Java(tm) Communication API support for Windows gone ????

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anton - 24 Aug 2006 15:40 GMT

As you can see on:

http://www.sun.com/download/products.xml?id=43208d3d

there is no more rs232 support for Java for windows operating system.

The strange thing: In .Net 2.0 Microsoft added a serial comm support,
while at the same time it seems that sun skip it in the java windows
version.

RS232 is still widely used in industry (in which I am working).

I am just evaluating c# and Java, so for now it seems I am best with c#
?
(even if I prefer java for "plattform neutrality" ...
platform neutrality ... what an irony..)

My question is:

Does anybody have information about this?

I didn't read any official statement from sun.

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Knute Johnson - 24 Aug 2006 15:53 GMT

> As you can see on:
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> I didn't read any official statement from sun.

I do not know why Sun discontinued the Windows version but you can use
RXTX instead. Also, Sun is now providing the comm.jar file if you want
to use their namespace but not the dlls. See the RXTX website for details.

RXTX: http://rxtx.org

Get the Sun generic libraries here:

http://www.sun.com/download/products.xml?id=43208d3d

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Knute Johnson
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anton - 24 Aug 2006 16:30 GMT

> I do not know why Sun discontinued the Windows version but you can use
> RXTX instead. Also, Sun is now providing the comm.jar file if you want
> to use their namespace but not the dlls. See the RXTX website for details.
>
> RXTX: http://rxtx.org

Thanks I'll look at it.

> Get the Sun generic libraries here:
>
> http://www.sun.com/download/products.xml?id=43208d3d

I know this link, but the windows version is no more
available at this link.

Thanks.

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Knute Johnson - 25 Aug 2006 04:53 GMT

>> I do not know why Sun discontinued the Windows version but you can use
>> RXTX instead. Also, Sun is now providing the comm.jar file if you want
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Thanks.

The generic libraries are there. You can use those with RXTX to use
Sun's namespace for the classes. What isn't there is the dll files to
make it work on its own.

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Knute Johnson
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anton - 25 Aug 2006 10:27 GMT

Knute Johnson schrieb:

> Sun's namespace for the classes. What isn't there is the dll files to
> make it work on its own.

yes the dll is what I meant.

... and the fact that you must register to be able to download
it, this is new and I am not such a fan of registering here and there
for stuff that is free.

Thanks again for your response :-)

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Thomas Weidenfeller - 25 Aug 2006 10:47 GMT

> ... and the fact that you must register to be able to download
> it, this is new and I am not such a fan of registering here and there
> for stuff that is free.

You can use RxTx without any additional Sun stuff. You only need the Sun
stuff, if you want to get Sun's original API (with Sun's package naming)
working.

RxTx comes with an own API, remarkable similar to the one from Sun :-)
But they are of course not using Sun's package names.

When you want Sun's original API on Windows, you take the Unix version
of JavaComm, since it is "pure Java", and you slip the RxTx drivers
underneath that API implementation.

/Thomas

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Dale King - 29 Aug 2006 04:25 GMT

>> ... and the fact that you must register to be able to download
>> it, this is new and I am not such a fan of registering here and there
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> of JavaComm, since it is "pure Java", and you slip the RxTx drivers
> underneath that API implementation.

And the subject line of this post is incorrect. Sun is no longer
*distributing* the JavaComm API. The fact is that they have *NEVER*
actually supported it. They put out a poorly thought out, badly
implemented, buggy API and never touched it again. There has been zero
ongoing support for it.

So in my opinion there is no compelling reason to try to maintain
compatibility with it. Standardize on RXTX. It is being supported.

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Dale King

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Thomas Weidenfeller - 25 Aug 2006 10:40 GMT

> As you can see on:
>
> http://www.sun.com/download/products.xml?id=43208d3d
>
> there is no more rs232 support for Java for windows operating system.

Yes, Sun silently discarded the Windows version in November 2005, even
breaking their own rules regarding the retirement of old software
<http://java.sun.com/products/archive/eol.policy.html>.

> The strange thing: In .Net 2.0 Microsoft added a serial comm support,
> while at the same time it seems that sun skip it in the java windows
> version.
>
> RS232 is still widely used in industry (in which I am working).

I totally agree. The problem is, the decision makers at Sun don't know.
All this cry about "legacy" hasn't make RS232 go away, except on Windows
PCs. There are boatloads of equipment out there which still have RS232
interfaces, and will have so for years to come.

> I didn't read any official statement from sun.

There was only some informal one in some Sun Java forum. As I already
mentioned, Sun broke their own policy, which states they do some kind of
official announcement, but they didn't. A lot of people were taken by
surprise.

Try RxTx or go with some platform where the supplier takes RS232
communication serious.

/Thomas

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Java(tm) Communication API support for Windows gone ????

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