Release Notes for JExpress 4.x

Support authenticated proxy servers via the Updater
Configure the Java app's Windows EXE to be launched from any directory, if the original installation directory hasn't changed
Handle passing command line parameters with spaces to the Windows EXE created for a Java app
Modify Windows registry if JRE 1.4 is installed on target machine

Added diagnostic messages to the ftpuploader.log
Removed an informational message from the errors.log when installing the JVM on Windows

If relative base path set, then configure theme pack's filename to use it
Changed the standard search path for the JVM on Unix systems
Changed the standard places to try to install application on Unix systems
If the theme pack filename isn't specified, then don't report an error during installation
Create the KDE menu in the user's home subdirectory tree if unable to create it in the shared directory
Create a Gnome menu if Unix system has gnome installed
Record the version number of the JVM if it doesn't meet the installer's criteria
Configure Java Plug-in for IE properly if JRE 1.3.1 installed
Don't change the Windows registry entries if the same major version of the JRE is already installed
Don't copy the JRE executable files to the user's home directory, if the files already exist

Fixed updating which sometimes left a menu misconfigured
Fixed installing the some versions of the JVM on Linux and Solaris

Changed the native installers Linux and Solaris so they configured the JVM's permissions on more variants of OS

Builds installers faster. Be sure to remove jex.log from your JExpressProfessional directory before you start JExpress to see the improvements in speed.
Supports SkinIt 1.1 which resolves some challenges running under KDE.
Defaults to Native look and feel.

JExpress Professional customers can customize the look and feel of their installers, if their installers use Java 2.
The look and feel for JExpress itself can now be customized when using Java 2
When adding JAR files through the autoupdater, append the new JAR files properly if the previous classpath included outer double quotes
Fixed the installer so if it installed the JVM in the application's subdirectory on a Windows machine and the installer was configured not to change the registry, that it doesn't
If the DirectoryPanel is reset, initially look at the DefaultApplicationDirectory property instead of the previously set ApplicationDirectory

JExpress Developer can create native Windows installers which auto-execute when the CD is inserted into a machine
Added more diagnostic messages to jinstall.log so if an installer fails to install the JVM, there are more details
Do not change the font in the installer, updater, and uninstaller if using a non-Latin based character set
Resolved a challenge with installing the JVM on some variants of Windows
Detect valid JRE installations on Windows even if registry uses non-standard subnames
Don't pause on Solaris if the chmod command isn't accepted while installing the JVM
Under some circumstance, when the JVM was installed in a subdirectory of the installation directory, JVM wasn't properly configured
When installing the JRE on Windows, configure the registry to handle directory names with spaces when launching a JAR file
Remove check mark from native installers with JVM, if JVM is not present

Support changing the background color of the standard panels
Pass command line arguments with spaces in them to the JVM on Windows properly
Add registry entries for the Java Plug-in and IE/Netscape if Java 2 installed on Windows

Create scripts on less popular variants of Unix (e.g., Tru64 Unix)
In the evaluation version of JExpress Developer, don't require that the custom class be deleted between builds

Fixed a page fault in the native Windows installer if you ran the installer from the Windows Desktop
When auto-updating, launch application after update without waiting for app to start
Adjusted the update.control file for autoupdaters if new JAR files added during an update
Limited the number of directories to search for the JVM so users don't think installer locked up
Improved JExpress Loader so it works more smoothly with Java plug-in installers

Note to existing customers:
- Install the new version of JExpress, instead of using the Updater, so all future releases of JExpress will not overwrite your platform.properties files.
- In order to support the new Java web servers, we had to make a change to JExpress Updater that makes it incompatible with previous versions. If your customers use the JExpress Updater, then you must create a new JExpressUpdater.jar file with this version of JExpress and distribute it to your customers. You can either send your customers the new JExpressUpdater.jar file that is created after you build your new installers or request they install the next version of your app so the updater will be configured properly.
When installing on Windows with a native installer, installer no longer prompts the end user if they want to continue with the installation
The version number is no longer included in the uninstaller's name
In Developer, allow the following settings to be changed for each native platform from the JVM panel: valid version for the JVM, the search pattern, and the directory to install the JVM
Copy the errors.log, if there is one, to the user's home directory if installing from a CD
Warn users if unable to extract files or install the JVM with a native installer
If any new JAR files added with the Updater, then add them to the properties files for Windows menus and the launch script for Unix
Don't add swingall.jar to the native installers with JVM if the required/minimum JVM version is 1.2 or later
Verify that the version numbers for native installers are consistent
UnixOS class is now part of the custom API
Support Java web servers, such as Weblogic 5.1, with JExpress Updater
Added deleteMenuItem, deleteStartupMenuItem, and deleteDesktopItem to the WindowsOS class
Detect if the platform.properties file for a native installer is empty
Calculate the total bytes contained in all the files included on the Files panel and all the classes found on the Class panel. The result is accessible during the installation in the totalBytesNeeded property
Accurately report available disk space when system has more than 4 Gigs available
Yield more frequently during updating of large binary files
Use GridBagControl for Updater's main panel
FileSystem.removeDirectoryContents no longer deletes the empty directory

Optionally, allow Developer to set the directory where the JVM is installed
Create KDE menus under Unix
Added new method to the WizardPanel API which allows developers to enable and disable panels
Resolved challenge that periodically prevented the updater from displaying the status window
Allow end user to set the maximum time to wait while downloading a file with the updater
Optionally, do not change the registry when the JVM is installed on Windows
Do not show a DOS window when starting the autoupdater on Windows
Display native language on Windows 98 for the initial messages
Add registry entries for Java Plug-in if JRE 1.2 or later installed on Windows
Improved stability of install layout so image isn't overwritten under intermittent circumstances
Changed the HTML file that provides instructions for the installers from install.html to index.html
No longer warn about a missing file when uninstalling on HPUX
Improved GetBrowser and PromptForBrowser so they search for netscape on Unix
Support Windows version of gcc 2.95.2 for the native C/C++ code

When \/ included in the JVM extra parameters, change it to a forward slash during installation
Support adding an uninstall menu item on Windows by using the custom class WinUninstallMenu.class
Adapted manual to new web site's layout

Don't display the user interface when building a project unattended
Return a -1 if there is an error during an unattended build
Allow parameters to be passed on the command line of a Unix launch script that the installer creates
Change [$AppDir] and [$JavaHomeDir] variables in the JVM's extra parameters to their associated values
Don't show the "Install" button in a multiple directory installer until the last directory is being requested
Support updates through a firewall using a proxy server
Check all the instantiations of custom classes before adding them to the wizard panel
Added ListEditor class to Custom API
Remove the menu to a batch file on Windows 95/98
Added jump points to the documentation for the multiple installer's customization
Improved comments in the Samples
Added isWindows2000 and isWindows98 methods to WizardPanel custom class
Correctly set the NativeJvmInstalled property if the native installer installed the JVM
When creating the uninstaller, get the packageName and packageVersion in setActive instead of during instantiation

Don't display error message in Java console when user specifies a non-existent JExpress project
Set "useSwing" to match the menu's selection when the autoupdater is created
No longer include subdirectories that include class files when automatically setting user's classpath

Set default action to the Install button when selecting the Installation directory
Add command line arguments for a Windows menu to the EXE if the command line is less than 120 characters
Improved algorithm for finding a temporary directory when installing from a native installer
When automatically setting the user's classpath, include subdirectories that include class files
Fixed the Table of Contents menu item in Developer and Builder
Pass the JVM parameters and whether to use the Java console and Swing to the autoupdater
Renamed native platform files (install and install.exe to cloader.bin and cloader.exe, respectively)
Totally revised tutorials
Increased evaluation time to 30 days

Fixed Swing's bug selecting network drives on Windows in both the Windows and Metal interfaces
Don't log an error message if user cancels installation
Add "" around the menu's executable file if there are spaces in the name
Detect if an error occurred when renaming an ftp directory during upload
Fixed challenge when installing with Java 2 and a classpath of only .
Handle updating challenge that was introduced in 4.0.9
Report an error if a project is configured to create a multiple install type or multiple target directories installer and no install types or directories are specified.

Support Dutch in the installers, updaters, and uninstallers
Use the Windows short name for all elements of the user's classpath that aren't relative
If the user's classpath contains a |, it is translated to a :. This changes allows the developer to specify a drive spec on Windows
During a silent install, if the applicationDirectory is invalid report the error in the errors.log and stop the installer
During a silent install, if the installType is set in the configuration file, use it/LI>

Create a batch file for the uninstaller on Windows if the uninstall command line is greater than 260 characters
Save the following fields of a project in protected format:
- ftp user id
- ftp password
- install password
- Important: If you have any projects created prior to 4.0.8 with an ftp user id and password, you must load the project and retype in the login information
Change the format of the help URLs to work with Internet Explorer
If the menu's command parameters includes variables, change all occurrences of the variable
Display the image file during updating
Improved Exec class to increase reliability running on different versions of OSes
Solved the challenge that you had to build the first Java Plug-in installer 2 times after initial installation of JExpress
Handle Java Plug-in installers from networks with high latency

Autoupdater now starts another copy of the JRE to launch the app
Resolved a challenge running installer on some variants of Solaris

Solved a challenge with Java Plug-in running on some versions of Windows NT
Warn user if the Java Plug-in can't download the installer's control file
Add an exec.log diagnostic log
Created the last subdirectory of the ftp directory if changing to the ftp directory fails during distribution
If JVM on Windows installed is older than the current version in the registry don't change registry

Sign applet for Java Plug-in installers

Windows native installers test the JVM to verify it is properly installed
Files with extensions that the web server doesn't usually recognize, such as .jar, are forced to be treated as binary on Apache webservers and its derivatives. A .htaccess file with DefaultType is included near the top of the distribution directory.
Default the text files extensions to include html, htm, shtml, htaccess, log, bat, jex files
When WindowsOS.addDesktopShortcut method doesn't include a directory parameter, then don't add a leading path separator
On Windows, detect JRE 1.2 is installed when it isn't the current version, if the installer is configured to also accept JRE 1.3
If error occurs during native Windows installation, bring error window to foreground
Fixed a bug in adding menus for multiple target directory installers

Set the default platform property files to accept JVM 1.3.x
If SunOS or IRIX, set OS.isUnix() to true
If menu item uses the same name as a subdirectory in the installation directory, use a unique name for the menu item
Swap the WindowsOS.addDesktop and WindowsOS.addStartup menu calls
Ship the most up-to-date native Solaris files so JVM 1.2.x is detected properly

On Unix, try creating a temporary directory in the tmp or temp directory when using a Pure Java installer
Save the folder names for multiple install types and directories in JExpress Developer
If Pure Java installation fails, then erase all files in temporary directory
Disable the Build button while loading a project
When creating a new project, warn the user that they must save the project before building and then prompt them for the project's name

Fixed a bug in the Updater (which was introduced in 4.0) that didn't update new files
Display English text if running on a Japanese machine that doesn't have Japanese fonts in the JVM
Disable Browse button in Installer if running on a Japanese machine that doesn't have Japanese fonts in the JVM
Report error at a higher level if unsuccessful extracting files during the installation

Customize updaters with Java or native code
Increased speed of detecting which files need to be updated
Added 2 more classes to the Custom API and improved API's documentation
Save project filenames relative to a base path with JExpress Developer
Wrap error and warning messages in the Messages panel because Swing doesn't reliably add a scroll bar
Confirm that the user really wants to quit JExpress Basic Wizard, Builder, or Developer
Close the JVM down when quiting JExpress Basic or Wizard, Builder, or Developer
Include instructions to start the JExpress Installer on a Mac
Optionally, pop up a window letting the user know that a Java app is starting

Release Notes for 4.x Versions