Howdy, B!
...does this mean that when the person grading the application runs the jar file a GUI should come up with the information already specified in the suncertify.properties file allowing them to change the information if necessary?
Yup. When the application starts, a GUI should be displayed, with the information according to the way the application was started. For instance, when the application starts in server mode, a small dialog should be displayed, asking for the database location and other things you may judge necessary. If a suncertify.properties file still does not exist in the current working directory (System.getProperty("user.dir")), then it should be created there. If it already exists, then the dialog should be populated with its content. You have to allow the application to start in 3 modes: server, where you just start it and wait for clients to connect to it; client, where a server should already be running, so you can connect to it; and standalone mode, where the server code is not executed, and the database is accessed directly. For these 3 modes, you display the dialog with the proper information. In my case, when the app starts in server mode, it asks for the database location and server port in which the server will run. When the app starts in standalone mode, it just asks for the database location. And when the app starts in client mode, it asks for the server's IP address and the port number where the service is running on the server.
Cheers, Roberto Perillo
SCJP, SCWCD, SCJD, SCBCD