Debugging a REST service with NetBeans

If you are looking to debug a REST service with NetBeans then follow along!

In 5 steps you will learn how to start debugging the REST service. They are:

Create the Maven POM file
Add the application class
Add the endpoint
Add the NetBeans nbactions-default.xml file
Debug the application

Create the Maven POM file

Create an empty directory to store your Maven project. Inside of that directory create the pom.xml file with the content as below.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<project
    xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>cloud.piranha.guides.coreprofile</groupId>
    <artifactId>netbeans-debug</artifactId>
    <version>1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <packaging>war</packaging>
    <name>Piranha Core Profile - Debugging a REST service with NetBeans</name>
    <properties>
        <jakartaee.version>10.0.0</jakartaee.version>
        <java.version>17</java.version>
        <junit.version>5.10.0-M1</junit.version>
        <maven-compiler-plugin.version>3.11.0</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
        <maven-failsafe-plugin.version>3.0.0</maven-failsafe-plugin.version>
        <maven-war-plugin.version>3.3.2</maven-war-plugin.version>
        <piranha.version>23.6.0</piranha.version>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
    </properties>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>jakarta.platform</groupId>
            <artifactId>jakarta.jakartaee-core-api</artifactId>
            <version>${jakartaee.version}</version>
            <scope>provided</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit-jupiter-api</artifactId>
            <version>${junit.version}</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit-jupiter-engine</artifactId>
            <version>${junit.version}</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit-jupiter-params</artifactId>
            <version>${junit.version}</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <finalName>netbeans-debug</finalName>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>cloud.piranha.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>piranha-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>${piranha.version}</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>pre-integration-test</id>
                        <phase>pre-integration-test</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>start</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                    <execution>
                        <id>post-integration-test</id>
                        <phase>post-integration-test</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>stop</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>${maven-compiler-plugin.version}</version>
                <configuration>
                    <release>${java.version}</release>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>${maven-failsafe-plugin.version}</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>integration-test</goal>
                            <goal>verify</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>${maven-war-plugin.version}</version>
                <configuration>
                    <failOnMissingWebXml>false</failOnMissingWebXml>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
    <profiles>
        <profile>
            <id>debug</id>
            <build>
                <plugins>
                    <plugin>
                        <groupId>cloud.piranha.maven.plugins</groupId>
                        <artifactId>piranha-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                        <version>${piranha.version}</version>
                        <configuration>
                            <jvmArguments>-Xdebug -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=n,suspend=n,address=${jpda.address}</jvmArguments>
                        </configuration>
                    </plugin>
                </plugins>
            </build>
        </profile>
    </profiles>
</project>

Note the POM file contains a debug profile in the profiles section that we will leverage later on to activate the NetBeans debugging.

Add the application class

Add the Application class in the src/main/java directory, which allows you to set the application path using the @ApplicationPath annotation.

package rest;

import jakarta.ws.rs.ApplicationPath;
import jakarta.ws.rs.core.Application;

@ApplicationPath("")
public class RestApplication extends Application {
}

Add the endpoint

And we are adding a simple ‘Hello World’ endpoint that is listening on the /helloworld path.

package rest;

import jakarta.enterprise.context.RequestScoped;
import jakarta.ws.rs.GET;
import jakarta.ws.rs.Path;

@Path("/helloworld")
@RequestScoped
public class HelloWorldBean {

    @GET
    public String helloWorld() {
        return "Hello World!";
    }
}

Add the NetBeans nbactions-default.xml

To integrate debugging into the NetBeans IDE we’ll create the nbactions-default.xml file in the root directory of your Maven project. It should contain the content as below.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<actions>
    <action>
        <actionName>debug</actionName>
        <packagings>
            <packaging>war</packaging>
            <packaging>ear</packaging>
            <packaging>ejb</packaging>
        </packagings>
        <goals>
            <goal>package</goal>
            <goal>pre-integration-test</goal>
        </goals>
        <properties>
            <netbeans.deploy.debugmode>true</netbeans.deploy.debugmode>
            <jpda.listen>true</jpda.listen>
        </properties>
        <activatedProfiles>
            <activatedProfile>debug</activatedProfile>
        </activatedProfiles>
    </action>
</actions>

Debug the application

Open the HelloWorldBean.java file and set a breakpoint on the line where the Hello World response is returned.

Then right click on your project node and select Debug.

After a short while you will see NetBeans change to the debugger view and the threads of your running application will appear.

Then browse to http://localhost:8080/rest/helloworld/.

Now you’ll see it hit your breakpoint.

Conclusion

Setting up debugging for NetBeans requires a little bit of plumbing, but once the Maven profile and the NetBeans nbactions-default.xml file are in place you are set!

References

Back