I attempted to launch the JPNL that we have on our website and after running initially, closing the app and then refreshing the link in the browser, I get a java error window with the following information:

Under the "Launch file" tab is the XML in our JNLP file:

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<jnlp spec="1.0+" codebase="http://lhunath.lyndir.com/jUniUploader" href="jUniUploader.jnlp">

    <information>
        <title>jUniUploader</title>
        <vendor>Lhunath</vendor>
        <homepage href="http://lhunath.lyndir.com/jUniUploader" />
        <description>Upload World of Warcraft character data to online rosters and administer addons.</description>
        <description kind="short">UniUploader for Java.</description>
        <icon href="wow.png" />
        <icon kind="splash" href="splash.png" />
        <offline-allowed />
    </information>

    <security>
        <all-permissions />
    </security>

    <resources>
        <j2se href="http://java.sun.com/products/autodl/j2se" version="1.5+" />
        <jar href="jUniUploader.jar" />
        <jar href="BaseSystem.jar" />
        <property name="uniadmin" value="http://descendantsoflore.com/uniadmin/interface.php" />
    </resources>

    <application-desc />

</jnlp>


Under the Exception tab is the following info:

Code: Select all

JNLPException[category: System Configuration : Exception: null : LaunchDesc:
<jnlp spec="1.0+" codebase="http://lhunath.lyndir.com/jUniUploader/" href="http://lhunath.lyndir.com/jUniUploader/jUniUploader.jnlp">
  <information>
    <title>jUniUploader</title>
    <vendor>Lhunath</vendor>
    <homepage href="http://lhunath.lyndir.com/jUniUploader"/>
    <description>Upload World of Warcraft character data to online rosters and administer addons.</description>
    <description kind="short">UniUploader for Java.</description>
    <icon href="http://lhunath.lyndir.com/jUniUploader/wow.png" kind="default"/>
    <icon href="http://lhunath.lyndir.com/jUniUploader/splash.png" kind="splash"/>
    <offline-allowed/>
  </information>
  <security>
    <all-permissions/>
  </security>
  <update check="timeout" policy="always"/>
  <resources>
    <java href="http://java.sun.com/products/autodl/j2se" version="1.5+"/>
    <jar href="http://lhunath.lyndir.com/jUniUploader/jUniUploader.jar" download="eager" main="false"/>
    <jar href="http://lhunath.lyndir.com/jUniUploader/BaseSystem.jar" download="eager" main="false"/>
    <property name="uniadmin" value="http://descendantsoflore.com/uniadmin/interface.php"/>
  </resources>
  <application-desc/>
</jnlp> ]
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.prepareLaunchFile(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.prepareToLaunch(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Launcher.launch(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Main.launchApp(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Main.continueInSecureThread(Unknown Source)
   at com.sun.javaws.Main$1.run(Unknown Source)
   at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)


Even tryied clearing the cache, same error.

Windows Vista Business
Firefox 2.0.0.4

It's my understanding that webstart does not require updating the actual JNLP file. Is this assumption still correct?

Although I am able to launch the jar file from my file system and have it run with settings intact.

Where again are the setting stored (i.e. the settings for homepage, forum URL, etc.)?

On a hunch, I rebooted and upon logging in, I received a notification to update my JRE to "Update 1". After this installation process, I invoked the webstart URL from our website and was able to run the application. Perhaps the JRE did not have an environment variable (PATH) for the app to launch in a proper context? (Although I looked into my environment variables and was unable to note anything specific to Java or JRE.)

There are a couple of questions I'd like to clear up so that I can establish expectations with guild members when they run this link for the first time themselves.

Can I assume that if there is no JRE installed, the user will need to proceed through the installation of the runtime package which is version 1.6?

Can I assume, based on my experience, if there is no JRE installed and 1.6 installs, that the user will need to reboot and run the Update 1 package before they are able to run the application?

Can I assume that the certificate that appears to have expired on the 16th of this month, will be renewed thus avoiding the security warning when running the app for the first time?

Can I assume that if the user already has JRE 1.5+ or JRE 1.6+, that they will not need to install the JRE runtime package?

I am also unclear as to where the settings are stored for the icon URLs on the "home page" of the app. Is there a way to configure this in the JNLP (like you can for the THEME and the UNIADMIN properties)?

Can I assume that if there is no JRE installed, the user will need to proceed through the installation of the runtime package which is version 1.6?

WebStart will automatically download and install the latest version of Java available to the user's operating system if the JRE that is present is outdated (version lower than 1.5). Every windows version comes with a basic Java installed, so I doubt you'll have to make people go through the process manually. It is possible, however. I have not verified which windows versions come with WebStart (javaws.exe).

Can I assume, based on my experience, if there is no JRE installed and 1.6 installs, that the user will need to reboot and run the Update 1 package before they are able to run the application?

This is the first I heard of it. I can only say get someone else to try it that is in this situation. I will be reinstalling Windows myself at a later date, at which time I will have my personal experience to add. Let me know if any specific problems arise, though they are quite out of my power to resolve.

Can I assume that the certificate that appears to have expired on the 16th of this month, will be renewed thus avoiding the security warning when running the app for the first time?

Ah. I was not thorough enough to check the expiry date of my certificate. If it is indeed out of date I will renew it.

Can I assume that if the user already has JRE 1.5+ or JRE 1.6+, that they will not need to install the JRE runtime package?

Any JRE of version 1.5 or higher should be able to run jUU perfectly. WebStart will not make an attempt to download a JRE if a usable one is already present on the system.

I am also unclear as to where the settings are stored for the icon URLs on the "home page" of the app. Is there a way to configure this in the JNLP (like you can for the THEME and the UNIADMIN properties)?

The configuration is stored in a file called '.jUUrc' in the user's home directory on the system. In Windows, the user's home directory is by default set to:
C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]

This file is a serialized dump of Java objects that contain the configuration. It is a binary. I'm not entirely pleased with that, but I considdered XML serialization to be something to look into at a later date, when jUU actually works satisfactorily.


Apologies for the late reply.
Any more questions are most welcome.

I decided to try the webstart on another system I have (XP Pro SP2). It doesn't have WoW installed but I figured it would be interesting to see what the initial run would behave like.

From Firefox 2.0.0.4, I loaded the URL'ed to the JNLP file on our site (see post above for the XML that is in that file).

I received a prompt from Firefox asking if I wanted the default application to load the file (Java Webstart).

I clicked the checkbox to always use this application with this file type and then clicked OK.

The Java splash page (not yours, Sun's apparently) with the text "Java loading..." or something like that.

Almost immediately after the Java splash page, I received a windows message dialog with the following info:

Messagebox title: Java(TM) Web Start 1.6.0_01
Messagebox icon: red circle with white x
Messagebox text: Bad installation. No JRE found in configuration file

I'll post a screenshot of the file in an update/edit to this message.

EDIT: Also adding, for what it's worth, a screen snippet of the java splash screen.

I have never seen this before, and Google has only one vague match for it.

I would guess the JRE installation is bad. God, Windows is aweful with this stuff.

I sometimes wonder whether they cut costs on the department that writes application error messages.