On Oct 24, 12:20 pm, carl.manas...@gmail.com wrote:

Hey Carl,

You don't necessarily need to wrap it up in an EXE. You have two
simpler options:

(1) An executable JAR file. If you package your entire application up
in one JAR file, including all the libraries it uses, and set the
Main-Class attribute of the JAR's manifest, then double-clicking the
JAR file in Windows should bring up your app.

(2) A batch file. This will let you set your CLASSPATH then run the
app. Something like:

@echo off
set CLASSPATH=jfreechart.jar;foo.jar;bar.jar;MyApp.jar
java -classpath %CLASSPATH% com.foo.MyApp

You can use JSmooth (http://jsmooth.sourceforge.net/) to create a
Windows .exe file after packaging your application in a jar file.
JSmooth allows you to set the application icon, and some other stuff.
The user must still have Java installed.

Don't be, it isn't.

This is a FAQ, the answers I've seen include:

1. Create an executable Jar. These can be run by double clicking and
icon on a Windows PC which has a JRE installed. It won't work without a
JRE. AFAIK this is the only deployment option supported by plain old
Eclipse. Eclipse can produce the Jar but doesn't package it in an
installer (setup-appname.exe). There are at least a dozen 3rd party
installers that will package up a Jar file for installation. The
commercial/proprietary ones seem the most fully featured. Some
installers still depend on a JRE being already installed on the target.

2. Use Java Webstart. This works well once the JRE is installed. I
suspect the whole installation process, for a brand-new Windows XP PC
without JWS/JRE preloaded, is still rather longer and more complicated
than most people would want.

3. Use an EXE wrapper. E.g. JSmooth. This can also take care of finding
a suitable JRE and downloading it as needed. Installing a JRE is still
an intrusive operation for end-users.

4. Compile to native binary. E.g. Gnu GCJ and Gnu Classpath.
http://javacompiler.mtsystems.ch/ is one packaging of GCJ. Excelsior Jet
is a commercial solution. No JRE required AIUI.

With 3 & 4 you can use a normal Windows installer to install the exe
with desktop icons etc.

As I see it, each of the above have their pros and cons, so no one
solution is right for all circumstances.

Some selection criteria (targeting Windows):
- How big is the installer bundle?
- Does the user have to work through Sun's JRE download procedure?
- Do shortcuts get installed (with icon) in Start menu & Desktop?
- Does the app get listed in Windows Control-Panel Add/Remove Programs?
- Is the running app listed under its own name in Task Manager?

For a one-off, small app, targeting a friend/colleagues PC, I'd use an
executable Jar. YMMV.