The armidale application launcher provides a simple interface to start armidale applications running on servers around the internet or an intranet. It also provides a simple application bookmark management facility.
The armidale launcher is started using the following command:
java -jar <install_dir>/jars/armidale.jar
where:
<install_dir> is the name of the directory in which armidale is installed.
If all is well, the following window should appear.
Start Application
Bookmarks
Home Application
Exiting the launcher
Options Tab
About Tab
Using the command line
The start application function starts an application on a remote armidale server
or locally.
The function is used by first entering the URL of an application into the edit box
on the launcher tool bar. To start the specified application, use the Bookmarks.Start URL menu item
or click the 
button
on the toolbar.
The URL of an armidale application running on a remote server has the following form:
arm://<host_name>[:<port>][/<application_name>] {<arguments>}
where:
<host_name> is the name of a machine running an armidale server (eg. armidale.anu.edu.au).
<port> (optional) specifies the port number that the server machine is listening on for armidale connections. If not specified the port number is assumed to be 3000.
<application_name> (optional) specifies the name of an armidale application available on the specified server. If <application_name> is not specified, then the launcher will attempt to start an application called "Home".
Some examples of armidale URLs for remote applications include:
arm://my-airline.com/BookFlight
arm://my-university.edu/student.CheckMarks
arm://my-bank.com/accounts.TransferFunds
arm://my-search-engine.com/web.Search
arm://my-search-engine.com/news.Search
arm://my-company.com:3010/testing.TestArmidale
arm://some-company.com
To run a local application (ie. one that is installed on the local machine), the URL is simply the name of the armidale application as shown in the following examples.
BookFlight
student.CheckMarks
accounts.TransferFunds
web.Search
news.Search
testing.TestArmidale
The application URL entered into the URL edit box can be bookmarked by using the
Bookmarks.Bookmark URL menu item or by clicking the
button on the toolbar.
Bookmarked applications are listed on the bookmarks tab located at the bottom of the launcher window. When an application on the bookmark tab is selected, its URL will be entered into the URL Edit box. The Start Application function described above can then be used to start the selected application.
Bookmarks can be deleted by using the Bookmarks.Delete Selected Bookmark and Bookmarks.Delete All Bookmarks menu items.
In addition to bookmarked applications, the armidale launcher allows
the user to specify a 'home' application by entering its URL into the URL edit box and then using the
Bookmarks.Set Home URL menu item or clicking the
button on the toolbar.
This home application can then be started in one step by using the Launcher.Start Home URL
menu item or by clicking the 
button on the toolbar.
The armidale launcher can be closed down by using the File.Exit menu item or by clicking the
button on the toolbar.
When the launcher closes down, its state (current URL, home URL, bookmarks, and selected tab) is saved. When the launcher is restarted, its state will be set to that saved after the previous shutdown.
The Options tab provides some control over debugging functions built into armidale. They should not be changed by end users and are intended for use by armidale application developers.
The About tab shows a copyright notice, the launcher version and details about the platform on which it is running.
As an alternative to using the armidale launcher, remote armidale applications can be started using the following command (described here).
java -cp <armidale_home_dir>/jars/armidale.jar armidale.api.RemoteApplication <url> {<arguments>}
It should not surprise you to learn that the armidale launcher is itself an armidale application and can therefore be run remotely. For example, the latest version of the launcher could be started using a command like:
java -cp armidale.jar armidale.api.RemoteApplication arm://armidale.anu.edu.au/armidale.launcher.Main