How can I access file in localhost?

When my jsp files are inside WEB-INF folder (as /WEB-INF/file.jsp) , I can access them from localhost: 8080/ProjectCtxtRoot/, but I can't access them, if they are placed in /WEB-INF/jsp/file.jsp?

• I changed the path in welcome-list tag in web.xml as follows <welcome-file-list> <welcome-file>/JSP/fileName.jsp</welcome-file> </welcome-file-list> I also changed the dispatcher-servlet.xml as follows <bean id="jspViewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.InternalResourceViewResolver" p:prefix="/WEB-INF/jsp/" p:suffix=".jsp" /> Still it doesn't work. But it was working when <welcome-file-list> <welcome-file>/fileName.jsp</welcome-file> </welcome-file-list> dispatcher-servlet.xml as follows <bean id="jspViewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.InternalResourceViewResolver" p:prefix="/WEB-INF/" p:suffix=".jsp" /> Ok. It works when   I moved the entire jsp folder from /webapp/WEB-INF/jsp/fileName.jsp to /webapp/jsp/fileName.jsp.  I would like to know 1) why it works now? 2) Is this the correct way to do things? 3) It works when the url is localhost:8080/CtxtRoot/jsp/or localhost:8080/CtxtRoot/jsp/search.jsp, but it doesn't work for localhost:8080/CtxtRoot/jsp/search. Why is it so?

• Answer:

  1. JSPs placed under WEB-INF cannot be accessed directly via HTTP. Read this answer on http://Stackoverflow.com http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4291545/how-to-properly-put-jsps-in-the-web-inf-folder 2. Yes and no. The resources which need to be protected from direct access(http://localhost:8080/CtxRoot/...) are placed under WEB-INF. So it is a choice that you have to make. If you feel a JSP file should not be given access to users of your application by hitting a URL directly, then place it under WEB-INF. Otherwise place it in a folder under WebContent directory. 3. Can you provide more clarity? I am not very sure if I understood your this point right. Hope this helps. Thanks for the A2A.