Using Spring, mapping to root in web.xml, static resources aren't found

Question

What I'm trying to do is map requests to the servlet root (correct terminology?). I'm at the point where URLs are mapped to correct view but all the static content - css, javascript, images - that is part of the page cannot be found.

So in my web.xml my servlet tag looks like this

<servlet-mapping>
    <servlet-name>springapp</servlet-name>
    <url-pattern>/</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

My controller looks something like this:

@RequestMapping("/shop")
public class TheShopController extends MyBaseController {

    public static String VIEW = "Tile.Shop";

    @Override
    @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET)
    protected ModelAndView processRequest(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) {
        ModelAndView mav = new ModelAndView(VIEW);
        return mav;
    }

}

MyBaseController is very simple. It looks like this:

public abstract class MyBaseController extends AbstractController {

    protected Logger log = Logger.getLogger(getClass());

    @Override
    protected ModelAndView handleRequestInternal(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) 
        throws Exception {

        ModelAndView mav = processRequest(req, resp);
        return mav;
    }

    protected abstract ModelAndView processRequest(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp);
}

I'm using Tiles in my view layer. My configuration is as follows:

/WEB-INF/tiles-defs.xml

As I mentioned, the views are found but the static resources that are a port of the page can't be found. Here is some typical logging out put:

2010-01-24 17:25:01,777 DEBUG [http-8080-7] servlet.DispatcherServlet (DispatcherServlet.java:690) - DispatcherServlet with name 'springapp' processing GET request for [/springapp/static/css/account.css] 2010-01-24 17:25:01,778 WARN [http-8080-4] servlet.DispatcherServlet (DispatcherServlet.java:962) - No mapping found for HTTP request with URI [/springapp/static/css/shop.css] in DispatcherServlet with name 'springapp' 2010-01-24 17:25:01,778 DEBUG [http-8080-6] servlet.FrameworkServlet (FrameworkServlet.java:677) - Successfully completed request 2010-01-24 17:25:01,778 WARN [http-8080-5] servlet.DispatcherServlet (DispatcherServlet.java:962) - No mapping found for HTTP request with URI [/springapp/static/css/offers.css] in DispatcherServlet with name 'springapp' 2010-01-24 17:25:01,778 WARN [http-8080-3] servlet.DispatcherServlet (DispatcherServlet.java:962) - No mapping found for HTTP request with URI [/springapp/static/css/scrollable-buttons.css] in DispatcherServlet with name 'springapp'

Going to http://localhost:8080/springapp/shop works fine but the css and images are missing.

I think that using Tiles is somehow complicating things but I"m reluctant to get rid of it. I'm wondering if I need to adjust my view resolution configuration needs to be tweeked somehow? Chaining view resolvers maybe? I'm just not that experienced in doing that.

score 61 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

The problem is that requests for the static content go to the dispatcherServlet, because it's mapped as <url-pattern>/</url-pattern>. It's a very common problem in applications with "RESTful" URLs (that is, without any prefix in the DispatcherServlet mapping).

There are several possible ways to solve this problem:

Since Spring 3.x the preferred way to access static resources is to use <mvc:resources>: web.xml:

<servlet-mapping> 
    <servlet-name>springapp</servlet-name> 
    <url-pattern>/</url-pattern> 
</servlet-mapping>

Spring config:

<!-- Handles GET requests for /resources/** by efficiently serving static content 
    in the ${webappRoot}/resources dir --> 
<mvc:resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/resources/" />

See also MVC Simplifications in Spring 3

1. Use URL rewrite filter
See mvc-basic example here

2. Set a prefix for the default servlet:

<servlet-mapping>
    <servlet-name>default</servlet-name>
    <url-pattern>/static/*</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

That is, request for /static/images/image.png will return the file named /images/image.png However, this way is incompatible across different servlet containers (doesn't work in Jetty), see workarounds here

3. Set static content extensions for the default servlet:

<servlet-mapping>
    <servlet-name>default</servlet-name>
    <url-pattern>*.png</url-pattern>
    <url-pattern>*.js</url-pattern>
    <url-pattern>*.css</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>

4. Do not use RESTful URLs, use URLs with prefix:

<servlet-mapping> 
    <servlet-name>springapp</servlet-name> 
    <url-pattern>/app</url-pattern> 
</servlet-mapping>

5. Do not use RESTful URLs, use URLs with extension:

<servlet-mapping> 
    <servlet-name>springapp</servlet-name> 
    <url-pattern>*.do</url-pattern> 
</servlet-mapping>

What I really want to do is use the @RequestMapping annotation with the @PathVariable annotation to achieve the use of RESTful urls. Eventually all static resources will be served by apache but that will be in a production environment. I need static resources served by tomcat when running locally, like in development. I've used urlrewrite filter before, and I liked it, but I'd like to find another way. — Rich Everhart, Jan 27 '10 at 04:07
I went with a combination of org.tuckey.urlrewrite filter and #4 from above. Thanks! — Rich Everhart, Mar 05 '10 at 06:46
You rock. FYI I tried #2 and it worked in my local environment, which was running under the root website in tomcat. As soon as I deployed it to a test server, under a non-root site called "test", it stopped working. For some reason the /test/ before /static/ was throwing off the default servlet mapping. Just switched to #3 and it's working like a charm. I've been struggling with this for too long. Thank you! +1 — kmehta, Apr 21 '11 at 13:20
@axtavt : I have similar issue while accessing REST, not sure if its because of wrong mapping. Could you help me by having a look at : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25285805/getting-404-not-found-while-accessing-valid-rest-service-with-jersey-extjs Thanks! — Snehal Masne, Aug 14 '14 at 07:04

Solubris · Answer 2 · 2012-09-04T13:50:04.343

5

Did any one consider using this:

<!-- Allows for mapping the DispatcherServlet to "/" by forwarding static resource requests to the container's default Servlet -->
<mvc:default-servlet-handler/>

Here is the latest spring docs on it: http://static.springsource.org/spring/docs/3.1.2.RELEASE/spring-framework-reference/htmlsingle/spring-framework-reference.html#mvc-default-servlet-handler

edited Sep 04 '12 at 13:50

answered Sep 04 '12 at 13:35

Solubris

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score 4 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:29

4

As an alternative to the proposed solution number (2, default servlet which behaves differently from servlet container to servlet container), I would recommend taking a look into the Resource Servlet (org.springframework.js.resource.ResourceServlet) from the Spring Webflow project.

For more details please have a look at How to handle static content in Spring MVC?

edited May 23 '17 at 10:29

Community

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answered Apr 21 '10 at 12:38

ngeek

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Nereis · Answer 4 · 2012-07-09T08:00:06.480

I have the same problem but instead of using spring, I do mysefl a small filter that redirect root to my start page like that:

    HttpServletRequest req = (HttpServletRequest) request;
    HttpServletResponse res = (HttpServletResponse) response;

    String pageName = req.getServletPath();

    if(pageName.equals("/")) {
        res.sendRedirect( req.getContextPath() + "/start" );
    } else {
        chain.doFilter(request, response);
    }

It's maybe a trick but it look like working fine with a small code. Go here for more filter information http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/filters-137243.html

Using Spring, mapping to root in web.xml, static resources aren't found

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