[npsnetv-developers] Re: Plans for NPSNET-V

[Andrzej K. <ak...@np...>]

Justin--

     OK, that's pretty much the response I expected.

     In that case, I'd say that for NPSNET-V, we'll probably just switch
back to the VRML loader we used to use: vrml97.jar (a Rick Goldberg
invention, I believe?).  That one was about 300k (as opposed to 2.5 megs for
Xj3D), basically loaded everything we needed, and was easy to load
dynamically.  I forget why exactly we switched to Xj3D, but I think it was
more a show of solidarity than an actual need for any of Xj3D's features.

     The only sticking point here would be making sure that we can support
James H. and Ekrem's VRML content (mostly ships and terrain).  If need be,
we can do one "fork it and forget it" build of Xj3D, since the necessary
changes are easy to make (the below, and a slight change to Justin's URI
library to allow it to load protocol handlers from jar files), but it's not
worth throwing good effort after bad by maintaining a fork.  James and Ekrem
are graduating this quarter; if any future students want to use VRML models
with scripts and what-not from within NPSNET-V, we can always resurrect
support for the Xj3D loader.

     --Andrzej

----- Original Message -----
From: "Justin Couch" <ju...@vl...>
To: "Andrzej Kapolka" <ak...@np...>
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: Plans for NPSNET-V


> Andrzej Kapolka wrote:
> > Alan, Justin--
> >
> >      See below.  Is there any particular reason you use
> > ClassLoader.getSystemResourceAsStream, as opposed to
> > getClass().getResourceAsStream, to load the various property files for
xj3d?
>
> Yes, we only want to load from the specifically designated files we give
> it. They're system level resources, not local and so require the use of
> the system resource. In the later case it can only load local stuff from
> the same JAR file, which is not what we need for the application to run.
>
> Xj3D is not designed to be dynamically loaded. It makes very heavy use
> of a lot of restricted access mechanisms which can only be allowed
> through having it installed in the lib/ext directory. It must be
> installed on the user's machine to function correctly.
>
> --
> Justin Couch                         http://www.vlc.com.au/~justin/
> Java Architect & Bit Twiddler              http://www.yumetech.com/
> Author, Java 3D FAQ Maintainer                  http://www.j3d.org/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
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