Moderator (MDR): MDR-Andrea
Guest Speaker (SPK): SPK-malini, SPK-Karen, and SPK-MShilts
MDR-Andrea: Hello and welcome to Java Live. Today we will be talking about the HotJavaTM Browser and HotJava HMTL component with engineers Malini Minasandram and Matthew Shilts, as well as product marketing manager Karen Oliphant. Feel free to start sending in questions and we will get started.
abennett: I'm just curious, but (rough estimate) how many lines of code make up HotJava 1.1—a ballpark figure would be ok.
SPK-malini: It is reasonable to say that 90,000 to 100,000 lines are in the HotJava 1.1 codebase.
steelman: Will the HotJava Browser be available as a JavaBeansTM component?
SPK-MShilts: The HotJava Browser is currently available as a JavaBeans component. It is known as the "HotJava HTML Component 1.0."
steelman: Does it support SSL?
SPK-MShilts: The HotJava Browser does support SSL.
steelman: Will HotJava ever support JavaScriptTM?
SPK-Karen: As you may know, JavaSoftTM and Netscape are collaboratively developing a browser (code named "Maui," formerly known as "Javigator") which both companies will offer as their future browser products. We plan to offer JavaScript in Maui.
SPK-MShilts: I am curious if anyone here has used the HotJava HTML Component?
steelman: What is planned between HotJava1.1 and Maui?
SPK-Karen: We will continue to offer bug fix releases to HotJava Browser and HotJava HTML Component until Maui ships.
Look for a HotJava HTML Component 1.1.1 release next week, with significant improvements and new pricing.
jcouto: I cannot get a browser to work with my Java code. I downloaded the patch for Netscape Communicator, I even moved my objects into the c:\JDK1.1.3 dir. Java starts on the Navigator, but comes up with a blank applet area and a message saying that it cannot initialize java.AWT.BUTTON, or something like that. I finally got so frustrated with the "Communicator" not communicating, that I downloaded the HotJava browser instead. I had a little better luck there. My first applet came up beautifully, but failed to connect to my separate server program running locally on a separate DOS prompt. When I run everything from the applet viewer, everything works with no problems.
I'm getting so frustrated, I'm even thinking of trying Microsoft products, does despair get any deeper than this?
SPK-MShilts: One thing to remember in creating applets that use sockets to connect to servers: they may only connect to the server in which their code base exists on.
The fact that your program works in the applet viewer leads me to believe that you may be running into some kind of security problem like the one I described above.
jcouto: Hi, MShilts. Thanks for your suggestion. Right now I'm running just on my own PC using the loopback address. When you say "security," what imports or statements do you recommend I use? Thanks!
SPK-MShilts: I would recomend that you do several things. First, make sure that you use the local loopback address in your codebase tag in your HTML document. Second, I would suggest that you always connect to your server based on what your codebase's host is, that way you should always avoid that security problem. The third thing to remember is that if you are accessing your class files through the file:/ protocol your host will be different than the socket connection your are trying to connect to through the local loopback. One last thing that may help your testing: change your current security preferences from the security preferences menu to medium and see if that helps in your development.
chamann: Have you developed any prototypes of the HotJava Browser using Swing? And if so, how did it compare to the currently available version?
SPK-Karen: We haven't developed any prototypes of HotJava Browser using Swing. We'll be working on that in the future with Netscape in our collaborative browser efforts.
analogue: What's up with the fine-grained security model? Are you following Netscape's lead with their implementaiton, or are you going to pull an "IFC->JFC" on us?
SPK-malini: With JDK 1.2, IBM, Netscape, and SunTM will be standardizing on one security model. This will enhance JavaSoft's current security model.
uomini: I just got here, and am replying to the query about HTML Bean developers. I am currently programming around the Bean. Any questions?
SPK-Karen: I was just wondering what your experience has been and if you have any questions. We will be delivering a new version of the component (1.1.1) soon, which will provide support for custom security managers and better compatibility with popular builder tools, plus new pricing.
chamann: Will a XML parser be incorporated into a future version of the HotJava Browser?
SPK-Karen: Yes, we are planning to incorporate XML in our future product development efforts.
bentcd: I have been testing HotJava 1.1 for a while, and while the browser seems to be quite good, it is rather jerky and slow on the larger HTML files with tables, etc. Is this primarily a JVM problem, or are you also working on improvements in the Java code that will speed things up significantly? If so, do you ever envision HotJava to be comparable to the native browsers?
SPK-MShilts: In answering your question I have to draw a distinction between the rendering speed of our browser and our scrolling speed. Our rendering speed of a large document with tables/etc. is comparable to Netscape Navigator, unfortunately our scrolling is at the limitation of the underlying technology.
overton: MShilts, I have used the HotJava HTML component. I really like it. However I have found that it leaks memory. The app I wrote simply reads the bookmark.html file and loads each URL. If I run the application for awhile, I notice the memory usage keeps going up. Has anyone else noticed this?
SPK-malini: We are aware of memory leak problems in the Bean and a significant amount of work has gone into addressing a number of these issues in our HotJava HTML Component 1.1.1 release due next week.
paradigm: Do you know if Maui's going to have an email client?
SPK-Karen: The first version of Maui will not have an email client, but we are considering it for a future version.
uomini: There are several showstopper bugs (NullPointerExeceptions, etc.) which I'm hoping will be fixed in 1.1.1 (I understand 1.1.1 will be out 12/5). I'm interested in the new pricing scheme, since the current pricing is prohibitive for me.
SPK-Karen: 1.1.1 will be out soon and I believe the NullPointerExceptions bug will be fixed. Our pricing plan is $299 for a single user development license with royalty-free distribution rights.
SPK-MShilts: One thing to remember in the Bean is that if you use the BeanBox or use it without a builder tool, you shouldn't experience any NullPointer exceptions.
uomini: The NullPointerException occurs when ever the HTML source is passed to the Bean, rather than a URL.
SPK-malini: We fixed this bug post HotJava Browser 1.1 release. The fix for the bug you are referring to will be available in our next Bean release.
uomini: "Next" as in the upcoming release?
SPK-MShilts: Yes. :)
uomini: My overall experience with the HTML Bean is positive: good performance (better than my homegrown HTML interpreter), nice interface. I hope to be able to offer WebReader with the Bean.
SPK-malini: Thanks for your feedback. It is good for us to hear from our HotJava HTML Component users to understand how our Bean is being used today.
JoeSam: Is there any way to make HotJava open at maximum size, either by some kind of preference or programatically? I know there was a box to key in the horizontal and vertical number of pixels, but that doesn't work out very well for end users. Also, what are the chances of allowing another, later or earlier version of the JDK or JRE to be used in HotJava? When a new release comes out, we developers suddenly have no browser to test things in.
SPK-MShilts: Unfortunately, there is no way to make the HotJava HTML Browser always display maximized when dealing with end users with different screen resolutions. One solution to the problem would be to build a browser with the HTML Component (Bean) and programatically make the frame that it is embeded in always display maximized. :)
chamann: What will be different between today's HotJava Browser and Maui?
SPK-Karen: The Maui feature set should be better defined within the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned! But things under consideration (not yet final) are JavaScript, CSS, HTML 4.0...
abennett: Is the Bean being tested in various IDEs?
SPK-MShilts: The 1.1 version of the Bean is currently being tested in many different builder environments including JBuilder, Visual Cafe 2.0, Java StudioTM, JavaTM WorkShopTM, The BeanBox, and IBM's Visual Age. The 1.1.1 version should work in most of these environments, and progress is being made with the others.
uomini: I purchased a single-user license, for development purposes, for $195. Will I be credited for it? In any case, are you saying that $299 will allow me to ship the HTML Bean with my application, at no additional cost?
SPK-Karen: Please send me your email address and I'll follow up with you. And yes, the new price is $299 per developer and will allow you to incorporate the Bean into your application and redistribute the application without incurring additional charges.
uomini: I haven't tried it, but does the HTML Bean support the news protocol? If not, are there any plans to incorporate it?
SPK-malini: We currently do not support news protocol in the Bean. We are considering it as part of our collaborative work with Netscape.
JoeSam: I wonder if we could go back to the second part of my previous question on the ability to plug in compatible JDK/JRE versions into HotJava?
SPK-MShilts: I would be careful, and remember the modified configuration is not supported. You should be able to do this by setting the "JDK_HOME" or "JRE_HOME" system property to point to the new version of the JDK that you want to use. HotJava should recognize that property and use that installation.
SPK-MShilts: Does anyone have any great applications that they have used the Bean in that they may want to share.
Alexinfo: I'm evaluating the Bean for integration in industrial devices. I'm not Java-aware (couple of weeks on it). Is there any way to retrieve the Frame graphical data information produced by the Bean for export on an unusual device (instead of the screen)?
SPK-malini: There is no way to do this at the Bean level. There may be ways to explore this at the JDK level.
srp: You just asked about applications we're doing with HotJava: We (NCSA--National Center for Supercomputing Applications) licensed HotJava (the whole browser) some time ago. We've added collaborative features to it so that multiple users can use it to work together. It does so intelligently, so that everyone gets the same pages and results, even for pages that have changing banners and for CGI submissions. It's going to be in the next release of our Habanero collaboration application suite. More collaboration features will be added to it as time goes on.
SPK-MShilts: This sounds like a fantastic application to show off the modularity and usefullness of the browser.
srp: Many educators have been asking us to add a web browser to Habanero, and since it's all Java, it fits the bill!
MDR-Andrea: Thank you for joining us today. I hope you all had a chance to get your questions answered. Check out the HotJava web site at http://java.sun.com/products/hotjava/1.1 or send mail to hotjava-comments@java.sun.com. Thanks again, see you next time. Check the schedule on the Discussion Forums page for information about upcoming online forums.
SPK-MShilts: Thanks, everyone, see ya! :)
SPK-malini: Thanks for your time!
