Purpose: Discuss the shortcomings of the Webstart launch mechanism and identify desires and a new mechanism.

Audience: Autoplot developers, data providers and interested end-users.

Webstart is a mechanism provided by Oracle as a simple means of sending applications out to end-users. A short XML file is sent to the user with the .jnlp (x-application/jnlp mime) that is handed off to Java which starts up with the given configuration. We've discovered it's fairly easy to have it to send out initial configurations to end-users, but we have also found a variety of annoyances. Some customers have been completely unable to use it, and use the signal-jar (jumbojar) release mechanism.

• Support commonly-used Mac, Windows, and Linux platforms.
• Provide quick initial startup (<30 seconds on a reasonably fast network), and fast repeated startup (<3 seconds).
• Launch into initial URI or .vap file from web sites.
• Continue to support WebStart updates.
• Something that works 100% of the time for new Mac, Windows, and Linux users. This means a native installer bundled with a JRE.
• Something that allows Mac and Windows users to use Webstart to get most recent version after initial install (when they used native installer).
• Allow control of JVM memory. For example on 8GB machine, Autoplot should be allowed up to 4GB.

• http://www.jwrapper.com
• http://launch4j.sourceforge.net/ Ed suggested we look at this.
• http://www.ej-technologies.com/products/install4j/overview.html

Reza at GMU has been experimenting with Install4j.

• JVM size? It gets 3.5G on my Linux machine, which is great, but is this something we have control of?
• The software seems a little sloppy about permissions. Like it offers to put links in /usr/local, but then doesn't tell me when it fails.
• Seems to be hanging on Windows XP. This could have been because it's installing a new one, but it should tell me if it is slow. Worked fine the second time I tried. Hangs when launched from Start menu.
• "AutoPlot" needs to be "Autoplot".
• I was seeing where it would drop back to v2012b_30 from v2013a_1.
• Needs more testing on various platforms...
• default extensions should not include non-files, like das2server or cdaweb.

• Download the jar file http://autoplot.org/jnlp/latest/autoplot.jar. let $JAR="C:\Program Files\autoplot\autoplot.jar"
• Identify java location, call this $JAVA, for this example, let $JAVA="C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin\java.exe"
• Starting from the command line
  • $JAVA -Xms2000M -cp $JAR org.virbo.autoplot.AutoplotUI
• The above should start without native Java support.
• To add native support:
  • Identify the JVM bit size (32 or 64): "$JAVA -version" yeilds "...Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM ..." so this is a 64 bit JVM.
  • http://autoplot.org/cdf-jnlp-3.4.1/lib/3.4.1/ contains all the CDF binaries, for example the Windows/64bit is http://autoplot.org/cdf-jnlp-3.4.1/lib/3.4.1/windows/amd64/nativeCdfLibs.jar
  • download the file to "C:\Program Files\autoplot\nativeCdfLibs.jar"
  • unzip the file (jars are zip files): "$JAR xvf nativeCdfLibs.jar" where $JAR is the jar command found next to $JAVA (unzip will work as well).
  • $JAVA -Djava.library.path="C:\Program Files\autoplot\" -Xms2000M -cp $JAR org.virbo.autoplot.AutoplotUI
• Note in Windows a shortcut to this command ($JAVA -Xms2000M -cp $JAR org.virbo.autoplot.AutoplotUI) will make a useful desktop launcher.