Unable to create Java Web EE 7 project in Netbeans7.3.1

Question

I am having a problem with Netbeans and when I tried to create a Java Web by following their instructions:

Choose File | New Project.

Under Categories, select Java Web.

Under Projects, select Web Application.

Click Next. Web Server-- Apache Tomcat 7.0.42

but Java EE version-is only EE6 and EE5. Why does it not Show EE7?? should i need to install any plugin?

I have the follwong installed:

JDK 1.7_upadte_42
Netbeans 7.3.1
Apache Tomcat 7.0.42 

Answer 1

Tomcat is not a Java EE compliant application server to begin with, it is a servlet container¹. It is clearly stated in the official site:

Apache Tomcat™ is an open source software implementation of the Java Servlet, JavaServer Pages, Java Expression Language and Java WebSocket technologies.

In order to use Java EE 7+ capabilities, you need to use a Java EE 7+ compliant server. Currently, AFAIK this is done by GlassFish 4 only. When you visit the official site, it is stated in the top: World's first Java EE 7 Application Server. Make sure you configure your project to use GlassFish 4 and then you may use Java EE 7 benefits for your applications.

Note that this is also covered in Netbeans 7.3.1 community news:

NetBeans IDE 7.3.1 is an update to NetBeans IDE 7.3 and includes the following highlights (emphasys mine):

• Support for Java EE 7 development
  • Deployment to GlassFish 4 (not Tomcat)
  • Support for major Java EE 7 specifications: JSF 2.2, JPA 2.1, JAX-RS 2.0, WebSocket 1.0 and more

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¹ At least not until Tomcat 7. Looks like from Tomcat 8 it will support Java EE 7 profile (from the official site linked above):

The Apache Tomcat Project is proud to announce the next release candidate for Apache Tomcat 8 - 8.0.0-RC5 (alpha). Tomcat 8 is aligned with Java EE 7.