Java Development Kit 1.1.6_009 Installation Notes

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Installation Instructions | Troubleshooting | Running Applets

The installation and configuration process can be broken down into the  following steps: 

1. Run the JDK installer, if necessary 
2. Update PATH and CLASSPATH variables 
3. Running the JDK tools 

1. Run the JDK installer, if necessary 

If you downloaded the JDK software file instead of running the installer from the JavaSoft web site, you should check to see that the complete file was downloaded: 

jdk-1_1_6_009-win.exe    8,920,349 bytes

The JDK software file and the JDK documentation file (available for download from step 2 of the JDK download page) should be unpacked in the same directory. Unpacking them in the same directory ensures that HTML links in the JDK documentation and demo files will work properly. 

You can download and install the software file and the documentation file in any order. If you've already downloaded and installed the JDK documentation, you must unpack the JDK software file in the same directory from which you unpacked the documentation. 

To run the JDK installer, double-click on the icon of the downloaded file. Follow the instructions the installer provides. When done with the installation, you can delete the download file to recover disk space. 

Installed Directory Tree
The JDK software and documentation directories will have the following structure. The docs directory and its contents will be installed when you download and unpack the JDK documentation. 

jdk1.1.6    _________________________|________________   |    |    |     |  |   |   |     |  |  |   | README |    |     | bin lib  |   demo | docs |     CHANGES |     |  |   | include | src |   |         COPYRIGHT |          |     |  |      |               LICENSE                   index.html

Included in the unpacked files is a file lib/classes.zip. DO NOT UNZIP THE CLASSES.ZIP FILE. This file contains all of the core class binaries, and must remain in its zipped form for the JDK to use it. 

It is possible for you to run the JDK without modifying any system environment variables (such as PATH or CLASSPATH) or modifying AUTOEXEC.BAT. However, you should test that CLASSPATH is not set, and most developers set PATH as a convenience. 

Windows NT only - If you are using Windows NT, it is preferable to make the following environment variable changes in the Control Panel instead of in autoexec.bat. Start the Control Panel, select System, then edit the environment variables. 

• PATH - Set the PATH variable if you want to be able to run the executables (javac.exe, java.exe, javadoc.exe, etc.) from any directory. If you don't set the path variable, you need to specify the path to the executable when running it. The path variable is merely a convenience to the developer and not necessary to set. 
1. To find out the current value of your PATH, at the DOS prompt type: 

      C:> path

2. To change the PATH permanently, open the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and make the change to the PATH statement. To edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file in Windows 95/98: 
1. Start a text editor by choosing "Start", "Programs", "Accessories", and choosing WordPad or NotePad. 
2. Choose Open from the File menu and type "c:\autoexec.bat" for the filename This will open the file for editing. 
3. Look for the PATH statement. Notice that the PATH statement is a series of directories separated by semi-colons (;). Windows looks for programs in the PATH directories in order, from left to right. Look for other JDK versions in the PATH. There should only be one path to a classes.zip file. When in doubt, put the java directory at the end of the path statement. For example, in the following PATH statement, we have added the java directory at the end: 

PATH C:\WINDOWS;
     C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;
     C:\;C:\DOS;
     C:\JDK1.1.6\BIN 

3. To make the path take effect, execute the following: 

    C:> autoexec.bat

• CLASSPATH Environment Variable - If you follow the default installation, you do not need to set CLASSPATH, because the tools automatically look in the lib directory if it is next to the bin directory. (This was actually also true in all beta versions and the final version of JDK 1.1, but was undocumented.) If your CLASSPATH is not set, you can skip this step. 

TESTING AND UNSETTING CLASSPATH 

 

If CLASSPATH is set and you want to unset it, you typically need to change the current value (at the command line) and the startup value (in a startup file or script). For example, to see if it is currently set, type: 

       C:> set

This lists all of the environment variables. CLASSPATH will not appear if it is not set. If it is set, you can unset the current value by setting it to no value: 

       C:> set CLASSPATH=

Also open your startup file (autoexec.bat) or script and remove the path to the JDK classes from the CLASSPATH environment variable, if you want the change to be permanent. 

WHAT CLASSPATH DOES 

 

The CLASSPATH tells the Java Virtual Machine* and other Java applications (which are located in the "jdk1.1.6\bin" directory) where to find the class libraries, such as classes.zip file (which is in the lib directory). By default, the java tools temporarily append the following to whatever CLASSPATH you have explicitly set in your startup file: 

    .;[bin]\..\classes;[bin]\..\lib\classes.zip

where [bin] is substituted by the absolute path to the jdk1.1.6\bin directory. Therefore, if you keep the bin and lib directories at the same directory level (that is, if they have a common parent directory), the Java executables will find the classes. You need to set the CLASSPATH only if you move classes.zip or want to load a different library (such as one you develop). 

Refer to the Windows Installation Troubleshooting section below if you have problems running the JDK. 

3. Running the JDK tools 

Your computer system should now be configured and ready to use the Java Development Kit. You start a tool by typing its name into the DOS window with a filename as an argument. None of the Java tools are Windows programs with GUI interfaces -- they are all run from the DOS command line. You can't run a JDK tool by double-clicking its icon. 

You can specify the path to a tool either by typing the path in front of the tool each time, or by adding the path to the startup file (autoexec.bat). For example, if the JDK is installed at C:\jdk1.1.6, to run the compiler on a file myfile.java, go to a DOS shell and execute this: 

    Type:  C:\jdk1.1.6\bin\javac myfile.java

-or- 

    Add    C:\jdk1.1.6\bin   to your path statement
    Type:  javac myfile.java

You can start the AppletViewer by executing the following, assuming you have already set your path (as described above): 

1. Use cd to change to a directory containing an html file that embeds an applet:

   C:\> cd jdk1.1.6\demo\TicTacToe

2. Run the AppletViewer passing in the html file: C:\JDK116\DEMO\TICTACTOE> appletviewer example1.html 

• If you see the following error message 

   net.socketException: errno = 10047

-or- 

   Unsupported version of Windows Socket API

check which TCP/IP drivers you have installed. The AppletViewer supports only the Microsoft TCP/IP drivers included with Windows 95/98. If you are using third-party drivers (e.g., Trumpet Winsock), you'll need to change over to the native Microsoft TCP/IP drivers if you want to load applets over the network. 
• If the AppletViewer does not load applets

then you might try the following: 
1. set HOMEDRIVE=c:

set HOMEPATH=\
and restart the AppletViewer (in the same DOS box) 
2. set HOME=c:\

and restart the AppletViewer (in the same DOS box) 
If none of these work, try: 

    java -verbose sun.applet.AppletViewer

This lists the classes that are being loaded. From this output, you can determine which class the AppletViewer is trying to load and where it's trying to load it from. Check to make sure that the class exists and is not corrupted in some way. 
• Appletviewer locks up

This happens with NT Workstation 4.0, update 3, where the DISPLAY is configured for "true color". The appletviewer (and perhaps other entities) will lock up by running and then freezing the system consuming 100% CPU. (This problem has been seen in the JDK 1.0.2.) 
To "test" this run the "java -verbose sun.applet.AppletView" and notice that it locks up when it tries to run the MTookit.class.
• Error Message: Exception in thread NULL

If you are getting the fatal error message: Exception in thread NULL, when running java, javac, or appetviewer, you should check your CLASSPATH environment variable. It may list the the 'classes' directory from an older JDK release. You can either unset the CLASSPATH variable, or set it to include only the latest version of the JDK class library. For example: 

C:\> set CLASSPATH=.;C:\jdk1.1.6\lib\classes.zip

This will ensure that you are using the correct classes for this release. 
• Cannot close AppletViewer copyright window (Windows 95/98 only)

In Microsoft Windows 95/98, the launch bar may partially cover the Applet Viewer copyright notice window Accept and Reject buttons. If this happens, you can move the Windows 95/98 launch bar to the side of the desktop to allow access to the copyright window Accept and Reject buttons.
• Error Message: Could not read properties file

If you get this error message when running one of the JDK tools such as the appletviewer, it may mean that your JAVA_HOME environment variable is not set properly. Normally, you shouldn't have to worry about setting JAVA_HOME. However, some Java IDEs set the JAVA_HOME variable to a value that won't allow you to run from the JDK. From the DOS prompt, check to see if your JAVA_HOME variable has been set by using the command: 

 set

This will list all of the environment variables that are set. JAVA_HOME will not appear if it is not set. If a value is set for JAVA_HOME, unsetting it should allow you to run the JDK tools. You may want to make a note of the current JAVA_HOME setting before you unset it, in case you want to restore it later. You can unset the JAVA_HOME environment variable by setting it to no value, as follows: 

 set JAVA_HOME=

If you still cannot run the JDK tools after unsetting JAVA_HOME, you can try setting JAVA_HOME to the absolute path of the jdk1.1.6 directory that was created when you installed the JDK. For example, if the directory jdk1.1.6 has the path C:\java\jdk1.1.6, you can try setting JAVA_HOME as follows: 

 set JAVA_HOME=C:\java\jdk1.1.6

As long as you have not disturbed the bin and lib directories that are immediately below the jdk1.1.6 directory, you should be able to run the JDK tools. 
• Error Message: Invalid JAVA_HOME

This error message indicates that your JAVA_HOME environment variable has been set to a value that is not compatible with running the JDK tools. You should try to correct the problem by following the suggestions given above under "Error Messages: Could not read properties file". 

Running Applets With The Appletviewer 

AppletViewer allows you to run one or more Java applets that are called by reference in a web page (HTML file) using the APPLET tag. The AppletViewer finds the APPLET tags in the HTML file and runs the applets (in separate windows) as specified by the tags. 

AppletViewer is for viewing applets. It cannot display an entire web page that contains many HTML tags. It parses only the APPLET tag and no other HTML on the web page. 

To run an applet with appletviewer, you go to a command line for your operating system and run appletviewer, passing in the filename or URL of the web page as its argument. 

Here is an example of how to invoke AppletViewer on a file-based web page in Windows. Go to a DOS prompt, change to the "jdk1.1.6" directory and then execute: 

C:\bin\appletviewer demo\GraphLayout\example1.html

Here is an example of how to invoke AppletViewer on a URL-based web page in Windows. Execute:

Debugging Programs With The Java Debugger (Jdb)

You can debug applets using the -debug option of appletviewer. When debugging applets, it's best to invoke appletviewer from the directory that contains the applet's HTML file. For example, on the PC: cd demo\TicTacToe ..\..\bin\appletviewer -debug example1.html

You can find documentation on the debugger and its API at:

http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.1/debugging/

*As used on this web site, the terms "Java virtual machine" or "JVM" mean a virtual machine for the Java platform.