Simple JSP viewer

Serve JSPs in an easy way for quick-editing

Why

Sometimes front-enders need to edit jsps without having access to the actual application server to test it out. This tool enables us to see the result, and also reference any system properties needed by setting them in a properties file.

I created this in my time as part of Making Waves to ease and enhance my front-end development experience when working with the login jsps for Norgesgruppen. Their login service was basically one servlet that chose the right jsp to compile and the right css, etc, from parameters in the url.

The built-in servlet in this tool does just that, making it possible to test out all the permutations. Earlier, this was essentially coding in the dark - creating a static html and supplying it without any knowledge of how it ended up in the end (a source of many bugs).

Who uses this?

After I created this it was spread internally in Making Waves, and even some other external consultants working for Norgesgruppen. I have no idea if someone else have found it useful (drop me a note!).

Usage

view-jsp ./jsp-dir [session-props.txt [system-props.txt]]

This will fire up a server on port 8080 on localhost that will display the jsp. You need to have java on the path.

Only the first argument is required.

Setting session attributes

The /session path is available for easy manipulation of session attributes. You only need to supply the path to the jsp you want to display as the jsp attribute, and all other session vars can be set from the url.

Example:

http://localhost:8080/session?jsp=login_chainidno.jsp&cssurl=Static/styles/login.css

This will serve the jsp /login_chainidno.jsp and set the session attribute cssurl to Static/styles/login.css.

Permanent settings using property files

You can also easily set session and system props using property files. The second argument given on the command line is the file containing session props and the third is the system properties.

Installation

Just issue ./build to end up with a script that will reference the built jar file. You can put this script view-jsp wherever you like in your $PATH, such as /usr/local/bin/.

Dependencies

• For running: only Java (I think Java 7 will do)
• For building: Maven 3