Alice 3 is now in public beta

Originally Posted by DrJim

... it shouldn't be too hard to add the MouseListener in NetBeans

Turned out it was easier to put the RUN procedure code inside a While loop (always evaluating true) and then call a "plain" message dialog at the end of the code. This will keep the loop from continuing until you click on OK. I put a photo at http://www.alice.org/community/showt...0782#post10782 .

Originally Posted by DrJim

A couple of fairly basic questions:

1. Since all built project files are named "AliceProjectWizardProject.jar," does it hurt to rename them? and 2. If so, is it possible to just duplicate the supporting files once, or do you have to do that for all projects?

3. If you can get by with doing it only once, can you then run a .jar file imbeded in a web page?

4. Do you need the full JDK to run the projects or is the JRE enough?

... the legal question becomes significant

Well I did come up with some answers:

1., 2. & 4. It does not seem to hurt to rename the "AliceProjectWizardProject.jar" file. You can then put several different projects with different names in one folder with just one copy of the lib folder and they all run fine on a machine with just the JRE.

With different names, the only consistant way I've found to run the different files is to create a different .bat file with the correct .jar file name for each project. No big deal, since this just involves copying, editing and renaming a single line text file. I've tried putting some default paths as "Environmental Variables" - and "sort of" gotten that to work - but the .bat file approach seems both simpler and safer.

I suspect you probably will also have to check each lib file for each new build to make sure your latest program hasn't added something new.

Also I have not tried this yet on a machine that doesn't have Alice 3 installed, so I can't comment on that yet. As far as the legal issues go, I'm not a lawyer, but as I read the agreements, it would seem just including them - with a coverning note - in any distribution should be sufficient.

That leaves question 3 - is there actually a way to embed these in a web page? I rather expect the answer is no without some server side work - but if you can, even that way, what is needed? (I realize this isn't a trivial question but I'm really just looking for a place to start - not a complete answer.)

One final note concerning packing everything into an .exe file. At least one of my e-mail services won't even let you attach .exe files - and many firewalls block them. That may be more of a practical problem than the legal issues are.

(This is my third attempt to answer this question...I always get timed out and loose what I wrote!!)

DrJim, you are correct with respect to (wrt) 1,2, and 4.
Alternatively, leave the name of each jar file unchanged and in its dist folder and make a generic BAT or EXE. Make sure your BAT or EXE file uses relative paths for the files related to your project. For the EXE in particular, make sure you DO NOT include the jar file into the EXE file (check the "Don't wrap the jar file, launch only" option in Launch4j).

wrt #4, As you pointed out, it suffices to have the JRE. Make sure the version is jre1.5.0_17 --some older versions may work, but this is the one bundled with Alice3.0, so it is probably wise to follow suit in this respect.

wrt #3, this is the big one.
It is well-known that you can make a Java program to run as both an Applet and as application. However, there are important restrictions for Applets due to the sandbox model they run in (there are mechanisms to deal with some of the restrictions, however)
My main concern is with the DLLs needed to run an Alice project. I have no experience with writing Applets that need DLLs...I have always tried to stick to the Java motto write-once-run-anywhere. There is another technical problem: what about Mac, UNIX and Linux users trying to see your page with an embedded Alice3 project in it?

Another alternative could be Java Web Start. It has fewer restriction than Applets and none of the compatibility issues that you may run into when the version of the VM in the browser is not appropriate for the applet you are trying to run....this may be worth exploring --where are graduate students when you need them?

wrt packaging EXE files. In the extreme you can try changing the encoding of the file, say UTF-7 or Base64, and change the extension of the file. This may trick the filtering program into thinking the file is a plain text file. Of course, you would have to reverse the process on the receiving end.

Originally Posted by arevira

(This is my third attempt to answer this question...I always get timed out and loose what I wrote!!)

--where are graduate students when you need them?

wrt packaging EXE files...

Thanks for the information. wrt to the above

1. I can usually log back in and not lose my draft text.

2. Graduate students are especially rare if you're retired from industry. Even though I taught a few graduate courses, it was always on a part time basis and, for some reason, the full time faculty didn't want to let go of theirs.

3. Again thanks for the suggestion. At the moment, the problem is only with one of my e-mail suppliers - and their apparently only at the source end. For now, Ijust use the other supplier.

Does anyone have a list of changes between Alice 3.0.0.0.55 and the most recent release Alice3.0.0.0.58?

Also with the latest Alice 3 release there are releases for the Alice Library Plugin (Netbeans) and something called Alice Wizard Plugin. I'm not sure if these are the same thing? But since I downloaded both we will soon find out!

The Alice 3.0.0.0.58 Online Windows Installer actually points to version .55 so unless you want to install that version do not select that item.

[Dennis Cosgrove]

Originally Posted by lanceA

Does anyone have a list of changes between Alice 3.0.0.0.55 and the most recent release Alice3.0.0.0.58?

Lots of bug fixes in 0058. We will hopefully have more a more detailed change list starting with 0059.

Originally Posted by lanceA

Also with the latest Alice 3 release there are releases for the Alice Library Plugin (Netbeans) and something called Alice Wizard Plugin. I'm not sure if these are the same thing? But since I downloaded both we will soon find out!

the "Alice Wizard Plugin" creates Java projects from Alice projects.
the "Alice Library Plugin" contains the libraries that Java projects link to.

Originally Posted by lanceA

The Alice 3.0.0.0.58 Online Windows Installer actually points to version .55 so unless you want to install that version do not select that item.

Good catch. These links should now be fixed. Thank you.

I downloaded the 525 MB file onto my Windows Vista. I then did an "install".
Everythign went fine.

But how do I start the program ? I dont see any startup file opn windows nor any application file.

I see the following doirectory under "Program Files"

• Alice3 -->Application, ext,gallery,jre5017,lib
• Alice99Plugin-->lib,objects,plugin,setup,sounds,system

Any help appreciated, how to start the Alice 3 Program


Regards

Originally Posted by vazin

I downloaded the 525 MB file onto my Windows Vista. I then did an "install".
Everythign went fine.

But how do I start the program ? I dont see any startup file opn windows nor any application file.

Regards

In the default directory that you installed Alice 3.0 into there should be a file, Alice.bat. This is a batch file that runs Alice. Double-click this file to run Alice 3.0

Good luck,

:cool:

I just tried a new install of Alice 3.0.0.0.60 and it completed successfully but the file alice.bat is zero bytes long . Can someone post the text contents of Alice.bat so I can see if it works?