Executor turns your jar file into a Windows executable.
Package your Java application as a jar, and Executor will turn the jar into a Windows exe file, indistinguishable from a native application. Simply double-clicking the exe file will invoke the Java Runtime Environment and launch your application.
This allows you to distribute your Java application as a genuine Win32 binary executable. Your users will never need to run an ugly batch file to run your application. You will not have to distribute any temp or config files along with your executable. You will never need to learn JNI and have a C compiler to make a launcher for your application. You will save the hours of effort needed for writing a native launcher with this one tool.
Your applications can interact more seamlessly with other programs and with NT Services. With Windows Explorer, you can associate document types to automatically invoke your program. Your application can have an icon and launch documents that are dragged onto that icon.
Usage is simple: drag your jar onto executor. Or from the command line: "C:\>executor myapp.jar"
This will produce an exe in the same directory as your jar. The registered version of Executor does not print the about message on the console, and WinExecutor hides the console entirely.
Purchases are securely handled through Kagi and credit cards are accepted. As soon as we receive your order, we will email the full version immediately.
- The registered version is $25, which includes a royalty-free commercial site license.
A single license covers an entire company, and you are unlimited in the number of executables you may make.
We humbly suggest that this price is well worth the time it would take you or your developers to roll-your-own.
Thank you for your interest in Executor. If you have any questions not listed below, please contact us.
Executor comes with a how-to document that you can read here.
Executor will scan your jar file and use the first class it finds with a static main(String[]) method - so it depends on the layout of your jar file. However, if you include a "Main-Class" attribute in your jar's manifest, Executor will use the indicated class. This is recommended because it avoids the need to scan your jar at runtime. You can find more detailed instructions below under "How do I make an executable jar file?" below.
If you open your executable in a resource editor, you will find several strings that you can edit to customize the java virtual machine created to run your application. You can pass arguments like "-verbose:gc" or "-Xprof" or set runtime properties with the "-D" option. You can also pass arguments to your program that will be prepended and/or appended to the arguments supplied by the user from the command-line or drag-and-drop.
Yes, you can. Open your application's string resources and you will find a resource that controls where Executor looks to find a Java runtime. If nothing is specified, Executor will consult the Windows Registry and attempt to launch an installed VM, which is the default behavior. You can override this by specifying either a local or absolute path to jvm.dll. You can also restrict your application to running only on certain major versions of Java (for example: 1.2, 1.3, and/or 1.4).
When Executor creates an executable, it copies Executor's resources to the new executable: by default, your icon will be the same as Executor's icon. You can edit your icon with any of the popular Windows resource editors. You can also edit Executor's icon, and that icon will be used for all executables you create.
Because Executor simply copies its own resources to each executable it creates, you can make a copy of Executor, customize the resources on that copy, and then use that copy to create your executables.
Visual Studio is of course the best. But people have reported good things about Resource Tuner, Restorator, eXeScope, and Resource Hacker. In particular, Resource Hacker is free and can be downloaded at here.
Unlike other solutions, no temp files are created by Executor to launch your application. The only files created by your application will be those created by your application (if any).
No, that's what Just-In-Time compilers like HotSpot are for. You should keep your java class files in byte code so that they can be run on any java runtime on any platform. Executor only creates a native-code launcher and integrates it with your jar file so you can run your application easily on the Windows platform.
Yes, you can. You'll need to simply unzip all of your jars into a single directory, and then jar that directory with an appropriate manifest (see how to create an executable jar below).
An executable jar is simply a jar with a manifest that has a "Main-Class" attribute.
Make a file (for example, "manifest.txt"), which includes the following lines:
Manifest-Version: 1.0
Main-Class: net.wotonomy.Application
You should replace "net.wotonomy.Application" with the fully-qualified class name of your class that contains the main(String[] argv) method.
Then, when you create your jar, specify the m option to include your manifest file. For example, the following line generates a jar file called wotonomy.jar containing all the files in the net directory and including the manifest file manifest.txt.
jar cvfm wotonomy.jar manifest.txt -C net/
Additionally, you can specify additions for your class path. Here's a manifest that uses a jar external to the executable jar, and specifies a directory where additional classes might be found.
Manifest-Version: 1.0
Main-Class: net.wotonomy.Application
Class-Path: lib/xp.jar lib/servlet.jar lib/plugins/
Path references are relative to your executable, and anything not ending in "/" is assumed to be a jar. Executor will not incorporate external jars into your executable - you will need to distribute them separately.
When you purchase Executor or WinExecutor you receive a license to distribute the program for users in your household or organization to generate unlimited royalty-free executables.
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