Applets

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Applets
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Applets

• An applet is a program that is typically embedded
  in a Web page and can be run from a browser
• You need special HTML in the Web page to tell the
  browser about the applet
• You dont need to supply a main method the
  browser does that
• When you write an applet, you are writing only
  part of a program
• You supply certain methods that the browser calls
• For security reasons, applets run in a sandbox
  they have no access to the clients file system

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Applet Support

• Most modern browsers support applets if they have
  the appropriate plugin
• You need a version of the plugin at least as new
  as the version of Java you are trying to run
• The plugin is usually installed automatically
  when you install a new version of Java
• The best support isn't a browser, but the
  standalone program appletviewer
• appletviewer uses only the applets in a Web page,
  and ignores everything else
• If you want to reach the widest audience, you
  should use Java 1.1, and AWT instead of Swing
• This is because Microsoft no longer supports Java

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What an applet is

• You write an applet by extending the class
  JApplet
• JApplet is just a class like any other you can
  even use it in applications if you want
• When you write an applet, you are only writing
  part of a program the browser supplies the main
  method
• Once you understand how applets work, you can
  write a program that function either as an applet
  or as an applicationjust write a main method
  that calls the right methods at the right time
• Such programs have the ugly name appletcations

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The genealogy of JApplet
java.lang.Object ----java.awt.Component
----java.awt.Container

----java.awt.Panel
----java.applet.Applet

----javax.swing.JApplet
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The simplest possible applet
TrivialApplet.java
import javax.swing.JApplet public class
TrivialApplet extends JApplet
TrivialApplet.html
ltapplet code"TrivialApplet.class"
width"150" height"100"gt lt/appletgt
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The simplest reasonable applet
import java.awt. import javax.swing.JApplet pu
blic class HelloWorld extends JApplet
public void paint(Graphics g)
g.drawString("Hello World!", 30, 30)
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Applet methods

• public void init ()
• public void start ()
• public void stop ()
• public void destroy ()
• public void paint (Graphics)
• Also
• public void repaint()
• public void update (Graphics)
• public void showStatus(String)
• public String getParameter(String)

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Why an applet works

• You write an applet by extending the class
  JApplet
• Applet defines methods init( ), start( ), stop(
  ), paint(Graphics), destroy( )
• These methods do nothing--they are stubs
• You make the applet do something by overriding
  these methods
• When you create an applet in BlueJ, it
  automatically creates sample versions of these
  methods for you

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public void init ( )

• init() is the first method to execute
• init() is an ideal place to initialize variables
• init() is the best place to define the GUI
  Components (buttons, text fields, checkboxes,
  etc.), lay them out, and add listeners to them
• Almost every applet you ever write will have an
  init( ) method

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start( ), stop( ) and destroy( )

• start() and stop( ) are used when the Applet is
  doing time-consuming calculations that you dont
  want to continue when the page is not in front
• public void start() is called
• Right after init( )
• Each time the page is loaded and restarted
• public void stop( ) is called
• When the browser leaves the page
• Just before destroy( )
• public void destroy( ) is called after stop( )
• Use destroy() to explicitly release system
  resources (like threads)
• System resources are usually released
  automatically

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Methods are called in this order

• init and destroy are only called once each
• start and stop are called whenever the browser
  enters and leaves the page
• do some work is code called by your listeners
• paint is called when the applet needs to be
  repainted

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public void paint(Graphics g)

• Needed if you do any drawing or painting other
  than just using standard GUI Components
• Any painting you want to do should be done here,
  or in a method you call from here
• Painting that you do in other methods may or may
  not happen
• Never call paint(Graphics), call repaint( )

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repaint( )

• Call repaint( ) when you have changed something
  and want your changes to show up on the screen
• You do not need to call repaint() when something
  in Javas own components (Buttons, TextFields,
  etc.)
• You do need to call repaint() after drawing
  commands (drawRect(...), fillRect(...),
  drawString(...), etc.)
• repaint( ) is a request--it might not happen
• When you call repaint( ), Java schedules a call
  to update(Graphics g)

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update( )

• When you call repaint( ), Java schedules a call
  to update(Graphics g)
• Here's what update does
• public void update(Graphics g) // Fills
  applet with background color, then
  paint(g)

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Sample Graphics methods

• A Graphics is something you can paint on

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Painting at the right time is hard

• When you modify common components (JButtons,
  JLabels, JTextFields, etc.), Java keeps the
  screen display up to date
• When you paint on a Graphics object, you have to
  make your changes appear on the screen
• To help ensure your changes appear on screen,
  follow these rules
• Rule 1 Never call paint(Graphics g), call
  repaint( )
• Rule 2 Do all your painting in paint, or in a
  method that is called from paint
• Rule 3 If you paint on any Graphics other than
  the Applets, call its update method from the
  Applets paint method
• Rule 4. Do your painting in a separate Thread
• These rules aren't perfect, but they should help
• If you follow these rules and the screen still
  doesnt change, I probably wont be able to find
  the problem, either -(

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Other useful JApplet methods

• System.out.println(String s)
• Works from appletviewer, not from browsers
• Automatically opens an output window.
• showStatus(String s) displays the String in the
  applets status line.
• Each call overwrites the previous call.
• You have to allow time to read the line!

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Applets are not magic!

• Anything you can do in an applet, you can do in
  an application.
• You can do some things in an application that you
  cant do in an applet.
• If you want to access files from an applet, it
  must be a trusted applet.
• Trusted applets are beyond the scope of this
  course.

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Structure of an HTML page

• Most HTML tags are containers.
• A container is lttaggt to lt/taggt

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HTML
lthtmlgt ltheadgt lttitlegt Hi World Applet
lt/titlegt lt/headgt ltbodygt ltapplet
code"HiWorld.class" width300
height200gt ltparam name"arraysize"
value"10"gt lt/appletgt lt/bodygt lt/htmlgt
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The ltappletgt tag

• The ltapplet ...gt ... lt/appletgt tag is what tells
  your browser to put an applet here
• ltappletgt has three required attributes
• code"HiWorld.class" tells the browser where to
  find the code
• Alternatively, if your code is in a .jar file,
  you can sayarchive"HiWorld.jar
• width"300" tells the browser how many pixels
  wide to make the applet window
• A typical monitor resolution is 72 pixels/inch
• height"200" tells the browser how many pixels
  high to make the applet window
• In a browser, you cannot resize the applet but
  in appletviewer, you can resize the applet

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ltparam name"arraysize" value"10"gt

• You can put parameters in the HTML page, to be
  read by the applet
• Parameters go between ltappletgt and lt/appletgt
• All parameters are read by the applet as Strings
• To read a parameter, use the applet methodpublic
  String getParameter(String name)
• Example
• String s getParameter("arraysize")
• try size Integer.parseInt (s) catch
  (NumberFormatException e)

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The End