Getting Java

Since our products are written in Java, you will need a copy of the Java Run-time Environment (JRE version 1.4 or later) in order to run them.

If you can run the Modsak demonstration successfully, then you already have a suitable version of the JRE installed. Even if you don't have the JRE installed, attempting to run the demonstration may be the easiest way to download and install the JRE (Internet Explorer, in particular, makes it very easy).

An alternative way of checking whether you have the JRE installed, and if so which version, is by using the command:

java -version

If you get an error from this command, then you do not have the JRE installed, and you will have to download it from Sun.

If you want to use the product with serial interfaces, you will need a copy of the Java Communications API package, and this is unfortunately not part of the standard JRE. However, our product download includes a copy of the Sun version of the Java Communications API package for Windows. When you run the product under Windows it will use its own copy of the package, if it is not already installed.

If you want to use serial comms with other operating systems, you will have to download and install the Java Communications API. You can download implementations of it from Sun, IBM, or RXTX. For Linux, we recommend that you use the IBM version - we have found it to be more reliable than the Sun or RXTX implementations.

All these Java downloads are free.

The simplest procedure for setting up the Java environment seems to be:

  • Download the latest JRE from Sun.
  • If you are using Windows, that's all you need to do.
  • If you are using Linux or AIX, and want to use serial comms, download the Java Communications API package from IBM. Follow IBM's installation and configuration instructions, except that the file libibmcomm.so should go in the lib/i386 directory, not the bin directory (Sun and IBM use slightly different directory hierarchies).
  • If you are using Solaris, and want to use serial comms, download the Java Communications API package from Sun.
  • If you are using another platform, try RXTX.