Cayenne User Documentation
Web Applications

### Putting Cayenne Files in Web Application CLASSPATH

When deploying an application in a web container it is possible to follow the procedure for the standalone applications, i.e. put all XML files in the application CLASSPATH (e.g. in "mywebapp/WEB-INF/classes/", but DON'T put it in container shared locations!). Session DataContext can be obtained via ServletUtil:

    HttpSession session = ...;
    DataContext context = ServletUtil.getSessionContext(session);

However you may consider a deployment procedure described below, as it provides more flexibility and a number of additional useful features.

### Cayenne Servlet Filter

Adding the following filter to the `web.xml` would automate Cayenne setup in the web application:

    <filter>
        <filter-name>CayenneFilter</filter-name>
        <filter-class>org.apache.cayenne.conf.WebApplicationContextFilter</filter-class>
    </filter>
    <filter-mapping>
        <filter-name>CayenneFilter</filter-name>
        <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    </filter-mapping>

The filter will ensure that for each matching request a DataContext is bound to the request thread. So you can retrieve it anywhere in the application, even if you don't have a reference to the web environment:

    DataContext context = DataContext.getThreadDataContext();

Filter can match a specific URL as shown above, or a specific servlet:

    <servlet>
       <servlet-name>MyServlet</servlet-name>
       <servlet-class>org.example.MyServlet</servlet-class>
       <load-on-startup>0</load-on-startup>
    </servlet>

    <filter>
        <filter-name>CayenneFilter</filter-name>
        <filter-class>org.apache.cayenne.conf.WebApplicationContextFilter</filter-class>
    </filter>
    <filter-mapping>
        <filter-name>CayenneFilter</filter-name>
        <servlet-name>MyServlet</servlet-name>
    </filter-mapping>

Additionally the filter supports putting files in `myapp/WEB-INF/` directory instead of the CLASSPATH, so a .war file may look like this:

    index.jsp
    WEB-INF/cayenne.xml
    WEB-INF/xyz.map.xml
    WEB-INF/lib/...

Actually, Cayenne files can be stored in any subdirectory of `myapp/WEB-INF/`. To specify a subdirectory, you'll need to add `<context-param>` named `cayenne.configuration.path` to your application descriptor:

    <context-param>
        <param-name>cayenne.configuration.path</param-name>
        <param-value>/WEB-INF/config/cayenne-files</param-value>
    </context-param>

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