Nunaliit-server
===============

This project builds a servlet that implements the web services required
for the Nunaliit project.

Servlet need to be deployed on a servlet container (such as Tomcat) to do 
anything useful.

Requirements
------------

1. Java JDK
2. Servlet Container (Tomcat)
3. Ant (see http://ant.apache.org)


Developing the servet
---------------------

The main approach to developing the servlet:

1. Install a servlet container and configure it according to its documentation
2. Check out this project from source repository into an area independent from
   the servlet container.
3. Copy the file .../WEB-INF/support/build.properties.example to 
   .../WEB-INF/support/build.properties
4. Adjust the content of .../WEB-INF/support/build.properties to relfect the
   location of the servlet container web application directory
5. Use Ant in conjunction with the build.xml file found under 
   .../WEB-INF/support to create the application. Here, there are two
   choices:
   a. >ant build-distribution
      Creates a WAR file that can be copied into the servlet application 
      directory. This action should automatically deploy the application on the
      servlet container.
   b. >ant deplooy-dir
      Rebuilds the application and copies the modified files in the application
      directory of the servlet container. After this, the servlet container
      shall be informed of the changes and asked to reload the application, if
      needed. This option is particularly useful if the servlet container is
      located on the same platform as the development area.

After modifying code, step 5 must be repeated to notice the change in the
application.   
   
Directory Structure
-------------------

This project's directory structure mimicks the one specified for
servlet. This helps developers in locating the right area for deploying
new files. All files used to maintain and develop the application can be found
in a special directory that is not included during deployment:
.../WEB-INF/support
This is where further documentation can be found along with the source code.