Running the ION Java Examples

Once you have the ION Server properly configured and started, you are ready to run the example applications. Several example applications are placed in your Web server directory during the ION Java installation process.

The examples illustrate ION features and many of the examples allow you to view the Java source within your browser. These examples consist of at least two types of files: HTML files that contain the Java applets, and the Java applets themselves, which are contained in .class files. The raw Java source files for the example ION Java classes are included in the src subdirectory of the examples directory. Also included in the examples directory are a number of IDL .pro files that are called by the ION demonstration applets.

Add the ION Java examples directory to IDL's Search path (note that this step may have been completed during the installation of ION Java if you completed the "ION Java Web Server Configuration" dialog):

On Windows, add Web_Server\IONJava\examples to the IDL Search path. For example, using the Apache web server, this might be C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\htdocs.

On UNIX, add Web_Server\IONJava\examples to the IDL Search path. For example, using the Apache web server, this might be usr\local\apache2\htdocs.

Web_Server is the path specifying the location of the Web server's HTML files directory.

For more information about modifying the IDL Search Path, see Setting the IDL Path.

Open your browser and enter the following URL.

http://hostname/IONJava/index.html

where hostname is your qualified domain name or machine name. This loads a page containing ION Java basic and advanced applet links as well as a link to ITT Visual Information Solution's ION web site.

For a simple example, select the Basic ION Java Applets link and choose "Simple Plot". Click "View Source Code" to see the code required for this applet.

The ION Java examples provide many samples of Web-based Java applications. The examples have been divided into three levels:

Basic ION Java Applets — illustrate simple ION Java concepts that are necessary to understand before building your own applets. You can examine the source code of each basic example to better understand the implementation of simple concepts. Three categories of basic ION Java examples include pre-built applets, component classes and low-level classes.

Advanced ION Java Applets — illustrate advanced programming concepts in ION Java. You can examine the source code and even use the applets as building blocks for your own applets. Three categories of basic ION Java examples include pre-built applets, component classes and low-level classes.

ION Online Demos — display interactive ION Java web applications. A link is provided to ITT Visual Information Solution's ION site where you can view applications that exemplify the power of ION Java.

When you are ready to develop your own applications, see the following section, Where to Place HTML and Class Files for strategies on where to store the files required for your applications.