Java Widows vs. Linux

[Chong Yu Meng]

Thanks for the compliment, Lonni, but I'm not really a Java "heavy". 
It's just that I spend a lot of time making mistakes in that language, 
that's all.

Anyway, Collins, on to your problem.

I'm not sure I understand your problem, but let me offer a few 
suggestions on things to look out for :

1. Fonts and text placement are *always* problems when you move from one 
platform to another. Remember that the fonts you have installed on 
Windows may not be present in Linux. And even if you install the 
Microsoft Core Fonts on Linux, I've found that it still gets messed up a 
bit -- especially the font sizes. This is not just a Java problem. Even 
on Mozilla on Fedora Core 1 (which is what I am using), the fonts for 
http://home.netscape.com are several point sizes smaller than when I 
boot to my wife's Windows partition (same computer) and view it on IE or 
Netscape Navigator 6.

A description of the Blackdown Java fonts problem can be found here: 
http://www.blackdown.org/java-linux/docs/faq/FAQ-java-linux-6.html. You 
will need to scroll down to Section 6.4

2. If you want to troubleshoot (or attempt to troubleshoot) the fonts 
problem on Linux, just follow these steps:
- ensure that all the necessary fonts are installed. If the application 
was written in Windows, you should ensure that Microsoft Core Fonts are 
installed on your system
- See this page : 
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/guide/intl/fontprop.html, and this 
page : http://www.graemepyle.com/graemepyle/LinuxFonts for a sample 
font.properties, and make adjustments to your font.properties as necessary

This is why I don't do client-side and applet Java development. It's too 
difficult to get the presentation right for a range of platforms. Better 
to just do a web-based server-side application which outputs HTML code, 
which the user can then adjust according to his preferences for viewing. 
There *is* a place fo client Java programs, but they should come with a 
caveat -- that it runs only for the platform it was designed for, YMMV.

Regards,
pascal chong



Net Llama! wrote:

>On Thu, 13 May 2004, Collins wrote:
>  
>
>>Recently I've launched on a new career - Real Estate. Most of the Real Estate applications are web-based with java, so crafty devil that I am, I thought why not try the applications on linux? Well, the applications almost work but not quite.
>>
>>It's a big joke that Java has been touted as write once, run anywhere. Does anyone know anything about the flavor of Java that is used with Windows and IE? My laptop uses Blackdown with Firefox.
>>    
>>
>
>I don't think that windoze ships with any JDK (part of that whole Sun vs.
>M$ court case settlement).  Maybe you're confusing java with javascript?
>
>  
>
>>The symptoms are:
>>1. The initial login and password screens work ok.
>>2. The screen with selection buttons works fine.
>>3. The next lower level screens have a number of pull-down data selection boxes (the ones with arrows at the right end) to setup search parameters. All of them look squirrely (not enough room for the contents), and many of them do not work (nothing pulls down).
>>
>>I wonder if it would help to convert to the Sun version of Java?
>>    
>>
>
>It can't hurt  :)
>
>  
>
>>Any Java heavies lurking out there?
>>    
>>
>
>Pascal appears to be the resident java genius.
>
>  
>
>>Anyone familiar with running Java on "the Mark of the Beast"?
>>    
>>
>
>I try not to run anything on the mark of the beast, including the mark of
>the beast.
>
>  
>

-- 
"Guns aren't lawful; nooses give; gas smells awful. So you might as well
live." 
		-- Dorothy Parker
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| Pascal Chong                                                   |
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