JavaStub -- Generating Stub Java and HTML files automatically

Background

One of the tedious tasks when prototyping applets or just testing a new Java construct is the extra time required to build the HTML file needed to display the applet from appletviewer or Netscape. If you want to simply test out a single command, you spend much more time writing the HTML file or the application infrastructure than you do the Java code you want to test.

JavaStub tries to simplify this process in two ways by building stub files automatically from a base filename. First of all, it builds a stub .java file that can be run as either a applet or an application with identical results. Secondly, it builds a stub HTML file that loads the .class file, so that the applet can be tested without writing any additional HTML.

So just run JavaStub with an argument of Xxx, stick your test code in paint() in Xxx.java, compile Xxx.java, then either run Xxx.java or load Xxx.html from your browser.

Note that not all applet functionality can be obtained when running standalone. For instance, getCodebase, showStatus, and showDocument will not work. If you want this functionality, I suggest using Jef Poskanzer's MainFrame class. That class implements the AppletStub and AppletContext interfaces.

The original of this file is at http://www.apl.jhu.edu/~hall/java/JavaStub.html. The source code and class files are at .../JavaStub.java, and .../JavaStub.class, respectively. 4/96 Marty Hall (hall@apl.jhu.edu). See also my Java Resources page for applets, class libraries, tutorials, info on Java security and garbage collection, etc.

Permission is granted for unrestricted use and modification of JavaStub. No warranty of any kind, of course.

Using JavaStub

JavaStub requires one argument: a base filename (no file extension) in the current directory. It creates a .java and .html file in that same directory based upon that base filename. It also takes optional arguments -width, -height, -justPrint, -nomain, and -test.

  java JavaStub Base-Filename 
    [-width W -height H -print, -nomain, -test]

Base-Filename. A partial filename (no file extension) in the current directory. For instance if this filename is HelloWorld, JavaStub will build a stub HelloWorld.java and HelloWorld.html that references HelloWorld.class. You would then normally edit HelloWorld.java and add the code you want to test, compile HelloWorld.java to make HelloWorld.class, and then either run HelloWorld as an application or load HelloWorld.html from appletviewer or Netscape. To simply verify the stubs were formatted correctly (or to check the size of the resultant applet), you can compile HelloWorld.java and run it (or load HelloWorld.html) without making any changes at all. JavaStub will do this automatically if you supply the -test flag.
-width W. Specifies WIDTH value to be put in the .html file (and the first argument to resize() when run as an application). If this is omitted, a default value (from the width variable of JavaStub) is used instead.
-height H. Specifies HEIGHT value to be put in the .html file (and the second argument to resize() when run as an application). If this is omitted, a default value (from the height variable of JavaStub) is used instead.
-print. Indicates that the contents of the .html and .java files should be printed to the screen instead of written to disk.
-nomain. Indicates that the .java file should not have a main() that lets it run as an application with identical behavior to the applet.
-test. Indicates that the resultant .java file should be compiled and then run automatically to verify the stubs were created properly and to check the specified applet size. The stub .java file simply displays the class name in a large font. In order to make use of this option, edit the javac and browser variables of JavaStub to indicate the pathnames of your Java compiler and Java-enabled WWW browser.

This process is simplified by making an alias JavaStub that means java JavaStub. For instance, on UNIX you could put the following in your .cshrc:

  alias JavaStub 'java JavaStub'

Examples

These examples assume that JavaStub.class is in CLASSPATH or the current directory, and that you want to create CircleTest.java and CircleTest.html.

  java JavaStub CircleTest

  java JavaStub CircleTest -width 300 -height 250

  java JavaStub CircleTest -nomain

  java JavaStub CircleTest -print
  
  java JavaStub CircleTest -test

These examples are identical to those above except that they assume that the alias JavaStub means 'java JavaStub'.

  JavaStub CircleTest

  JavaStub CircleTest -width 300 -height 250

  JavaStub CircleTest -nomain

  JavaStub CircleTest -print
  
  JavaStub CircleTest -test

4/96 Marty Hall (hall@apl.jhu.edu).