how to set Java 7u9 to be the default JVM on mac osx 10.7.5

[Rick Hillegas]

I am trying to use Java 7u9 as the default JVM on my macbook pro 
(running osx 10.7.5). I haven't figured out how to configure my machine 
so that a Java 7 app will come up when I click on its icon. I would 
appreciate your advice about what I need to do to configure my machine.

When I click on the app, I get a popup window telling me that the system 
couldn't find a 1.7 version of Java. The popup window has a button 
labelled "Open Java Preferences", but when I click on that button, 
xyzzy, nothing happens. However, the app does come up if I click on its 
jar file after navigating to it via Finder's "Show Package Contents" option.

This is how I attempted to configure my machine to use 7u9 as the 
default JVM:

A) I installed Java 7u9 using the dmg obtained from 
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jre7u9-downloads-1859586.html. 
This put the 7u9 JDK in /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_09.jdk.

Now I wanted to make Java 7 the default VM on my mac. I googled around 
and came across the suggestion that I should drag Java 7 to the top of 
the list managed by the Java Preferences app. However, this app does not 
exist on my version of mac osx (10.7.5). So I did the following:

B) I created a softlink from 
/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/CurrentJDK to 
/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_09.jdk/Contents

According to the following webpage, versions of osx like mine are 
supposed to default to the highest version of Java which the os can 
find: 
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57533880-263/java-preferences-missing-after-latest-os-x-java-update/. 
But I clearly haven't figured out how to let the os know what that 
version is.

Thanks in advance for your advice,
-Rick

Here are some more details on the experiments I ran:

----------- GOOD BEHAVIOR UNDER JAVA 6 ---------------

I built my app with these settings:

i) Used the Java 7 javac
ii) Set javac source and target level to "1.6".
iii) Set the JVMVersion in the app's Info.plist to "1.6+".

When I compiled, I got the following warning but the app built:

"warning: [options] bootstrap class path not set in conjunction with 
-source 1.6"

In this situation:

I) The app comes up if I click on it in a Finder window or on its icon 
in the dock.

II) The app also comes up if I double click on the app's jar file after 
navigating to it via Finder's "Show Package Contents" option.


----------- PUZZLING BEHAVIOR UNDER JAVA 7 ---------------

I then re-built my app with these settings:

i') Used the Java 7 javac
ii') Set javac source and target level to "1.7".
iii') Set the JVMVersion in the app's Info.plist to "1.7+".

This compiled cleanly without warnings.

In this situation:

I') The app does NOT come up if I click on it in a Finder window or on 
its icon in the dock. Instead, I get the popup window described above.

II') However, the app DOES come up if I double click on the app's jar 
file after navigating to it via Finder's "Show Package Contents" option.