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Setting up AppComposer

AppComposer provides a built-in web server process for testing and debugging any servlets that you build. Before you begin building your servlets, you should set up this web server so that you can see the results of your changes as you go. Once you configure the web server, all you need to do is open your browser to the web server's location to run or debug any servlets that are currently open in AppComposer.

To use the built-in web server, you need to set certain preferences.

To enable the built-in web server:

  1. Start AppComposer.
  2. Select Preferences from the Edit menu.
    Edit -> Preferences...
  3. Click the DebugServer tab.
    This tab allows you to set up a local web server for testing your work.
  4. Set WebServerEnabled to true.
  5. You have the option to change the rest of the settings, but the defaults should work for most machines:
  6. Click OK.

Now AppComposer's local web server can run and debug your servlet capsules.


About the debug server

Once you configure the local web server, you can use it through a browser to experiment with or debug your servlets. It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with its functions.

To open the debug server page:

  1. If you do not currently have any servlets running in AppComposer, open any capsule from the directory AppComposer/examples/.
  2. Open your favorite web browser to this address: http://localhost/
    If you changed the default port number while configuring the debug server in the procedure above, add a colon and the correct port number. For example: http://localhost:90/
    The debug server page opens:

    Note: Some browsers misinterpret the name localhost and try to open www.localhost.com. If you encounter this behavior, use the IP address instead of the name; open your browser to 127.0.0.1.

When you look at the debug server page it presents you with the following types of information:

Now that you have the debug server configured, you can use it to test your web applications as you go. In the next section, you will build a simple servlet and explore some of AppComposer's application-building features.



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