Web.xml file

Java web applications use a deployment descriptor file to determine how URLs map to servlets, which URLs require authentication, and other information. This file is named web.xml, and resides in the app's WAR under the WEB-INF/ directory. web.xml is part of the servlet standard for web applications

The deployment descriptor is a file named web.xml. It resides in the app's WAR under the WEB-INF/ directory. The file is an XML file whose root element is <web-app>.

Here is a simple web.xml example that maps all URL paths (/*) to the servlet class mysite.server.ComingSoonServlet

<web-app xmlns="http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee
         http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_1.xsd"
         version="3.1">
    <servlet>
        <servlet-name>comingsoon</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>mysite.server.ComingSoonServlet</servlet-class>
    </servlet>
    <servlet-mapping>
        <servlet-name>comingsoon</servlet-name>
        <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>
</web-app>

Servlets and URL paths

To map a URL to a servlet, you declare the servlet with the <servlet> element, then define a mapping from a URL path to a servlet declaration with the <servlet-mapping> element

    <servlet>
        <servlet-name>redteam</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>mysite.server.TeamServlet</servlet-class>
        <init-param>
            <param-name>teamColor</param-name>
            <param-value>red</param-value>
        </init-param>
        <init-param>
            <param-name>bgColor</param-name>
            <param-value>#CC0000</param-value>
        </init-param>
    </servlet>

    <servlet>
        <servlet-name>blueteam</servlet-name>
        <servlet-class>mysite.server.TeamServlet</servlet-class>
        <init-param>
            <param-name>teamColor</param-name>
            <param-value>blue</param-value>
        </init-param>
        <init-param>
            <param-name>bgColor</param-name>
            <param-value>#0000CC</param-value>
        </init-param>
    </servlet>

The <servlet-mapping> element specifies a URL pattern and the name of a declared servlet to use for requests whose URL matches the pattern.

    <servlet-mapping>
        <servlet-name>redteam</servlet-name>
        <url-pattern>/red/*</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>

    <servlet-mapping>
        <servlet-name>blueteam</servlet-name>
        <url-pattern>/blue/*</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>

With this example, a request for the URL http://www.example.com/blue/teamProfile is handled by the TeamServlet class, with the teamColor parameter equal to blue and the bgColor parameter equal to #0000CC.