AppletJAX Files

AppletJAX Switchboard JavaScript API
(c)2005-2011 SUBNOIZE.NET, All Rights Reserved.
Download: appletjax.sourceforge.net

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

ABOUT
----------------------------------------------------------------------
AppletJAX was a rewrite of a Java applet written in early 1997 that used a little known technology called "Liveconnect." Liveconnect was an API that allowed Java to access the JavaScript engine and DOM and vice versa in the old Netscape browsers. This system allowed for bi-directional cross-site messaging for applications that could only be describe today as "Ajax" or "Web 2.0."

With the destruction of Netscape at the hands of Microsoft and the years wandering in the desolate world of IE5 and then IE6, AppletJAX's forerunner was forgotten.

In 2003, Sun Microsystem's Java Plugin for Microsoft browsers brought a new hope for more advanced, "heavier client" type usage. The newer "Liveconnect" was buggy and difficult to use but soon gave rise to what is now known as AppletJAX.

In Jan. 2007 AppletJAX was re-evaluated and deemed worthless because of the use of client-side Java in light of the rising "mobile world." The project was almost deleted and tossed into the digital dust bin, but wasn't, simply because the author had walked away from open source entirely and forgot about the project.

In April 2010 a new project was undertaken by the author that required cross-site messaging and that is when HTML5 surfaced as a route for implementation. It wasn't long before the messaging became nearly impossible to manage and the number of host sites expanded into double digits... just like in the old days!

That is when the author of AppletJAX remembered the one part of the project that ticked like a well cared for clock, the "Switchboard."

The Switchboard was the JavaScript management for mux/demux of message between the Java and DOM worlds. Its sole purpose was to eliminate infinite loops, timeouts and intervals on the browser side and provide a "queue" concept for the server to message components in the browser's DOM. It was, for all intent and purpose, the "switchboard operator" for all in-browser and external communications.

With much fanfare, the AppletJAX Switchboard script brings 80% of the AppletJAX features with absolutely none of the headaches! The last 20% of the functionality of AppletJAX is included in a small example of a REST/JSON "Listener" to replace the Java applet all the way back to the server for a 100% browser native solution.

Enjoy!

Team SUBNOIZE