Netx Version 0.5
An open-source JNLP client
Volunteer
Volunteer
Join our mailing lists!

Must be willing to write quality code / docs.
Logos
If you include netx as part of your application please use one of these logos:

Under construction.
Comparison to other JNLP clients
This comparison is unofficial. Entries with a '?' mean they are guesses or haven't been verified properly. If you notice any incorrect entries please send an email so they can be fixed!
Under construction... this comparison is somewhat outdated. Please check back for an updated comparison.



Netx 0.3
Java Web Start 1.0.1
OpenJNLP 0.6
JavaURL
Source License GPL Sun community source?
MPL
GPL
JavaDoc API Documentation
Mostly complete
Complete, very detailed?
Somewhat complete
?
Security Yes; sandbox/trusted but no code signing check.
Yes
No security
Sandbox prompts user
Requires install
No (single executable JAR)
Yes
No (several JARs)
No (single JAR?)
Create distribution for single app

write jnlp file, plus:
Modify one file in ~120K executable JAR file to point to app (or change 1 line of code) Install web start, send URL to app
Modify source, combine JARs into ~120K JAR file Modify source to point to app
Platforms
Windows, Linux, any Java 2?
Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Mac Classic, Java 1.1 (separate branch), Java 2
All Java
Command-line support
Yes, rich support
No?
Yes, list of URLs only
Yes
Automatically updates itself
No (Yes for some modules: about, etc)
Yes?
No (Yes for app manager?)
No
JRE version supported
1.3+ (1.2 not tested but should work)
1.2+ ?

1.2+, 1.1 in separate fork
1.1+

JNLP compliance


Netx 0.3
Java Web Start 1.0.1
OpenJNLP 0.6
JavaURL
Overall compliance
Good. Missing: installers, signing, native code, proper JVM selection, etc?
Excellent
Fair. Missing: installers + applets, all security, extension descriptors, etc?
N/A (not intended to comply)
Required JNLP services
Most
All
None (stubs only)
None
Sets system properties, applet params, application args properly
Yes
Yes
Properties and args.
No?
Native Library Support
No
Yes
Yes
No?
JNLP Extensions (javax.jnlp.*)
Some Required Extensions
All
None (non-working stubs)
?
Supports Extension Descriptors
Yes
Yes
No
?
Supports Applets
Yes
Yes
No
No?
Supports JARdiff and versioning
No
Yes

No
No?
Supports Proxies
No
Yes
No
No

Cache


Netx 0.3
Java Web Start 1.0.1
OpenJNLP 0.6
JavaURL
Cache checks for updates to resources
Yes
Yes
Yes
Cache but no update check?
Concurrent / Multithreaded download
Yes
Yes
No
No?
Quick cache update check (fast timeout, check only once)
No, but multithreaded and switch to disable update
Yes (1 second timeout?, one check per session per resource)
No
No update check?

API Features


Netx 0.3
Java Web Start 1.0.1
OpenJNLP 0.6
JavaURL
Embeddable in other programs Yes
No?
Yes
?
API to Launch in Same JVM
Yes
No?
Yes
No?
API to Launch new JVM
No
Yes (by opening url)
Yes
No?
Access to JNLP file information
Yes, all
Yes, current OS and arch only
Yes, missing: security, applet, JVM?, ?
??
Insert extra properties, params, args at runtime
Yes, programmatically or command-line
No?
No?
No?
Can use any SAX parser as system default / does not affect launcher
Yes, uses TinyXML to parse
Yes, uses own XML parser
Yes, uses NanoXML to parse
?

GUI/system integration


Netx 0.3
Java Web Start 1.0.1
OpenJNLP 0.6
JavaURL
GUI Tools
No, but included in Object Component Desktop (OCD)
Yes, app list (delete, etc) + console window
Yes, app list + console window
No GUI tools?
GUI Separate from Launcher
Yes
No
Yes
No GUI tools?
App Chooser
No, examples in About and on internet
Yes, examples on internet
Yes, examples on internet
No
Associate with .jnlp files
No (manual)
Yes
Some platforms (Mac?), manual on others
No
Console / stdio handling
All IO to console
Console window and output log
Console Window (combines multi-app output)
All IO to console.