javafxpackager and launcher

[David DeHaven]

>> An "application bundle mode" could probably be
>> triggered via the contents of a resource that is injected much like the
>> custom icon is injected into the fx launcher (I'm not sure if something
>> needs to be done for preloader support too.  I think the embedded launcher
>> stub handles that on Java 7, but I believe it isn't used on JavaFX 8.
>> 
> 
> One of the advantages of our own launcher (as you point out later in your
> mail) is we can customize the launcher.  Put a custom icon on, and
> (potentially) load up custom meta-data to the executable, and maybe even
> sign it (we don't sign it today).  Tweaking the existing Java.exe in this
> manner on windows could be problematic.

I'd like to add the point that java (.exe) is simply a wrapper for libjli (jli.dll). In 7/8 the custom launcher uses this same interface to launch the application, so it  technically already uses the same code to launch. The other features of the custom launcher *cannot* be replicated by the SE launcher without massive changes to JLI and the SE launcher code.

Having said that... it's not entirely unreasonable to think that some useful parts of the launcher could be contributed to JLI. But that brings a host of other issues to the table, namely dealing with getting changes into OpenJDK and convincing the guys on the JDK tl team that such changes are necessary. By keeping the launcher code in fx packager, we keep the noise to a minimum which allows us to be able to be more flexible and responsive to developer demands. Once the product is mature enough, maybe we can revisit this.

-DrD-