[FIXED] SpringBoot Web MVC Application cannot resolve JSP views

Issue

I am trying to implement a web application using Springboot. but when I request methods I get 404 Error. Springboot cannot find Jsp files.

this is my Controller Code:

@PostMapping(value = "/loginSuccess")
public ModelAndView loginSuccess() {
    System.out.println("in login success");
    return new ModelAndView("index");
}

@GetMapping(value = "/loginError")
public ModelAndView showLoginError() {
    System.out.println("in login error");
    return new ModelAndView("error");
}

and this is my SecurityConfig:

@ComponentScan
@EnableWebSecurity
public class WebSecurityConfig extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {
    @Autowired
    private EmployeeRepository employeeRepository;

    @Bean
    public PasswordEncoder passwordEncoder(){
        return  new BCryptPasswordEncoder();
    }

    @Bean
    public UserDetailsService userDetailsService(){
        return new EmployeeDetailService(employeeRepository, passwordEncoder());
    }

    @Override
    protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
        http.csrf().disable()
                .formLogin()
                .successForwardUrl("/loginSuccess")
                .failureUrl("/loginError")
                .permitAll()
                .and()
                .authorizeRequests()
                .antMatchers("/").permitAll()
                .and()
                .httpBasic();
    }
}

I also specified prefix and suffix in application.properties:

spring.mvc.view.prefix=/static/
spring.mvc.view.suffix=.jsp

I also have these dependencies in my pom file:

 <dependency>
        <groupId>org.apache.tomcat.embed</groupId>
        <artifactId>tomcat-embed-jasper</artifactId>
        <scope>provided</scope>
 </dependency>
 <dependency>
        <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
        <artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
        <version>1.2</version>
 </dependency>

and this is my Project Structure:

can anyone tell me what is the problem?

Solution

The main template engines for SpringBoot are Thymeleaf, Groovy, FreeMarker, Jade. In the reference guide:

JSP should be avoided if possible, there are several known limitations when using them with embedded servlet containers.

An executable jar will not work because of a hard coded file pattern in Tomcat.

If the JSPs are legacy or proprietary codes that you can't convert, you have to do a few things in order to develop/maintain, compile and kinda run a SpringBootApplication running them in Intellij:

1. maven: your pom must be a 'war' package. That will makes intellij look for and compile the JSPs right.

2. web facet: put your .jsp files in a folder where they are expected to be in a webapp: src/main/webapp/WEB-INF/jsp/ The jsp will never be 'compiled'/'interpretable' in static.

3. spring facet: set the prefix to /WEB-INF/jsp/ in your application.properties

4. tomcat: have those dependencies:

<dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-tomcat</artifactId>
   <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
   <groupId>org.apache.tomcat.embed</groupId>
   <artifactId>tomcat-embed-jasper</artifactId>
   <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
<dependency>
   <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
   <artifactId>jstl</artifactId>
</dependency>

5. build runnable war: make an Intellij "maven configuration" that run :

clean install -f pom.xml

6. run that war: make an Intellij "jar configuration" with those settings:

• path to jar : <the path to the war file in the target folder>
• before launch : run the "maven configuration" you created

Answered By - Cybergrenouille
Answer Checked By - Marie Seifert (JavaFixing Admin)