webstart problem

Newbie & Debugging Questions
#1

hi all,

since all webstart applications have to be signed (afaik) and i use an untrusted test certificate to sign my .jar’s there is this security warning popping up, when someone starts my game for the first time.
most people wet their pants when they see that
“… aplication requires unlimited access over your machine …” warning. as a result they don’t dare to execute the application.
i wonder if i can do anything against that.
i already tried to make a starter applet which opens the game window but i get a security exception. haven’t found out yet what the exact problem is…

#2

since all webstart applications have to be signed

Only if you ask for permissions.

If you don’t go fullscreen, don’t read/write files, don’t connect to other machines (except the server it came from), don’t load native code…

…then you don’t need any special permissions at all (and therefore no cert).

It’s pretty much the same thing with applets.

#3

well then i misunderstood keving glass’ tutorial about webstart applications. he said that all used jars have to be signed.

i use the gage timer. is this what you call “loading native code”?

#4

i use the gage timer. is this what you call “loading native code”?

Eventually :slight_smile:

The GAGE timer also kinda works without the dll, but the resoulution will be pretty bad then. If you want to use the dll, you’ll need to sign it.

Btw 1.5 comes with build in a hi-perf timer (nanoTime).

#5

i removed all the signing and stuff now and encountered a new problem.
the app cannot load the images any more and i have no idea why.
i checked the images.jar which is stored in the javaWS cache and everything looks ok.
very strange …

#6

the app cannot load the images any more and i have no idea why.

Me neither.

But that’s because I can’t know why :stuck_out_tongue:

So… how do you load em?

#7

i think it was related to this one:
http://www.java-gaming.org/cgi-bin/JGNetForums/YaBB.cgi?board=2D;action=display;num=1103276803

anyway, now the image loading doesn’t throw an exception anymore. instead the game window appears and then the window closes itself without saying me what the problem was. ???
i will post more info as soon as i have more logs …

#8

strange…
now it works. i noticed two things:
1.) the window has now a “status line” with the text “Java Application Window”. very beautiful … :-/
2.) the timing is completely fucked up.
fps=170 => game is unplayable.
but we all know that this is because the gage timer is now no longer working.

aaah, i love it! :frowning:

i assume the solutions is to completely remove the gage timer and require java version 1.5, right?

#9

[quote]i assume the solutions is to completely remove the gage timer and require java version 1.5, right?
[/quote]
Actually, if you require 1.5, then GAGETimer doesn’t need the DLL. It uses the Nanotimer automatically. :slight_smile:

#10

just upgraded to 1.5. timing is working properly now.
but something happened to the sound playback!
i only hear the background sound playing. the sound fx are not played anymore.

man, i didn’t think that there are so many consequences when you want an unsigned webstart application.

ok, the image problem wasn’t directly related to the signing thing, but the sound problem seems to be.

do you know of any sound changes/bugs in 1.5?

#11

Have a look at this thread: [1.5.0]sampled stuff isn’t working anymore

#12

the image problem wasn’t directly related to the signing
thing, but the sound problem seems to be.

No. 1.5’s sound behaves a bit different. You need to select the software mixer (1.4’s default) in order to get it working.

Over at the sound forum is a thread (started by me)… there you can find some code snippets.

#13

thx. i already discovered the sound thread where possible solutions are shown.

#14

[quote]>since all webstart applications have to be signed

Only if you ask for permissions.

If you don’t go fullscreen, don’t read/write files, don’t connect to other machines (except the server it came from), don’t load native code…

…then you don’t need any special permissions at all (and therefore no cert).

It’s pretty much the same thing with applets.
[/quote]
what the? really? i thought webstart allowed u to make programs that ran off the internet and had the same permissions as applications? that would be better in my opinion, because the user can control them with the appp manager, so if some loser makes some retarded “virus” with java then the user would likely not run it.

#15

i thought webstart allowed u to make programs that ran off
the internet and had the same permissions as applications?

No. They are more like applets. They can’t do any harm (except wasting traffic or cpu cycles). If you want to do anything “critical” you need to sign it and the user needs to accept the certificate.

It’s pretty good the way it is. I only wish there would be some granuality like only asking for small things (eg fullscreen permission)… and not full access to the machine or nothing.