Is this possible?

[Hannah Redmond]

Hi there,
Just wondering if anyone could tell me simply if its possible to initiated a .pdf file using java.
Basically, i want a user to be able to double click on a file and the pdf to open in such a way that they can only view it and have no idea what the file is (as all the file details will be hidden in the java class)
I know about jar files, and was hoping that i could write a reasonably short java program that could be double clicked and open up a pdf file.
Alternatively, is there a way java can be used to 'install' files into a computer from a cdrom?
Thanks for youre help.
Hannah

[Cindy Glass]

Well you can issue an operating system command to execute adobe Acrobat with the pdf that you want to display as an input parameter.
Runtime.getRuntime().exec("acroRD32.exe myFile.pdf");

[Pho Tek]

Look up javax.activation package.

import javax.activation.*;
import java.io.*;
public class Jaf{
  public static void main(String[] a){
    File f = new File(a[0]); 
    DataSource  ds = new FileDataSource( f );
    System.out.println( ds.getContentType() );
    System.out.println( ds.getName() );
    DataHandler dh = new DataHandler(ds);
    CommandInfo c[] = dh.getPreferredCommands();
    for(int i=0; i<c.length; i++){>
      System.out.println( c[i].getCommandName() );
    }
    System.out.println( c.length );
  }
}

If you pass in a text file e.g. "foo.txt", it will
return three command names:
content-handler
view
edit
You can then send a command to the DataHandler
and it will be activated accordingly i.e. a viewer
opens.
Pho

[Roseanne Zhang]

When your have a < sign, always use &lt; instead.

---

SCJD Study Group has been moved to http://www.developergroup.org/
[This message has been edited by Roseanne Zhang (edited October 12, 2001).]

[Pho Tek]

Roseanne, I'll remember to do that in the future.
Pho