function of code attribute in deployjava.js

Question

i'm wondering about a specific syntax for the "code" attribute that's used with deployjava.

with something like code: applet.class it's fairly obvious that the call is pointing to a file of that name, presumably in the same directory as the file making the call.

sometimes, though, i see something like code: com.domain.applet. what is that referring to, and where is that file located in the file structure relative to the script that's making that call?

Answer 1

with something like code: applet.class it's fairly obvious that the call is pointing to a file of that name, presumably in the same directory as the file making the call.

What is obvious is not necessarily the case.

• The class might come from a jar, and won't be a loose class file in a directory.
• The codebase determines the path to search for classes or jars. It defaults to the current directory when not specified.

Lastly, note that the class attribute should be the 'fully qualified class name'¹, and that common nomenclature would have it named as EachWordUpperCase - something like GraphApplet.

sometimes, though, i see something like code: com.domain.applet. what is that referring to, and where is that file located in the file structure relative to the script that's making that call?

OK, let's again assume the applet is called com.domain.GraphApplet - that is the fully qualified name of the GraphApplet class, in package com.domain;.

If that were a loose class file, it would need to be in a directory like ${codebase}/com/domain/. Alternately it would need to be located in the /com/domain/ path inside a jar.

1. Last note on the FQN. It is common for programmers to add .class e.g. com.domain.GraphApplet.class. While tolerated, that is not correct. It should just be com.domain.GraphApplet