Configuration files (was Re: IBM XML for Java 1.0.0)

Peter Murray-Rust (peter@ursus.demon.co.uk)
Fri, 26 Jun 1998 00:19:30


At 11:02 24/06/98 +0900, TAMURA Kent wrote:
>XML for Java 1.0.0 has been released with a free commercial license.
>Read license.html in the distribution package for more details.
>

I delighted to say that I have downloaded this and installed it under
JUMBO2; it took about 10 minutes. This is a tribute both to the authors of
XML4J and to those involved in SAX (especially David Megginson, of course).

The installation involved re-compilation because the program holds a list
of SAXDriver classes internally (6 so far). I'd really like to do this sort
of thing (including menu re-generation) driven by declarative files from
outside the program (so recompilation isn't necessary). My question is:
*What is the best way of associating files with Java applications in a
platform independent manner?*

Traditionally I would use a different method for each OS (.jumborc for
UNIX, C:\jumbo.ini, etc.) I would like to avoid having to tell installers
what they have to do. So - assume I have files myResource.xml,
icons/jumbo.gif, etc. which I wish to make available to the application.
- is there a standard place to put these?
- is it a good idea to use a jar file - if so how do I reference them from
the program? [The *.class are referenced by classpath - but what about the
others?]

I hope this makes sense to some Java experts.

P.

Peter Murray-Rust, Director Virtual School of Molecular Sciences, domestic
net connection
VSMS http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/vsms, Virtual Hyperglossary
http://www.venus.co.uk/vhg