web.xml --- why to update it??????

[Tualha Khan]

Dear All,
Hey,
I am using tomcat+apache on winNT. I was able to successfully compile and run my servlet after keeping the .class file in
/web-apps/root/web-inf/classes/ directory. Can anybody tell, what is the need to update the web.xml file. I did not update this file to run my servlets residing in this directory.
Thanks a lot.
Bye,
Tualha Khan

[Bharatesh H Kakamari]

I do not think there is need to update web.xml. I did not update it.

[Jeroen Wenting]

web.xml serves many purposes. You can for example put things like servlet init-params in it, or an alternate alias for the servlet directory (so, replace the default /servlet/ with something else).
Check the DTD for all the possible things you can put in, there are quite a few (which may not all be supported by all appservers, maybe).
example:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<web-app>
  <servlet>
    <servlet-name>mainservlet</servlet-name>
    <servlet-class>MainServlet</servlet-class>
    <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
  </servlet>
  <servlet-mapping>
    <!-- call /servlet/mainservlet when requesting /main.html -->
    <servlet-name>mainservlet</servlet-name>
    <url-pattern>main.html</url-pattern>
  </servlet-mapping>
  <!-- The Welcome File List -->
  <welcome-file-list>
    <welcome-file>welcome.html</welcome-file>
  </welcome-file-list>
</web-app>