Webapp

Java Web Application (webapp) is a collection of servlets, HTML pages, classes and other resources bundled together and run on a servlet container. The following items can exist in a webapp:

Servlets
JavaServer Pages
Utility classes
Static documents including XHTML and images
Client side classes
Meta information that describes the webapp

Webapps provided by Magnolia

Magnolia provides the following webapps:

Empty: Not actually "empty" but minimal. Contains only basic modules such as core, UI and templating. Use for a streamlined project.
- Artifact: magnolia-empty-webapp
- Parent bundle: ce-bundle
Bundled: Same as empty plus most community modules. Use for a complete community environment.
- Artifact: magnolia-bundled-webapp
- Parent bundle: ce-bundle
Enterprise: Same as bundled plus most enterprise modules depending on license. Use for a complete enterprise environment.
- Artifact: magnolia-enterprise-webapp
- Parent bundle: ee-bundle
WebLogic: Same as enterprise but optimized for Oracle WebLogic application server.
- Artifact: magnolia-enterprise-weblogic-webapp
- Parent bundle: ee-bundle
WebSphere: Same as enterprise but optimized for IBM WebSphere application server.
- Artifact: magnolia-enterprise-websphere-webapp
- Parent bundle: ee-bundle

Best practice

Each Magnolia webapp belongs to a bundle. You should always use a webapp within a bundle to ensure that Maven dependencies work. Use one of Magnolia's bundles or create your own. CE bundles are free while EE bundles require a license.

Webapp directory structure

The directory structure is the container that holds the components of a webapp. The first step in creating a Magnolia webapp is creating this structure. The following table describes what each directory should contain.

Path	Contents
`cache/`	Files with cached content.
`docroot/`	Files extracted from `mgnl-files/docroot` in the JAR.
`logs/`	Magnolia log files.
`META-INF/`	Meta information files, e.g. from Maven.
`repositories/`	Repository.
`templates/`	Templates extracted from `mgnl-files/templates` in the JAR.
`tmp/`	Temporary work directory.
`WEB-INF/`	All resources related to the application that are not in the document root. WEB-INF directory is not part of the public document. No files contained in this directory can be served directly to a client.
`WEB-INF/bootstrap`	Bootstrap files. Empty by default.
`WEB-INF/bootstrap/common`	Bootstrapped on author and public instances.
`WEB-INF/bootstrap/author`	Bootstrapped on author instance only.
`WEB-INF/bootstrap/public`	Bootstrapped on public instance only.
`WEB-INF/classes`	Class path for manually deployed classes.
`WEB-INF/config`	Configuration files for repository and properties.
`WEB-INF/config/default`	Configuration files.
`WEB-INF/config/default/magnolia.properties`	Properties such as: repository location, persistence manager to be used, should samples be bootstrapped, should installation be done in unattended mode etc.
`WEB-INF/config/default/repositories.xml`	Defines repository configuration.
`WEB-INF/config/default/log4j.xml`	Log4j logging configuration.
`WEB-INF/config/magnoliaAuthor`	Properties used on author instance only.
`WEB-INF/config/magnoliaPublic`	Properties used on public instance only.
`WEB-INF/config/repo-config/typeOfPM.xml`	Persistence manager configuration files.
`WEB-INF/config/jaas.config`	Configuration for authentication and authorization.
`WEB-INF/lib`	JAR files.
`WEB-INF/web.xml`	Deployment descriptor. Describes configuration information for the entire web application.

Adding the Magnolia main filter to the webapp

The Magnolia main filter is registered in the web.xml file. The file only defines one filter:

<filter>
    <display-name>Magnolia global filters</display-name>
    <filter-name>magnoliaFilterChain</filter-name>
    <filter-class>info.magnolia.cms.filters.MgnlMainFilter
    </filter-class>
</filter>
<filter-mapping>
    <filter-name>magnoliaFilterChain</filter-name>
    <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    <dispatcher>REQUEST</dispatcher>
    <dispatcher>FORWARD</dispatcher>
    <dispatcher>INCLUDE</dispatcher>
    <dispatcher>ERROR</dispatcher>
</filter-mapping>

The Magnolia main filter will delegate the request to the Magnolia filter chain. The filter is also mapped to forward requests, which means that the Magnolia filter chain will be re-executed on internal forwards.

Adding the Magnolia context listener

In web.xml we also register one listener:

<listener>
    <listener-class>
    info.magnolia.cms.servlets.MgnlServletContextListener
    </listener-class>
</listener>

The listener initializes the system, starts the repository and modules, while the filter handles all requests.

Page tree

Webapp

Webapps provided by Magnolia

Webapp directory structure

Adding the Magnolia main filter to the webapp

Adding the Magnolia context listener