[Exist-open] how to bypass eXist 's controller framework

[Ron V. d. B. <ron...@ka...>]

Hi,

As a first step of switching to eXist 1.4, I'm migrating my 
applications, all of which are Cocoon-based. Currently, I'm a bit 
puzzled about the way to bypass eXist's controller framework. Following 
evidence suggests that this is controlled from controller.xql:

    1. the entry in %EXIST_HOME%\webapp\WEB-INF\web.xml:

        <!-- IMPORTANT: the XQueryURLRewrite servlet filter does now 
serve as a single
         entry point into the web application. All eXist-related URL
         mappings are handled by XQueryURLRewrite (see 
controller-config.xml).
         The servlet mappings below are thus commented out. We keep them 
here
         for documentation purposes. If you need to switch to the old 
setup,
         you can re-enable the mappings below and disable them in
         controller-config.xml. However, please note that some features 
of the
         website will only work if XQueryURLRewrite controls the /rest 
servlet
         (EXistServlet). -->
        <filter-mapping>
                <filter-name>XQueryURLRewrite</filter-name>
                <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
        </filter-mapping>

    2. the entry in %EXIST_HOME%\webapp\controller.xql:

        (: ignore Cocoon :)
        else if (matches($exist:path, "/cocoon")) then
          <ignore xmlns="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist">
            <cache-control cache="yes"/>
          </ignore>

However, when I add a  new webapp (say 'myapp'), and add a similar 
<ignore> instruction when $exist:path matches '/myapp', browsing to 
myapp produces a 404 error in the browser:
    HTTP ERROR: 404
    Not Found
    RequestURI=/exist/myapp/test.xml

On closer inspection, however, the web.xml file also contains following 
entry:
    <servlet-mapping>
        <servlet-name>Cocoon</servlet-name>
        <url-pattern>/cocoon/*</url-pattern>
    </servlet-mapping>

It seems that this is the necessary AND minimal condition for directing 
URLs with /cocoon/ to be handled by Cocoon. If this servlet-mapping is 
repeated for '/myapp', http://localhost:8080/exist/myapp/test.xml is 
processed properly (ie. by Cocoon).

 From this, it seems that:
    1. web.xml is the sole place to specify what content should be 
served from Cocoon instead of eXist controller framework
    2. the <ignore> instruction in controller.xql has no effect at all 
(when the URL is specified in web.xml to be treated by Cocoon)

Is this correct: is web.xml the sole place to indicate content to be 
served from Cocoon, and that controller.xql has no influence on this at all?

Kind regards,

Ron Van den Branden

-- 
Ron Van den Branden
Wetenschappelijk Attaché
Centrum voor Teksteditie en Bronnenstudie (CTB)
Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde (KANTL)
Koningstraat 18  B-9000 Gent
Tel: +32 9 265 93 53 / Fax: +32 9 265 93 49
E-mail : ron...@ka...
www.kantl.be/ctb