How to wrap your
application
Launch4j wraps only
executable jars, which
aren't
very
difficult
to create. Package your application in a jar file and include a
manifest with
the
Main-Class
attribute
defined. In order to use external jars, you must also define the
Class-Path
attribute. Create a
configuration file and run launch4j (launch4j
my_application.cfg). It's a good idea to run it inside a console
window to see the output. If the configuration file is invalid,
launch4j will provide useful information that will help you fix the
problem. If everything goes fine, the output exe will be created and
ready to run. All information provided in the config file is stored in
the executable, so you don't need it to run the application.
Faster way...
Create
the
configuration file and let Ant do
the
rest (SimpleApp/build.xml).
Configuration file (1.x)
Bold
elements are
required.
header headfile.bin
jar application.jar
outfile application.exe
jrepath ../jre
and/or
javamin version
javamax version // optional, use only in combination with javamin.
jvmArgs args
jarArgs args
chdir true|false
setProcName true|false
errTitle application_name
icon icon.ico
splash splash.bmp
waitfor beginning_of_application_title
splashTimeout seconds
splashTimeoutErr true|false
stayAlive true|false
Configuration details
- header
- Optional, defaults to guihead.bin.
Standard headers are: guihead.bin
and consolehead.bin,
you can
also specify your own.
Header
|
App
type
|
Launcher
|
Splash
screen |
Wait
for the application to
close |
guihead.bin
|
GUI
|
javaw
|
yes
|
wrapper
waits only if stayAlive
is set to true, otherwise it terminates immediately or after closing
the splash screen.
|
consolehead.bin
|
console
|
java
|
no
|
always waits and
returns application's exit code.
|
- jrepath,
javamin/javamax
- The jrepath
property is used
to specify the path (usually relative) of a JRE, note that this path is
not checked until the actual application execution. If you'd like the
wrapper to search for a JRE (public or SDK
private) use the javamin
property, you may also specify the javamax
to prevent it from using higher Java versions. Launch4j will always use
the highest version available (in the min/max range of course). You can
also combine these properties to change the startup process...
- jrepath
- Run if bundled JRE and
javaw.exe
are present, otherwise stop with error.
- jrepath
+ javamin [+ javamax]
- Use bundled JRE first,
if it
cannot be located search for Java, if that fails display error message
and open the Java download page.
- javamin
[+ javamax]
- Search for Java, if an
appropriate version cannot be found display error message and open the
Java download page.
- jvmArgs
- Optional, accepts
everything you would normally pass to
java/javaw
launcher: assertion options, system properties and X options.
- jarArgs
- Optional, constant
command line arguments.
- chdir
- Optional, defaults to
false.
Change current directory to exe location. Set this property to true, if
you have resources outside the jar or want to use a bundled JRE which
location is relative to the executable.
- setProcName
- Optional, defaults to
false.
Set the process name as the executable filename. Creates a temporary
file in launch4j-tmp directory inside the used JRE. These files are
deleted by
any launch4j wrapped application, which sets the process name and uses
the same JRE. The removal takes place when the application starts,
so at least one copy of this file will always be present.
- errTitle
- Optional,
sets the title of the error message box that's displayed if Java cannot
be found for instance. This usually should contain the name of your
application. The console header prefixes error messages with this
property (myapp: error...)
- icon
- Accepted file format:
ICO
- The first icon is used
and rescaled when needed.
- splash
- Accepted file format:
BMP
Ignored by consolehead.bin
- waitfor
- Optional. Specifies
the beginning of the application title,
used to
determine when the splash screen is to be closed. Don't include version
numbers or other information (My
Application v1.20, My
App
- Program setup...). If omitted, the splash screen
will
close on timeout.
Ignored by consolehead.bin
- splashTimeout
- Optional, defaults to
60.
Number of seconds after which the splash screen must close. Splash
timeout may cause an error depending on splashTimeoutErr
property. Ignored by consolehead.bin
- splashTimeoutErr
- Optional, defaults to
true.
True signals
an error on splash timeout, false
closes the splash screen quietly.
Ignored
by consolehead.bin
- stayAlive
- Optional, defaults to
false
in guihead.bin
/ always true in consolehead.bin.
When enabled the
launcher waits for the Java application to finish and returns it's exit
code.
Example configurations
jar paint2\paint2.jar
outfile paint2\paint2.exe
javamin 1.4.0
javamax 1.4.2
icon paint2\paint2.ico
errTitle Paint2 Error
splash paint2\paint2.bmp
waitfor Paint2
splashTimeout 45
chdir true
setProcName true
header consolehead.bin
jar dist\ConsoleApp.jar
outfile dist\ConsoleApp.exe
jrepath ..\jre
javamin 1.4.2
icon l4j\ConsoleApp.ico
chdir true
setProcName true
errTitle ConsoleApp
jvmArgs -Xloggc:gclog.txt
