Jar Ajar / News: Recent posts

Hot on the heels of updating the Jar Ajar Subversion repository location, we've migrated the repository to Git. Yup, it's time to get on with modern times and mosey on over to Git, as much as we loved our time with Subversion.

You can find the new Git repository information here:
https://sourceforge.net/p/jarajar/jaj/... read more

After a long hiatus, Jar Ajar makes another debut with updates to packaging and installation options. The packager now provides the option to zip individual files in addition to including a pre-zipped archive for self-extraction. Installers can also be built using the silent install option, useful for automated installs.

For full details, see the download and changelog for Jar Ajar 0.7.0.

The Jar Ajar project site on SourceForge just got updated, meaning that the Subversion repository location has been updated to a new URL as well. The new address is https://svn.code.sf.net/p/jarajar/code, while the old address will exist but will not show any new updates.

To upgrade your repository to the new location, you can run this command:
svn relocate https://svn.code.sf.net/p/jarajar/code

Jar Ajar, a JAR-based self-extractor of ZIP files, takes on a new role as program launcher in addition to self-extracting and installing Java programs. The goal is for one downloadable file to serve as an installer, launcher, and program shortcut.

After downloading a single file packaged by Jar Ajar, users can double-click the file to install and launch the program. When they double-click the file again, it automatically determines where the program was installed and launches it again, no matter where the original file has been moved.

Following in the tradition of the Text Trix and tXtFL projects, the Jar Ajar packager/extractor also now has a wiki to track the latest changes online. Rather than burying all the changes deep within the repository, we hope to make them ajar on the wiki so that one can easily track, root for, criticize, or comment on new changes and directions for the Jar Ajar utility.

The repository migration from CVS to Subversion for Jar Ajar has just been completed. Subversion offers improved flexibility, such as version control of directories and renames, atomic commits, and cheap branching/tagging. The new repository paves the way for the next Jar Ajar release cycle.

Jar Ajar provides a packaging and self-extracting mechanism for deployment of Java-based software. By taking advantage of the Java environment that would already be found on the user's platform, Jar Ajar is very lightweight and offers a consistent look and feel.

New features in this edition include the ability to display a license during self-extraction and a readme afterward. Jar Ajar can also now launch programs after extraction.... read more

Jar Ajar provides a packaging and self-extracting mechanism for deployment of Java-based software. By taking advantage of the Java environment that would already be found on the user's platform, Jar Ajar is very lightweight and offers a consistent look and feel.

New features in this edition include the ability to display a license during self-extraction and a readme afterward. Jar Ajar can also now launch programs after extraction.... read more

Jar Ajar, the JAR (Java ARchive) self-introducer and extractor of zip files, now also packages itself. The new packager system provides a graphical system for packagers to type in a welcome message and find their logo image file to introduce the zip file to their recipients. A sidebar containing more detailed instructions serves as a handy, accessible reference.

The introduction of graphical packaging doesn't mean doom to simple text-oriented packaging, however. The Jar Ajar packager generates an XML-based, text-formatted specification file that packagers can reuse and tweak over and over again. The spec file even allows automated builds, such as the "nightlies" that packagers often create as snapshots of a software's current development.... read more

Jar Ajar's first release! Jar Ajar can package zipped files to guide the unzip process for the recipient. To introduce the package, it displays the packager's chosen descriptive images and messages. The recipient chooses the destination for the package contents and lets Jar Ajar do the rest.

Packaging is currently script-based but will eventually work through a graphical interface. The script will be retained for automatic packaging, however, to supplement the graphical, user-friendly process.