How To: Debug Web Applications on Tomcat with JPDA

Suppose you want to debug a servlet in eclipse.

WINDOWS:-

Step 1: Change your catalina.bat with the following changes

if not "%JPDA_TRANSPORT%" == "" goto gotJpdaTransport
set JPDA_TRANSPORT=dt_socket
:gotJpdaTransport
if not "%JPDA_ADDRESS%" == "" goto gotJpdaAddress
set JPDA_ADDRESS=8787

Step 2: Start Tomcat with

catalina start jpda

Step 3: Open your debug dialog in Eclipse. Add a remote java application with port "8787".

UNIX/LINUX:
No change really needed.

$>./catalina.sh jpda start
$>./catalina.sh jpda stop

Eclipse needs to have a remote java application with port "8000"

Where is Tomcat endorsed directory?

If you are haunted by this question, then for Tomcat 5.x, the folder is tomcat/common/endorsed. For Tomcat 6.x, create a endorsed directory under tomcat. tomcat is basically where the CATALINA_HOME is pointing to.

Under endorsed dir, you should have the following jars (and any other jars needed):

asaldhana~/apache-tomcat-6.0.16/endorsed>ls
resolver.jar  serializer.jar  xalan.jar  xercesImpl.jar  xml-apis.jar

Demise of MOT

Wow, what an interesting read on the potential demise of a great American technological gorilla called as Motorola or MOT.

Read it here: Motorola insider tells all about the fall of a technology icon

Some interesting bits:

After the success of the RAZR, while Geoffrey was tied up every which way in ROKR development, meetings, criscrossing travel, and so on, through his associates I implored the company to beef up their software expertise, and focus on creating socially networked devices (this was in the years before MySpace and Facebook became the juggernauts they are today). Your predecessor, Ed Zander, had little interest in this, and instead insisted on parlaying his relationship with Steve Jobs into the ill-fated ROKR effort in order to prop up Motorola's stock price.