diff --git a/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/FriendlyException.java b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/FriendlyException.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..867446f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/FriendlyException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+//
+// $Id: FriendlyException.java,v 1.1 2001/02/13 18:49:41 mdb Exp $
+
+package com.samskivert.webmacro;
+
+/**
+ * The friendly exception provides a mechanism by which a servlet can
+ * abort its processing and report a human readable error to the servlet
+ * framework that will be inserted into the context in the appropriate
+ * place so that the error message will be displayed to the user. Simply
+ * construct a friendly exception with the desired error message and throw
+ * it during the call to <code>populateContext</code>.
+ *
+ * @see FriendlyServlet
+ */
+public class FriendlyException extends Exception
+{
+    public FriendlyException (String message)
+    {
+	super(message);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/FriendlyServlet.java b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/FriendlyServlet.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8e64804a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/FriendlyServlet.java
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+//
+// $Id: FriendlyServlet.java,v 1.1 2001/02/13 18:49:41 mdb Exp $
+
+package com.samskivert.webmacro;
+
+import org.webmacro.*;
+import org.webmacro.servlet.*;
+
+/**
+ * The friendly servlet adds a common error handling paradigm to the basic
+ * webmacro servlet. This paradigm is to catch any exceptions thrown in
+ * the <code>populateContext</code> method (used instead of the
+ * <code>handle</code> method) and to convert them into friendly error
+ * messages that are inserted into the context with the key
+ * <code>"error"</code> for easy display to the user in the resulting web
+ * page.
+ *
+ * <p> To make this work, the process of template selection is separated
+ * from the process of data generation. First the template is selected; if
+ * that process fails, a standard error response is given to the user as
+ * we have no template into which to substitute the template selection
+ * failure error message. Subsequently, the data is generated. If that
+ * fails, we can substitute a friendly error message into the selected
+ * template. Finally, the template is executed, which is a standard
+ * webmacro procedure.
+ *
+ * <p> The process of mapping exceptions to friendly error messages is
+ * done through a properties file loaded via the classpath. The properties
+ * file should be named 'exceptionmap.properties' and placed in a
+ * directory contained in the classpath of the JVM in which the servlet is
+ * executed. The file should contain mappings from exception classes to
+ * friendly error messages. For example:
+ *
+ * <pre>
+ * com.samskivert.webmacro.FriendlyException = An error occurred while \
+ * processing your request: {m}
+ * java.sql.SQLException = The database is currently unavailable. Please \
+ * try your request again later.
+ * java.lang.Exception = An unexpected error occurred while processing \
+ * your request. Please try again later.
+ * </pre>
+ *
+ * The message associated with the exception will be substituted into the
+ * error string in place of <code>{m}</code>.
+ */
+public abstract class FriendlyServlet extends WMServlet
+{
+    public Template handle (WebContext ctx) throws HandlerException
+    {
+	// first we select the template
+	Template tmpl;
+	try {
+	    tmpl = selectTemplate(ctx);
+	} catch (Exception e) {
+	    throw new HandlerException("Unable to load template: " + e);
+	}
+
+	// then we populate the context with data
+	try {
+	    populateContext(ctx, tmpl);
+	} catch (Exception e) {
+	}
+
+	return tmpl;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Override this member function with code that selects and loads the
+     * proper template based on whatever criterion appropriate for this
+     * servlet.
+     *
+     * @param ctx The context of this request.
+     *
+     * @return The template to be used in generating the response.
+     */
+    protected abstract Template selectTemplate (WebContext ctx)
+	throws Exception;
+
+    /**
+     * Override this member function with code that populates the context
+     * with whatever data is appropriate for this servlet. Presumably this
+     * is where the real work of the servlet takes place.
+     *
+     * @param ctx The context of this request.
+     * @param tmpl The webmacro template previously selected by the
+     * invocation of the <code>selectTemplate</code> method.
+     */
+    protected abstract void populateContext (WebContext ctx, Template tmpl)
+	throws Exception;
+}
diff --git a/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/Makefile b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f00e18b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#
+# $Id: Makefile,v 1.1 2001/02/13 18:49:41 mdb Exp $
+
+ROOT = ../../..
+
+SRCS = \
+	FriendlyException.java \
+	FriendlyServlet.java \
+
+include $(ROOT)/build/Makefile.java