wsad 4.x http server - servlet url

Hi. I'm new to servlets, so this is a 101 type question. In wsad 4.x, we have a URL for the application that includes /servlet/ as part of the path. I assume the built in http server within the developer tool has something (a config file) to tell it what to do with that? So the URL looks like this:

http://localhost:8080/myApplication/servlet/aa.bbb.ccc.classNameXYZ

On my local file system, there is no /servlet folder, but there is a file called classNameXYZ.servlet in the /source directory. It's an XML file that includes mappings to various JSP names. aa.bb.ccc is the package, translated to aa/bbb/ccc on the file system, which is where the class file is.

plugin-cfg.xml has an entry for /servlet/ as:

<UriGroup Name="default_host_URIs">
<Uri Name="/servlet/*"/>
.... other stuff
</UriGroup>

But i'm not sure exactly what this does. I think it determines which URI contructs are allowed within the app?

Is it a built in feature within the HTTP server/app server that if you put /servet/ in the URL that it looks for className.servlet? Just trying to tie it all together

thanks!

I don't remember how it worked in WS 4, but in more recent servers that /servlet/ bit is implemented by a feature called the "invoker" servlet, which lets you run servlets by class name without having to explicitly configure them. So it's not exactly built in, it's a servlet itself.

See this entry in the ranch FAQ collection for more about the invoker. It was originally created to simplify playing around with servlets but has caused a LOT of

for many people.
Bill