Where do CSS and JavaScript files go in a Maven web app project?

Question

I am switching to use Maven for my Spring web app projects and I am running into a simple issue. I am not sure where to put the CSS and JS files in the new project structure.

Traditional Web App Structure

In a traditional Java web app structure (In Eclipse, created as a Dynamic Web Project) I put the CSS, Javascript and Images files under the following structure

WebContent |__css/myStyles.css |__js/myjs.js |__images/myImage.gif |__WEB-INF 

Then in my jsp if I want to reference a CSS file I do as follows:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="<%=request.getContextPath()%>/css/myStyles.css"> 

This works fine.

Maven Web App Structure

In a Maven project I have put the css files in these locations:

First Attempt

Under the webapp folder at the same level as WEB-INF just like in a traditional dynamic web project. But when I do the following

mvn clean tomcat:run 

I get the following error from the Spring Framework:

org.springframework.web.servlet.PageNotFound - No mapping found for HTTP request with URI [/appname/css/myStyles.css] in DispatcherServlet 

Second Attempt

Placed my css folder under src/main/resources But when I do the following:

mvn clean tomcat:run 

I get the following error from the Spring Framework:

org.springframework.web.servlet.PageNotFound - No mapping found for HTTP request with URI [/appname/css/myStyles.css] in DispatcherServlet 

Third Attempt

Placed my css folder src/main/resources

Results: Same as above

I am sure it's something simple but I am stuck, maybe I am overlooking something. Thanks in advance

UPDATE: Adding pom.xml to see if it can help troubleshoot the issue:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd"> <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion> <groupId>com.dariopardo</groupId> <artifactId>jfreechartdemo</artifactId> <name>abc</name> <packaging>war</packaging> <version>1.0.0-BUILD-SNAPSHOT</version> <properties>     <java-version>1.6</java-version>     <org.springframework-version>3.0.6.RELEASE</org.springframework-version>     <org.aspectj-version>1.6.9</org.aspectj-version>     <org.slf4j-version>1.5.10</org.slf4j-version> </properties> <repositories>     <repository>         <id>spring-maven-release</id>         <name>Spring Maven Release Repository</name>         <url>http://maven.springframework.org/release</url>     </repository>     <repository>         <id>spring-maven-milestone</id>         <name>Spring Maven Milestone Repository</name>         <url>http://maven.springframework.org/milestone</url>     </repository>     <repository>         <id>spring-roo-repository</id>         <name>Spring Roo Repository</name>         <url>http://spring-roo-repository.springsource.org/release</url>     </repository>     <repository>         <id>JBoss Repo</id>         <url>https://repository.jboss.org/nexus/content/repositories/releases</url>         <name>JBoss Repo</name>     </repository> </repositories> <pluginRepositories>     <pluginRepository>         <id>spring-maven-release</id>         <name>Spring Maven Release Repository</name>         <url>http://maven.springframework.org/release</url>     </pluginRepository>     <pluginRepository>         <id>spring-maven-milestone</id>         <name>Spring Maven Milestone Repository</name>         <url>http://maven.springframework.org/milestone</url>     </pluginRepository>     <pluginRepository>         <id>spring-roo-repository</id>         <name>Spring Roo Repository</name>         <url>http://spring-roo-repository.springsource.org/release</url>     </pluginRepository> </pluginRepositories> <dependencies>     <!-- Spring -->     <dependency>         <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>         <artifactId>spring-context</artifactId>         <version>${org.springframework-version}</version>         <exclusions>             <!-- Exclude Commons Logging in favor of SLF4j -->             <exclusion>                 <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>                 <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>              </exclusion>         </exclusions>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>         <artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>         <version>${org.springframework-version}</version>         <exclusions>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>                 <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>             </exclusion>         </exclusions>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>         <artifactId>spring-test</artifactId>         <version>${org.springframework-version}</version>         <scope>test</scope>         <exclusions>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>                 <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>             </exclusion>         </exclusions>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>         <artifactId>spring-aop</artifactId>         <version>${org.springframework-version}</version>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>         <artifactId>spring-aspects</artifactId>         <version>${org.springframework-version}</version>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>         <artifactId>spring-tx</artifactId>         <version>${org.springframework-version}</version>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>         <artifactId>spring-jdbc</artifactId>         <version>${org.springframework-version}</version>         <classifier />     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>         <artifactId>spring-orm</artifactId>         <version>${org.springframework-version}</version>         <classifier />     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>commons-pool</groupId>         <artifactId>commons-pool</artifactId>         <version>1.5.4</version>         <classifier />         <exclusions>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>                 <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>             </exclusion>         </exclusions>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>commons-dbcp</groupId>         <artifactId>commons-dbcp</artifactId>         <version>1.3</version>         <classifier />         <exclusions>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>                 <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>             </exclusion>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>commons-pool</groupId>                 <artifactId>commons-pool</artifactId>             </exclusion>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>xerces</groupId>                 <artifactId>xerces</artifactId>             </exclusion>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>xerces</groupId>                 <artifactId>xercesImpl</artifactId>             </exclusion>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>xml-apis</groupId>                 <artifactId>xml-apis</artifactId>             </exclusion>         </exclusions>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>         <artifactId>spring-web</artifactId>         <version>${org.springframework-version}</version>         <classifier />         <exclusions>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>commons-logging</groupId>                 <artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>             </exclusion>         </exclusions>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.springframework</groupId>         <artifactId>spring-webmvc</artifactId>         <version>${org.springframework-version}</version>     </dependency>      <!-- AspectJ -->     <dependency>         <groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>         <artifactId>aspectjrt</artifactId>         <version>${org.aspectj-version}</version>     </dependency>         <!-- Hibernate -->     <dependency>         <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>         <artifactId>hibernate-core</artifactId>         <version>3.6.4.Final</version>         <classifier />     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>         <artifactId>hibernate-entitymanager</artifactId>         <version>3.6.4.Final</version>         <classifier />         <exclusions>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>cglib</groupId>                 <artifactId>cglib</artifactId>             </exclusion>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>dom4j</groupId>                 <artifactId>dom4j</artifactId>             </exclusion>         </exclusions>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.hibernate.javax.persistence</groupId>         <artifactId>hibernate-jpa-2.0-api</artifactId>         <version>1.0.0.Final</version>         <classifier />     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>         <artifactId>hibernate-validator</artifactId>         <version>4.1.0.Final</version>         <classifier />         <exclusions>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>javax.xml.bind</groupId>                 <artifactId>jaxb-api</artifactId>             </exclusion>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>com.sun.xml.bind</groupId>                 <artifactId>jaxb-impl</artifactId>             </exclusion>         </exclusions>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>javax.validation</groupId>         <artifactId>validation-api</artifactId>         <version>1.0.0.GA</version>         <classifier />     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>cglib</groupId>         <artifactId>cglib-nodep</artifactId>         <version>2.2</version>         <classifier />     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>javax.transaction</groupId>         <artifactId>jta</artifactId>         <version>1.1</version>         <classifier />     </dependency>      <!-- Logging -->     <dependency>         <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>         <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>         <version>${org.slf4j-version}</version>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>         <artifactId>jcl-over-slf4j</artifactId>         <version>${org.slf4j-version}</version>         <scope>runtime</scope>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>         <artifactId>slf4j-log4j12</artifactId>         <version>${org.slf4j-version}</version>         <scope>runtime</scope>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>log4j</groupId>         <artifactId>log4j</artifactId>         <version>1.2.15</version>         <exclusions>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>javax.mail</groupId>                 <artifactId>mail</artifactId>             </exclusion>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>javax.jms</groupId>                 <artifactId>jms</artifactId>             </exclusion>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>com.sun.jdmk</groupId>                 <artifactId>jmxtools</artifactId>             </exclusion>             <exclusion>                 <groupId>com.sun.jmx</groupId>                 <artifactId>jmxri</artifactId>             </exclusion>         </exclusions>         <scope>runtime</scope>     </dependency>      <!-- @Inject -->     <dependency>         <groupId>javax.inject</groupId>         <artifactId>javax.inject</artifactId>         <version>1</version>     </dependency>      <!-- Servlet -->     <dependency>         <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>         <artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>         <version>2.5</version>         <scope>provided</scope>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>javax.servlet.jsp</groupId>         <artifactId>jsp-api</artifactId>         <version>2.1</version>         <scope>provided</scope>     </dependency>     <dependency>         <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>         <artifactId>jstl</artifactId>         <version>1.2</version>     </dependency>      <!-- Test -->     <dependency>         <groupId>junit</groupId>         <artifactId>junit</artifactId>         <version>4.7</version>         <scope>test</scope>     </dependency>             <!-- To bring jfree chart in, iText & Apache POI -->     <dependency>         <groupId>net.sf.jasperreports</groupId>         <artifactId>jasperreports</artifactId>         <version>4.1.2</version>     </dependency>       <dependency>         <groupId>org.codehaus.groovy</groupId>         <artifactId>groovy-all</artifactId>         <version>1.5.5</version>     </dependency>      <!-- Oracle jdbc drivers -->     <dependency>         <groupId>com.oracle</groupId>         <artifactId>oracle</artifactId>         <version>10.2.0.1.0</version>     </dependency>  </dependencies> <build>     <plugins>         <plugin>             <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>             <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>             <configuration>                 <source>${java-version}</source>                 <target>${java-version}</target>             </configuration>         </plugin>         <plugin>             <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>             <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>             <configuration>                 <warName>abc</warName>             </configuration>                                     </plugin>         <plugin>             <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>             <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>             <executions>                 <execution>                     <id>install</id>                     <phase>install</phase>                     <goals>                         <goal>sources</goal>                     </goals>                 </execution>             </executions>         </plugin>                </plugins> </build> 

UPDATE: Adding Web.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <web-app version="2.5" xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd">  <!-- The definition of the Root Spring Container shared by all Servlets and Filters --> <context-param>     <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>     <param-value>/WEB-INF/spring/root-context.xml                  classpath*:META-INF/spring/applicationContext*.xml                       </param-value> </context-param>  <!-- Creates the Spring Container shared by all Servlets and Filters --> <listener>     <listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class> </listener>  <!-- Processes application requests --> <servlet>     <servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>     <servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>     <init-param>         <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>         <param-value>/WEB-INF/spring/appServlet/servlet-context.xml</param-value>     </init-param>     <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup> </servlet>  <servlet-mapping>     <servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>     <url-pattern>/</url-pattern> </servlet-mapping> 

Answer 1

So if you have your DispatcherServlet configured in a REST like URL pattern such as / then css files would go under src/main/webapp/resources

Just to clarify this is what I had to do:

1. Make sure that in your servlet-context.xml you have as follows:

   <resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/resources/" />  

2. Create a folder if does not already exist under webapps called resources

3. Place your css folder along with css files there

4. Reference my css file as follows:

   <link rel="stylesheet" href="<%=request.getContextPath()%>/resources/css/960.css"/> 

Answer 2

I was faced with the same question in a maven project. There seems to be no good answer to my problem. So I did a simple experiment and it worked perfectly.

This is a simple maven project, I have the following directory structure: (Irrelevant directories are not shown)

 ───src    └───main        ├───java        ├───resources        └───webapp            ├───javascript            │   ├───test.js            │   ├───example.js            │   └───jquery-library.js            ├───WEB-INF            │    └───web.xml            └───example.jsp 

My JSP pages can refer to my javascript libraries simply as

<script src=javascript/jquery-library.js></script> 

There is no need for any special configuration.