macosx-port-dev Digest, Vol 26, Issue 19

[Mike Swingler]

On Feb 21, 2013, at 8:10 AM, Jamison Hope <jrh at theptrgroup.com> wrote:

> On Feb 21, 2013, at 10:27 AM, Yannick Jestin <yannick.jestin at enac.fr> wrote:
> 
>>> Then I wanted to execute the application JDownloader who asked for (Apple 1.6 ?) java.
>>> 
>>> Then, I fired the terminal, typed java -version and get:
>>> No Java runtime present, requesting install.
>>> 
>>> And I promptl saw a new window that asked if I wanted to install java se 1.6.
>>> 
>>> What do I do wrong ?
>> 
>> This has been discussed a few times on this mailing list, and google(java7 command line macosx). The java preference panel seems to have disappeared on Mountain Lion.
>> 
>> if the apple provided java6 is not present on Mountain Lion, the standard behavior is to trigger the download, even there is Oracle java7 on your computer.
>> 
>> The java command line then points to
>> $ which java
>> /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Commands/java
>> 
>> If you want to use java7, with or without downloading apple java6,  you can execute
>> $ export PATH=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)/bin:$PATH
>> $ which java
>> /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_07.jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java
> 
> I don't think that's entirely accurate.  I've never installed Apple Java 6 on my ML machine and /usr/bin/java finds the newest Oracle Java 7 in /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/ just fine, no PATH changes required:
> 
> $ /usr/bin/java -version
> java version "1.7.0_15"
> Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0_15-b03)
> Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 23.7-b01, mixed mode)

This exactly what should occur when you install an Oracle or OpenJDK in /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines from <http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html>. Yannick likely only installed the Java applet plug-in from <http://java.com/en/download/mac_download.jsp> with it's own embedded JRE which is not visible to the command-line.

> I don't recall having to do anything special the first time, either, but that was several months ago.
> 
> 
> OTOH, I do still see the occasional dialog asking me to install Java 6, I think that's triggered by applications that link against the deprecated JavaVM.framework or are otherwise incompatible with Java 7 (e.g. are 32-bit or have hard-coded dependencies on old paths).

This is correct. Apple is continuing to push developers to embed Java 7 and end users who need command-line tools to install an Oracle JDK.

Unfortunately, for backwards compatibility, we will still have to offer Java SE 6 for applications which link against the JavaVM.framework and do not provide their own Java 7. We are planning to make Java SE 6 a manual download only, and completely remove the install-on-demand experience, even for legacy apps.

Please, do seriously adopt Java 7, embed it in your application, and let Oracle know about any blocking issues.

Regards,
Mike Swingler
Apple Inc.