FAQ's und Hints

MySQL integration into Java Web Services with Axis, Tomcat, and Eclipse

Starting point for writing this hint was my stumbling and trying phase when I wanted to use MySQL database access myself for my Java Web Services and could find no hint in all my web services books, only some documentation from Tomcat and help in mailing lists and google search.
So, in order to help others at the same point I was in, here we are...
All I am describing here might not be the ideal solution, but at least it works on my systems and might be helpful. Please don't hesitate to contact me when you have any corrections or improvements ! axel(dot)burwitz(at)arcor(dot)de
The decription was done for the following components base:

Eclipse and MySQL JDBC driver

First step is to integrate the standard jdbc mysql driver archive

mysql-connector-java-3.0.11-stable-bin.jar

via "Properties" of your eclipse project to the "Java Build Path". Then save and that's it here.

Apache Tomcat configuration

- MySQL driver -
Copy the MySQL driver archive

mysql-connector-java-3.0.11-stable-bin.jar

into the Tomcat directory
"$CATALINA/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib" in my case "/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib"
and add this path and .jar to the CLASSPATH , along as done with the other axis .jar's:

"CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/axis-ant.jar:
/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/axis.jar:
/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/commons-discovery.jar:
/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/commons-logging.jar:
/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/jaxrpc.jar:
/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/log4j-1.2.8.jar:
/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/saaj.jar:
/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/wsdl4j.jar:
/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/xml-apis.jar:
/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/xercesImpl.jar:
/opt/tomcat/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/lib/mysql-connector-java-3.0.11-stable-bin.jar"

- Adapting server.xml -
Insert into the $CATALINA/conf/server.xml (see also the Tomcat documentation) these lines and adapt to your situation:

<Context path="/axis" docBase="axis"
        debug="5" reloadable="true" crossContext="true">

  		<Logger className="org.apache.catalina.logger.FileLogger"
             		prefix="localhost_DBTest_log." suffix=".txt"
             		timestamp="true"/>

  		<Resource name="jdbc/axis"
               		auth="Container"
               		type="javax.sql.DataSource"/>

  		<ResourceParams name="jdbc/axis">
    			<parameter>
      			<name>factory</name>
      			<value>org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSourceFactory</value>
    			</parameter>

    <!-- Maximum number of dB connections in pool. Make sure you
         configure your mysqld max_connections large enough to handle
         all of your db connections. Set to 0 for no limit.
         -->
    		<parameter>
      		<name>maxActive</name>
      		<value>100</value>
    		</parameter>

    <!-- Maximum number of idle dB connections to retain in pool.
         Set to -1 for no limit.  See also the DBCP documentation on this
         and the minEvictableIdleTimeMillis configuration parameter.
         -->
    		<parameter>
      		<name>maxIdle</name>
      		<value>30</value>
    		</parameter>

    <!-- Maximum time to wait for a dB connection to become available
         in ms, in this example 10 seconds. An Exception is thrown if
         this timeout is exceeded.  Set to -1 to wait indefinitely.
         -->
    		<parameter>
      		<name>maxWait</name>
      		<value>10000</value>
    		</parameter>

    <!-- MySQL dB username and password for dB connections  -->
    		<parameter>
     		<name>username</name>
     		<value>mydatabaseuser</value>
    		</parameter>
    		<parameter>
     		<name>password</name>
     		<value>mydatabaseuserpassword</value>
    		</parameter>

    <!-- Class name for the old mm.mysql JDBC driver - uncomment this entry and comment next
         if you want to use this driver - we recommend using Connector/J though
    <parameter>
       <name>driverClassName</name>
       <value>org.gjt.mm.mysql.Driver</value>
    </parameter>
     -->
    
    <!-- Class name for the official MySQL Connector/J driver -->
    		<parameter>
       		<name>driverClassName</name>
       		<value>com.mysql.jdbc.Driver</value>
    		</parameter>
    
    <!-- The JDBC connection url for connecting to your MySQL dB.
         The autoReconnect=true argument to the url makes sure that the
         mm.mysql JDBC Driver will automatically reconnect if mysqld closed the
         connection.  mysqld by default closes idle connections after 8 hours.
         -->
    		<parameter>
      		<name>url</name>
      		<value>jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/dvdstore2sql?autoReconnect=true</value>
    		</parameter>
  		</ResourceParams>
		</Context>

just in front before the </Host> line.
I have coloured the values you should adapt to your situation.

- Adapting web.xml -
Insert the following web-app description into the "web.xml" in your web application path, in most cases will be

 "$CATALINA/webapps/axis/WEB-INF/web.xml"

<web-app xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee
http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee/web-app_2_4.xsd"
    version="2.4">
  <description>DVDStore2SQL</description>
  <resource-ref>
      <description>DB Connection</description>
      <res-ref-name>jdbc/axis</res-ref-name>
      <res-type>javax.sql.DataSource</res-type>
      <res-auth>Container</res-auth>
  </resource-ref>
</web-app>

I have coloured the values you should adapt to your situation (Sorry, not yet).
Don't forget to restart Tomcat.

Things that made me stumble