[NOTE: JConfig is currently only available in this .zip file. If you want to use it, contact us first. It will soon be released as open source under the Apache license. Note that many of the features of the library have since been added to the standard Java API; if Sun had done that at the time Java might be in wider use on desktops. The following is the page as of 2007.]

What is it?

JConfig is a cross-platform library that supplements the core Java API and solves many programming tasks.

It lets you work with files, web browsers, processes, file types, and other system-level items in a much more advanced manner than that provided by the standard Java class libraries. For instance, you can use it to launch web browsers or other external applications instead of using Runtime.exec or solutions that only work on one platform.

JConfig is similar to some of the Microsoft extensions to Java, except: it's completely cross-platform! JConfig runs on Windows, Mac, Unix, and other platforms to come.

The download even includes the complete source code!

See how JConfig compares with the standard Java API.

What can I do with it?

Here's a partial list, by category:

* Files: Enumerate the user's disk drives, and obtain extended information on files, directories, volumes, and filesystems: their icons, creation dates, version information, mount points, and much more...
* Web Browsers: Launch a file or URL in the user's Web browser...
* Video Monitors: Enumerate and get information on the user's video monitors: bit depth, bounds, etc...
* External Processes: Create external processes, send basic commands to external processes, obtain the PSN or HWND of a process you created, and enumerate the currently running processes...
* File Types: Find applications associated with a given file type, find applications by name, and convert between Windows file extensions and Mac creator/file type codes...

What platforms does it run on?

* Win95, Win98, and WinNT using the SunJDK 1.1 (or higher) or the MSVM...
* MacOS, using MRJ or CodeWarrior Pro2 on PowerMacs...
* Linux, using the blackdown.org JDK1.1.8, JDK1.2.2, or the IBM JRE 1.1.8...
* most Unix systems...

Other VMs may be supported on request. If this library is run on a VM other than those listed above, a limited set of functionality is provided.

Which version is this?

This is version 2.2.0, released August 26, 2002.