This morning I found that my local development environment had ceased to work because Tomcat would no longer start up - it was looking for a java component that had been replaced by a newer version. So... time to re-install DS!

I'm currently at Java 1.6.0_29, but for some reason the DS installer insists in installing an ancient Java 1.6.0_03 - why is that exactly? Is there some way to circumvent that check?

During the installation (I gave up and let it install the ancient version) I noticed that it was probably looking for a java SDK, which I indeed didn't have installed. Would it still have asked if I would have had a recent JDK installed as well?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <Kathryn Henning>,

I've messed up my Java several times. I've been told you can set up the version of Java that's called by a specific program, but I haven't yet had time to figure this out.

Java 1.6.0_29 is driving us crazy. I have three servers that all have differnt problems which were not there until we went to 1.6.0_29 on them. We have also gone to this version on our client machines and they are starting to have issue. Is there anyone out there that has successfully gone the this version without problems that could provide some help? How about IBI?

At the end of the install of 1.6.0_29 it told me I had old versions of the Java library still installed. I was having problems as well.

I uninstalled the old versions (and reinstalled 1.6.0_29 as well, IIRC) and stuff worked after that.

That is actually the reason I was wondering why Dev Studio insists on installing 1.6.0_03, apparently things can break if you have multiple versions like that.

quote:

Originally posted by Wep5622:
That is actually the reason I was wondering why Dev Studio insists on installing 1.6.0_03, apparently things can break if you have multiple versions like that.

Depending on your version of Dev Studio, it will install only the Java version that is fully supported, tested and certified by Information Builders. That's what I have been told.

I was having an issue with Dev Studio and Tech Support made me uninstall Java 1.6.0_29 and install the version that comes with Dev Studio. Interestingly enough, I still had the problem. That's my theory behind the older version of Java.

Java Compatibility for WebFocus Releases

quote:

Originally posted by Francis Mariani:
I've been told you can set up the version of Java that's called by a specific program, but I haven't yet had time to figure this out.

For each application you would need to find the file that contains the PATH variable to the Java install. Then you need to change the path to point to whichever Java environment you want. This will allow multiple applications to use different Java releases.

According to that page:

quote:

Maintenance updates of Sun J2SE within the same version level are supported.

I read that as saying using 1.6.0_29 with WF 7.6.11 is in fact supported. Perhaps that page needs updating to say "Oracle J2SE" instead, though :P

Hi everyone,
You can have multiple installations of java without conflict and different applications can be configured for a specific java installation.
Issues will only occur if java used by an application is removed.

You do not need to reinstall Dev Studio due to Tomcat issues related to its java configurations.
To correct the Dev Studio configuration you can also run the Dev Studio install, without uninstalling the product, and when prompted to upgrade or do a full install select full install. This will allow you to only do configuration w/out reinstalling the product.
When presented with the install pane that performs the install and config options ensure the option to install Dev Studio is unchecked (it should be unchecked by default as the install detects a Dev Studio instance) and only select the config options you need to have performed again.

If you have an existing version of java and also allow Dev Studio to install the version of java that is included in the package we will not remove existing java installations.
The java installed by Dev Studio will be used by the product and if you selected the option to configure Tomcat, it will also update TC to use the java installed from Dev Studio.

During install by default we check the option to install the version of java that is included in the package as it was as the version tested and certified and the latest production version when the version of Dev Studio you are installing was made available for production.
7611 for example went into production 2/25/2010 and this is the reason you see an older java version included then what is currently available.
You can uncheck the option to install the java included in the Dev Studio install and if we detect a supported version, 1.5 and higher, Dev Studio will use that instance for its configuration.
In newer releases we have also made some adjustments to the install and following is the logic we use:
1. First check if minimum java version is detected on the PC.
2. If min java version is not detected we require user to install the java version that is packaged w/ the Dev Studio install as java is required by certain development tools. If users uncheck this option a warning is displayed and we do not proceed w/ the
install unless users selects the option to install java.
3. If version of java detected is same as the one packaged w/ the install or higher, the option to install java is disabled.
4. If a min version of java is detected and it is of a lower version than the one we package, we still check the option to install the java version we package.
If user unchecks the option to install java, we display another prompt before continuing to promote installation of the java included in the product as this is primarily the
version that was tested at IBI even though the existing java is supported.
This second dialog to install java allows the user to uncheck again the option to install java and proceed by using their existing java installation.
We realize this step is not necessary and have removed this extra prompt starting with releases 77x.

Thank you.

quote:

3. If version of java detected is same as the one packaged w/ the install or higher, the option to install java is disabled.

I think that may have been causing confusion: While the option is disabled, IIRC it is still checked! That leads people to think they cannot prevent that older Java version from being installed, as the user cannot uncheck the checked option (because it was disabled).
In that case it would help to uncheck the option and to state why it was disabled, for example by putting "(already installed)" after the option text.

When you're talking about Java here, are you talking about the JRE or the JDK? The installer is possibly equally unclear about that.
As I mentioned in my original post, I did have a more recent JRE installed, but not the accompanying JDK. Was that the reason "Java" 1.6.0_03 got re-installed?

Options for components available to be installed that are disabled should not be checked as we detected their existence.
If you have a newer supported version of java, the option to install the version of java we package should be disabled and I confirmed this to be working properly in 7611.

You bring up a good point about JRE vs. JDK
The install checks for the existence of the JDK as we need this during install in order to use the jar command to create war files. The jar command is only available with JDK and we cannot just distribute this file due to licensing issues so we are forced to install the JDK along with the JRE.
The product to function, WebFOCUS and Dev Studio, only needs the JRE.

This can create a situation where if you only have a supported version of the JRE available the install program will require you to install the java we package with the product as we need the JDK to be installed.

Thanks for the clear explanation Dimitri.

You are very welcome.

Please let me know if Java 1.7 is compatible with webfocus 7611.Our current version of webfocus and reportcaster is 7611 and we are using java 1.6.0 on our webfocus servers and java 1.632(Version 6 update 32) on our local machine.Everything works fine.Now we are asked to upgrdae for java to version 1.7.I am not able to access Webfocus applet and Reportcaster with this new version.Is this a java version issue...Please help

Hi Sulekha,

Please refer to this page regarding the Jave version in compatible with differen release of WebFOCUS: https://techsupport.informatio...bf_tmo_047_j2se.html

If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact Customer Support Services and open a case for further assistance. The phone number is 1-800-736-6130, or access online at InfoResponse.

Cheers,

Kerry

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kerry,