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Another Way to Install Checkers3D

The Checkers3D example works on the principle of including the Java 3D libraries as part of the application. An alternative approach is available at https://j3d-webstart.dev.java.net: making the Java 3D binaries accessible through their own JNLP deployment file.

This means that the deployment file for an applicationsuch as Checkers3Dcan specify that Java 3D be downloaded at runtime if it's not available on the client's machine. The size of the Checkers3D-specific part of installation will be substantially reduced since the Java 3D elements are separated.

A sample JNLP file that uses this approach can be found at https://j3d-webstart.dev.java.net/example.html. The relevant line employs a resource extension:

     <resources>       <j2se version="1.4+"/>       <jar href="MyExample.jar" main="true"/>         <extension href="https://j3d-webstart.dev.java.net/release/java3d-1.3-latest.jnlp"/>     </resources>

The Java 3D binaries will be retrieved from https://j3d-webstart.dev.java.net/release/ using java3d-1.3 -latest.jnlp.

There are two simple JWS-enabled Java 3D applications in https://j3d-webstart.dev.java.net/prototype/test/. There's a thread discussing this work at the Java Desktop forum on Java 3D, http://www.javadesktop.org/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=4563.

The idea of using JNLP resource extensions to include the Java 3D libraries as a separate deployment is also utilized in the FlyingGuns game/simulation (http://www.flyingguns.com). The direct link to its top-level deployment file is http://www.hardcode.de/fg/webstart/flyingguns.jnlp. The extension part of the JNLP file is:

     <resources>       <j2se version="1.4+" initial-heap-size="128m" max-heap-size="256m"/>       <jar href="StarFireExt.jar"/>       <jar href="flyingguns_core_client.jar"  main="true"/>               :  // other application JARS           <extension name="Java3D"                 href="http://www.hardcode.de/java3dext/java3dext.jnlp"/>               : // other tags     </resources>