With Java 8 you could run a jar on a Windows PC by double clicking on it. This does not work with OpenJDK so as I want to be able to quickly run some utility B4J programs easily without packaging them this is what I did.
1) I installed OpenJDK in a convenient place, mine is in 'C:\jdk-11', and set up B4J to use it.
2) I made an environment variable named 'OpenJdkPath' with the value of the OpenJDK path, in my case 'C:\jdk-11'.
3) I wrote and compiled a trivial program in Basic4ppc called 'RunSelfNamedJarJdk11.sbp' that looks at what its .exe is named and invokes javaw.exe to run a co-located jar of the same name. Your Basic4ppc won't do this as one of the mods to my own version is to pass its own exe name as args(0). However you can probably do this in any other language that can create an exe that can identify itself.
4) I place a copy of 'RunSelfNamedJarJdk11.exe' in the B4J project Objects folder next to the B4J jar and rename it to match the jar. Voila! you can now double click the exe and the jar will run without the hassle of packaging it.
5) To pass arguments to the invoked jar place a file named <nameofjar>.args in the B4J project Objects folder. The first line of this file will be passed to the Args() array of App_Start. Remember that an argument item containing space characters will need to be delimited by quotes. There is no error raised if the file is not present. 'RunSelfNamedJarJdk11.exe' can also accept command line arguments that will be passed to the B4J program. These arguments wil lbe added to the end of any argument list present in the args file.
6) To pass options to javaw.exe add a second line containing the required options to the <nameofjar>.args file.
7) To examine the generated argument string passed to java.exe add a third line to the <nameofjar>.args file. This can be blank or contain anything, it doesn't matter. The presence of a third line triggers the display of a Msgbox.
If you trust me you can use the zipped exe attached
EDIT: Version 2 now posted that passes arguments to the jar when run.
EDIT: Version 3 now posted passes java options as well.
EDIT: Version 4 now posted accepts command line arguments.
1) I installed OpenJDK in a convenient place, mine is in 'C:\jdk-11', and set up B4J to use it.
2) I made an environment variable named 'OpenJdkPath' with the value of the OpenJDK path, in my case 'C:\jdk-11'.
3) I wrote and compiled a trivial program in Basic4ppc called 'RunSelfNamedJarJdk11.sbp' that looks at what its .exe is named and invokes javaw.exe to run a co-located jar of the same name. Your Basic4ppc won't do this as one of the mods to my own version is to pass its own exe name as args(0). However you can probably do this in any other language that can create an exe that can identify itself.
B4X:
Sub Globals
'Declare any global variables here
Dim appargsfile
appargsfile = args(0) & ".args"
Dim ThisVersion : ThisVersion = "4.0"
End Sub
Sub App_Start
Obj1.New1
Obj1.CreateNew("System.Environment")
envar = "OpenJdkPath"
ojp = Obj1.RunMethod2("GetEnvironmentVariable", envar, "System.String")
If ojp = cNull Then
Msgbox("Environment variable '" & envar & "' not present!", "OpenJDK Path Error")
Else
appargs = ""
javaops = ""
debug = ""
If FileExist(appargsfile) Then
FileOpen(in, appargsfile, cRead)
appargs = FileRead(in)
javaops = FileRead(in)
debug = FileRead(in)
If javaops = EOF Then
javaops = ""
End If
FileClose(in)
End If
If ArrayLen(args()) > 1 Then
For j = 1 To ArrayLen(args()) - 1
If StrIndexOf(args(j), " ", 0) > 0 Then
appargs = appargs & " " & Chr(34) & args(j) & Chr(34)
Else
appargs = appargs & " " & args(j)
End If
Next
End If
' java options
shellargs = " --module-path " & ojp & "\javafx\lib --add-modules ALL-MODULE-PATH " & javaops & " "
' jar file
shellargs = shellargs & "-jar " & Chr(34) & AppPath & "\" & args(0) & ".jar" & Chr(34)
' app arguments
shellargs = shellargs & " " & appargs
Shell(ojp & "\bin\javaw", shellargs)
If debug <> EOF Then
Msgbox("Runner Version " & ThisVersion & CRLF & CRLF & shellargs, "Shell Arguments")
End If
End If
End Sub4) I place a copy of 'RunSelfNamedJarJdk11.exe' in the B4J project Objects folder next to the B4J jar and rename it to match the jar. Voila! you can now double click the exe and the jar will run without the hassle of packaging it.
5) To pass arguments to the invoked jar place a file named <nameofjar>.args in the B4J project Objects folder. The first line of this file will be passed to the Args() array of App_Start. Remember that an argument item containing space characters will need to be delimited by quotes. There is no error raised if the file is not present. 'RunSelfNamedJarJdk11.exe' can also accept command line arguments that will be passed to the B4J program. These arguments wil lbe added to the end of any argument list present in the args file.
6) To pass options to javaw.exe add a second line containing the required options to the <nameofjar>.args file.
7) To examine the generated argument string passed to java.exe add a third line to the <nameofjar>.args file. This can be blank or contain anything, it doesn't matter. The presence of a third line triggers the display of a Msgbox.
If you trust me you can use the zipped exe attached
EDIT: Version 2 now posted that passes arguments to the jar when run.
EDIT: Version 3 now posted passes java options as well.
EDIT: Version 4 now posted accepts command line arguments.
Last edited:
