Introduction to Eclipse Web Tools platform V1.0

Preliminary knowledge

About this tutorial

This tutorial uses the tools included in the WEB Tools platform (WTP), the Derby database Eclipse plug-in, and the JBoss application server to build a sample Java 2 Pla containing Java Server Page (JSP), servlet, and session beans Tform,enterprise Edition (Java EE) application. The sample application is a simple bookmark store program.

Prerequisite

Before you learn this tutorial, you should have a basic understanding of Java EE, including JSP, servlet, and EJB. You should also be familiar with the use of Eclipse. Finally, understand the simple Structured Query Language (SQL). This tutorial does not cover all the features provided by WTP.

System Requirements

The UNIX®, linux®, Mac OS X, or microsoft®windows® systems you use must have:

A working Java virtual machine (JVM)

Enough hard disk space to accommodate the packages listed later

Enough space to create the workspace and associated projects for this tutorial

Enough space to create a new database and Java EE Enterprise Archive (EAR) file

Enough physical memory to run Eclipse, JBoss, and Derby at the same time

Before you begin your study, you must install some packages on your system:

Download and install version 1.4.2 of the Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) Software Development Kit (SDK). This tutorial uses J2SE 1.4.2_10.

Download and release the following to the table of contents for later use:

JBoss application Server 3.2.3. tgz or zip versions are available. Make sure to download the full release package and do not download the jbossweb-tomcat* version.

xdoclet-lib1.2.3. tgz or zip versions are available.

Download the WTP V1.0 and configure it in the Eclipse IDE installation. If you want to add WTP to an existing Eclipse installation, check to see if the appropriate prerequisites have been installed before installing WTP. Alternatively, if you are using Linux or Windows, you can download the WTP all-in-one release. This release contains the complete Eclipse IDE, WTP prerequisites, and WTP V1.0.

Download Apache Derby V10.1.2 Eclipse plug-ins (Derby_core_plugin_10.1.2.zip and Derby_ui_plugin_1.1.0.zip). Each plug-in is installed by extracting the zip file into the Eclipse IDE's installation directory under the Eclipse folder.

Eclipse WTP Basics

Eclipse users have long been using Java development tools (JDT) contained in the IDE to develop Java classes and applications. Although JDT is sufficient for a basic Java application, it does not provide the features needed to develop the Java EE application that contains the JSP, servlet, and Enterprise JavaBean (EJB). So, WTP was created to add support for Java development to the Eclipse IDE.

Eclipse WTP extends eclipse in two key ways. First, it adds editor and content support for the Java EE related file format and object type. Types include JSPs, servlet, Session beans, and XML. WTP also extends run/debug support in Eclipse, supporting tasks like starting/stopping application servers and executing JSPs.

The Eclipse WTP also contains definitions of tools platforms and APIs that software vendors can use to create Java EE tools. Java EE suppliers, such as BEA Systems, Borland, IBM and JBoss, have all accepted the adoption of WTP. WTP V1.0 can be found in commercial products such as BEA Workshop and IBM rational®application Developer for Websphere®software. This tutorial does not discuss the role of WTP as a tool platform, but rather focuses on using WTP to create a Java EE application.