Introduction
JNetStart allows users to launch Swing applications deployed remotely on the JNetStart Server using an Internet browser or the Accendia Browser.
Concept
Using JNetStart involves the following steps:
  • The application developer provides the jar files of the application;
  • The jar files are deployed on the JNetStart server under a remote application name;
  • The remote application is started;
  • The application developer provides a web page with a link to the remote application;
  • The user loads the page into the browser and starts the application by clicking on the application link.
Key Facts
These are some key facts on running applications using JNetStart:
  • The client application code is downloaded and runs on the user's computer;
  • Application classes are downloaded from the server when first accessed. The application can be initialized as soon as the classes that implement the main window are downloaded. As the user accesses different functions of the application the classes and resources that implement these functions are downloaded dynamically from the server;
  • The application classes are only downloaded once, the resources are downloaded as many times as accessed by the application;
  • The user's computer never caches anything on the local drive. The application jar files are not downloaded from the server;
  • The application runs in a secure environment similar to Java Applets and unsigned applications in WebStart. A secure API is provided for developing applications that read and write local files and start print jobs under strict user control.
  • JNetStart is an Iris application deployed with a standard Iris server. Additional applications can be deployed on the server and using the JNetStart API the client application may obtain and use the same socket connection opened by JNetStart in order to invoke these applications. This feature minimizes the number of sockets opened on both the client and the server side and reduces the initialization phase for clients that must download additional data from the server.
  • The components deployed on the server can be downloaded over a secure connection ensuring that the user is running the legitimate application.
JNetStart Components
JNetStart is comprised of the following components:
JNetStart Server
The client application jars and class files are deployed on the server.
Accendia Browser
This is an application deployed on the client that loads and runs Java applets deployed on the JNetStart server. The user experience is close to Internet browsing.
Internet Explorer Plugin
The plugin is used to start frame applications in IE.
Firefox Plugin for Windows
The plugin is used to start frame applications in Firefox;
JNetStart Bootstrap Applet
The bootstrap applet is used to run Java Applets. It is cached by the Java plugin and loads the application classes on demand rather than jar file components.
Required Components
Java plugin 1.6.0 or newer is required to start Java applications from Internet Explorer or Firefox. The Windows installation package includes a Java Runtime that is required to run the server and the Accendia Browser and no additional Java installation is required. When deploying the server on other platforms than Windows a Java Runtime must be installed separately and the Java /bin directory must be added to the environment PATH.