Documentation Contents

JNLP API Examples


This chapter includes the following topics:

Introduction

The JNLP API is designed to provide additional information to the application that would otherwise not be available using the standard Java(TM) Platform Standard Edition API. The following code examples show how the following services can be used: BasicService, ClipboardService, DownloadService, FileOpenService, FileSaveService, PrintService, and PersistenceService.

The public classes and interfaces in the JNLP API are included in the jnlp.jar file. This JAR file must be included in the classpath when compiling source files that use the JNLP API. For example on Windows:

javac -classpath .;jnlp.jar *.java

The jnlp.jar file is included in the JNLP Developers Pack.
 

Using the BasicService Service

The javax.jnlp.BasicService service provides a set of methods for querying and interacting with the environment similar to what the AppletContext provides for a Java Applet.

The showURL method uses the JNLP API to direct the default browser on the platform to show the given URL. The method returns true if the request succeeds, otherwise false.

import javax.jnlp.*;
   ...

   // Method to show a URL
   boolean showURL(URL url) {
       try {
           // Lookup the javax.jnlp.BasicService object
           BasicService bs = (BasicService)ServiceManager.lookup("javax.jnlp.BasicService");
           // Invoke the showDocument method
           return bs.showDocument(url);
       } catch(UnavailableServiceException ue) {
           // Service is not supported
           return false;
       }
    }

Using the ClipboardService Service

The javax.jnlp.ClipboardService service provides methods for accessing the shared system-wide clipboard, even for applications that are running in the restricted execution environment.

Java Web Start will warn the user of the potential security risk of letting an untrusted application access potentially confidential information stored in the clipboard, or overwriting contents stored in the clipboard.

import javax.jnlp;
    ...

    private ClipboardService cs;

    try {
        cs = (ClipboardService)ServiceManager.lookup
                 ("javax.jnlp.ClipboardService");
    } catch (UnavailableServiceException e) {
        cs = null;
    }

    if (cs != null) {
        // set the system clipboard contents to a string selection
        StringSelection ss = new StringSelection("Java Web Start!");
        cs.setContents(ss);
        // get the contents of the system clipboard and print them
        Transferable tr = cs.getContents();
        if (tr.isDataFlavorSupported(DataFlavor.stringFlavor)) {
           try {
                String s = (String)tr.getTransferData(DataFlavor.stringFlavor);
                System.out.println("Clipboard contents: " + s);
            } catch (Exception e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        }
    }

Using the DownloadService Service

The javax.jnlp.DownloadService service allows an application to control how its own resources are cached.

The service allows an application to determine which of its resources are cached, to force resources to be cached, and to remove resources from the cache. 


import javax.jnlp.*; 
    ... 

    DownloadService ds; 

    try { 
        ds = (DownloadService)ServiceManager.lookup("javax.jnlp.DownloadService"); 
    } catch (UnavailableServiceException e) { 
        ds = null; 
    } 

    if (ds != null) { 

        try { 
            // determine if a particular resource is cached
            URL url = 
                    new URL("http://java.sun.com/products/javawebstart/lib/draw.jar"); 
            boolean cached = ds.isResourceCached(url, "1.0"); 
            // remove the resource from the cache 
            if (cached) { 
                ds.removeResource(url, "1.0"); 
            } 
            // reload the resource into the cache 
            DownloadServiceListener dsl = ds.getDefaultProgressWindow(); 
            ds.loadResource(url, "1.0", dsl); 
        } catch (Exception e) { 
            e.printStackTrace(); 
        } 
    }

Using the DownloadService2 Service

The javax.jnlp.DownloadService2 service, introduced in the Java SE 6 update 18 release, provides the following methods:

An instance of the DownloadService2.ResourceSpec class specifies details about the resource to be checked.

import javax.jnlp.*;
...
DownloadService2 service = (DownloadService2)
                        ServiceManager.lookup("javax.jnlp.DownloadService2");

// create a new instance of ResourceSpec. In this example: 
// - resource is downloaded from a directory on http://foo.bar.com:8080
// - version is 2. [0-9]+
// - resource type is JAR 
ResourceSpec spec = new ResourceSpec("http://foo.bar.com:8080/.*", 2.*, service.JAR)

// returns all cached resources that match the given ResourceSpec  
ResourceSpec results[] = service.getCachedResources(spec);

// returns all resources for which an update is available on the 
// server http://foo.bar.com:8080.
results = service.getUpdateAvailableResources(spec);

Using the DownloadServiceListener Service

The javax.jnlp.DownloadServiceListener service, introduced in the Java SE 6 update 18 release, provides methods to specify a custom progress indicator that indicates the progress of an application's download. Follow the steps shown next to display a custom progress indicator: