🚀 go-pugleaf

Tor Iver Wilhelmsen wrote:
> 
> aabdulla@student.ecu.edu.au (Ali Janah) writes:
> 
> > On the PC, you just go to the DOS prompt and type java (programname.java)
> > and the apps will execute. Please help me !!
> 


> Drop the class on JBindery.

This presumes that you are a developer, and have access to the MRJ-SDK
to get JBindery. JBindery does not come in the user MRJ distribution.

There is no current Apple provided solution for end users to launch
'bare' java applications. I have asked them, and they say that it is the
responsibility of the developer to JBind the app into a Mac
double-clickable form for the end user.

But that leaves out a user who gets a .zip, .class or .jar file written
by the other 80% of the developers of the world that don't have any real
incentive (or possibly the equipment) to make a Mac double-clickable
version. Many of the apps will work fine on the Mac, if only the user
could launch them at all!

Users that have command line interfaces can use a simple README text
file + the CLI to launch the app. For them, the CLI is the 'default
launcher' for Java apps. This is no surprise, since Java comes from Sun,
and all their OSs have CLIs. Some developers supply BAT files, Shortcuts
or sh scripts to even make it easier. So, those other platforms have
_many_ ways they can launch the java apps.

**Note: I do not want to get into a CLI vs GUI discussion here. There is
a GUI way to solve this problem. If Apple (and presumabley it's users)
don't want a CLI, then fine. But then there needs to be a GUI solution offered.

For Apple, the 'default launcher' is the Finder. Therefore, they need to
have some way to double click on a given java application, and have it
do whatever is needed to launch the app. For Java apps, admittedly, this
is more complicated then for Mac apps, which were written from the
ground up as Mac apps. But it _is possible_ to at least give the
equivalent, if not something better, than a CLI launcher. Double
clicking on a .jar file can be bound to launch some application that
prompts the user with the necessary questions about how to launch the
java app. 

This is essentially what JBindery is, but it is designed for a
developer, with alot of terminology and options that only a developer
needs. A simplified version of it would do fine for users. I had
suggested to Apple to do a user version of JBindery, but got no answer
on that. There are a number of third party java app launchers, including
one I think is called DropMain. Metrowerks has an app called 'Metrowerks
Java' which comes with their development environment, and also works
fine (though I believe the UI could be improved).

Regardless of whether there are third party ways to do this, I still
think that Apple should supply some default launcher in the user MRJ
distribution, and not just one for developers. I think they are
artificially limiting the use of Java on the Mac platform to only apps
that have been given the 'blessing' of Mac developers. The promise of
Java is that developers can write once and have the app run anywhere
without additional work, especially for what the developer may consider
an 'insignificant' platform. It is Apple's responsibility to make the
Mac OS competitively capable, otherwise users will have yet one more
excuse to jump ship.

Scott