[jboss-user] [JBoss Tools] - Use single folder for WebResources, avoid copying static resources to standalone/deployments/

[Rainer Zufall]

Rainer Zufall [https://community.jboss.org/people/mmg1] created the discussion

"Use single folder for WebResources, avoid copying static resources to standalone/deployments/"

To view the discussion, visit: https://community.jboss.org/message/764667#764667

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After many years coding with Java EE and JBoss, there is still a advantage when using PHP+Apache/Nginx/XAMPP: immediate visiblity of changes on static web resources (HTML, JS, CSS). The reason is clear: everything is in a *single* folder, PHP files doesn't need to be compiled/recompiled. But static resources doesn't need to be recompiled, so why not let JBoss directly serve static resource instaed of let Eclipse copying them to a secondary folder?

*PROBLEM*
Eclipse *tries* to detect changes in Java classes and static web resources in WebContent (HTML, JS, CSS), but in many cases it takes many seconds until modifications on static resources in WebContent\ are visible on JBoss.

I noticied that Eclipse *copies* folder WebContent\ to JBOSS\standalone\deployments\ when it detects changes. In my case the folders are c:\Users\dell\workspace\DynamicWeb\WebContent\ and d:\software\jboss7.1.1Final\standalone\deployments\DynamicWeb.war\.

The problem is *not* that Eclipse is not smart enough to detect changes immediately (is there no inotify in Windows 7?), but that there are two *seperate* folders that it needs to copy/synchronize.

*SOLUTION*
Why not let JBoss AS directly serve static resources from c:\Users\dell\workspace\DynamicWeb\WebContent\ to avoid introducing the lag introduced by copying folders? This avoids the need for a second folder in JBOSS\standalone\deployments\DynamicWeb.war\

When there is only a single folder, there is no need to copy or redeploy a project when only simple static resources (HTML, JS, CSS) changed. Only when Java classes are changes, but that's OK and not avoidable.

Also, I don't understand why the server adapter "JBossAS Tools" uses manual deploy with "touch DynamicWeb.war.dodeploy" instead of directly using the JBoss API to deploy and make changes visible?

*PREQUISITES*
I downloaded and extracted fresh copies of "Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers" and "JBoss AS Brontes 7.1.1Final". I extracted JBoss AS in d:\software\jboss7.1.1Final\.

In Eclipse I switched to the "Java EE" perspective and addedd JBoss as a new Server. For this I needed to download a new adapter called "JBossAS Tools". I didn't install complete JBoss Tools for Eclipse.

I created a new "Dynamic Web Project" in Eclipse. The project files are located in c:\Users\dell\workspace\DynamicWeb\. I added the project ("Add and Remove") to the JBoss AS.
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