Alex,
I'm on vacation this week, but when I get back in a week I can send you an little java application you can adapt to test for QT for Java -- or you can replicate it on your own. What I did is figure out what errors occur under each different circumstance (with qt and qtj, without qt, without qtj) and then I catch them and print an appropriate message in my installer. (eg. "You need to install Quicktime go to http:\myurl.com\qtinstructions.html for instructions.")
Also, I tested what happens when java is not installed -- QTJ will not be installed. And to get it installed you must 1) uninstall QT 2) install some version of Java > 1.4 and 3) reinstall QT.
I agree that this is a real problem and I haven't figured out how I am going to deploy either, although I will probably provide detailed instructions on my "how to install qt web page". Still our users are elementary teachers and their tech support people, and if it is too hard they will just skip using the software.
Please share any 'solutions' you find even if they are a compromise.
Laura Ferguson
On Fri, Oct 14, 2005 at 5:52 PM, Alex Shaykevich wrote:
> As for simple or not, the approach you just described,
> which I'll admit is probably the only way to go about
> it, is far from simple. It would have been made far
> simpler if the QT installer were consistent between 6
> and 7 and continued to install QTJava.zip in the
> System folder, or allowed me to upon installation!
>
> I don't know what QTJava gets set to if there's no
> Java present. It's difficult/dangerous to uninstall
> all my Jave installations to find out and I don't have
> a 'clean' machine without a JRE.
>
> As for my pre-packaged JRE, it's far and away the most
> general solution. I'm writing a commercial
> application for a broad audience, not for an in-house
> group of users. There are lots of people who don't
> have Java, don't know what the hell Java is, and might
> be afraid of Java. Asking non-power users to go and
> install Java before even being able to download a demo
> is a big deal, and detrimental to potential sales.
> No, I'm quite comfortable with my JRE packaging,
> though its certainly not without its downsides.
>
> Quit worrying? Again, I'm trying to make a rock
> solid, commercial app here and this kind of ambiguity
> is a real pain in the arse.
>
> End rant.
>
> Now, if anyone knows, from actual experience, what QT7
> sets QTJAVA to under Windows in the absence of a JRE,
> I'd very much appreciate the info.
>
> Thanks,
>
> A
>
>
>
> --- Rolf Howarth <email@hidden> wrote:
>
> > It may not be simple, but I don't think it's nearly
> > as difficult as
> > you make out. How about this for a strategy:
> >
> > a) Check if you can load an QTJava class in a
> > try..catch block (eg.
> > Class.forName("quicktime.QTSession")
> >
> > b) If you can, well and good, just carry on (this
> > covers the
> > Macintosh case, and most Windows systems if the user
> > installed Java
> > before QuickTime, as your release notes doubtless
> > recommend they do,
> > except in your case where you make things difficult
> > by providing your
> > own JRE :-)
> >
> > c) In the unlikely event that b) failed, attempt to
> > locate QTJava.zip
> > by looking in the likely places and appending that
> > to your classpath.
> > In order, look for a QTJAVA environment variable,
> > look in c:\Program
> > Files\QuickTime\QTSystem (or whatever the QT7
> > default is), then
> > c:\windows\system32 (or whatever the QT6 default
> > is). File.exists()
> > is a useful method in this context.
> >
> > d) If you still can't find it, display a message
> > "You must install
> > QuickTime. Please visit
> > www.apple.com/quicktime/download", and exit.
> >
> > Remember, just because users *might* specify a
> > different path for
> > QuickTime doesn't mean they will - in my experience
> > they're VERY
> > unlikely to do anything other than hit OK (without
> > even reading the
> > messages displayed), never mind consciously
> > selecting something
> > different to the default!
> >
> > And are you saying that if there's no Java
> > installed, the QuickTime
> > installer definitely does NOT set the QTJAVA
> > environment variable, or
> > are you just hypothesizing that it *might* not? Have
> > you tried it?
> > I'd be very surprised if it doesn't, though I could
> > of course be
> > wrong.
> >
> > My advice would be to quit worrying about the 0.05%
> > of cases that
> > *might* fail and concentrate on delivering something
> > that works with
> > the minimum of fuss for the other 99.95% of cases.
> >
> > -Rolf
> >
> > At 1:17 am -0700 14/10/05, Alex Shaykevich wrote:
> > >Right, it does get installed somewhere, at the very
> > >least in /Quicktime/QTSystem. But, at installation
> > >time, the user could choose any possible
> > installation
> > >path, C:\Program Files\Quicktime, C:\Quicktime,
> > >C:\Something Else\Quicktime, etc...
> > >
> > >So, how is my application supposed to find it?
> > There
> > >is no comparable, PATH-TO-QUICKTIME ENV var.
> > >
> > >The QTJava ENV var is being set if there is a
> > >pre-existing Java installation, but what if there
> > >isn't? Ideally, the QTJAVA ENV var should be set
> > to
> > >/Quicktime/QTSystem/QTJava.zip by the QT installer
> > >itself.
> > >
> > >The only hope is that if there isn't a current Java
> > >install, the QT installer is smart enough to still
> > set
> > >QTJava to /Quicktime/QTSystem/QTJava.zip, but I'm
> > not
> > >optimistic.
> > >
> > >This is not that simple an issue.
> > >
> > >Appreciate your feedback.
> > >
> > >--Alex
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Rolf Howarth
> > Square Box Systems Ltd
> > Stratford-upon-Avon UK.
> > http://www.squarebox.co.uk
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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