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Java for the Webmaster: All Gain No Pain

Testing the Applet

You are now ready to test the Applet using Sun's Applet Viewer (it is also included in the Java Developer's Kit) or a Java-enabled Web browser such as Netscape's Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.

To test it in the appletviewer, at the command line (you folks remember the command line, don't you?), type appletviewer, space and the name of the html file. A window will appear asking you if you agree to the terms of use from Sun, and when you click OK your applet will (hopefully) appear.

To test the applet in your Web browser, simply go to File and Open from your browser's menu and select the applet's new Web page from your hard drive.

Once you have tested the applet, and have verified that it does work, you will want to customize the applet using the parameters that are available for that applet, if there are any. This is where you can specify certain text, colors, fonts, size, images, etc. For additional information about the particular applet, if you don't find it included with the class files, visit the applet's author's home page, which is usually noted on the applet demo page on the Java Boutique. If you need to, you can always email the author of the applet, as their email address will be noted on the Java Boutique's demo page, even if their home page is not.

A simple but effective trick to get you started is to save the applet's demo Web page from the Java Boutique into a temporary directory. Place the class files, along with any other files the applet uses, into the same directory, then open that page in your browser and see it if works. If it does, you can modify the code and cut and paste it into your own page. If it doesn't work, you can look at the source code for the applet's page and see if the CODEBASE is pointing to the correct directory, if it is used, and insure that you have all the required files in that directory as well.

Finally, be considerate and don't forget to credit the author of the Applet (as well as the Java Boutique) on your page somewhere as a nice finishing touch.

NEXT

This article first appeared in October, 1998

How to Add Java Applets to Your Site

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