JSP Guestbook

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A simple guestbook web application built with JSP/Servlet and SQLite database.

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Project Modernization

This project has been upgraded from a legacy IDE-based project to a modern, standalone web application:

Key Improvements

1. DevContainer Support - Zero-config cloud development with GitHub Codespaces and VS Code Remote Containers
2. Maven Build Support - Added pom.xml for dependency management and builds
3. Cross-platform Database Path - Fixed hardcoded Windows path to dynamic, cross-platform path
4. Compilation Script - Standalone compilation without IDE
5. Run Script - One-command application startup
6. VS Code Integration - Pre-configured tasks and debug configurations

Quick Start

Option 1: Cloud Development (Recommended) ☁️

Use GitHub Codespaces or VS Code Remote Containers for zero-configuration development:

GitHub Codespaces:

1. Click the "Code" button on the repository page
2. Select "Codespaces" → "Create codespace"
3. Wait for container to build (auto-compiles the project)
4. Run ./run.sh to start the application
5. Click the port forwarding notification to open in browser

VS Code Remote Containers:

1. Install Docker Desktop and Remote Containers extension
2. Open the project in VS Code
3. Press F1 → "Remote-Containers: Reopen in Container"
4. After container starts, run ./run.sh

For detailed instructions, see DevContainer Documentation

Option 2: Using Run Script

The simplest local method - script automatically downloads Jetty server and starts the application:

./run.sh

Then visit: http://localhost:8080/guestbook/

Option 3: Manual Compilation and Deployment

1. Compile Project

./compile.sh

Or using Maven:

mvn clean package

2. Deploy to Servlet Container

Deploy the web directory to any Servlet 3.0+ container (e.g., Tomcat, Jetty):

Using Tomcat:

# Copy web directory to Tomcat's webapps directory
cp -r web $TOMCAT_HOME/webapps/guestbook
# Start Tomcat
$TOMCAT_HOME/bin/catalina.sh run

Using Maven Jetty Plugin:

mvn jetty:run

Project Structure

jspGuestbook/
├── src/                      # Java source code
│   ├── control/             # Servlet controllers
│   ├── db/                  # Database access layer
│   ├── model/               # Data models
│   └── Exception/           # Custom exceptions
├── web/                     # Web resources
│   ├── WEB-INF/
│   │   ├── web.xml         # Web application configuration
│   │   ├── classes/        # Compiled class files
│   │   └── lib/            # Dependency libraries
│   ├── css/                # Stylesheets
│   ├── js/                 # JavaScript files
│   ├── fonts/              # Font files
│   └── *.jsp               # JSP pages
├── lib/                     # Project dependencies
├── test/                    # Test code
├── pom.xml                  # Maven configuration
├── compile.sh              # Compilation script
└── run.sh                  # Run script

Technology Stack

• Java: 1.8+ (compatible with Java 21)
• Servlet API: 3.1
• JSP: 2.3
• Database: SQLite 3.x
• Build Tool: Maven 3.x
• Testing: JUnit 4.x

Database Configuration

The application uses SQLite database with default path ~/guestbook.db (user home directory).

Custom Database Path

You can specify the database path using Java system property:

java -Ddb.path=/path/to/your/database.db -jar ...

Or set it in the startup script:

export JAVA_OPTIONS="-Ddb.path=./data/guestbook.db"
./run.sh

Features

• User registration and login
• Post messages/notes
• View all messages
• Clean Bootstrap UI

Development Guide

Build Requirements

• JDK 1.8 or higher
• Maven 3.x (optional)
• Servlet container (Tomcat 7+, Jetty 9+, etc.)

Recompile After Changes

# Clean old compiled files
rm -rf web/WEB-INF/classes/*

# Recompile
./compile.sh

Troubleshooting

Compilation Errors

If you encounter servlet-api not found error, the compilation script will download it automatically. If download fails, manually download:

wget https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/javax/servlet/javax.servlet-api/3.1.0/javax.servlet-api-3.1.0.jar \
  -O web/WEB-INF/lib/servlet-api.jar

Database Connection Errors

Check database file path and permissions:

ls -la ~/guestbook.db

If the database doesn't exist, the application will automatically create the table structure.

Port Conflicts

If port 8080 is occupied, you can modify the port configuration in run.sh, or start with a different port:

# Edit pom.xml to modify Jetty plugin port configuration
# Or specify port directly
mvn jetty:run -Djetty.http.port=9090

License

This project is for educational and reference purposes only.

Contributing

Issues and Pull Requests are welcome!