This file tells you how to run SwingSet, both as an applet and as an application. ================================== RUNNING SWINGSET AS AN APPLICATION ================================== JDK 1.2 (any platform) ---------------------- java SwingSet JDK 1.1.x (Solaris) ------------------- setenv SWING_HOME setenv JAVA_HOME runnit JDK 1.1.x (win32) ----------------- set CLASSPATH=\lib\classes.zip set SWING_HOME= runnit ============================= RUNNING SWINGSET AS AN APPLET ============================= You can choose from several approaches to running the SwingSet demo as an applet. You need to apply only one approach, not all. This section tells you how to run SwingSet as an applet in the following browsers: - JDK Applet Viewer - IE 4.0 - Netscape Communicator 4.04 with the latest 1.1 patch (obtained from http://developer.netscape.com/software/jdk/download.html) The usual approach to running a Swing applet is to put the Swing class libraries in a local directory where the browser can find them. Another (much slower) scheme is to store the Swing class libraries with the applet's classes, which allows clients to download the Swing class libraries over the network. Here are the three ways to put Swing class libraries in a local directory where the browser can find them: 1. Use the CLASSPATH environment variable. 2. Specify the class path in another way (only the JDK Applet Viewer allows this, to our knowledge). 3. Put the Swing classes in a browser-specific directory. Setting the CLASSPATH environment variable appears to work for all browsers. However, setting CLASSPATH can sometimes lead to trouble, since it's easy to forget to update it when you update your JDK version or your browser. Take care if you choose to use CLASSPATH. The file SwingSetApplet.html contains the tag necessary for running SwingSet, assuming that the Swing classes are locally available to the browser. JDK Applet Viewer (any platform) -------------------------------- Enter this command: runapplet IE 4.0 or Netscape Communicator 4.04 with latest 1.1 patch (Win NT) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the CLASSPATH solution for Windows NT. 1) Open ControlPanel->System->Environment. 2) In *User* Variables window, add or modify SWING_HOME and CLASSPATH to look like like following: SWING_HOME= CLASSPATH=;%SWING_HOME%\swing.jar;%SWING_HOME%\motif.jar;%SWING_HOME%\windows.jar 3) Remember to "Set" the changes, then press OK. 4) To ensure the changes take effect, restart your computer. IE 4.0 or Netscape Communicator 4.04 with latest 1.1 patch (Win95) ------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the CLASSPATH solution for Windows 95. 1) Use your favorite ASCII editor to add the following to the c:\autoexec.bat file: set SWING_HOME= set CLASSPATH=%CLASSPATH%;%SWING_HOME%\swing.jar;%SWING_HOME%\windows.jar;%SWING_HOME\motif.jar 2) Restart the computer. IE4.0 (win32) ------------- To put the Swing classes where IE4.0 can find them (without using CLASSPATH), you must first unjar the Swing archives and then put the resulting files in the java\classes directory under the IE installation directory. For example, on Windows NT: 1) Go to IE's java/classes directory: cd /java/classes 2) Unarchive the files: jar xf %SWING_HOME%/swing.jar jar xf %SWING_HOME%/windows.jar jar xf %SWING_HOME%/motif.jar Netscape Communicator 4.04 with latest 1.1 patch (Win95) -------------------------------------------------------- To put the Swing classes where Netscape Communicator can find them (without using CLASSPATH), put the Swing JAR files under the Communicator installation's Java\Classes directory. By default, this directory will be located here: c:\Program Files\Netscape\Communicator\Program\Java\Classes For example: copy %SWING_HOME%/*.jar c:\\Communicator\Program\Java\Classes Any browser: Loading Swing classes over the network --------------------------------------------------- If you wish to download the Swing classes over the network, you need to first put the Swing class libraries in the same directory as the applet's class files. Then create a JAR file containing all the other files needed by SwingSet. (This last step is not necessary for every browser, but it will help it load faster.) For example: cd classes jar cvf SwingSet.jar *.class *.txt images copy ..\..\..\*.jar . Once you've performed these steps, you should be able to visit the SwingSetApplet2.html page in any 1.1 browser. It will take several minutes for the applet to start running, since the Swing class libraries have to be completely downloaded before the applet can run. Known problems with running Swing applets: ------------------------------------------ - Internet Explorer supports either class files or archive files in the tag, not both. To work around this, you can put the SwingSet classes in a JAR files, as described above. - Both browsers exhibit different problems with missed repaints. Moving the mouse around or minimizing and restoring the frame "fixes" this problem. We're investigating how to workaround these problems. - Internet Explorer doesn't implement Class.getResource() for JAR files. The visual effect is missing text and graphics files in SwingSet. - Internet Explorer may throw exceptions "Event queue access denied". These can be ignored. - Netscape Communicator loads large JAR files very slowly.