Eclipse configuration docs to link and edit an existing web app

Question

I have been trying to learn how to use eclipse for J2ee web development and have heard alot of great things about it. I have had a lot of success my self When starting a project from scratch and building everything within the eclipse work space. This was all fun and games however.

For part of my job, I am part of a team that builds web application with it's own well defined directory structure that has been in existence for many years. Lots of hooks in the build script depend on the directory structure, as well as source repository.

We have been using IDEa for a long time but the version is quite outdated,

I would like to leave the directory structure alone but be able to take advantage of some of the newer features available in eclipse. However, my very newbie impression of eclipse seems that eclipse is insistent you that you play by it's rules, import everything to it's workspace, and bend to it's will. I've been able to linking source folders for strict java development, but I have had no such luck with a dynamic web project.

I am sure I've missed something, and am hoping someone will point me at a decent tutorial to solve my problems as I would really like to get over my IDEa dependence for code assistence with J2EE develpoment.

Answer 1

I was able to start a Java servlet project in Eclipse and have it set itself up a new project the way it likes, and then just add in the folders and config files from the existing project I was given to maintain into the new Eclipse project until it looked just like the old project.

I would have hoped that I could find a better way to tell eclipse just where my to find the existing files but in the end it worked to do it backwards like this.

Answer 2

Thanks, I'll give that a try

Answer 3

No that didn't work. I still had to import the files into the workspace. It is a deal breaker that I must be able to work on an existing directory structure.