584408 - Update JEP (Java Embedding Plugin) to 0.9.7.3 on MacOS X (will resolve repaint-issue and Xmx-issue)

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 551327

(Plugins Graveyard :: Java (Java Embedding Plugin), defect)

Description

[Michael Wenger]

User-Agent:       Opera/9.80 (Windows NT 6.1; U; de) Presto/2.6.30 Version/10.60
Build Identifier: 3.6.x

Dear Firefox developers,

As we are launching our new application for creating photobooks (called Fotobuch), we have been testing the applet on various browsers and OS.
The only issues occured on MacOS X using current versions of Firefox 3.5.x and 3.6.x:
1. The -Xmx parameter is ignored by JEP (we set the param "java_arguments" to "-Djnlp.packEnabled=false -Xmx1073741824"). The maximum Heap-Space is set to 96MB and there is no chance to change this value. - You can imagine, that we had to poke around to get the Fotobuch (=photobook) applet running in 96MB heap-space.
You can see, that Xmx is being ignored, in the Java-Console, if you start the applet from here:
http://www.firstpresent.de/products/668/editor
We write a INFO-message, that prints the number of bytes that are reserved on the heap.
2. There are repaint-issues, which can only be reproduced on Firefox/MacOS X (see also bug 543009 - Java painting issues on Mac):
  - The repainting sometimes occures only on parts of the applet.
  - Using the scrollbar, the applet stays white until you release the mouse-button.
You can reproduce this bug using the URL above.

The solution to these issues is to install the latest available JEP:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/javaplugin/files/javaplugin/0.9.7.3/JavaEmbeddingPlugin0.9.7.3.zip/download 
We did the JEP-update as described in "III) Installing the Binaries" in this document:
http://javaplugin.sourceforge.net/Readme.html

After having updated the plugin, both issues could not be reproduced anymore.

So, please update JEP so that Mac-users don't have to do this on their own.

Thanks a lot for your great browser,
Michael Wenger (Jenomics Development)

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Start the applet in Firefox on MacOS X and watch the Java Console:
http://www.firstpresent.de/products/668/editor
(No special setup needed.)
2. The repaint-issue can be reproduced by using the browser-scrollbar or clicking on different pages in the applet.
Actual Results:  
repaint-issues, Xmx being ignored

Expected Results:  
no repint issues, Xmx being respected

Comment 1

[Smokey Ardisson (offline for a while; not following bugs - do not email)]

JEP 0.9.7.3 has shipped in 3.6.x and 3.5.x in releases since March (3.6.4 and 3.5.10); see bug 551327.

Comment 2

[Michael Wenger]

Hello Smokey,

Thanks a lot for your comment. I didn't find bug 551327 before.
I have to admit:
 - We didn't check the version of the JEP before installing the current one. In fact, it is 0.9.7.3.
 - We also updated MRJ (as described in http://javaplugin.sourceforge.net/Readme.html).

Now, we have installed a fresh Firefox on this machine (Mac OS X 10.6.4, Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; en-US; rv:1.9.2.8) Gecko/20100722 Firefox/3.6.8) and could reproduce the errors above.
After installing the current JEP and MRJ plugin, the errors are not reproducible anymore.
Maybe the MRJ-plugin must be updated, too?
[I'm no Mac-user and heard about JEP and MRJ the first time I was investigating the reason, why an applet runs in Safari, but not in Firefox ;) ]

I compared the sizes of 'JavaEmbeddingPlugin.bundle'/'MRJPlugin.plugin' and found very different values:
Current firefox:
 JavaEmbeddingPlugin.bundle: 624.941 bytes
 MRJPlugin.plugin: 543.164 bytes
Current JEP from http://sourceforge.net/projects/javaplugin/:
 JavaEmbeddingPlugin.bundle: 1.762.197 bytes
 MRJPlugin.plugin: 3.810.248 bytes

I have to admit, that I don't know anything about packaging Mac-Binaries, but it seems strange to me, that the sizes of the binaries are so different.

If you need some more information, let me know.

Regards,
Michael

Comment 3

[Steven Michaud [:smichaud] (Retired)]

I suspect the problems reported here went away because you were using
Apple's new Java Plugin2 -- not any version of the JEP.

As of the most recent Java update from Apple, following the
instructions at http://javaplugin.sourceforge.net/Readme.html#h-III
actually causes Firefox to use Java Plugin2.  I'll revise these
instructions in my next release of the JEP.

Feel free to try out Apple's Java Plugin2.  But I think you'll find
that it has problems that are much more severe than the ones you've
reported here.  See bug 554103.

Comment 4

[Michael Wenger]

Hi Steven,

Thanks a lot for this hint.
Finally, this means for us, that even if a Mac user uses a 1.6.x JVM, he will not be able to raise heap-space above 96MB for applets in Firefox (using JEP).
And if they disable JEP, they will run into much more serious problems...

Not a nice situation. Let's pray, that Apple and you find a solution for this.

I will close this bug ticket.

With kind regards,
Michael