common Xith3D webstart extension

Engines, Libraries and Tools Xith3D Forums
#1

The idea of having a communal Xith3D webstart extension has been discussed previously. There were a few issues:

a) what if someone has custom modifications
b) what about bandwidth
c) what about the code signing certificate?

Well, the java 3d mob are using java.net for their webstart extension - https://j3d-webstart.dev.java.net/ so I guess this means that this is an acceptable practice, even if all of the end users will be downloading the extension from there (for a popular application this will be many). This solves the large problem that is b). As for a), well you’ll have to keep doing what you are doing now - a custom distribution.

That leaves c). It would be very nice to see a trusted certificate used to sign the .jars, especially if one is distributing with a trusted certificate. The problem is that I don’t have access to one (and most likely I would be maintaining this extension as I do the current JWS demos).

Would would you like this? If so, would you be prepared to make a small donation (e.g. $10-20) to the cause?

Cheers,

Will.

#2

[quote]If so, would you be prepared to make a small donation (e.g. $10-20) to the cause?
[/quote]
Yes.

Yuri

#3

Yuri,

Thank you. I’m going to look into the options there are in terms of code signing certificates. Are there any that you would recommend?

Everyone,

Well, I’ve created the webstart extension. It is located here: https://xith3d.dev.java.net/webstart/xith3d-2004-09-07_cvs.jnlp
or if you are game you can use the “latest” version of xith3d (this will be updated regularly - warning your code could break if you use this one).
https://xith3d.dev.java.net/webstart/xith3d-latest.jnlp

Reference it like this:


      <resources>
            <j2se href="http://java.sun.com/products/autodl/j2se" version="1.4+"/>
            <jar href="lib/xith-tk-gsg.jar" main="true" />
            <jar href="lib/gsg-resource.jar"/>
            <extension href="https://xith3d.dev.java.net/webstart/xith3d-2004-09-07_cvs.jnlp"/>
      </resources>

Much the same as the Java3d one.

The GSG demos on http://xith.org/ already use the extension.

I’ll create a wiki page in due course with more details, and add a note to the GSG.

Cheers,

Will.

#4

Unless there’s some reason to avoid this (William?) this will now be required for all Xith3D games submitted to JGF.

/me looking forward to not having to wait for each and every new game to download it’s private copy of Xith3D!

If you ever consider deleting old versions (which is bound to happen eventually, for practical reasons), please drop me a mail and I’ll mirror any that JGF games are using before you remove them.

Great work!

#5

Actually since it’s on the java.net server there is no need to delete them at all. Since it’s in CVS (how java.net does the web pages) I can only send them to attic (i.e. no space saved anyway) without involving a Sun staff member. Thanks for the offer anyway though.

I’d suggest making it a recommendation rather than a strict requirement, some people have specific needs and may need to use a custom version of Xith3D (we do encourage them to get their patches into the main version but really this is dependant on them and us so not always possible). Also - these are signed with an untrusted certificate (this may change soon), so someone may wish to create their own trusted version until the time when it is.

Certainly I will be using the extension now - saves a lot of hassle on my end when creating/updating jnlp’s, not to mention bandwidth.

Will.

#6

more info:

here: http://xith.org/tutes/GettingStarted/html/deploying_xith3d_games_with.html

List of webstart extension versions: https://xith3d.dev.java.net/webstart/

Will.