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Analog of PHP .htaccess for JSP/Glassfish

How is it possible to restrict files(PDF) access in JSP/Glassfish so they can be opened only from a source code not with a straight url. For PHP projects I used .htaccess.

Anything under the webapp's WEB-INF directory cannot be accessed via direct URL, but application code can access it. This is a good place to put internal resources, config, JSPs, etc.

Wow,
.htaccess is an Apache HTTPD feature. As far as I know there isn't anything comparable in GlassFish. What you could do is: Write a Servlet or Servlet Filter which takes care of this and/or map the *.pdf extension in web.xml to it..
Thanks,
M

use of [context].xml and web.xml for configuring web app

I just learned that I could retrieve parameters and other stuff from "ServletContext" (i.e. by overriding contextInitialized).
Reading tomcats context doc reveals that I could set parameters via web.xml (used as default values) and then overwrite them with an [context].xml file.
First question: is this a good way to set default properties and let server administrators overwrite them?
First is there an overview that shows all kinds of attributes/parameters that are available with it's tag used in tomcats context xml, the tag used in web xml, how the retrieve it from within java and a use case / example for what kind of stuff a parameter should be used?
By toying around with it I am facing the following problem: If I deploy the web app via tomcats web interface the [context].xml is completly ignored (console states that it is deployed but 2nd is null)
To cut a long story short: how to properly use web.xml and [context].xml - the link below isn't much help.

Well first off, declaring (servlet/application) context attributes via web.xml is better, as this is the official Java EE supported way, so if you declare them like this they will work when you deploy your app in other App Servers other than Tomcat.
Second, I believe the Tomcat rule for overriding param values is:
if you have a $CATALINA_BASE/conf/context.xml and you have the same attribute declared in it and in web.xml, the one in web.xml will have priority
if you have a $CATALINA_BASE/conf/context.xml as well as a context.xml file inside your application (in the META-INF directory) both with the same parameter, the one in the META-INF/context.xml will have priority.
Finally, if you have all three files decalring the same parameter, the one in the web.xml will have priority.

Serve files from a folder different of context directory in a servlet container

I got a situation that I must serve files from different folders then the one of the context my web app is running. As an example, suppose my web app is running in a servlet context on "/opt/tomcat/webapps/ROOT/" and I must serve files existent in "/opt/my_other_folder/". These folders can be changed in runtime by the client, so I can't simply add a new context pointing to these directories. I would like a solution that I wouldn't have to rewrite a web server only for that. Also, the product I work on is generic, so I can't have a solution specific to some servlet container.
Thanks!

If you're only serving files, I would consider fronting your servlet container with something like Apache HTTP Server, where you could simply use its various directives to provide a "virtual directory" pointing to an easily configured location.
Otherwise, you could write and configure a standard Java servlet that would do essentially the same thing - storing the actual path in a Java properties file that would be read by the servlet. But while this isn't a lot of work, it would be significantly more work that the above Apache HTTP Server solution. This would be very similar to several of the answers posted at Servlet for serving static content . Specifically, you could either use or extend upon Apache Tomcat's DefaultServlet. (There are some Tomcat-specific classes used in here, but they could be easily replaced with generic equivalents.) http://balusc.blogspot.com/2009/02/fileservlet-supporting-resume-and.html looks even closer to what you'd be looking for, and it is completely generic - while still having some additional, significant features.
Either of these options would be very generic, and not specific to any particular servlet container.

How to retrieve weblogic domain home?

hi guys I want to retrieve the name and path of the domain of weblogic from my start up class. how can i achieve this?

Take a look at the getCurrentDirectory() of ServerRuntimeMBean

I haven't confirmed this, but you may be able to get at this information using an Application Life Cycle Listener.
An example here.
You can get a AppDeploymentMBea from the ApplicationContext in the ApplicationLifecycleEvent. AppDeploymentMBea has an InstallDir.

Java EE:
ServletContext with a Listener can use getRealPath("..."), provided you let your deployment be not as war (where there are no files), but for instance as unpacked war. Otherwise getRealPath would yield null. Try getRealPath.

Where to put application-wide settings in Java (Servlet)?

In ASP.NET, there is web.config which can hold application-wide settings. Is there a corresponding file (residing outside of the war or jar archive) for a Java EE Servlet?
What I need is some place to point out a configuration file, which currently holds four attributes which in turn, taken together, leads to the database where the rest of the data and configuration is stored. (Server, database, username and password.) These values need to be easy to change without repackaging and redeploying the entire application, hence the configuration file, but hardcoding the path to the configuration file in the application (even if it is as a constant) seems far from optimal.
Any hints? I've tried Google but found very little that seemed relevant - and what I did find appeared hideously over-engineered for my needs.

In ASP.NET, there is web.config which can hold application-wide settings. Is there a corresponding file (residing outside of the war or jar archive) for a Java EE Servlet?
That's the web.xml. You can define settings as <context-param> entries.
<context-param>
<param-name>foo</param-name>
<param-value>bar</param-value>
</context-param>
It's available by ServletContext#getInitParameter(). The ServletContext is in turn available anywhere.
String foo = getServletContext().getInitParameter("foo"); // Contains "bar"
You can also access it by EL.
#{initParam.foo} <!-- prints "bar" -->
What I need is some place to point out a configuration file, which currently holds four attributes which in turn, taken together, leads to the database where the rest of the data and configuration is stored. (Server, database, username and password.) These values need to be easy to change without repackaging and redeploying the entire application, hence the configuration file, but hardcoding the path to the configuration file in the application (even if it is as a constant) seems far from optimal.
As per the emphasis, I'd use a properties file for this particular purpose which is then placed in a path outside the WAR. You just need to add this path to the Java runtime classpath. Then you can obtain it as classpath resource:
Properties properties = new Properties();
properties.load(Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader().getResourceAsStream("filename.properties"));
// ...
However, with the particular sole purpose to serve a DB connection, you're indeed better off with a servletcontainer-managed datasource as answered by Qwerky. All you possibly would need to configure is then just the datasource name.

If this is a web app then you'd be better served configuring the database connection as a resource on the server, then getting your app to retrieve it using JNDI. Your app server will have documentation on how to do this, its a basic task.
99% of serious web apps do this, the other 1% should.

You can have your application load an arbitrary external file by simply passing the path as a command-line parameter (to the servlet container startup script). Then store the values in the ServletContext