midlet deployment - ibm · this tutorial gets you started with various midlet deployment methods....

MIDlet deploymentLearn to deploy remotely and locally to J2ME devices

Skill Level: Introductory

Soma Ghosh ([email protected])Application DeveloperUS Foodservice

11 Apr 2006

Learn the various ways you can deploy MIDlets on J2ME-enabled devices. In thistutorial, you'll see how to deploy the MIDlets remotely and locally as well as how todownload MIDlets referenced by URLs over the air and on J2ME-enabled devices.

Section 1. Before you start

This tutorial gets you started with various MIDlet deployment methods. Before takingthe tutorial, you need to have basic knowledge of Java™ 2 Platform, Micro Edition(J2ME).

About this tutorial

During the course of this tutorial, you will learn about the following:

• Remote deployment. Remotely deploy a MIDlet developed on the localdesktop.

• Local deployment. Download a MIDlet developed on the local desktop tothe J2ME-enabled device connected to it.

• Downloading a MIDlet referenced by a URL on a J2ME-enabled device.

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• Downloading a MIDlet referenced by a URL over the air (OTA).

Prerequisites

You will need the following software for this tutorial:

• J2ME Wireless Toolkit 2.0

• Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE) 1.4

• Sample code from Toolkit

• J2ME-enabled physical device

• Data cable to connect the device to the desktop

The tutorial used a Motorola/Nextel i85s cell phone, available at Nextel.

Section 2. Deployment challenges

This section covers the challenges behind MIDlet deployment, J2ME-enableddevices, and various other types of deployment.

Wireless challenges

Developers usually build, test, and evaluate an application on a platform similar tothe one on which the application will be deployed and run. Developing wireless Javaapplications proves more challenging because they are typically developed on oneplatform (such as Solaris or Microsoft® Windows®) but deployed on a totallydifferent one (such as a cell phone or PDA). Consequently, while emulators enabledevelopers to perform some testing on the development platform, ultimately theymust test and evaluate the application in the very different environment of a livewireless network.

Preview of J2ME-enabled phones

Many Java-enabled wireless devices are already available with the necessary

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wireless infrastructure that lets you begin deploying wireless applications. Table 1shows the common J2ME-enabled wireless devices.

Table 1. Common J2ME-enabled devicesManufacturer Model

Alcatel One Touch 556

Casio C452CA

Fujitsu F503i

Hitachi C3001H

Kyocera C3002K

LG Sprint PCS Vision Picture Phone

Mitsubishi D2101V

Motorola A388

Motorola i85s

Motorola i90c

Motorola i95cl

NEC N2002

Nokia 3100

Panasonic C3003P

Samsung SCH-X130

Samsung Sprint PCS International Phone

Samsung Sprint PCS Vision Ready Link Phone

Samsung Sprint PCS VisionSM Multimedia Phone

Samsung Sprint PCS VisionSM Picture Phone PM-A840

Sanyo Sprint PCS Vision Multimedia Phone

Sanyo Sprint PCS Vision Picture Phone

Siemens C(T)56

Sony Ericsson J220a

Sony Ericsson K750

Sony Ericsson P800

Sony Ericsson P802

Sony Ericsson P900

Sony Ericsson P908

Sony Ericsson P910a

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To deploy a MIDlet to a certain J2ME-enabled device, you need to know the wirelesstechnology it uses. For example, the Motorola i85 series of phones use iDEN. TheMotorola iDEN page (see Resources) provides insightful information on deployingMIDlets to these types of phones.

Deployment basics

MIDlets fall into two broad categories:

• Local MIDlets, also called stand-alone MIDlets, perform all theiroperations on a handheld wireless device and don't require access toresources on a wireless network. Examples include calculators andsimple day planners.

• Network MIDlets consist of some components running on a wirelessdevice and others running on a network, and thus depend on access toexternal resources over the network; for example, a Stock MIDlet, with aclient residing on a wireless phone that interacts with a network server toget stock information.

Local MIDlets are also easier to test than Network MIDlets. For example, acalculator application can run on a wireless phone even when it isn't connected to anetwork, but an e-mail client won't work without a connection to the SMTP serverthat actually transmits the messages.

MIDlets are also categorized by the way they are deployed:

• Emulation: An emulator can deploy and run a locally developed MIDlet.The J2ME Wireless Toolkit enables you to run your local wirelessapplication from within the development environment; the JAD and JARfiles are available on your own system (if you're using the J2ME WirelessToolkit in c:\WTK23\apps\YourProject\bin); thus, it provides an emulatedenvironment that serves as a primary test bed for the MIDlet.

• Local Deployment: This is when locally developed MIDlets deploy on aJ2ME-enabled physical device connected to the desktop by a data cable.

• Remote Deployment: Here, locally developed MIDlets upload to a remoteWeb server.

• OTA Deployment: Finally, this means a MIDlet downloads to aJ2ME-enabled physical device over the air (OTA).




Section 3. Four ways to deploy a MIDlet

The J2ME emulation tool

The J2ME Wireless Toolkit provides a complete emulation environment. To locate it:

1. Select Start > Sun Java Wireless Toolkit 2.3 Beta, which opens theKToolbar, the emulation tool.

2. Create a new project or open an existing one.

3. Select Build. The screen in Figure 1 appears.

Figure 1. Build a MIDlet project




4. Select Run. The screen in Figure 2 appears.Figure 2. MIDlet at run time




For other deployment options, you can export the project to a package:

1. Select Project > Package > Create Package.

2. This creates the corresponding JAR and JAD files if no errors aredetected. The screen in Figure 3 appears.

Figure 3. Export a MIDlet project

Local deployment

As mentioned earlier, local deployment is when you deploy a MIDlet developed on alocal desktop onto a J2ME-enabled physical device that connects to the desktopusing a data cable. You can deploy a local MIDlet on a Motorola J2ME-enabledphone by downloading the Motorola Java Application Loader Lite (JAL Lite). TheJAL Lite limits file name lengths to 16 characters, expects an application's JAD andJAR files to be in the same directory, and cannot download an application thatperforms network communications.

Connect the phone to your desktop using a data cable and start JAL Lite on yourdesktop.

The application displays the MIDlets already installed on the device. To install a newapplication, click Connect, then Download. The application loader lets you browse




your hard disk and select a JAD file. As soon as you do, it begins downloading theapplication and displays a progress indicator.

After the download is complete, click Disconnect and disconnect the phone fromthe data cable. When you browse through the Java applications available on thephone, you should see the application you just downloaded. Select it and you areasked if you want to install it. If you answer yes, the application is installed and youcan start using it. The application remains on the phone until you explicitly remove it.

Remote deployment

To deploy your wireless applications remotely:

1. Upload your application files (JAD and JAR files as obtained fromKToolbar) to a remote Web server. If your project is named CityGuide, forinstance, upload the files CityGuide.jad and CityGuide.jar from the bindirectory of your project home (for example, c:\WTK23\apps\games\bin).Note that the two files must be placed in the same directory on the server.

2. Reconfigure the Web server so that it recognizes JAD and JAR files:

• For the JAD file type, set the file extension to .jad and the MIME typeto text/vnd.sun.j2me.app-descriptor.

• For the JAR file type, set the file extension to .jar and the MIME typeto application/java-archive.

3. Change your JAD file's MIDlet-Jar-URL property to specify your JAR file'sURL. For example, in the games.jad file copy you uploaded to the server,change MIDlet-Jar-URL: CiyGuide.jar to MIDlet-Jar-URL:http://YourWebServerAddress:port/pathTo/CityGuide.jar.

To see whether your application deployed correctly, open an ordinary Web browserand enter the JAD file's URL. The J2ME Wireless Toolkit's default emulator shouldappear and the remotely deployed application should run in it.

J2ME-enabled devices include a Java Application Manager (JAM) that is responsiblefor downloading, installing, and configuring applications. The J2ME Wireless Toolkitincludes a sample JAM that you can run in the default emulator. To see how theuser will download and manage your application, open a command prompt, changethe current directory to c:\WTK23\bin, and enter the command: emulator -Xjam.

The emulator appears and you see the JAM's main screen. The main screen looks




like Figure 4.

Figure 4. J2ME Wireless Toolkit Java Application Manager -- main screen




Select Apps and the screen looks like Figure 5.

Figure 5. J2ME Wireless Toolkit Java Application Manager -- Applicationsscreen




Select the Install soft button, and the application's URL, shown in Figure 6, promptsyou to enter a Web page URL that contains a hyperlink to the application's JAD file.

Figure 6. J2ME Wireless Toolkit Java Application Manager -- Installationscreen




A faster and easier way to get started is to use a command in this form: emulator-Xjam:install=http://yourWebServerAddress:port/yourApp.jad.

The JAM downloads the JAR file specified in the JAD file and installs the application.

Note that this syntax lets you install only one MIDlet at a time. To make multipleMIDlets available using a single URL, you can put the MIDlets in a single HTML file,as Listing 1 shows.

Listing 1. HTML with multiple MIDlets

<html><head><title>Midlets</title></head>

<body>

Download midlets:<a href="http://127.0.0.1:8080/games.jad">Games.jad</a><a href="http://127.0.0.1:8080/calc.jad">Calc.jad</a><a href="http://127.0.0.1:8080/browser.jad">Browser.jad</a>

Thank you.</body></html>

Also note that the hyperlinks mentioned in the HTML file should point to theapplication's JAD file. The JAM reads the HTML document (midlets.html), parses thehyperlinks, and displays a list of MIDlets that you can download.

Now you can select a MIDlet to download to the device. The JAM reads the JAD fileto discover whether the device can handle the application. If so, it downloads andinstalls the JAR file specified in the JAD file. The JAM is smart enough to notify youif you try to install a MIDlet that already exists on your device. It will, however, let youdownload an updated version of the MIDlet.

Deploying remote MIDlets referenced by a device URL

There are several ways to download a MIDlet referenced by a URL:

• Download the MIDlet referenced by a URL to your desktop using HTTP or

FTP. You can use JAL Lite and a data cable to download selectedMIDlets to a J2ME device connected to the desktop through a cable.

• You can use the Motorola iDEN Java Application Loader to download aMIDlet referenced by a URL. Motorola's iDEN Web site provides detailedinformation on how to become a member of iDEN's Developer Programand start downloading (see Resources).

Downloading applications over the air

For some time, wireless portals in Europe, such as Midletcentral, have let customersdownload applications directly to their phones over the air (OTA). Over-the-airprovisioning of wireless applications is finally available in North America. Nextelcustomers, for example, can download network-aware wireless applications withouta data cable.

OTA is the deployment of wireless Java applications (MIDlet suites) from the Internetto wireless devices over a wireless network. Users do not need to connect theirdevices to the desktop with a data cable or visit a service center to install or upgradesoftware.

To take advantage of OTA, you must equip your handheld device with a mechanismto discover MIDlet suites available for download, using the device's browser (such asa WAP browser) or a resident application written specifically to identifydownloadable MIDlet suites.

The Java Wireless Toolkit 2.3 Beta has been equipped with OTA provisioning. Touse the OTA server, start the KToolbar application by selecting Start > Sun JavaWireless Toolkit 2.3 > KToolbar. Open an existing project, such as the CityGuideproject that ships with the toolkit. Instead of clicking Run on the toolbar, choose theProject menu, then Run using the OTA item, as Figure 7 shows.

Figure 7. Run using OTA




The emulator starts, but does not immediately open the MIDlet suite to let you selectwhich MIDlet to launch. Instead, the emulator launches its application managementsoftware (AMS), the system software that manages the installation and removal ofMIDlet suites. At the same time, KToolbar activates its built-in OTA server. ClickApps on the emulator to activate the AMS.

Figure 8. OTA provisioning -- select apps




The AMS's main screen lists MIDlet suites already installed; there will be none thefirst time you run it, of course. At the top of the list is an item labeled InstallApplication, as Figure 9 shows.

Figure 9. OTA provisioning -- Applications screen




Select Install Application. The installer prompts you for the URL of an HTML filecontaining a link to the MIDlet suite's Java application descriptor (JAD). KToolbarautomatically generates this HTML file for you, placing it in the project's bin directory,and initializes the installer with its URL, which will look likehttp://localhost:3114/CityGuide/bin/CityGuide.html. Refer to Figure 10.

Figure 10. OTA provisioning -- HTML with hyperlink for JAD file




Click Menu and choose Go from the menu to start the application installer.

The first part of the URL is the address of KToolbar's OTA server, which is really justa stripped-down Web server. The URL may differ from this example. The installerdoesn't care what it's connecting to -- you can change the URL if you want to test theinstallation process from an actual Web server, for example.

Figure 11. OTA provisioning -- Start the application installer




The installer fetches the HTML file and parses it, looking for links ending in .jad, thestandard extension for JAD files. After you select Install, the installer downloads theJAD file, displays the MIDlet suite's size, version, and vendor, and asks you toapprove suite installation.

Figure 12. OTA provisioning -- Confirmation screen




After you confirm you want to proceed, the installer fetches the suite's JAR file. Afterdownloading the JAR file, the installer verifies the contents of the MIDlet suite,prompting the user to confirm any permission the suite requires in order to run. Afterthe verification process is complete, the application is installed and ready to run.

Figure 13. MIDlet run using OTA provisioning




In case of an error, the screen shown in Figure 14 appears:

Figure 14. OTA provisioning -- Error screen




Developer program

Last but not least, there are ways in which the world can use your MIDlets. Severaldevice manufacturers (such as Nokia and Motorola) and wireless carriers (such asNextel) offer developer programs that can help you market your MIDlets.

You can develop MIDlets for Motorola phones by registering and using toolsavailable from the Motorola Developer Program (see Resources).

Section 4. Conclusion

In this tutorial you learned the basics of MIDlet deployment, got a preview ofavailable J2ME-enabled devices, and saw several ways to deploy and test local andremote MIDlets on an emulator as well as J2ME-enabled physical devices.




Resources

• Participate in the discussion forum for this content.

• Java Wireless Toolkit: Download the toolkit.

• J2ME-enabled phones: Get a complete list of J2ME-enabled phones.

• Motorola Developer Program: You can develop MIDlets for Motorola phones byregistering and using tools available from the developer program.

• Motorola phones: Get more information Motorola phones.

• OTA: Learn more about Over-the-Air transmissions.

• J2ME: Get a list of articles and tutorials to keep you informed.

• developerWorks Wireless technology zone: Stay connected to the wireless world.

• Motorola iDEN page : Provides insightful information on deploying MIDlets tothese types of phones.

• developerWorks Java technology zone: Keep up to date on events in the Javaarena.

About the author

Soma GhoshOver the past ten years, Soma Ghosh has developed a wide range of Javaapplications in the area of e-commerce and networking. She is a Java architect andcurrently associated with US Foodservice Corporation. She has written severaldeveloperWorks articles and tutorials on J2ME. She holds a master's degree incomputer science and engineering.



http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/

http://java.sun.com/products/sjwtoolkit/download-2_3.html

http://developers.sun.com/techtopics/mobility/device/device

http://idenphones.motorola.com/idenDeveloper/developer/developer_tools.jsp

http://idenphones.motorola.com/iden/iden_home.jsp

http://developers.sun.com/techtopics/mobility/midp/ttips/wtkota/

http://developers.sun.com/techtopics/mobility/allarticles/

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/wireless/

http://idenphones.motorola.com/iden/iden_home.jsp

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/java/


midlet deployment - ibm · this tutorial gets you started with various midlet deployment methods....

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