ImprovementsInJavaWebStartSupportInNetBeansIDEPost6.1

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Java Web Start support in NetBeans 6.1

Current support for Java Web Start (JWS) in NetBeans IDE is only limited to very simple scenarios. For example only application descriptors can be created and no additional resource extensions can be specified in NetBeans GUI which could be limiting. With upcoming JDK 6u10 release with new Java Plugin implementation it would be good if IDE support e.g. also applet deployment via JNLP protocol.

NetBeans 6.5 - New GUI for Java Web Start Customizer

To support applets we would need to extend the current UI of JWS customizer panel.

Following screenshot shows possible extension of the UI:

Comparing to 6.1 version of IDE there are radio buttons for selecting type of descriptor that will be created in final JNLP file.

• Application descriptor means that the same JNLP file with application-descriptor will be created as with current version
• Applet descriptor means that JNLP file will contain applet-descriptor element and the JNLP file could be used referenced from HTML page to launch an applet with all advantages the JNLP file can provide
• Component descriptor means that final JNLP file can be used as resource extension for other JNLP file; useful for library

Extension Resources button opens table like view with additional extension resources, with possibility to define name, href and version of the resource:

Applet params button opens table like view of all applet parameters:

Changes from 6.1 JWS support

In 6.1 and previous releases the JNLP file is fully generated using Ant script and its processing - it means that the script is large complex and is very difficult to extend it workaround some issues. In next release of IDE the main generation part of the script will be replaced by custom Ant task that can do much more and more easily.

Set of properties used to generate JNLP file

Application related properties, those properties are defined in panel Application in Project Properties customizer of J2SE project:

Property Name	Type	Description
application.desc	String	Description of the application
application.homepage	String	Homepage for the application
application.splash	String	Splash screen for the application; shown during startup of the application
application.title	String	Name of the application; usually shown during download
application.vendor	String	Name of the vendor

JNLP related properties, those are defined in panel Web Start in Project Properties customizer of J2SE project:

Property Name	Type	Description
jnlp.codebase.url	String	Codebase of the application deployment location
jnlp.codebase.type	Enum: local, user, web	Type of the codebase; either locally on computer or defined by user or $$codebase for servlet deployment
jnlp.enabled	Enum: true, false	Wheter the jnlp generation is enabled
jnlp.icon	String	Icon for the application; usually used on desktop
jnlp.offline-allowed	Enum: true, false	Whether the application is allowed to run on computer not connected to internet
jnlp.signed	Enum: true, false	Defines whether to generate self-signed certificate and to sign application jar files of not

Other JNLP related properties that are not exposed in GUI:

Property Name	Type	Description
jnlp.spec	String	Specification version of JNLP; used as spec attribute in jnlp element
jnlp.inital-heap-size	String	Inital heap size
jnlp.max-heap-size	String	Maximum heap size

These properties needs to be edited by hand in project.properties file.

Other properties used when generating JNLP file (these are props used by J2SE project itself):

Property Name	Description
javac.classpath	Classpath for compilation
javac.target	Version of VM
run.jvmargs	Arguments to pass to the application when running
main.class	Project main class to be executed

New properties introduced with changes for NetBeans 6.5

Property Name	Type	Description
jnlp.descriptor	Enum: applet, application, component	Type of the descriptor
jnlp.ext.resource.{x}.name	String	Name of extension resource{x}
jnlp.ext.resource.{x}.href	String	Href of extension resource{x}
jnlp.ext.resource.{x}.version	String	Version for extension resource{x}
jnlp.applet.class	String	Applet main class
jnlp.applet.param.{x}.name	String	Applet param name{x}
jnlp.applet.param.{x}.value	String	Applet param value{x}
jnlp.htmlpreview	String	Page to be generated to preview the final JNLP file

Those properties with {x} are meant to be multiple times in properties file with {x} replaced by real index, e.g.:

jnlp.ext.resource.0.name=extLibrary
jnlp.ext.resource.0.href=http://somesite.org/jnlp/extLibrary.jnlp
jnlp.ext.resource.0.version=1.4
jnlp.ext.resource.1.name=GraphicsLibrary
jnlp.ext.resource.1.href=http://othersite.org/jnlp/GraphicsLibrary.jnlp
jnlp.ext.resource.1.version=1.1

Other changes:

• master.jnlp file will be generated by saving project properties with JWS enabled, so far it was first generated during build