AppletViewer Tags

The applet viewer makes it possible to run a Java applet without using a browser. AppletViewer ignores any HTML that is not immediately relevant to launching an applet. However, it recognizes a wide variety of applet-launching syntax. The HTML code that AppletViewer recognizes is shown below. All other HTML code is ignored.

object

The object tag is the HTML 4.0 tag for embedding applets and mult-media objects into an HTML page. It is also an Internet Explorer 4.x extension to HTML 3.2 which allows IE to run a Java applet using the latest Java plugin from Sun.

<object
  width="pixelWidth"
  height="pixelHeight"
>
  <param name="code" value="yourClass.class">
  <param name="object" value="serializedObjectOrJavaBean">
  <param name="codebase" value="classFileDirectory">
   ...
  alternate-text
</object>

Notes:

AppletViewer ignores the "classID" attribute, on the assumption that it is pointing to the Java plugin, with the value:

classid="clsid:8AD9C840-044E-11D1-B3E9-00805F499D93"
AppletViewer also ignores the "codebase" attribute that is usually included as part of the object tag, assuming that it points to a Java plugin in a network cab file with a value like:

codebase="http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/1.1/jinstall-11-win32.cab#Version=1,1,0,0"
The optional codebase param tag supplies a relative URL that specifies the location of the applet class.
Either code or object is specified, not both.
The type param tag is not used by AppletViewer, but should be present so that browsers load the plugin properly.

For an applet, the value should be something like:

<param name="type" value="application/x-java-applet;version=1.1">

or

<param name="type" value="application/x-java-applet">

For a serialized object or JavaBean, the type param value should be something like:

<param name="type" value="application/x-java-bean;version=1.1">

or

<param name="type" value="application/x-java-bean">
Other param tags are argument values supplied to the applet.
The object tag recognized by IE4.x and the embed tag recognized by Netscape 4.x can be combined so that an applet can use the latest Java plugin from Sun, regardless of the browser that downloads the applet.

For more information, see Java PlugIn HTML Specification
AppletViewer does not recognize the java_code, java_codebase, java_object, or java_type param tags. These tags are only needed when the applet defines parameters with the names code, codebase, object, or type, respectively. (In that situation, the plugin recognizes and uses the java_ version in preference to the version that will be used by the applet.) If the applet requires a parameter with one of these 4 names, it may not run in AppletViewer.

embed

The embed tag is the Netscape extension to HTML 3.2 that allows embedding an applet or a multimedia object in an HTML page. It allows a Netscape 4.x browser (which supports HTML 3.2) to run a Java applet using the latest Java plugin from Sun.

<embed
  code="yourClass.class"
  object="serializedObjectOrJavaBean"
  codebase="classFileDirectory"
  width="pixelWidth"
  height="pixelHeight"
>
   ...
</embed>

Notes:

The object and embed tags can be combined so that an applet can use the latest Java plugin from Sun, regardless of the browser that downloads the applet.

For more information, see the Java PlugIn HTML Specification
Unlike the object tag, all values specified in an embed tag are attributes (part of the tag) rather than parameters (between the start tag and end tag, specified with a param tag.
To supply argument values for applet parameters, you add additional attributes to the <embed> tag.
AppletViewer ignores the "src" attribute that is usually part of an <embed> tag.
Either code or object is specified, not both.
The optional codebase attribute supplies a relative URL that specifies the location of the applet class.
The type attribute is not used by AppletViewer, but should be present so that browsers load the plugin properly.

For an applet, the value should be something like:

<type="application/x-java-applet;version=1.1">...

or

<type="application/x-java-applet">...

For a serialized object or JavaBean, the type param value should be something like:

<type="application/x-java-bean;version=1.1">...

or

<type="application/x-java-bean">...
The "pluginspage" attribute is not used by AppletViewer, but should be present so that browsers load the plugin properly. It should point to a Java plugin in a network cab file with a value like:

pluginspage="http://java.sun.com/products/plugin/1.1/jinstall-11-win32.cab#Version=1,1,0,0"

applet

The applet tag is the original HTML 3.2 tag for embedding an applet in an HTML page. Applets loaded using the applet tag are run by the browser, which may not be using the latest version of the Java platform. To ensure that the applet runs with the latest version, use the object tag to load the Java plugin into the browser. The plugin will then run the applet.

<applet
  code="yourClass.class"
  object="serializedObjectOrJavaBean"
  codebase="classFileDirectory"
  width="pixelWidth"
  height="pixelHeight"
>
  <param name="..." value="...">
   ...
  alternate-text
</applet>

Notes:

Either code or object is specified, not both.
The optional codebase attribute supplies a relative URL that specifies the location of the applet class.
Param tags supply argument values for applet parameters.

app

The app tag was a short-lived abbreviation for applet that is no longer supported. AppletViewer translates the tag and prints out an equivalent tag that is supported.

<app
  class="classFileName" (without a .class suffix)
  src="classFileDirectory"
  width="pixelWidth"
  height="pixelHeight"
>
<param name="..." value="...">
 ...
</app>

For more information on the tags that AppletViewer supports and how to combine them, see the Java PlugIn HTML Specification.