Downloading and installing a Java tool named JCreator
© Kari LaitinenTo www.naturalprogramming.comJCreator is a Java programming tool that is an excellent program editor for Java programs. In addition it is a tool that helps you to compile and execute Java programs easily. I consider it a perfect programming tool for a person who is learning the basics of computer programming.
JCreator is provided by a company named Xinox Software. The company provides two versions of JCreator. A version named JCreator LE is a freeware program which you can download and install to your own computer. (I guess the guys at Xinox Software will be happy if you later on decide to buy the PRO version of the tool.)
Below you can find instructions for downloading, installing, and activating the freeware version of JCreator. It is important that you have downloaded and installed the Sun Java Development Kit JDK 5.0 (or later version) before you install the JCreator tool. When you first activate JCreator, it checks where the Java compiler is installed, and later on it can automatically use the compiler.
I suppose below that the installation file is stored in a folder (directory) named D:\freeware. (If you prefer, you can use some other folder to store the JCreator tool, but then the advice given below is not accurate.)
If you download files with the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser, the browser first asks whether you want to save the file. You must select Save. Then you have to select the folder D:\freeware. When the download is complete, the browser may leave a small window open. You can click Close to close that window.
To download JCreator LE you should first click on the link below
http://www.jcreator.com/download.htmThe above download page provides, at least when I'm writing these instructions, two versions of JCreator LE. I think that the older version 2.50 is better for you if you are a beginner in the field of computer programming. So, I suggest that you press the Download button that downloads the 2.50 Freeware version of JCreator LE.After you have pressed the download button, you must submit your name and e-mail address in order to proceed. After you have submitted this information, you will be sent an e-mail message which gives you further information. The e-mail message contains a web address, and you need to go to the given address to get the .zip file that contains the installation file for JCreator LE. The file that you should download from the given web address is jcrea250.zip, and you should store it locally to the folder D:\freeware in your computer.
To get the installation file for JCreator, you must unzip the file jcrea250.zip. A .zip file contains other files in a special compressed format, and unzipping means that the files inside the .zip file are extracted to some folder (directory) on your computer. In the Windows XP operating system unzipping can be done by just clicking the file’s icon. You should thus select My Computer > Local Disk D: > freeware > jcrea250.zip. In the unzipping process it is important that you select Extract all files, and I recommend that you extract the files to the folder D:\freeware. A successful unzipping produces a file named Setup.exe and some other files to the D:\freeware folder.
When you have the Setup.exe file available, you can carry out the actual installation of the JCreator tool. To install the tool, you should select My Computer > Local Disk D: > freeware > Setup.exe. During the installation process, you have to select the Yes button to start the installation, then you have to close other applications and click the Next button, and then you must accept a license agreement and click the Next button. When the installation program suggests a folder where JCreator will be installed, I recommend that you accept the suggested folder and click Next. The the installation program asks a couple of questions, and you can answer those questions by clicking the Next button. Finally, you should press the Install button to start the installation.
Because JCreator is not very large program, the installation does not take much time. In the final window you should press the Finish button, but you should first ensure that "Launch JCreator LE" is selected. When you press the Finish button, the installed JCreator LE starts operating. When JCreator is activated for the first time, it first suggests some file associations, and you should press Next to accept the associations. Then it suggests a JDK home directory, and you should press Next to accept the JDK home directory. (As JCreator automatically suggests a JDK home directory, it is important that the Java Development Kit (JDK) is installed prior to JCreator.) Finally JCreator suggests a JavaDocs directory. You can click on the Next button.
After you have pressed three times Next during the first activation of the JCreator tool, the tool is ready for use.
If you have installed the electronic material of my Java book, you can now try to compile and execute a Java program. To open the file First.java, you should make the following selections with JCreator: File > Open... In the dialog box you should first select Local Disk D:, then select folder javafiles1, and finally select the the file First.java. When JCreator displays the First.java file, you can compile the file by selecting Build > Compile File. After a successful compilation, JCreator displays the following lines in the subwindow at the bottom of the main window:
------------Configuration: JDK version 1.5.0_?? <Default>--------------------
Process completed.
If nothing else is displayed, the compilation was successful. After a successful compilation, you can execute the compiled program by selecting Build > Execute File. JCreator opens a command prompt window in which it executes the compiled program. The execution of First.java produces the following text to the command prompt window:
I am a simple computer program.Press any key to continue...
The text "Press any key to continue..." is not produced by the executable program. JCreator adds this text to the window in order to keep the window open so that the user can see what the actual Java program wrote to the screen.
If you cannot use JCreator to compile and execute a Java program, something went wrong. Either the installation of the Java Development Kit (JDK) was not successful, the installation of JCreator was not successful, or something else went wrong. You can try reinstalling the JCreator tool, if you first uninstall it by first selecting Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs. If you do not manage to compile and execute Java programs with the JCreator tool, you should probably ask for some external advice.
JCreator is a normal Windows program which provides menus through which you can operate it. In addition it has buttons which are shortcuts to some of the menu operations.
JCreator has a Configure menu through which you can adjust the behavior of the tool. I recommend that you configure the JCreator tool so that no tabulator characters will enter the program text when Java programs are being edited. The tabulator characters (or "tabs") can be problematic if you later edit your program with another editor, or you want to print your program on paper. To do this configuration, you should first select Configure > Options ... When you are shown an Options window, you should click on the text Java on the left side of the window to see options related to the editing of Java documents. When you see a Tabs section in the window, you should select Insert spaces and write 3 to the Size: field that specifies how many spaces are inserted to the text when the tabulator key is pressed. Finally you should press the OK button.
If you decided to download and install the later 3.50 version of JCreator LE, your JCreator differs in some ways from the JCreator LE 2.50 that is described here. The most visible difference is that when a Java program is being displayed by the JCreator LE 3.50, there is the possibility to hide part of the program text. This feature is probably nice when you are an experienced programmer, but for a beginner it is best to see the entire program.
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