The following installation procedure should be used if you want to develop armidale applications. It is also advisable that developers install the user system by following the procedure described here.
For developer installations the Sun JDK 1.4 is required (although JDK 1.3 can be used with some restrictions).
In addition to the JDK, you will need the Ant java build tool available from the Apache Jakarta project. Ant is a Java application and runs on most common platforms including Linux and Windows. Ant version 1.4 or later is required.
Use the following commands to see if you already have the required versions of the JDK and Ant installed.
java -version
ant -version
Create a new directory in which to install armidale. By convention, the directory should be called 'armidale', but any name will do. The directory can be placed anywhere on your system.
The armidale development system distribution comprises the following executable Java jar which can be downloaded from here. Download the file to the directory created in step 2.
armidale-<version>-developer.jar. This jar contains the entire armidale development system, including all of the files required to build the three armidale distribution jars.
<version> in the above file names is a version number like 0.9.2 (eg. armidale-0.9.2-developer.jar). Always download the latest version of armidale.
In a command shell, 'cd' to the directory created in step 2, and then use the following command to install the armidale development system.
java -jar armidale-<version>-developer.jar
Installation of this jar will create a subdirectory called developer containing the entire armidale development system.
The simplest way to get started and to check that everything is installed correctly is to attempt a complete build of the armidale system using the following procedure.
Ensure that the armidale development system is installed as detailed above and change directory to <install_dir>/developer.
Run the following ant commands to clean out any junk and build the complete distribution.
ant clean
ant build_distribution
If all is well, the following jars, which comprise the standard armidale distribution, will be placed in the <install_dir>/build/distribution directory.
armidale-<version>-user.jar
armidale-<version>-documentation.jar
armidale-<version>-developer.jar
See the following topics form more information on using the armidale development system.
The armidale architecture
SimpleApp - A sample application
Adding your own widgets
armidale command line programs
armidale API javadoc
Ant build targets