How to remove applet warning?

[chrisyt white]

Hi Java Ranch :-)
i've some somewhat old programs on a server here http://www.white2000.com/bio/bio.htm
and others over the site
i updated them all using eclipse to java version 7
but now they all pop up with that very scary warning of how dangerous my little program might be.

as opposed to going to long lenghts to re-write them all in javascript
is there anyway of removing that terrible warning?

do i need to buy a certificate or something and add that to the program
and after that is runs without the warnings?

or maybe if i recomple into an older version of java?

what can i do, as all them programs are now usless to anybody cos they all so scared i'm gonna do terrible things to there computer

much appreciated if you can help.

thanks chris white

[chrisyt white]

apologes if i've posted this in the wrong place, i couldn't figure where else.

[Ulf Dittmer]

This is the right forum for applet questions.

Recompiling for Java 6 will not solve the problem of the warning (at least not for people who have kept their Java installation up to date), but it will allow more people to run it. For example, I was just unable to check it out because I have a Java 6 runtime installed, as -I'm fairly certain- is the case for many people out there.

What people see will depend on their browser settings. On some browser on some OSes it's scarier than on others - you may wish to try to few different ones to see how they behave.

[chrisyt white]

thanks will redo em all in java 6
why all the warnings tho?
i like java cos it's so much safer, but with these massive warnings might as well reprogram in javascript
cos nobodys feels safe running any java programs

[chrisyt white]

would that certificate code thing make any difference?
and if so where and how much is it?
is it a one off or yearly thing or what?
thanks

[Bear Bibeault]

chrisyt white wrote:thanks will redo em all in java 6
why all the warnings tho?
i like java cos it's so much safer, but with these massive warnings might as well reprogram in javascript
cos nobodys feels safe running any java programs

Please use real words when posting to the forums. Abbreviations such as "em" in place of "them" and "cos" in place of "because" only serve to make your posts more difficult to read and less likely to generate useful responses.

Please click this link ⇒ UseRealWords for more information.

[Bear Bibeault]

chrisyt white wrote:cos nobodys feels safe running any java programs

Most vulnerabilities in Java have been with applets running in the browser. The caution is well deserved.

[chrisyt white]

Ok thanks will use English the best i can.
(will delete those postings and re-write them again here)

Will re-compiling all the programs in java 6 remove the warnings
I don't know much about the digital certificate.
i'ts new to me.

However if i get one will that remove the warnings?
All my programs are safe. They don't do a lot and don't access anybodies computer.
Thanks for saying there has been problems with applets i didn't know it was possible.
I know now thanks for that.

I'm beginning to think re-write them all in javascript
as that doesn't have the warnings
Nobody wishes to run any java program anywhere given all those warnings.
although i'd much prefer java.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

chris

[Paul Clapham]

You can generate your own certificate if you like and sign your applet with it. However the process is kind of obscure, especially if you don't know much about internet security. I know when I first did that, I had very little idea what the process was all about. Fortunately I managed to follow the instructions correctly (definitely not always a given for me) and it worked out okay.

But here's the main point. Running somebody else's code in your browser is always a dangerous thing. Because how do you know the person who wrote the code isn't somebody who wants to take advantage of you? The harm which can be caused by running somebody else's code on your machine can be huge. So how do you know you can trust that code?

And that applies to you too -- how do I know I can trust your code? How do I know you aren't somebody working for (say) the Russian mafia who wants to use your computer to send out spam e-mails? (Just one of the possible harms.) That's where the certificate comes in. When you sign an applet with a certificate, you're telling people this: "If you trust the organization who produced this certificate, you can trust this applet."

So now the question is, how do I know I can trust the organization who created the certificate? If it's you, then we aren't much farther ahead, are we? Anybody can create a certificate and sign their applet with it. So that's where the companies like Verisign come into the picture. You can buy a certificate from them; we trust them because we believe that they check you out before selling you the certificate. I don't actually know what they do, when I used their certificate it was somebody else in my company who dealt with them, but the theory is that their certificates guarantee some kind of immunity from malware.

However I suspect you don't want to pay the upfront setup fee and the annual maintenance fee to one of those companies. I do know that the annual cost was several hundred dollars. So you might want to just ignore the whole issue -- you'd be surprised how many people just click "OK" on those severe warning dialogs anyway. (Do you have feedback that tells you the dialogs are actually driving people away?) Or you might want to use a self-signed certificate. That doesn't make the warning dialogs go away but it makes the wording in them less alarming, I think.

[Bear Bibeault]

Or join the 21st century and ditch applets and use HTML5 and JavaScript.

[chrisyt white]

Thanks Paul for that brilliant reply
for the certificate, it's only little old me, who wrote the programs some time ago just for fun really
for others to use, if the certificate didn't cost a lot would be ok, but if it's hundreds well defeats the object.

[chrisyt white]

Hi Bear
So is it that applets are now out and javascript is now in?
oh well i suppose that's progress.
will have to learn javascript then yes?
i'm not aware of warnings with any javascript programs.
so that's, well good.
i tried the eclipse J2S, Java to Script
but gave in after a bit.
best to learn it i guess.

thanks for both your excellent replies.

also there is not much issue with javascript running on mobiles is there?
as it's built into browsers i think.
thanks again.

chris

[chrisyt white]

Right Bear Bibeault
I've changed nearly all programs on my site from java to JavaScript.
Now...
The new problem is...
JavaScript doesn't do graphics (images but not drawing/lines/etc) and my remaining programs use graphic's
This is the program I'm going to work on next

http://www.white2000.com/bio/bio.htm

Currently it's in Java, so I'm going to translate it to JavaScript.
It seems that JavaScript has add on library's.

So before i start down one road to turn around and go down another
what would you suggest it the best library that will allow graphics?

which in short is approx drawing a graph/circles/bars/sign waves etc.

I've come across jQuery jschart and a few others

So the question is
which one to use?
many thanks
Chris

P.s. moving to JavaScript was an excellent idea, thanks.

[Dennis Grimbergen]

chrisyt white wrote:
P.s. moving to JavaScript was an excellent idea, thanks.

Consider to use JavaFX. You can make nice GUIs.
Just switching to non-java because of a warning in the browser is not a very good argument.

PS. Javascript may be blocked in a browser. I use firefox with add-on NoScript, and it blocks javascripts by default (luckily). In most cases I won't allow to run it.

[chrisyt white]

javaFX?
ok, will look at that ,thanks
never heard of it.
right thanks for the tips
chris