2.3_pre_jnlp7 <change log>

JNLP Jaxe

This page describes modifications to the Jaxe XML editor. The main intent is to support the Java Network Launching Protocol (JNLP), allowing Jaxe to run from JNLP clients such as Web Start.

Note: JNLP Jaxe is no longer maintained. It was used in another project, that no longer needs an XML editor.

Modifications • Limitations • Demo • Build • Install or Link • See Also

Modifications

Modifications are maintained as a parallel branch, [no longer] in sync with the trunk codebase. The main modifications are:

A JNLP target was added to the build script, and JNLP descriptors to the runtime shell scripts. The intention is to maintain support for existing, non-JNLP targets too; so you can continue to build them, same as from the trunk.
Internal code was trained to open files indirectly as resource streams, rather than explicitly as loose files. This allows for deployment in JARs, as JNLP requires; but remains compatible with non-JNLP (loose file) runs.
Capability was added to load an initial document from a URI.
Bounds persistance was added to document windows. User placement of windows now persists from run to run. It works for multiple documents as well; so the user can align a bunch of windows once, and Jaxe will remember their relative alignments.
A GUI for uncaught exceptions was added. Fatal errors are now displayed to the user in a dialogue.
Other minor improvements and corrections were made.

In summary, some modifications relate directly to JNLP launch; while others are intended as general improvements, applicable to any build, and any mode of launch.

For full details, see the change log.

Limitations

JNLP clients on the Mac are not supported, yet. The problem is that system properties set within the JNLP descriptor are unseen by the Mac VM, due to their late binding. This is generally true for JNLP, but it affects the Mac in particular, because (according to Jaxe's developer) the Mac VM relies on these property settings; without them, it malfunctions.
Only a single config file is supported for JNLP launch, at present. The administrator specifies it in the JNLP descriptor. So you don't get multiple document types.
Validation does not work properly for JNLP runs, yet.
Poorly tested, so far.

Demo

To launch Jaxe, click on the JNLP descriptor:

demo/JNLPJaxe/run.jnlp

Or, if your browser has Java, but fails to jump into action, then it must be taught to associate a .jnlp file with the javaws launcher. See Web Start in the Java Glossary for more information.

Or, ensure that you have Java 1.5 (or maybe later) installed; then enter this on your command line:

javaws http://zelea.com/project/jaxe/demo/JNLPJaxe/run.jnlp

Jaxe opens with a copy of this Web page (an XHTML document). You can edit it, and save it locally, if you like. [Apparently, there is a bug in Jaxe's rendering of list items. This document wasn't created by Jaxe. It might not be 100% valid...]

For those unfamiliar with Jaxe, here is a very brief introduction. This is how to create a new XHTML document:

Close the initial window.

A launch dialogue appears.
Press New in the launch dialogue.

An attribute dialogue appears.
We won't add any attributes. Just press OK.

An edit buffer appears, with an empty HTML document in it. To the left are some Insert buttons, "head" and "body".
Press "head". (And when the attribute dialogue pops up, press OK again.)

The head element is inserted.

Tags colour orange, warning that the structure is invalid. (It lacks a title, and a body.)
Press "title".

The title element is inserted.
Type "hello world" in between the title tags.
Cursor down past the head tag, till a "body" button appears at the left.
Press "body".

The body element is inserted.
Press "paragraph".

A paragraph element is inserted.
Type "Hello world!" in between the paragraph tags.
Select menu item File|Save, and save it as hello.html.

It saves the file.
Select File|Close.

The edit buffer disappears, and the launch dialogue reappears.
Press Open, and select the file hello.html.

The edit buffer reappears, as before.

That's it. That's the brief introduction.

Build

With your Darcs client, use 'darcs get' to obtain the source from the repository located at address http://zelea.com/project/jaxe/repo/.
Read the comments in the build script jaxe/build.xml, specifically for the target dist-jnlp.
Run the build script. For example:

ant dist-jnlp

If you want to build other targets, you will need the dictionaries. They have been removed from this repo. Simply copy them from any standard Jaxe distro, and them to your repo under jaxe/dicos/. (And add the same directory to your Darcs boring file.)

Install or Link

You can either install JNLP Jaxe, or link to an existing installation. To install:

Locate the installation files. If you built the code from source, the installation files are located in your dist/JNLPJaxe/ directory.

Otherwise, use the pre-built demo files in demo/JNLPJaxe/.
Copy the installation files to a server (e.g. your Web server).

Included is the JNLP descriptor run.jnlp.
Modify the JNLP descriptor according to its instructions.

JNLP clients can now run Jaxe.

Or, you can link to an existing installation of JNLP Jaxe, e.g. to embed Jaxe as a component of a larger Web-launched application. To do this, reference the component descriptor of the remote Jaxe installation from within the application descriptor (.jnlp file) of the central application. For example:

    <resources>
        <jar href='1.jar'/>
        <jar href='2.jar'/>
         etc.
        <extension name='JNLP Jaxe'
         href='http://zelea.com/project/jaxe/demo/JNLPJaxe/component.jnlp'/>
        </resources>

When the application launches, it will incorporate Jaxe from the remote server. No need to install Jaxe JARs on the central server.