Barracuda - Using Barracuda
barracuda.gif (11456 bytes) This purpose of this document is to explain how to actually use Barracuda.

Getting the Binaries

Barracuda project binaries are available here. Note that you can either download a stable release or one of the latest daily builds.


Installing the Binaries

Unzip the file to a directory of your choice (Linux/Unix users should use 'unzip -a' and also run 'chmod +x ant.sh' in the src directory after unzipping).


Getting the source from CVS

You can also download the entire Barracuda project from anonymous CVS. For complete details, visit the Barracuda CVS Page. You may also wish to look into Tortoise CVS (highly recommended).


Building the source

If you download the Barracuda source from CVS, you will need to build the project. Because Barracuda includes a self-contained version of Ant, this can be done without installing any additional software.

You can compile Barracuda by invoking ant in the main src directory. The easiest way to do this is to type "ant clean dist". This will clean all existing build directories, compile the Barracuda source, and then generate a full jar barracuda.jar in the /WEB-INF/lib directory and the end-user jars (minus the examples, etc) barracuda-core.jar, plankton.jar in the /WEB-INF/jars directory.

Note that Barracuda includes its own version of Ant 1.4 which has been customized to automatically add jar files to the classpath. By default, this includes all jar files found in WEB-INF/ant/lib, WEB-INF/jars, and WEB-INF/lib except for any jars which are specified in build.properties.


Deploying the Barracuda WAR

You can install the Barracuda WAR in any Servlet 2.2+ container; here's how to do it using Enhydra 3.1.

  1. First of all, make sure that you have Enhydra 3.1+. This is essential for all the Barracuda examples to work. If you are using another servlet container, make sure you either:

    • copy WEB-INF/jars/xmlc.jar into WEB-INF/lib/ -or- 
    • add it to your system classpath.

  2. Next, simply create a web application in your Enhydra Multiserver console. Choose "WAR", point it to the directory root, and make sure you have the "invoker enabled" option selected. Once you create a web application for Barracuda, you will need to also create a connection and then start it. I generally name the URL path "Barracuda". Save your multiserver settings, and you should be in business.

You should now be able to access the Barracuda website via http://yourserver.com/Barracuda


Using Barracuda in my project

All you have to do to use Barracuda in your own project is to include the barracuda-core.jar (built in the /WEB-INF/lib directory) in your projects' /WEB-INF/lib directory, or else place it on your system classpath. That's all there is to it (although you may need to make sure your build mechanism can find the jar as well).


Resolving further questions

The best way to resolve further questions is by asking on the mailing list. You might also want to try searching the archives.

For all the latest information on Barracuda, please refer to http://barracuda.enhydra.org
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