on controlling the Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 life cycle from the IDE, the JDBC resource listing and various things you can do with the Web Server, please refer to the Netbeans IDE online help documentation.
5. For more information about the Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 configurations see Sun Java Web Server 6.1 Admistrator's guide
   
   

Creating a New Web Application Project

1. Choose File > New Project. Under Categories, select Web. Under Projects, select Web Application and click Next.
2. Under Project Name, enter HelloWeb. Notice that the Context Path is /HelloWeb.
3. Change the Project Location to any directory on your computer. From now on, we will refer to this directory as $PROJECTHOME.
4. Select the recommendations to which your source structure will adhere:
   • Java BluePrints. For more information, see http://java.sun.com/blueprints/code/projectconventions.html.
   • Jakarta. For more information, see http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat/tomcat-5.0-doc/.
5. Select the Sun Java System Web Server 6.1  to which you want to deploy your application. Only servers that are registered with the IDE are listed.
6. Leave the Set as Main Project checkbox selected. Click Finish.
   The IDE creates the $PROJECTHOME/HelloWeb project folder. The project folder contains all of your sources and project metadata, such as the project's Ant build script. The HelloWeb project opens in the IDE. You can view its logical structure in the Projects window and its file structure in the Files window.

Creating a Java Package and JavaBeans Component

1. Expand the HelloWeb project node and the Source Packages node. Note the Source Packages node only contains an empty default package node.
2. Right-click the Source Packages node and choose New > File/Folder. Under Categories, select JavaBeans Objects. Under File Types, select JavaBeans Component and click Next. Enter NameHandler in the Class Name text box and enter org.me.hello in the Package combo box. Click Finish.

Editing the JavaBeans Component

1. Expand the NameHandler.java node and double-click the NameHandler class node. In the Source Editor, delete the following part of the class declaration:

       extends Object implements Serializable

2. Expand the NameHandler class node and the Fields node. Three default fields are provided. Right-click the PROP_SAMPLE_PROPERTY field and choose Delete from the contextual menu. Do the same for the other two fields. Notice that the lines of code that use these deleted fields are underlined in red in the Source Editor.
3. Expand the Methods node and delete all the default methods.
4. In the Source Editor, type the following code in line 16, directly below the class declaration:

       String name;

5. Expand the Constructors node and double-click the NameHandler constructor. In the Source Editor, edit the NameHandler() constructor by replacing its default code (propertySupport = new PropertyChangeSupport(this);) in line 18 with the following:

       name = null;

6. Press Alt-Shift-F in the Source Editor to update the import statements so that your code specifies only those that are needed.

Renaming a Field

1. Right-click the word name in the field declaration on line 15 and choose Refactor > Rename.
2. In the New Name field, type username. Then click Next.
   The Refactoring window previews all of the references that will be changed to point to the newly named field. Double-click any reference to jump to its location in the Source Editor. The check boxes indicate which of the references will be refactored.
3. Click Do Refactoring. All checked references to the field are renamed.

Generating Getter and Setter Methods

1. Right-click the word username in the field declaration on line 15 and choose Refactor > Encapsulate Fields. Click Next to run the command with its default options.
2. Click Do Refactoring. Getter and setter methods are generated for the username field and its access level is changed to private. The JavaBeans component should now look like this:

       package org.me.hello;
       public class NameHandler {
           private String username;
           public NameHandler() {
               setUsername(null);
           }
           public String getUsername() {
               return username;
           }
           public void setUsername(String username) {
               this.username = username;
           }
       }

Editing the Default JavaServer Pages File

1. Expand the HelloWeb project node and the Web Pages node. Note the IDE has created a default JavaServer Pages page, index.jsp, for you.
2. Double-click index.jsp. It opens in the Source Editor.
3. Paste or type the following code into the body of index.jsp, to replace the default <body> tags and their contents:

    <body>
        <form method="post" action="response.jsp">
        Enter your name: <input type="text" name="username">
        <br>
        <input type="submit" value="Ok">
        </form>
    </body>

Creating a JavaServer Pages File

1. Expand the HelloWeb project node and the Web Pages node.
2. Right-click the Web Pages node and choose New > JSP, name the JavaServer Pages file response, and click Finish.
   response.jsp opens in the Source Editor.
3. Below the <body> tag, type <jsp:u and wait. When the code completion box appears, see the popup Javadoc for the <jsp:useBean> syntax. If the box does not appear, press Ctrl-Space. Press Enter.
4. Press Space and the project offers all the variables that are applicable to <jsp:useBean>. Select id and type "mybean" between the quotes.
5. Press Space after the final quote and select class. Press Ctrl-Space between the quotes to open the code completion box. The project offers code completion for all packages and classes in the project's compilation classpath. Select org and press Enter.
6. Enter a period after org and press Ctrl-Space. The code completion box opens again. Select me, and continue using code completion such that the line reads as follows:

       <jsp:useBean id="mybean" class="org.me.hello.NameHandler" />

7. Paste or type the following code into the body of response.jsp, directly below the <jsp:useBean> tag:

    <jsp:setProperty name="mybean" property="*" />
    <h1>Hello, <jsp:getProperty name="mybean" property="username" />!</h1>

Editing Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 specific deployment configuration file

Building a Project

• Choose Build > Build Main Project (F11). The HelloWeb project is built.

Running the Main Project

1. Choose Run > Run Main Project (F6) from the Run menu. Double-click the Output window's titlebar to maximize it so you can see all the output. Finally, it deploys the web application on the Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 you specified when creating the project you specified when creating the project.  If you explode the Sun Java System Web Server 6.1 node to the virtual server level, you will see the HelloWeb under the Deployed Componets node. Double-click the Output window's titlebar again to minimize it.
2. Enter your name in the text box on your deployed index.jsp page and click OK. The response.jsp page should open and greet you.
3. Select the Files window and expand the HelloWeb project node. The build class files are in the build folder. The build WAR file is in the dist folder.
4. Press F6 to run the program again. Nothing new needs to be compiled and the program is run.

Generating Javadoc

• Right-click the project node and choose Generate Javadoc for Project. Javadoc output appears in the Output window, and your web browser opens displaying the Javadoc.

Overriding an Ant Property

1. In the Files window, expand the HelloWeb project node and the nbproject folder.
2. Double-click project.properties to view all of the Ant properties generated by the IDE for the project.
3. Copy the line containing build.dir=build. This property sets the output directory for compiled classes.
   
4. In the Files window, expand the private folder and double-click private.properties.
5. Paste the build.dir=build property into the file and change the property to read build.dir=build/production
   
6. Choose Build > Clean and Build Main Project (Shift-F11). The compiled classes are built to the build/production folder.

Setting VM Arguments

1. Open the private.properties file if it is not open already.
2. Enter a new line anywhere in the file, type run.jvmargs=-J-Xms24m -J-Xmx160m, and choose File > Save. The project will be run with the specified heap size and maximum memory.

Adding to an Ant Target

1. In the Files window, go to the nbproject folder for the HelloWeb project.
2. Double-click build-impl.xml to open it in the Source Editor. This file contains all of the Ant targets generated by the IDE. Each target has a -pre target and a -post target that you can use to add processing instructions that the IDE runs before or after running the target. Do not change the targets in this file — this file is generated automatically by the IDE and any changes you make will be lost.
3. In the Files window, go to the HelloWeb project folder and double-click build.xml. This is where you override targets from build-imp.xml.