IntelliJ 15, SpringBoot devtools livereload not wo

Question

Having issues with the new LiveReload feature with Spring Boot devtools 1.3. It doesn't reload on class changes. I've seen it demo'd with IntelliJ @ Devoxx 2015. Is there some IDE setting I need to have enabled? I'm running via the IDE and not through Gradle. I tried enabling "Make project automatically" which doesn't seem to help.

It seems to load correctly and is looking in the correct path

2015-11-23 05:55:30.592 DEBUG 4700 --- [  restartedMain] o.s.boot.devtools.restart.Restarter      : Starting application com.myapp.Application with URLs [file:/E:/Projects/myapp/build/classes/main/, file:/E:/Projects/myapp/build/resources/main/]

My files

build.gradle

buildscript {
    ext {
        springBootVersion = '1.3.0.RELEASE'
    }
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-gradle-plugin:${springBootVersion}") 
    }
}

apply plugin: 'java'
apply plugin: 'eclipse-wtp'
apply plugin: 'idea'
apply plugin: 'spring-boot' 
apply plugin: 'war'


war {
    baseName = 'myapp'
    version = '0.0.1-SNAPSHOT'
}
sourceCompatibility = 1.8
targetCompatibility = 1.8

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
    maven { url "https://repo.spring.io/snapshot" }
    maven { url "https://repo.spring.io/milestone" }
}

configurations {
    providedRuntime
}

dependencies {
    compile('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-actuator')
    compile('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-devtools')
    compile('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-jdbc')
    compile('org.projectlombok:lombok')
    compile('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web')
    compile('net.sourceforge.jtds:jtds:1.3.1');
    testCompile('org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-test') 
}

dependencyManagement {
    imports { 
        mavenBom "org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-starter-parent:Brixton.M3" 
    }
}


eclipse {
    classpath {
         containers.remove('org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER')
         containers 'org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER/org.eclipse.jdt.internal.debug.ui.launcher.StandardVMType/JavaSE-1.8'
    }
}

task wrapper(type: Wrapper) {
    gradleVersion = '2.7'
}

HelloWorldController

@Controller
public class HelloWorldController {

    @RequestMapping("/")
    @ResponseBody
    String home(){

        return "Hello World test";
    }
}

Answer 1

To answer the above question let us first understand a feature in Intellij Idea. You must have seen that the file that you make change need not be saved. And the change that you make in any non .class file remains saved. To cross verify please make some change to the .java file(you can choose any other file as well) and close it and it won't prompt for Saving it and when you reopen the file then your changes are still there. But if you check the .class file the changes made are not reflected which is obvious because build has not happened. On the contrary when we enable automatic build in Eclipse it is done on an event and the event is Saving the File -> Ctrl+S(Windows). But in intellij idea that event is not happening or we do not carry out that event. So, consider the scenario when we do not have spring-boot-devtool then, in that case, we always had to rebuild or restart the server to pick up the changes thereby causing an event. Now, regarding spring-boot-devtool as Ankush92 rightly mentioned that devtool monitors the classpath changes and restart happens only if there is any change in the classpath. But as I explained earlier we are just adding our code changes in the non .class file and expecting devtool to trigger a restart even when that change is not reflected in the class path. Let me mention this again that in eclipse the event to do the same is Saving the File(Ctrl+S) when automatic build is enabled. So, now the question is how to have a workaround and mimic what Ctrl+S does in Eclipse into the Intellij Idea. It's quite simple lets build the application and the shortcut for that is Ctrl+F9. This will trigger the same effect in intellij as Ctrl+S(in this scenario) in eclipse and help the devtool to find the change in the classpath thereby encouraging it to restart the server. So everytime you make any change in the file and want the server to restart just press Ctr+F9. I hope this explanation and the workaround helps.

Answer 2

Edit - Macros - Start Macro Recording
File - Save All
Build - Build Project
Edit - Macros - Stop Macro Recording - You can save the macro name as “Save & Make Project”
Preferences - Keymap - Macros

Go down to expand the macros directory to find your newly macro (i.e. “Save & Make Project”). Double click to Add Keyboard Shortcut and press Cmd+S if you use Mac and Ctrl+S if you use Windows.

Intellij will prompt saying that Ctrl+S already exist just click 'Replace'.

Now all set and Ctrl+S should trigger Spring-Boot Devtools

Reference: https://tomyjaya.github.io/2016/10/08/spring-boot-dev-tools-in-intellij/

Answer 3

To solve this You can do like: 1- Add LiveReload extension in your browser. 2- Add devtools dependencies to your pom.xml(if it's maven (spring-boot-devtools)). 3- In your intellij IDEA go to: file->settings->build,execution,deployment. Go to ->compiler->build project automatically. 4-In your intellij IDEA: SHIFT+Ctrl+A ->registry-> compiler.automake.allow.when.app.running

Answer 4

Follow below simple steps, you will be up and running in less than 2 minutes.

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+A
2. Search for Registry ...
3. scroll and find "compiler.automake.allow.when.app.running" then select the checkbox to make it active.
4. Click close
5. File Menu -> settings ...
6. Expand Build, Execution, Deployment
7. Select Compiler
8. Select checkbox Build project automatically
9. Apply
10. Click Ok

Now stop your application server and then start your application, that's it you will find automatic restart/reload activated when any changes are detected in the project.

Happy Coding/Hacking.