Blank archetype

The blank archetype is a foundational starter project for webforJ applications. This template provides a clean slate for you to build your app from scratch. It's ideal for developers who want complete control over the structure and components of their app without any predefined constraints.

Using startforJ

For more control over customization and configuration, you can use startforJ to create your project - just select the Blank archetype when choosing configuration options.

Using the blank archetype

To create and scaffold a new blank project, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the proper directory: Open a terminal and move to the folder where you want to create your new project.
2. Run the archetype:generate command: Use the Maven command below, and customize the groupId, artifactId, and version as needed for your project.

Bash/Zsh

mvn -B archetype:generate \
-DarchetypeGroupId=com.webforj \
-DarchetypeArtifactId=webforj-archetype-blank \
-DarchetypeVersion=LATEST \
-DgroupId=org.example \
-DartifactId=my-app \
-Dversion=1.0-SNAPSHOT \
-DappName=MyApp

PowerShell

mvn -B archetype:generate `
-DarchetypeGroupId="com.webforj" `
-DarchetypeArtifactId="webforj-archetype-blank" `
-DarchetypeVersion="LATEST" `
-DgroupId="org.example" `
-DartifactId="my-app" `
-Dversion="1.0-SNAPSHOT" `
-DappName="MyApp"

Command Prompt

mvn -B archetype:generate ^
-DarchetypeGroupId="com.webforj" ^
-DarchetypeArtifactId="webforj-archetype-blank" ^
-DarchetypeVersion="LATEST" ^
-DgroupId="org.example" ^
-DartifactId="my-app" ^
-Dversion="1.0-SNAPSHOT" ^
-DappName="MyApp"

Argument	Explanation
archetypeGroupId	The group ID of the archetype is com.webforj for webforJ archetypes.
archetypeArtifactId	Specifies the name of the archetype to use.
archetypeVersion	Specifies the version of the archetype to use. This ensures that the generated project is compatible with a specific archetype version. Using LATEST selects the most recent version available.
groupId	Represents the namespace for the generated project. Typically structured like a Java package, such as org.example and is used to uniquely identify your organization or project domain.
artifactId	Specifies the name of the generated project. This will be the name of the resulting artifact and the project folder.
version	Defines the version of the generated project. A common convention is MAJOR.MINOR-SNAPSHOT, like 1.0-SNAPSHOT, where SNAPSHOT denotes that the project is still in development.
appName	An optional parameter that can be used in the generated project's POM file. Depending on the used webforJ archetype, it can be utilized as a default title for the application.

After running the command, Maven will generate the project files necessary to run the project.

Run the app

Navigate into the newly created directory, and run the following command from the project’s root directory:

mvn jetty:run

This command uses the Jetty maven plugin to start a Jetty server. Once the server is running, open your browser and go to http://localhost:8080 to view the app.