Easy Deployment

Belongs to following categories: Utility, ULC6.1,

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The ULC Easy Deployment project enables an one click deployment for Ultra Light Client based applications. Instead of relying on complex deployment descriptors it just uses a combination of easy to remember naming conventions and meaningful default values.

The ULC Easy Deployment provides a portal application that simplifies dramatically the deployment process of ULC applications. Just drop your application JAR file into the ULC Easy Deployment portal application. That is all!

• No need to adapt deployment descriptors!
• No need to write custom Applet tags or JNLP files!
• No need to write HTML welcome pages!

ULC Easy Deployment can ease your Maven build process as well. The current Maven web build process is optimizied for server only applications. Support for client-side application parts (e.g. Applets, Java Web Start applications) is rather weak. ULC Easy Deployment leverages Maven's server only application support for client-side application parts in a natural way. Therefore it is no longer an issue to develop ULC application with a Maven build process!

How To Setup

1. Install and setup Eclipse
   Detailed instructions can be found here
2. Import the ULC Easy Deployment web application
   The corresponding WAR file can be found here
   1. Select File|Import... in the menu bar
   2. Select Web|WAR file in the tree
   3. Click Browse... and choose the downloaded WAR file
   4. Click Finish
3. Test your setup
   1. Right click the imported ulceasydeployment project and select Run As|Run on Server in the context menu
   2. Choose your Apache Tomcat 5.5 installation as Server runtime
   3. Click Finish

   Now your system's web browser should open and display the welcome page of the ULC Easy Deployment web application. The welcome page states that currently there are no ULC applications available. This is ok as you have no ULC applications in your workspace yet.

   

How To Use

1. Create a new ULC Java project
   1. Select File|New|Project... from the menu bar
   2. Select Java|ULC Java Project in the tree
   3. Click Next >
   4. Enter hello-server as project name
      Attention: The project has to end with -server as ULC Easy Deployment uses this postfix to recognize ULC application libraries!
   5. Click Next >
   6. Click Browse... and choose the home directory of your ULC 6.1.x installation
   7. Click Next >
   8. Enter a as package name
   9. Enter HelloApplication as class name
      The new ULC Java Project wizards will generate both a frame based and an Applet based application class. The frame based application class will be named HelloApplication whereas the Applet based application class is named HelloApplicationApplet.
      Attention: The resulting application class name has to end with ApplicationApplet as ULC Easy Deployment uses this postfix to recognize ULC application classes!
   10. Click Finish
2. Configure your ULC Java project inside ULC Easy Deployment
   1. Right click the ulceasydeployment project and select Properties in the context menu
   2. Select J2EE Module Dependencies in the tree on the left side of the Properties dialog
   3. Check hello-server in the table on the right side
   4. Click OK
3. Test your ULC Java project
   1. Right click the imported ulceasydeployment project and select Run As|Run on Server in the context menu
   2. Choose your Apache Tomcat 5.5 installation as Server runtime
   3. Click Finish

   Now your system's web browser should open and display the welcome page of the ULC Easy Deployment web application. The welcome page should now list your hello ULC application as available. Follow the hello link and you can start your hello ULC application.

   

Compatibility

The described functionality has been developed and tested using

• JDK 1.5.0
• Eclipse 3.2 together with the JEE and Web Tools
• Eclispe IDE Integration plug-in from the ULC community
• Apache Tomcat 5.5
• ULC 6.1.1

Limitations

• Java Web Start applications are currently not supported

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