Java Enterprise in a Nutshell, Third Edition

Appendix A. J2EE Deployment Descriptor Reference

This appendix provides a short reference to the J2EE deployment descriptors for components and resources. We describe the J2EE 1.4 descriptor formats here. Deployment descriptors for earlier versions of the J2EE specifications will vary slightly—we highlight discrepancies in key areas. The full deployment model and the mechanics of assembling and deploying J2EE components are described in Chapter 2.

The sections that follow contain annotated deployment descriptors for the various components available in J2EE environments (web, EJB, web service). These annotated descriptors are an attempt to complement the standard XML schemas that are available from http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/j2ee.

Each section provides details on a specific deployment descriptor schema. At the beginning of the section is a high-level summary diagram that shows the first level of XML elements available in the descriptor, and if needed, subsections of the XML structure are described by more detailed diagrams that follow. These XML structure diagrams follow the format described in the Preface.

Figure A-1. Web deployment descriptor overview

Web Components (web.xml)

Web components are deployed using a web.xml deployment descriptor. The high-level descriptor layout for web deployment descriptors is shown in Figure A-1. In all the diagrams in this section, deployment elements ...