Prerequisites

Note the knowledge that the user needs to complete the tutorial. If there are better resources for beginners, link to them.

This tutorial assumes you have some basic knowledge of, or programming experience with, the following technologies.

• JMX
• NetBeans IDE

Software Needed for the Tutorial

List all the software that is needed and where to download them. Note that for NetBeans builds, just link to http://www.netbeans.info/downloads/index.php. If there is an example project the user builds on, link to it here as well. Just include the sample project in the zip file you send the web team, we will post it and correct the link.

Before you begin, you need to install the following software on your computer:

• NetBeans IDE 5.5 (download).
• Java Standard Development Kit (JDK™) version 1.4.2 (download) or 5.0 (download)

Notations Used in the Tutorial

If you use any variables, like <NETBEANS_HOME> or <PROJECT_HOME>, list them here.

• <NETBEANS_HOME> - the NetBeans IDE installation directory
• <PROJECT_HOME> - directory that contains the project you create.

Tutorial Exercises

• Exercise 0: Install and configure the tutorial environment
• Exercise 1: Setting Up a Web Application Project
• Exercise 2: Creating and Editing Web Application Source Files
• Exercise 3: Exercise 3: Building and Running a Web Application Project

Creating a New Web Application Project

Guidelines for outlining steps:

• Put one step on each line.
• Put a <P> tag before each li to provide spacing between steps.
• Don't make the names of menus, commands, or buttons bold.
• Put all code, files, and directories in <TT>
• Put all code snippets of one line or longer in <PRE CLASS="examplecode">. Try to break it up so that the maximum width is less than 600 pixels. Note that users will often copy and paste directly from the code, so don't use hidden tags like <BR> and color tags, since they would then end up in the pasted code and cause compilation errors.
• Images should be in their own <P> tag inside of the containing li tag. They should be center-aligned and no wider than 600 pixels. You must provide alt text for the image. Images should be saved in PNG format and should have as small a file size as possible.

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, this directory is referred to as <PROJECT_HOME>.
4. Select the recommendations to which your source structure will adhere, which is purely a personal preference:

   • 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 server 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 <PROJECT_HOME>/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.

Summary

Summarize what the user accomplished in the exercise.

In this exercise, you created a new web application project, specified the file layout of the project, and configured the server to which the application is deployed.

Creating a Java Package and a Java Source File

1. Expand 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 > Java Class. Enter NameHandler in the Class Name text box and type org.me.hello in the Package drop-down. Click Finish.
3. In the Source Editor, declare a field by typing the following line directly below the class declaration:

       String name;

4. Add the following line in the nameHandler() method:

       name = null;

Generating Getter and Setter Methods

1. Right-click the word name in the field declaration at the start of the class 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 name field and its access level is changed to private. The Java class should now look similar to this:

   Put all code snippets of one line or longer in <PRE CLASS="examplecode">. Try to break it up so that the maximum width is less than 600 pixels. Note that users will often copy and paste directly from the code, so don't use hidden tags like <BR> and color tags, since they would then end up in the pasted code and cause compilation errors.

       package org.me.hello;
   
       /**
        *
        * @author Administrator
        */
   
       public class NameHandler {
   
   	private String name;
   
           /** Creates a new instance of NameHandler */
           public NameHandler() {
              setName(null);
           }
   
           public String getName() {
              return name;
           }
   
           public void setName(String name) {
              this.name = name;
           }
       
       }

Editing the Default JavaServer Pages File

1. Expand the HelloWeb project node and the Web Pages node. Note that the IDE has created a default JavaServer Pages file, index.jsp, for you. When you create the project, the IDE opened the index.jsp file in the Source Editor.
2. Select the index.jsp Source Editor tab. The index.jsp file now has focus in the Source Editor.
3. In the Palette on the right side of the Source Editor, expand HTML Forms and drag a Form item below the <h1> tags in the Source Editor:

   Images should be in their own <P> tag and end with a <BR> tag. They should be center-aligned and no wider than 600 pixels. If the image is larger than 600 pixels, make a smaller copy and link that to the full sized image in a separate window. You must provide ALT text for the image. Images should be saved in PNG format and should have as small a file size as possible.

   
   

   Set the following values:

   • Action: response.jsp
   • Method: GET
   • Name: Name Input Form

   Click OK. The Form is added to the index.jsp file.

4. Drag a Text Input item to just before the </form> tag.

   Set the following values:

   • Name: name
   • Type: text

   Click OK. The Text Input is added between the <form> tags.

5. Drag a Button item to just before the </form> tag.

   Set the following values:

   • Label: OK
   • Type: submit

   Click OK. The Button is added between the <form> tags.

6. Type Enter your name: in front of the <input> tag and change the text between the <h1> tags to Entry Form.

   The tags between the <body> tags now look as follows:

<h1>Entry Form</h1><form name="Name Input Form" action="response.jsp" method="GET">
Enter your name: <input type="text" name="name" value="" />
<input type="submit" value="OK" /></form>

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.
   

   The new response.jsp opens in the Source Editor.

3. In the Palette on the right side of the Source Editor, expand JSP and drag a Use Bean item right below the <body> tag in the Source Editor.

   Set the following values:

   • ID: mybean
   • Class: org.me.hello.NameHandler
   • Scope: session

   Click OK. The Use Bean is added below the <body> tag.

4. Add a Get Bean Property item and a Set Bean Property item from the Palette. Then change the code so that the tags between the <body> tags look as follows:

<jsp:useBean id="mybean" scope="session" class="org.me.hello.NameHandler" />
<jsp:setProperty name="mybean" property="*" />
<h1>Hello, <jsp:getProperty name="mybean" property="name" />!</h1>

Summary

In this exercise, you created JavaBeans object to get and set the name of a user, added a form to the default JSP file in which to enter this information, and created a new JSP file to display the output.

Building and Deploying the Web Application

1. Choose Run > Run Main Project (F6) from the Run menu.

   The IDE builds the web application and deploys it, using the server you specified when creating the project.

Testing the Web Application

1. Enter your name in the text box on your deployed index.jsp page:

   

   Click OK. The response.jsp page should open and greet you:

   

Summary

In this exercise, you built and deployed the web application. You also test the web application functionality.