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The following properties of the executable can be edited in the
Executable section of this step:
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Executable type
Executables created by exe4j can be either GUI or console applications:
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GUI application
There is no terminal window associated with a GUI application.
If stdout and stderr are not redirected (see the
redirection advanced step),
both streams are inaccessible for the user. This corresponds to the behavior of
javaw.exe.
If you launch the executable from a console window, a GUI application
can neither write to or read from that console window. Sometimes it might
be useful to use the console, for example for seeing debug output or
for simulating a console mode with the same executable. In this
case you can select the Allow -console parameter check box. If the user
supplies the -console parameter when starting the launcher from a console window,
the launcher will try to acquire the console window and redirect stdout and stderr
to it. If you redirect stderr and stdout in the
redirection settings, that output
will not be written to the console.
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Console application
A console application has an associated terminal window.
If a console application is opened from the Windows explorer, a new terminal
window is opened.
If stdout and stderr are not redirected (see the
redirection advanced step),
both streams are printed on the terminal window. This corresponds to the behavior of
java.exe.
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Service
A Windows service runs independently of logged in users and can be run even
if no user is logged on.
The main method will be called when the service is started.
To handle the shutdown of the service, you can use the
Runtime.addShutdownHook() method to register a thread
that will be executed before the JVM is terminated.
For information on how services are installed or uninstalled, please see the
help on service start options.
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Executable name
Enter the desired name of the executable without the trailing .exe.
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Icon file
If you would like a custom icon to be compiled into your executable, select
the Icon file checkbox and choose an icon file
(extension *.ico).
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Working directory
For some applications (especially GUI applications) you might want to change
the working directory to a specific directory relative to the executable,
for example to read config files that are in a fixed location. To do so,
please select the Change working directory to: checkbox and
enter a directory relative to the executable in the adjacent text field.
To change the current directory to the same directory where the executable is
located, please enter a single dot.
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Allow only a single running instance of the application
If you select this checkbox, the generated exe4j executable can only be started
once. Subsequent user invocations will bring the application to the front.
In the Controller class of the
exe4j launcher API
you can register a startup handler to receive the command line parameters.
In this way, you can handle file associations with a single application instance.
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Fail if an exception in the main thread is thrown
Executables created by exe4j can monitor whether the main method
throws an exception and show an error dialog in that case.
This provides a generic startup error notification facility for the developer
that handles a range of errors that would otherwise not be notified correctly.
For example, if an uncaught exception is thrown during application startup,
a GUI application might simply hang, leaving the user in the dark about the
reasons for the malfunction. With the error message provided by the exe4j
executable, reasons for startup errors are found much more easily.
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