How to access static resources when mapping a global front controller servlet on /*

Question

I\'ve mapped the Spring MVC dispatcher as a global front controller servlet on /*.

Answer 1

Map the controller servlet on a more specific url-pattern like /pages/*, put the static content in a specific folder like /static and create a Filter listening on /* which transparently continues the chain for any static content and dispatches requests to the controller servlet for other content.

In a nutshell:

    filter
    com.example.Filter


    filter
    /*



    controller
    com.example.Controller


    controller
    /pages/*

with the following in filter's doFilter():

HttpServletRequest req = (HttpServletRequest) request;
String path = req.getRequestURI().substring(req.getContextPath().length());

if (path.startsWith("/static")) {
    chain.doFilter(request, response); // Goes to default servlet.
} else {
    request.getRequestDispatcher("/pages" + path).forward(request, response);
}

No, this does not end up with /pages in browser address bar. It's fully transparent. You can if necessary make "/static" and/or "/pages" an init-param of the filter.