Eclipse WTP

Here's how to set up Mifos Gazelle to run under Eclipse WTP. This enables speedy development and debugging.

  • Open the Server view (Window > Show View > Servers).
  • Right click on the white pane and select New > Server.
  • Select a Tomcat 6.0 server.
    • If this is the first time you have done this, add a runtime:
      • Download a recent binary tomcat release from the Apache Tomcat website and uncompress it somewhere on your local filesystem where it won't be disturbed.
      • Click Add next to the runtime drop down.
      • Select the tomcat directory you uncompressed in the step above
    • Otherwise, select a Tomcat 6.0 runtime from the dropdown list.
  • In the Server Name box, change the name to something that enables you to distinguish this server from other servers. For instance, 'Gazelle Tomcat v6.0 server'.
  • Click Finish.
  • Double click the server in to bring up its configuration pane. Add the Mifos webapp:
    • Select the Modules tab at the bottom of the pane.
    • Click Add External Web Module
    • For Document Base: browse to your Eclipse workspace directory, select the Gazelle project, then select the application/target/mifos-webapp directory under this.
    • For Path: type /mifos
  • You HAVE to increase the "time limit to complete server operations" that WTP gives Tomcat to startup. The default of 45s may be too low, and you will not see e.g. DB connection problems, because WTP will terminate Tomcat/Mifos before it gets there (depending on the speed of your developer workstation). Set it to e.g. 180s:
    • Select the Overview tab
    • Click "Timeouts"
    • Change the "Start (in seconds)" from it's default 45s to e.g. 180s
  • If you have a non-standard database setup (different db username, password, or database name):
    • Click the Overview tab
    • Click "Open Launch Configuration"
    • Click the Arguments tab
    • Add this to the end of the VM arguments:
      -Dmifos.mode=acceptance
      
    • Click Ok.
    • Make sure you have a LocalPropertiesFile, especially if your database settings differ from the defaults
  • run "mvn war:war" in the application/ directory
  • You are done! You should be able to start the server by right clicking its entry in the server pane, then selecting Start.