Java Reference
In-Depth Information
In Chapter 2, “An Abstract Model for Deployment,” we saw that an important part of the
deployment process is what we called the resolution phase. Within this phase, the quality of the
client environment definition is crucial to the quality of the overall deployment process. As we
will see, JNLP covers just a part of all the possible properties for a client environment. The rest
is up to the developer.
In Chapter 9, “The JNLP Protocol,” we discussed the protocol from a top-down perspective,
illustrating extension and application descriptors. It is now time to examine the other three ele-
ments of the JNLP file, as shown in Figure 9.1: describing information, resources and security.
Application Basics
Applications need to be integrated into the client environment. For example, on the Windows
platform, shortcuts can be created both on the desktop and on the Start menu. Icons and text
descriptions can enhance the application usability and can be left to the JNLP Client, instead of
developers writing lots of platform-dependent code to perform that integration.
The
information
element fulfills this need by providing basic application information such as
title, home page, and so on. Listing 10.1 shows part of a JNLP file that instructs the JNLP
Client how to integrate the application on the desktop using locale-specific data for the sup-
ported platforms and default data for all the remaining ones.
L
ISTING
10.1
Example of Use of the Information Element
<jnlp>
<information>
<title> DefaultTitle </title>
<vendor> Myself</vendor>
<description> Lengthy Description </description>
<description kind=”tooltip”> it does something </description>
<icon href=”img/icon.gif”/>
<offline-allowed/>
</information>
...
<information locale=”it_IT”>
<title> Titolo Italiano </title>
<vendor> </vendor>
<description> Descrizione </description>
<description kind=”tooltip”> Descrizione </description>
<icon href=””/>
<offline-allowed/>
</information>
</jnlp>
