The Geeky Gecko

Let’s assume you have an existing app using Play! 2.1.A and a 2.1.B version was released. You want to update your environment to use that new release. Note: This tutorial was tested to be working with 2.1.* versions; A and B are two arbitrary numbers.

Running locally

• play run will start the local (Netty) server and your app will be available at localhost:9000.
• play ~run will start the local server and reload it automatically every time you change a file of you app, that way you don’t need to hit refresh (F5) on your browser.
• Useful tip: If you don’t want to have to worry about applying evolutions each time you restart Play, add applyEvolutions.your_database_name=true to your application.conf file. For instance, considering the default database, you should add applyEvolutions.default=true.

Debugging using Eclipse

1. First you must start the Play! app in debug mode by executing the command play debug run.
2. On Eclipse add your breakpoints as you would normally do.
3. Then go to Run > Debug Configurations... and double-click Remote Java Application. This will add a new configuration.
4. On Connect tab, find Connection properties and change Port to 9999.
5. On Common tab, check Debug so that it later appears below the Debug icon. Click Apply. Click Debug.

That’s it! Check this video for a live explanation.