CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javajavafxjavafx-11jpackage
Youssef Idraiss
Youssef Idraiss

Reputation: 426

How to use Jpackage to make a distribution format for JavaFX applications

since .jar is not anymore the best format to use to distribute our JavaFX project, I'm willing to use the tool JPackage for that instead, but after reading this post : https://stackoverflow.com/a/68823040/4262407, I ended up having multiple questions, but first of all, I just wanna make sure I ve well understood the process that I should follow :

the process :

1-create a modular project

2-package the project in a .jar format

3-use the tool Jlink to create a customized run-time image (to reduce the size of the output)

4-use the tool jpackage (it takes 2 and 3 as inputs)

I'm also wondering if I can rely on Intellij artifacts to create the .jar file (the 2 step) is it better to use a specific plugin ?

The last thing that is not clear is do we need to include the dependencies in the .jar file ? since I believe they will be included in the customized run time, won't they?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 13680

Answers (4)

flyingsquirrel01
flyingsquirrel01

Reputation: 56

If you take a look here, there is an explanation on how to create JavaFX projects starting from a template that includes Maven plugins to easily pack the application using jlink.

Doing it like this will allow you to completely rely on IntelliJ, making things much easier.

Once you have your runtime image, you can pack it with jpackage. There was already a discussion about this topic here.

And here is a fast link to the article mentioned there. The article there shows it using Gradle, but you can do the same with Maven, just use the appropriate plugin (jpackage-maven-plugin, as stated in another answer here).

Also, from what I can read in your comments, it seems that you have both modular and non-modular dependencies. In that case, you can use jdeps to achieve what you need. There is a nice article here about having mixed dependencies, that specifically uses JavaFX as an example of modular library within a non-modular application.

Upvotes: 3

Mensch
Mensch

Reputation: 21

I used the jpackage maven plug-in to build the native executable(https://search.maven.org/artifact/org.panteleyev/jpackage-maven-plugin). You will first have to use maven-javafx-plugin to create a jlink runtime image(https://github.com/openjfx/javafx-maven-plugin). You will then use that runtime image within jpackage plugin(... ).should create an executable successfully then.

Upvotes: 2

Slaw
Slaw

Reputation: 45806

The jpackage tool does not require a modular project. Though if your project is not modular then your project will be mixed due to JavaFX being modular. In that case, you'll add the JavaFX modules to the custom run-time image while telling jpackage to treat your code as non-modular (i.e. it will configure the executable to place your code on the class-path).

You can also combine steps 3 and 4 into a single step. The jpackage tool can generate the custom run-time image. It will use jlink "behind the scenes".

As for what format your code needs to be in, packaging it in a JAR file will be, in my opinion, the most straightforward. But I'm not sure that's strictly required.

Any dependencies of your application will of course need to be included with the final application. If those dependencies are modular then you can have them included via the custom run-time image. But if you want them on the class-path then you can include them the same way as your code (i.e. --input).

Note the jpackage tool has a user guide: https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/16/jpackage/packaging-overview.html

Upvotes: 1

mipa
mipa

Reputation: 10650

Just have look here https://github.com/dlemmermann/JPackageScriptFX for a tutorial with a working example. Its especially useful for non-modular projects.

Upvotes: 2

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