Application client launcher for Java Web Start

The application client launcher for Java Web Start is a Java class, com.ibm.websphere.client.installer.ClientLauncher, which has a main() method that Java Web Start calls to start the application client container and to invoke the application client's main() method. It provides similar functions as the lauchClient command line tool to start application clients from the command line.

The com.ibm.websphere.client.launcher.ClientLauncher class is packaged in the WebSphereClientLauncher.jar file under the <app_client_root>/lib/webstart directory.

The launcher tool requires that the following properties are defined.

com.ibm.websphere.client.launcher.main

If the client that is to be run is a thin client, then this property should be specified. Class where the main entry point of the application resides. It is the main class name for a Thin application client. If it is set, the launcher will not start the client container, it will rather invoke the main method for the application directly. However, if com.ibm.websphere.client.launcher.ear is also set, it will be ignored.

com.ibm.websphere.client.launcher.ear

If the client that is to run is the Java EE client, then this property should be specified. Name of the ear file to be executed. This property takes precedence over com.ibm.websphere.client.launcher.main although only one of the two properties should be specified.

These properties are not defined in a separate properties file. Instead, they are defined as part of the Java Network Launching Protocol files.

When com.ibm.websphere.client.launcher.ear is set, the application client launcher for JWS supports almost all of the -CC arguments as the lauchClient command line tool supports. However, if only com.ibm.websphere.client.launcher.main is set, the launcher will only support the -CCD argument. The following table shows the comparison of the supported -CC arguments for the launchClient command line tool and the application client launcher for JWS:

-CC argument	launchClient	Application client launcher for JWS
-CCverbose	Yes	Yes
-CCjar	Yes	Yes
-CCclasspath	Yes	N/A
-CCadminConnectorHost	Yes	Yes
-CCadminConnectorPort	Yes	Yes
-CCadminConnectorType	Yes	Yes
-CCadminConnectorUser	Yes	Yes
-CCaltDD	Yes	Yes
-CCBootstrapHost	Yes	Yes
-CCBootstrapPort	Yes	Yes
-CCproviderURL	Yes	Yes
-CCinitonly	Yes	N/A
-CCtrace	Yes	Yes
-CCtracefile	Yes	Yes
-CCsecurityManager	Yes	N/A
-CCsecurityMgrClass	Yes	N/A
-CCsecurityMgrPolicy	Yes	N/A
-CCD	Yes	Yes
-CCexitVM	Yes	Yes
-CCdumpJavaNameSpace	Yes	Yes
-CCsoapConnectorPort	Yes	Yes
-CCtraceMode	Yes	Yes
-CCclassLoaderMode	Yes	Yes

Macro expansion is supported for the -CCD argument by the application client launcher for JWS. The launcher will automatically substitute certain macro keys (enclosed with ${…}) with the calculated value at runtime. For example, if a macro key is used in the -CCD argument in the application client JNLP manifest file,

<argument>-CCDcom.ibm.ssl.keyStore= ${WAS_ROOT}/etc/key.p12</argument>

it will be expanded to the JWS cache installation root location and the argument will become:

-CCDcom.ibm.ssl.keyStore=/home/tiu/.java/deployment/cache/javaws/ext/E1134532441112/etc/key12.p12

The following table shows the three macro keys that are currently supported and will be substituted by the launcher:

Macro key	Value
${WAS_ROOT}	Installation root location within the JWS cache used by the application client container and runtime installer for JWS.
${JAVA_HOME}	Location of Java home. The return value of System.getProperty("java.home").
${USER_HOME}	Location of user home. The return value of System.getProperty("user.home").

Downloading and running a Java EE client application using Java Web Start