title: use of [context].xml and web.xml for configuring web app
body: <p>I just learned that I could retrieve parameters and other stuff from "ServletContext" (i.e. by overriding contextInitialized).</p>
  
  <p>Reading <a href="http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/config/context.html" rel="nofollow">tomcats context doc</a> reveals that I could set parameters via web.xml (used as default values) and then overwrite them with an [context].xml file.</p>
  
  <p>First question: is this a good way to set default properties and let server administrators overwrite them?</p>
  
  <p>First is there an overview that shows all kinds of attributes/parameters that are available with it's tag used in tomcats context xml, the tag used in web xml, how the retrieve it from within java and a use case / example for what kind of stuff a parameter should be used?</p>
  
  <p>By toying around with it I am facing the following problem: If I deploy the web app via tomcats web interface the [context].xml is completly ignored (console states that it is deployed but 2nd  is null)</p>
  
  <p>To cut a long story short: how to properly use web.xml and [context].xml - the link below isn't much help.</p>