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Configuration

webforJ can be configured using a project's POM file and an installation plugin designed to make deploying an application easy. The following sections outline the various options that can be changed to achieve the desired result, both with and without the provided webforJ installation plugin.

Using the installation plugin​

Tip!

This is the best option for most users, especially those who have followed one of the installation guides on this site.

When using the installation plugin, the tags within the <configuration> tag can be changed to configure your application. Editing the following lines in the default POM file that comes with the HelloWorldJava starting repository will result in these changes:

<plugin>
    <groupId>com.webforj</groupId>
    <artifactId>webforj-install-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>${webforj.version}</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <goals>
                <goal>install</goal>
            </goals>
    </execution>
    </executions>
    <configuration>
        <deployurl>http://localhost:8888/webforj-install</deployurl>
        <classname>samples.HelloWorldApp</classname>
        <publishname>hello-world</publishname>
        <debug>true</debug>
    </configuration>
</plugin>

  • <deployurl> This tag is the URL where the webforJ endpoint for the project installation can be reached. For users running their application locally, a default port of 8888 is used. For users running Docker, the port should be changed to the port that was entered when configuring the Docker container.

  • <classname> This tag should contain the package and class name of the application you wish to run. This is helpful for projects that contain multiple classes that extend the App class, and allows you to choose which program to run from the base URL.

  • <publishname> This tag specifies the name of the application in the published URL. Generally, to run your program, you'll navigate to a URL similar to http://localhost:8888/webapp/<publishname>, replacing <publishname> with the value in the <publishname> tag. Then, the program specified by the <classname> tag is run.

  • <debug> The debug tag can be set to true or false, and will determine whether or not the browser's console displays error messages thrown by your program.

Running a specific application​

It is possible to specify which class that extends App within your project is displayed by modifying the URL in one of the following ways:

1. Modify the URL Path. For example, if your application is running on localhost:8888, the publish name is MyProgram, and you want to run the Java class MyApp that extends the App class, the URL would look as follows:

http://localhost:8888/webapp/MyProgram/MyApp

2. Use Query Parameters. The same result can be achieved using query parameters. Taking the same example, with localhost:8888 as the port, MyProgram as the publish name and apps.MyApp as the full name of the class to run, the URL would be:

http://localhost:8888/webapp/MyProgram?class=apps.MyApp

info

When using the query parameter method, it is important to include the full name of the desired class, including package names.

Without the installation plugin​

warning

This is not the recommended method of configuring your application, and should be used only if needed.

Default class​

It is possible to configure webforJ to automatically load an application from the list of available applications that extend the App class.

Editing the BBj config file​

One option is to set the classname within your config.bbx file, located in the cfg/ directory of your BBj installation. To do so, add the following line, replacing your.class.name.here with the full classname as it appears on the list of classes:

SET DWCJCLASSNAME=your.class.name.here

Using the Enterprise Manager​

Another option is to set the default class within the Enterprise Manager by adding the following line as a program argument within your Application:

class=your.class.name.here

Replace your.class.name.here with the full class name of your App as it appears on the list of classes on the welcome page.

Once either of these options have been completed, the specified class will always load instead of displaying a list of available classes.

Debug mode​

It's also possible to run your application in debug mode, which allows the console to print comprehensive error messages.

The first option is to change the config.bbx file, found in the cfg/ directory of your BBj installation. Add the line SET DEBUG=1 to the file and save your changes.

Additionally, in the Enterprise Manager, you can add the following as a program argument:

DEBUG

Completing either of these allows the browser console to print error messages.