Distribute a Java Application

Question

I have a Java Application, which was created in an IDE (NetBeans) (JDK 1.6). The application allows sales people to enter sales info and have the approver come in to approve the entry. Saving the entry. The application is connected to a Derby DB.

Once this application is completed, I need to be able to distribute this application to the users so they can easily access the application.

The users would obviously need to be able to run this application without using an IDE, and if possible I would like to package it with the JRE so the users do not have to download the JRE (although it is not the end of the world if they must download the JRE).

This application will have different versions as we move along so it must be a process that can be either automatically updated or easily updated by a non technical professional.

Also there is a team SharePoint page, if possible I would like to be able to wrap this in some type of .exe file and then load that file in the SharePoint page which will allow the team to grab that .exe from the page and run it from there. And therefore once a new version comes out, we can just replace the old version with the new on SharePoint.

Is there a way to do this or would my best bet be using something like Java WebStart?

Answer 1

Although Java WebStart sounds like a reasonable solution here (you will require every user to have the appropriate JRE), does the app have to be distributed locally ? Can't you put a web interface over it ? That would mean you'd run and adminsiter a server centrally, and you wouldn't have to worry abput distrbuting the application and/or the JRE.

If you've got a standalone app that can't be embedded within a Java EE server, you can embed a web server (e.g. Jetty) within your app and have that server up the necessary web pages.