(This document exists in a txt version as well as in an html version with identical content but where the html
version takes advantage of some of the additional layout and typography options available for an html document)
You are probably OK with whatever software you already have installed. However, the following is intended to minimize
differences in selection of options in order to ensure a common and hopefully repeatable experience for all concerned.
In this course we recommend using the Notepad accessory and Internet
Explorer 5.0, henceforth abbreviated IE.
Any windows document with the file extension txt is by default
opened by the Notepad desk accessory and this is how you read this document if you opened this as JavaIntro_ReadMe.txt.
Another way to start up Notepad is as follows: On the Windows Start
pop-up menu you select Programs and from the Programs
menu you select Accessories. One entry under Accessories
should be Notepad. If you select it, an empty Notepad window should
show up.
Word Wrap default. When you use Notepad you should make sure the Word Wrap is enabled, by checking the Word Wrap entry under the Format
menu in the Notepad window..
Opening non txt documents. Normally if you attempt to open documents from within Notepad, the Open dialog
(the window that opens when you select Open from the File menu in the Notepad window) only will show files with
the txt extension. Since you may wish to open other files which are written in plain text format but use other
extensions (e.g. bat, html, etc.) you have to select All Files(*.*)
from the bottom pull down menu in the Open dialog in order to be
able to see and select those files.
The Internet Explorer has a nice feature. Under the View menu, if you select Source,
Notepad will open a window where you can see the HTML source of the page
you are currently viewing. This means that you can edit the HTML source or copy it for saving somewhere else. For
this exercise you can click here, on welcome
startup, see our Demo applet running and from View/Source get the HTML file. In the Notepad window you can do a SaveAs and negotiate the file system until you get to your MyExercise0
directory, where you can save the HTML document. We assume you keep
the name welcome.html, but you can in general
give it a new name.
Top
Preferred Version 5.0 or later. If you launch IE, you will find at the bottom of the Help menu of the
IE window an entry "About Internet Explorer". If you select this entry, a browser window will open with
version information. The current version is 6.0 for Windows XP, but 5.0 is good enough for the purposes of this
course.
Downloading IE. If you wish to update your IE or download another version, you should log onto the Internet
and go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/default.asp.
You get to follow links according to your operating system and can download IE. Of course, the browser is fairly
large and so you would probably like to try for a faster connection and be prepared to wait a while. When you start
the download process, you have the option of executing the install program over the Internet or download it for
later execution. Microsoft recommends executing it over the Internet but I found it a good idea to download the
install program and execute it on your computer. The installation program is called ie5setup.exe (for Windows98,
but could conceivably be called something else for WindowsXX). It is only 498 KB, but when you get it started and
when you have accepted the license, you can choose between an 18.5 MB package ("Typical") or a 9.5 MB
package ("Minimal"). It is OK to select the Minimal package but you will have to add one item to the
default, the Microsoft virtual machine, which is the first unchecked item on the list.
Make IE your Default Browser. Also, if it is not already, you should make IE your default browser. You know
IE is your default browser if any document with the htm or html extension shows up with the blue lowercase e-icon. If it does not, one way to make it so is the following:
Start up IE, which should be listed among the Programs under the Start pop-up menu.
1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options
2. Click the Programs tab.
3. Click the Reset Web Settings button
Click OK on the little dialog box that pops up. This will also reset your default opening web-page unless you uncheck
the box. Don't worry if you don't know what I am talking about.
Enable Java Defaults. The following default settings of IE may have been changed and so this will allow
you to check them and reset them if necessary.
1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Scroll down to the heading Java VM
The Java VM heading is followed by three boxes that should all be checked.
Check them and hit OK.
If you don't see Java Console under View, you have to go to the Internet Options entry under the Tools menu of IE 5. This will open up a number of tabs the last of which is named Advanced. Click on it and scroll down until you see Java VM. There are three check boxes that should all be checked enabling Java Console, Java Logging and the JIT Compiler respectively. You have to restart the computer to make the changes effective.
Once you have started and gotten enthusiastic about using Java you would probably like tools better than JDK. The following is a short list of recommended software:
WinEdit - This is a general purpose excellent editor for Windows. It also is adapted for Java and you can in fact execute the JDK compiler as well as any application directly from the WinEdit window. It is also provides my preferred way of printing Java source. You can download it on a trial basis and you are asked to pay $89.00 for the documentation and License. WinEdit can be found on the web at http://www.winedit.com/program.asp.
CuteFtp - Once you have developed some nifty applets, you need to start uploading thm and deploying them on a website. This quickly becomes a nontrivial task when you have to ensure that all links are pointing correctly and you have more documents on your site. CuteFtp handles these matters simply and elegantly. CuteFtp is available on the web at http://cuteftp.com/
IDEs - There are a nmber of IDEs, Integrated Development Environments, around. Instead of having to go to the Command Level or DOS, you work in Windows using drag and drop of components with much code generated automatically according to your functional specificastions.They vary greatly in price and capabilities and you should really take some time to decide depending on what you want to do and what your budget is. However, Sun is now offering a free development environment, Forte for Java which you can find on http://www.sun.com/forte/ffj/buy.html. There are actually two versions: Community Edition 2.0 and Enterprise Edition 2.0. For what you would like to do in the forseable future, the Community Edition is probably appropriate. It can be downloaded for free, or can be had on a CD for 19.95. There is also the Enterprise Edition 2.0 which offers advanced database connectivity and mechanisms to provide multitier system development. It can be downloaded and tried out, but a license to use beyond 30 days is $495. See the following page for a comparison between the Forte editions:http://www.sun.com/forte/ffj/familycomp.html. However, with Forte and with other IDEs you will require a bigger and faster PC than with the JDK. Sun recommends a 450MHz Pentium III with 256 MB RAM and 384 MB of hard disk space. Minimum requirement is a 350 MHz Pentium II with 128 MB RAM and 128 MB of hard disk space.
Will see what to do with the following.
If you know how to change your current directory in DOS, you may skip this section. If not, here is some help.
If you select MS-DOS prompt from the list of available Programs under Start (Bottom left on your Windows desktop) the MS-DOS window should appear. ( If you should get a full screen rather than a window, you should know that the exit command gets you back to Windows and that the key combination Alt + Enter switches to Windows with an MS-DOS window active on top.)
When the MS-DOS window appears, the MS-DOS prompt or simply the prompt may look like:
C:\WINDOWS> followed by a blinking underscore. The prompt consists of the path to the current directory followed by a ">". The path is a listing of the directory names starting at the top, with your hard disk, often named C: , followed by a list of the names of directories (represented on the Windows desktop as folders) separated by \. The last directory in the path is the current directory, WINDOWS in the example.
In general the current directory is the starting point for any command. The blinking underscore indicates DOS is ready to accept your input which should be a command followed in many cases by command parameters. Commands are typed in any case and are often abbreviated from longer forms. Command and parameters are separated by space. A command is executed when you press the Enter key.
Some useful commands are
There are some entries under Help under the Start of Windows relevant to DOS that you get listed if you type in DOS in the little search window: One useful entry is the following.
To display Help for an MS-DOS command
At the command prompt, type the name of the command you want Help on, followed by /?.
For example, type chdir /? to get Help on the chdir command.
Note
To display Help one screen at a time, type the command followed by | more. For example, type dir /? | more for Help on the dir command.
One more possibly helpful tip: If you are working in Windows and you open a folder, you can arrange it so the the window displays the complete path from hard disk to directory in the Address row of the window. If you click once on this row, you select the whole path which now usually appears (unless you or your kids have selected some other color options) as white on blue. You can hit Control + C in order to put the path on the clipboard. If you now select the MS-DOS window and type in cd you can open the MS-DOS menu if you click the MS-DOS logo on the upper left corner of the window frame. Select Paste from this menu and miraculously the path appears in the MS-DOS window and you can shortcut what othewise easily becomes an intimidating DOS navigation process.
The Core Java book (See References) offers the following tip that saves a lot of error prone typing:
"If you use the DOS shell, you should use the DOSKEY program. The DOSKEY utility keeps a command history. Type the up and down arrow keys to cycle through the previously typed commands. Use the left and right arrow keys to edit the current command. Type the beginning of a command and hit F8 to complete it." ...
"To install DOSKEY automatically simply add the line
DOSKEY/INSERT
into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and reboot. "
Try this at home, but be sure to save your old AUTOEXEC.BAT in case something bad occurs.
You can also activate DOSKEY during a MS-DOS session by entering the word DOSKEY after any MS-DOS prompt.