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Thank you for your interest in Java and HotJava!

You have sent email to an address for questions or comments about
Sun's Java(tm) Programming Language and Sun's HotJava(tm) World-Wide
Web Browser.

Our group is closely monitoring mail sent to this address, but the
increasing volume of mail we're receiving has surpassed by far our
ability to answer each message personally.  Please consider
contributing your questions and answers to the Java and HotJava
newsgroups:  comp.lang.java and alt.www.hotjava.  If you think you
need a personal response from our group and you don't receive one
within a few days, please do send us another message.

The rest of this message contains brief answers and pointers regarding
frequently asked questions in the following areas:

A.  Getting started with Java/HotJava:
.availability, latest releases, ports, downloading, installing

B.  Getting information and staying in touch:
.the Java name, documentation of all sorts, newsgroups,
.mailing lists, Java courses, bug reports

C.  Java-enabled Netscape:
.which versions, alpha/beta applets, help

D.  Marketing, licensing, and planning:
.licensing, logos, plans

E.  Troubleshooting:
.error messages, firewalls, environment variables,
.overloaded server

We try to make as much information as possible available through our
web site, http://java.sun.com/, and through mirror sites (see
http://java.sun.com/mirrors.html for details).  If you have trouble
finding the information you need there, please let us know.


================================================================
A. Getting Started with Java/HotJava

A1. What releases are currently available?  What do they contain?
A2. What platforms is the 1.0 Beta JDK available on?
A3. What platforms is 1.0 Alpha 3 Java/HotJava available on?
A4. What about a version for my favorite platform XYZ?  When can I get it?
A5. How do I download Java, HotJava, and/or JDK?  How do I install it?
A6. How can I get started with programming in Java?
A7. Do I need special server software to use applets?


A1. What releases are currently available?  What do they contain?

Java and HotJava are in transition from alpha to beta.  The two
versions are incompatible, and you should always work with the latest
version that's available for your platform.

The 1.0 Beta release of the Java Developers Kit (JDK) contains

    - Java Applet Upgrade Utility
    - Java Applet Viewer
    - Java Debugger API and Prototype Debugger
    - Java Compiler
    - Java Interpreter

The 1.0 Alpha 3 release of Java and HotJava contains

    - Java Compiler
    - Java Interpreter
    - HotJava browser

Note also the following compatibility restrictions:

    - Java-enabled browsers, such as Netscape, require beta (JDK) applets.
    - 1.0 Alpha 3 HotJava requires alpha applets.


A2. What platforms is the 1.0 Beta JDK available on?

The JDK is available on Windows NT/95 (Intel x86) and on
SPARC Solaris (2.3 or higher).  For details, see:

    http://java.sun.com/JDK-beta/


A3. What platforms is 1.0 Alpha 3 Java/HotJava available on?

Alpha 3 Java/Hotjava is available on Windows NT/95 (Intel x86) and on
SPARC Solaris (2.3 or higher).  For details, see:

    http://java.sun.com/installation-alpha3-win32-x86.html
    http://java.sun.com/installation-alpha3-solaris2-sparc.html


A4. What about a version for my favorite platform XYZ?  When can I get it?

These are extremely popular questions, and important ones.  What we can
currently say is:

    Macintosh (MacOS 7.5):  1.0 FCS targeted for early 96

    Amiga, Linux, NeXT, OS/2, Windows 3.1, Windows 32s, ...:
      We've provided our Solaris source code to make third-party
      ports like these possible, but we are not officially
      overseeing or tracking them.  For more information, you can
      check out platform-specific mailing lists:
      http://java.sun.com/Mail/external_lists.html.

When we further have dates that we can announce, we'll post them on
our web site.


A5. How do I download Java, HotJava, and/or JDK?  How do I install it?

You can get our releases either with a World-Wide Web (WWW) browser
or by anonymous ftp.  For details, including installation
instructions, visit the URLs indicated in questions <A2> and <A3>.  If
you use ftp, remember to set binary mode and check that you got the
full file (compare its size to that mentioned in the installation
page).


A6. How can I get started with programming in Java?

We've put together a guide for using materials on our web site to get
you started learning Java; see

    http://java.sun.com/starter.html


A7. Do I need special server software to use applets?

No.  Java applets may be served by any HTTP server.  On the server
side they are treated just as any other file, such as a text, image,
or sound file.  All the special action happens when the applet class
files are interpreted on the client side.


================================================================
B. Getting Information and Staying in Touch

B1. Where did the Java name come from?  What does it stand for?
B2. Can the Java team keep me informed of latest developments?
B3. What newsgroups carry information about Java and HotJava?
B4. What mailing lists are available?  How do I subscribe/unsubscribe?
B5. What documentation is available?  In what formats?  How can I get it?
B6. Can you send me information by regular mail or by email?
B7. Why do the mailing list archives stop at August 20th?
B8. Can I be a alpha/beta/xxx tester?
B9. Are Java programming courses available?  Where?  At what price?
B10. How do I file bug reports or feature suggestions?


B1. Where did the Java name come from?  What does it stand for?

The name was chosen during one of several brainstorming sessions held
by the Java team.  We were aiming to come up with a name that evoked
the essense of the technology -- liveliness, animation, speed,
interactivity, and more.  "Java" was chosen from among many, many
suggestions.  The name is not an acronym, but rather a reminder of
that hot, aromatic stuff that many programmers like to drinks lots of.


B2. Can the Java team keep me informed of latest developments?

We no longer keep a list of people to inform; when we started that, we
never expected that so many people would be writing to us every day!
If you'd like to be kept informed, the best way is to keep checking
our web site

     http://java.sun.com/

and/or participate in the Java-related newsgroups.


B3. What newsgroups carry information about Java and HotJava?

Two newsgroups are currently available:

    - comp.lang.java:  about the Java language and programming
    - alt.www.hotjava:  about the HotJava World-Wide Web browser

Note that not all news servers carry alt.* newsgroups, but the
comp.lang.java should be available pretty much everywhere.


B4. What mailing lists are available?  How do I subscribe/unsubscribe?

Information about our mailing lists is available at

    http://java.sun.com/mail.html

Note that these lists are now obsolete -- they have served their main
purpose of fostering communication about Java and HotJava until
newsgroups were available to carry the load.  We request your
cooperation in using them only as a last resort.  This will help
reduce the load on java.sun.com, and will improve service for
everyone.  All mailing list mail will be gated to the newsgroups, so
you won't miss anything.


B5. What documentation is available?  In what formats?  How can I get it?

We provide a wide range of documentation (white papers, API
specifications, programmer's guide, and more), reachable from our
documentation page:

    http://java.sun.com/doc.html

Most of our documents are available in both HTML and PostScript
formats.


B6. Can you send me information by regular mail or by email?

Sorry, but we're only set up to distribute information through our web
site (http://java.sun.com/) and ftp site (java.sun.com).  We want to
get as much information out and available as possible, but we can only
handle the volume via these customer-initiated mechanisms.


B7. Why do the mailing list archives stop at August 20th?

Unfortunately, we've had to stop updating our mailing list archives,
as we wrestle with the ever-increasing load on our java.sun.com
server.  Note that only archiving was stopped, not the mailing lists
themselves. 


B8. Can I be an alpha/beta/xxx tester?

Yes, that's essentially what you're doing when you use our current
release software and send in bug reports.  We generally don't have
separate formal programs for early-release testing.


B9. Are Java programming courses available?  Where?  At what price?

SunService will be providing Java Programming courses at
sites across the U.S; see

    http://www.sun.com/sunservice/wh/10-17-95-press-1.html


B10. How do I file bug reports or feature suggestions?

It's best if you use the "Submit a Bug Report" feature in HotJava's
Help menu, or go directly to our bug report page:

    http://java.sun.com/GettingInTouch/BugReport.html

(Be sure to scroll the window to see all the report fields.)  This
helps us process bug reports and feature suggestions more thoroughly
and systematically.  If you experience trouble sending mail from
HotJava, see the Troubleshooting section below for a likely fix.

If you need to send a bug report by plain email, you can send it
to

    java-bugs@java.sun.com

Please include the same kinds of information as on the bug report
form: version, platform, code snippet (Java, html, or both), exact
error message, supplementary error information (e.g., stack dump or
weblog), and reproducibility of the bug.  Keep in mind that we need to
be able to recreate bugs in order to find and fix them.

We will not be able to acknowledge each report individually.  Please
accept our gratitude in advance -- your feedback is crucial to our
work.


================================================================
C.  Java-enabled Netscape

C1. Can all Netscape 2.0 versions run Java applets?
C2. Can Java-enabled Netscape run alpha and beta Java applets?
C3. Can you help me with using Java in Netscape?


C1. Can all Netscape 2.0 versions run Java applets?

No, some current beta versions can run Java applets, others can't; see

    http://www.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease48.html


C2. Can Java-enabled Netscape run alpha and beta Java applets?

Java-enabled versions of Netscape 2.0 will only run beta applets,
which can be written with the beta Java Developers Kit (JDK).
Be aware that there are many web pages with alpha applets, which
Netscape 2.0 will not handle.  You can distinguish between alpha and
beta applets by looking at the html source for a page:  alpha applets
use the <app> tag, whereas beta applets use the <applet> tag.


C3. Can you help me with using Java in Netscape?

For questions that specifically concern installation, troubleshooting,
feature availability, and how to do XYZ with applets in the Netscape
browser, it's best to ask Netscape directly.


================================================================
D.  Marketing, Licensing, and Planning

D1. Is Java/HotJava free?  Where can I get information on licensing?
D2. Can I use the HotJava logo?
D3. What are your plans for XXX functionality?  Why haven't you done YYY?
D4. Can you comment on company ZZZ's plans for using Java/HotJava?


D1. Is Java/HotJava free?  Where can I get information on licensing?

We have guidelines on our web site for using and/or licensing Java and
HotJava technology; see

    http://java.sun.com/licensing.html

If you have further commercial or licensing questions, you can send
them to

    licensing@java.sun.com

Note that any licensing questions sent to java@java.sun.com will be
forwarded to the licensing address.


D2. Can I use the HotJava logo?

Please see

    http://java.sun.com/tm_guidelines.html


D3. What are your plans for XXX functionality?  Why haven't you done YYY?

We welcome all input regarding Java and HotJava -- we will read and
consider it.  We're keeping many more options in mind than appear in
our current releases.  However, because we are focusing on moving
towards our 1.0 release, we have time to answer only a small
portion of such questions.


D4. Can you comment on company ZZZ's plans for using Java/HotJava?

No, we need to let other companies speak for themselves.


================================================================
E.  Troubleshooting

E1. Error: net.SocketException: errno = 10047  (Windows NT/95)
E2. Error: hotjava-alpha3-win32-x86 is not a valid Windows NT application.
E3. Error: This program does not run in MS-DOS mode.
E4. Error: Failed to get: XXX   Reason is: net.SocketException: connect
E5. The tar/zip/xxx file I got from your server seems corrupted -- is it? 
E6. Is my firewall preventing HotJava from making connections?
E7. Why doesn't mail or netnews from HotJava work?  (Windows NT/95)
E8. Why do http and ftp requests to java.sun.com sometimes fail?
E9. Will Java/HotJava work with DOS file size limitations (8.3)?
E10. I'm having trouble loading applets -- what settings can I change?
E11. Why are some menu entries in HotJava grayed out (and unusable)?
E12. javac:  Superclass java.applet.Applet of class HelloWorld not found.
E13. 404 Not Found -- The requested URL /cgi-bin/src-form.sh was not ...
E14. How do I get rid of the Copyright notice when starting the Windows 95   
     version of appletviewer?


E1. Error: net.SocketException: errno = 10047  (Windows NT/95)

Error number 10047 usually means you are using unsupported TCP/IP
drivers.  HotJava only supports the Microsoft TCP/IP drivers included
with Windows 95.  If you are using third-party drivers (e.g., Trumpet
Winsock or PC NFS), you'll need to change over to the native 32-bit
Microsoft TCP/IP drivers.


E2. Error:  hotjava-alpha3-win32-x86 is not a valid Windows NT application.

There's a good chance you downloaded the binary file in ASCII mode,
which will corrupt it.  Check the size of your file against the size
shown in the installation page or in the ftp directory listing.  (To
check the size using ftp: use ftp to connect to java.sun.com, log in
as user "anonymous", cd to the docs directory, and then use the "dir"
command to get a full listing of the directory, complete with file
sizes.)  If the sizes don't match -- especially if yours is bigger
than it should be -- that's a sure sign that you need to download a
fresh copy (in binary mode).


E3. Error:  This program does not run in MS-DOS mode.

See <E2> above.


E4. Error:  Failed to get: XXX   Reason is: net.SocketException: connect

One fairly common cause of this error message is setting your firewall
proxy to a raw (numerical) IP address rather than a domain name
address.  The alpha 3 HotJava release only handles domain name
addresses.


E5. The tar/zip/xxx file I got from your server seems corrupted -- is it? 

See <E2> above.


E6. Is my firewall preventing HotJava from making connections?

It could be, especially if you haven't configured your proxy servers.
Bring up the Options menu, select the Properties dialog, and fill in
the hostname and port for the Firewall Proxy.  (For Netscape users,
these values should be the same as your HTTP proxy in Netscape.)

Another possibility is that you're going through a SOCKS firewall.  If
that's the case, HotJava's not going to work -- it doesn't implement
that protocol yet.


E7. Why doesn't mail or netnews from HotJava work?  (Windows NT/95)

This problem is usually fixed by setting the relevant environment
variables at the MS-DOS prompt.  Type

    set mailhost=<your-mailhost-name>
    set nntpserver=<your-server-name>

at the MS-DOS prompt and then start HotJava in that same DOS box.
Having to use environment variables like this is clumsy and will be
replaced in future versions.


E8. Why do http and ftp requests to java.sun.com sometimes fail?

Due to increasing demand for Java/HotJava, our java.sun.com server is
often overloaded and can turn away requests or stop them partway.
When you run into this, you can try again later, or you can try one of
our mirror sites; see

    http://java.sun.com/mirrors.html

But if our java.sun.com server is so busy that you can't even get the
mirror page, here are some of the sites listed there:

    Blackdown Organization:
      http://www.blackdown.org/Java
      ftp:  www.blackdown.org  in the /pub/Java directory

    Dimension X (USA)
      http://java.dnx.com/
      ftp:  java.dnx.com

    SunSITE UNC (USA)
      http://sunsite.unc.edu/java/
      ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/languages/java

    Lulee University (Sweden)
      http://www.cdt.luth.se/java
      ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/infosystems/www/hotjava

    SunSITE Central Europe
      http://sunsite.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/Mirror/java/
      ftp://sunsite.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/mirror/java.sun.com

    Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology CAIR (Taejon, Korea):
      http://cair-archive.kaist.ac.kr/java/ 
      ftp://ftp.kaist.ac.kr/pub/java/

    Center for Global Communications (GLOCOM), Tokyo:
      http://www.glocom.ac.jp/mirror/java.sun.com
      ftp://ftp.glocom.ac.jp/mirror/java.sun.com


E9. Will Java/HotJava work with DOS file size limitations (8.3)?

No, they rely on many files with longer names than the old DOS limits.
Even if your drive allows long file names, be careful not to unzip
your release package with WinZip, since this will truncate the file
names to the old 8.3 DOS limits.  Instead, extract the files from a
DOS window, without WinZip, and make sure that the resulting files
have their full (long) names.


E10. I'm having trouble loading applets -- what settings can I change?

Look inside your access_mode file (in your .hotjava directory).  If
the first two lines are like:

    ACCESS_SOURCE (or ACCESS_FIREWALL)
    true

then your security settings are preventing HotJava from loading
applets from anywhere other than your own file system (or inside your
firewall).  The minimal change that should allow you to load external
applets is to turn off the

    "Apply security mode to applet loading"

switch.  You can set this by pulling up the Security dialog in the
Options menu.  After you apply this change, the second line of your
access_mode file should read "false".

For further information on security options, click on the help button
in the HotJava Security Dialog, or go directly to

    http://java.sun.com/1.0alpha3/doc/SecurityDialogHelp.html


E11. Why are some menu entries in HotJava grayed out (and unusable)?

These menu items are placeholders for functions to be placed in future
versions of HotJava.  There are no switches for turning them on or off;
they are simply not available in the current release.


E12. javac:  Superclass java.applet.Applet of class HelloWorld not found.

The examples in the programmer's guide have been updated to conform to
the new applet API in our 1.0 Beta Java Developers Kit (JDK).
"Superclass not found" error messages are typical if you try to compile
beta code with an alpha version of javac.  The recommended fix is to
download a copy of the JDK, and do all further development with that.


E13. 404 Not Found -- The requested URL /cgi-bin/src-form.sh was not ...

Several mirror sites are not set up to handle source code forms, and
this is the typical error message in that case.  If you try the source
code form at our primary Java web site here at Sun, it should work:

    http://java.sun.com/source_form.html

If not even that works, the problem might be with a local HTTP proxy
(one person has reported finding the trouble there).


E14. How do I stop the copyright notice from appearing every time I
     start the Windows NT/95 version of appletviewer?

The appletviewer looks for a .hotjava directory inside your home
directory to determine whether you are starting it for the first time.
If the directory is not found, the appletviewer will pop up the
copyright notice.  The workaround is to manually create the .hotjava
directory in your home directory.  The following paragraphs explain
how to do this.

The appletviewer is written to recognize three MS-DOS environment
variables for the location of a user home directory: it uses either
HOME or the combination of HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH.  Under Windows
NT3.51, the HOMEDRIVE and HOMEPATH environment variables are set
automatically.  Under Windows 95, you will need to set the HOME
environment variable to point to an existing directory.

Once your home directory is set, all you need to do for Windows NT3.51
is to create the .hotjava directory inside of it:

.MkDir %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%\.hotjava

In Windows 95, the easiest method is to edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file,
adding the following line:

.set HOME=C:\

Then save the file and reboot, so that the change to take effect.
Once your computer has rebooted, open a DOS window and execute the
following command:

.MkDir %HOME%\.hotjava

