This is an example Ratpack app, based on the latest (Netty-powered) version. It is a subset port of the Groovy Console.

It is also using the Ratpack Gradle plugin as the development environment.

Getting Started

*To run this app, you need Java 8

Check this project out, cd into the directory and run:

./gradlew run

This will start the ratpack app. In your browser go to http://localhost:5050.

The Gradle Ratpack plugin builds on the Gradle Application plugin. This means it's easy to create a standalone distribution for your app.

Run:

./gradlew installApp
cd build/install/groovy-web-console/
bin/groovy-web-console

Your app should now be running. See The Application Plugin chapter in the Gradle User Guide for more on what the Gradle application plugin can do for you.

Development time reloading

One of the key Ratpack features is support for runtime reloading. The src/ratpack/ratpack.groovy file (which defines the request routes and handlers) can be changed at runtime.

Furthermore, full reloading of supporting classes (i.e. src/main/groovy) is enabled via SpringSource's SpringLoaded library.

See src/ratpack/ratpack.groovy and src/main/groovy/groovywebconsole/ReloadingThing.groovy for instructions on how to test the SpringLoaded based reloading.

IDEA integration

The Ratpack Gradle plugin has special support for IntelliJ IDEA. To open the project in IDEA, run:

./gradlew idea

If you have the idea command line tool installed you can then run:

idea groovy-web-console.ipr

In the “Run” menu, you will find a run configuration for launching the Ratpack app from within your IDE. Hot reloading is supported in this mode. See src/main/groovy/groovywebconsole/ReloadingThing.groovy for details.

Configuring a port

When running via Gradle

Add

jvmArgs "-Dratpack.port=8080"

To your run closure, for example:

run {
    jvmArgs "-Dratpack.port=8080"
    systemProperty "ratpack.reloadable", "true"
}

When running the built application/jar

Set the JVM property using the JAVA_OPTS shell variable. For example, in the Bash shell:

export JAVA_OPTS=-Dratpack.port=8080

More on Ratpack

The published Ratpack Manual is currently minimal, but contributions are welcome.

More information, including issue tracker and support forum, is available on the Ratpack Website.

You can also check out the source @ https://github.com/ratpack/ratpack/tree/master or open this project in IDEA and dig through the source there.