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Introduction

In our earlier article that demonstrated how to create a "Hello, world" Java servlet with JBuilder 2, we mentioned that it would be necessary to add the Java Servlet Development Kit (JSDK) JAR to your JBuilder environment before you could successfully compile your JBHelloWorldServlet.  If you try to compile the JBHelloWorldServlet.java file without first adding the JSDK JAR file to your environment, the compilation attempt will fail.

In this article we'll show you how to add the JSDK JAR to your JBuilder 2 environment. Once you've added the JSDK JAR to your environment for one project, you'll be able to quickly access it for your other JBuilder/servlet projects.
 

Step 1: Download the Java Servlet Development Kit (JSDK)

If you haven't already downloaded the JSDK, in Step 1 you'll need to download it from Sun's web site. You can find the JSDK at java.sun.com.  Just follow their installation instructions.

On my PC, I installed the JSDK in C:\JAVA\JSDK2.0, but you can install your JSDK copy wherever you prefer.
 

Step 2: Find the location in JBuilder to add the JSDK

Once you have the JSDK installed on your system, you're ready to start configuring JBuilder.  It takes only a few steps to make the JSDK available to all of your future JBuilder servlet projects.

First, start JBuilder.  Once it's running, select Tools | Default Project Properties..., as shown in Figure 1.

 

Figure 1:	Start the configuration procedure by selecting Tools | Default Project Properties... .

 

This brings up the Default Project Properties window, as shown in Figure 2.
 

 

Figure 2:	Selecting Tools | Default Project Properties... brings up the  Default Project Properties window.

 

The "Java libraries:" section of the Default Project Properties window shows the libraries that JBuilder already knows about, and considers to be "default" libraries. As you can see, the JSDK is not one of those default libraries.

To see all of the libraries JBuilder knows about, click the Libraries... button. This brings up the Available Java Libraries window, as shown in Figure 3.

 

Figure 3:	JBuilder does not have the JSDK in it's initial set of available Java libraries.

 

As you can see from Figure 3, JBuilder does not have the JSDK in it's set of available libraries. What we'll do in the next steps is add the JSDK to this set of available libraries.
 

Step 3: Add the JSDK to JBuilder's Available Java Libraries

To add the JSDK to JBuilder's set of available Java libraries, click New in the Available Java libraries window. This clears the form in the right-hand portion of the window.

Fill in the form properties as follows (feel free to click on the ellipsis buttons to locate the files on your system):
 

Name:		Java JSDK 2.0
Class path:		c:\java\jsdk2.0\lib\jsdk.jar
Source path:		c:\java\jsdk2.0\src
Doc path:		c:\java\jsdk2.0\doc

These values are also shown in Figure 4.

 

Figure 4:	Enter the properties for the JSDK JAR file in the form, then click OK  when you're finished.

 
 
Note that if you click on the ellipsis button to add the JAR file to the Class path: field, you'll want to select the Add Zip/JAR button on the Edit LibraryClassPath form.

When you're finished adding the information on this form, click OK.

When you're returned to the Default Project Properties window, you can click Add... to add the JSDK as a default library, but I'm not going to do that. I don't create a lot of servlets with JBuilder just yet, so I don't really think of it as a "default" JBuilder library. I'm just going to click OK for now, and leave it as an "available" library.
 

Step 4: Add the JSDK 2.0 library to your project

Now, when I create a JBuilder servlet project and try to "make" the project, the make attempt will still fail until I add the JSDK 2.0 library to my project properties.  (Note: This is my preference for now; as I mentioned, you can add the JSDK to your list of default libraries if you prefer.)

To add the JSDK 2.0 library to your current project properties, first make sure you have a project open. This might be our JBHelloWorldServlet project, for example.

With your current project already open in JBuilder, select File | Project Properties.... This brings up the properties window shown in Figure 5.

 

Figure 5:	Click Add... in this window to add the JSDK 2.0 library to your  current project.

 
 
Under the Java libraries: section, click Add....  Then select "Java JSDK 2.0", click OK, then click OK again. This returns you back to your project.

Now, when you try to "make" your project again everything should compile without errors!
 

Summary

JBuilder 2 now includes a wizard that lets you developer Java servlets with JBuilder. The wizard greatly simplifies the process, but if you don't have the JSDK installed on your system and configured as a JBuilder library, the project won't compile properly. In this article, we've shown you how to configure JBuilder for your servlet projects.

By default, the Java JSDK is not part of your standard JBuilder environment. In fact, it may not even be on your computer. To add it to your JBuilder environment, you need to download the JSDK and install it on your system. Next, you'll add the JSDK to JBuilder's list of available Java libraries. If you want, you can even make it a default library.  If you don't make it a default library, you'll need to add it to every servlet project before you compile it. This is easily accomplished through the Project Properties menu.

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