Include Jforum in a webapp

[Mercedes Prado]

Hello,

I did my research and I think Jforum is the best solution for me. So, I want to integrate Jforum with an existing webapp. I have read a lot about this and I have tried to apply some of the steps that it has been mentioned. However, I still don't get any luck on doing this or maybe I don't understand it well given that I don't have too much experience in Web Development. So, this is my situation:

This Web Application uses Spring MVC framework with Maven in Eclipse. Also, this application runs on Tomcat. For the frontend it uses JSP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS. So, I know that there are two ways to integrate the Jforum from what I have read so far. The first solution is to keep the entire project as a single war; and the second solution is two keep them in 2 separate wars. So, I have decided that I want to keep it in two single wars, because this webapp because in the future other features will be included, and also, I want to keep updated the jforum in case there are coming updates. So, I have read that I can use the SSO, or cookies to link/integrate the jforum with a web application. So, my question is where should I include this? In the Jforum or on my application?

So, the main purpose is the user access to the WebApp, and when they access to the jforum though a link or button they will automatically be login to the jforum and just have access to the forums that they only have permission. Also, do you think it is possible to give access to a corresponding forum from this Webapp instead of using the Administrator Panel?

I would really appreciate your opinion, your help and guidance.

Thank you!

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Mercedes Prado wrote:So, I have read that I can use the SSO, or cookies to link/integrate the jforum with a web application. So, my question is where should I include this? In the Jforum or on my application?
I think both. JForum has a lot of options. Your app would need to create the cookie and JFOrum would need to be configured to read it. Similarly for SSO.

Mercedes Prado wrote: Also, do you think it is possible to give access to a corresponding forum from this Webapp instead of using the Administrator Panel?

You'd have to write custom code iN JForum to make that happen. Definitely possible, but it is going to require some research into the codebase.

[Mercedes Prado]

Thank you for your quick reply. Honestly, I haven't been able to make it yet. I still don't know how to generate a cookie from my webapp and make the jforum to read it. If I do this way will I will able to create users from my webapp for the jforum in order to reduce the number of steps??.

[Mercedes Prado]

Ok. I just discovered that there two versions of Jforum, one is the one that runs as an application without the source code and the other one is the one that contains the java source code. Now, I've been having problems on running this https://github.com/rafaelsteil/jforum2.git. Aparently there is some problem with the configuration of the database, I'm modifying the credentials from mysql.properties; doing mvn clean install, but nothing, I keep having the same problem. Jforum has been frustrating me a little bit, I need help please.

Thank you,

Mercedes

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Mercedes Prado wrote: If I do this way will I will able to create users from my webapp for the jforum in order to reduce the number of steps??.

We're not using the single sign on functionality here. My understanding is that users still have to register for JForum and just don't need a separate password.

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Mercedes Prado wrote:Ok. I just discovered that there two versions of Jforum, one is the one that runs as an application without the source code and the other one is the one that contains the java source code. Now, I've been having problems on running this https://github.com/rafaelsteil/jforum2.git. Aparently there is some problem with the configuration of the database, I'm modifying the credentials from mysql.properties; doing mvn clean install, but nothing, I keep having the same problem. Jforum has been frustrating me a little bit, I need help please.

The first time you start the app, it prompts you for some information about the database. Does this mean you successfully started it once?

[Mercedes Prado]

Thank you for following up my post. So, for some reason I was having problems connecting to the MySQL. I was reading a lot about this kind of problem, and I changed the "database.connection.pool.max=50" from mysql.properties to "database.connection.pool.max=1200". Then, I didn't have any problem with maven clean install.

When I tried to run the source code with Tomcat, I was having several errors, saying that it wasn't able to identify files from config, Systems.GlobalProperties, and templates. So, what I did is to copy this files in the address that Eclipse's console was indicating me. For example, for the missing folder "templates" I added these files inside /Users/mercedes_local/Documents/portal-mercy/.metadata/.plugins/org.eclipse.wst.server.core/tmp0/wtpwebapps/jforum/. Then, when I run again the source code it was successfully compiled. Now, I hope I will be able to use this to apply SSO.

I'm open to any feedback and advises that you can give me.

Regards,

-Mercedes

[Mercedes Prado]

So, it worked. Finally I could implement the SSO.

Thank you!

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Glad to hear you got it working.